Carousels Books

This book actually has the fingering for the scales , but it only starts you out and then your on your own. It tries to explain the origin of the modes themselves which can be interesting if your interested. I would say that this book can help you if you use it with a teacher , but it will only bring up an entire world of questions if trying to understand modes on your own.

An introductory type of palaeontology book, aimed at younger readers in general.

This first volume goes from the start of life until the time of the dinosaurs, which, of course, is the really cool part that everyone likes the most.

This book must of been writen by some one on acid because it is so bad.

"Carousel" follows the pattern of Janes' other books featuring the partnership in occupied Paris of French police detective Louis St. Cyr and his Gestapo counterpart, Hermann Kohler. An unlikely buddy story, indeed.

A kinky murder drags the two cops into the murk of the wartime corruption and several other unsolved murders which may be related. A young woman is found raped and murdered in a hotel room she has rented under an assumed name, with several weird clues left behind. She's known to have been meeting an older man there. Family relationships going back decades are involved. As usual there are shadowy and sinister ties reaching to the top of the Nazi regime. At one point, Kohler and St. Cyr end up truffle-hunting in the countryside.

Janes' stylized writing creates the sense of fog surrounding Kohler and St. Cyr, but it also contributes to a certain amount of confusion. Their conversations with those who know something are often so elliptical as to leave the reader wondering what just actually transpired. Internal dialogue often emerges in fragmentary form without clear signals as to whom it belongs. It can be tough to follow, particularly as his plot is so complex. The web of German agencies competing to loot the city, with their personal and organizational rivalries, the shifting stew of French characters likewise at each other's throats, all make this book, like others in the series, dizzying to follow. The climactic scene, with most of the principals gathered in one place so that Everything Can Be Revealed, is a bit hokey that way.

Although his writing is heavy in atmosphere, I don't think Janes successfully evokes wartime Paris quite as well as another writer who strains at it less - Alan Furst. Several of his wartime espionage novels are located in Paris. Janes' books are weighed down by the murder mystery format, and by the somewhat overheated characterizations of St. Cyr and Kohler. He gives you as much wartime detail as Furst does, but somehow Furst's details seem both quirkier and more authentic. Janes tells us about ersatz coffee, and about women with drawn lines on their legs suggesting the seams of stockings that cannot be had amid the wartime scarcity, but somehow he never breaks through to the truly unique observations that would get the book fully into three dimensions. When St. Cyr notices a certain scent of perfume that seems to tie several characters together, I can't decide if this is a fine subtle touch or if Janes is playing the stereotypically-French card a little too strongly. I may be comparing apples and oranges here; this is a police-murder mystery, with its various conventions usually to be observed, while Furst's books are espionage but not really tied to the page-turning conventions of that or any other genre.

I don't want to bash "Carousel", though. For one thing, Janes does well developing the Kohler-St. Cyr relationship over the series. I've read three of the them, not in any chronological order, and this last one has me thinking I should start at the beginning and do them in order. In this particular one it's unclear why Kohler is so alienated from Nazidom in general, but rather than see this as a failing, it makes me want to read the other books to find out more.

Still, there are times in this book when I have no idea what just happened, why some conversation was important, who is talking or what is implied about the relationships of various characters to each other. In other words, I was sometimes lost, and had to just hang on and keep reading. At the end Janes brings it together - more or less. If you like the series, this is a respectable part of it.

I pride myself on being a relatively fast reader, so allow me to start by saying this book is very time-consuming. The book is a difficult read, but extremely worthwhile if you can persevere.

Janes writes very well, with richly-detailed descriptions of the characters and settings. At times this borders on excessive, and tends to distract one from the thrust of the story. This may or may not be a strength in a mystery. It depends on the intent of the author - to prevent the reader from prematurely deducing whodunit, or simply as a matter of overattention to detail. Janes' prose is written in a European style, reminiscent of 19th century classics. This can be awkward to the experienced reader, and downright alien to the literary novice. Again, this may or may not be a strength. With respect to the story itself, it is very complex in its evolution and excecution. I found it extremely captivating, particularly in later parts of the book, to see the strands of facts begin to coalesce into webs and sheets of truth. At times, a real page-turner, and at others a real headache. Janes successfully re-creates the atmosphere and aura of WW2 France under the Nazis. The undercurrents of fear, terror, and conquest are interwoven throughout the book, particularly in the interplay between St. Cyr and Kohler - conquered and conqueror.

All in all, these elements, while they may seem countercurrent to one another, come together to brilliantly tell a tale of murder and intrigue in Vichy France. The major detraction is, as I've said, the fact that this book demands one's undivided attention, and meticulous attention to everything that is written. Not for casual reading!

The book does give a nice atmosphere of occupied Paris. What is irritating is that the author uses literal translations of french. Examples: 'My Old One', rather than 'Old Man', then in other places he uses the french word unnecessarily, ex. 'Imbecile' (spelled with accent mark). The characters are cliche, think second rate mystery films of the 30's and 40's. As the plot thickens, it becomes ridiculous and unbelievable. Not worth the trouble.

Sorry to be destorying Carlo Collodi's famous book, but Disney has won me over. No major violence is softened in the 1883 Collodi version. The cricket is intensionly killed. Geppetto is a JERK in the oringnal beginning. I do not advise "Pinocchio" unless it's Disney.

The story of Pinocchio as it was meant to be, he wasn't a sweet innocent puppet, more a selfish brat. There's a good moral slant here though, and of course, the story being told by Bill Pullman in that wonderful slightly gravelly voice makes for easy listening.

This book is very short and is written poorly in a summary. It does not tell important things that happen. It has no Jimminy Cricket, no going to school, and Pinocchio finds Geppetto by accident which is not so. He is supposed to get a note telling where Geppetto is and Pinocchio is supposed to go to him. This book is not written very well. Take my advice. It's a third graders point of view. I don't recommend this book and I don't think any other third grader will.

This is so much better and more exciting that much of what passes for children's literature today, but it is still better left as a memory of what once was. Tom Swift will stil allow you to recapture your lost youth, but the antics of Danny, Irene, and Joe, ably abetted by Professor Bullfinch are just too much formula-writing.

Actually the book was a good read until the last paragraph. At that point the author shows great stupidity by revealing that the wealthy rancher has 60 acres. She created a land baron in the book. I felt duped. Sad thing is, the author thinks 60 acres is a lot. This was my first Peart book. I doubt I could read another one. For me, that error, was a fatal flaw.

I like Jean & Ron Henry's artwork. But what's the deal here? Listed as published July 24, 2006 and out of print today ( August 10, 2006)? Is this a joke or what?

I was reading the book in hopes to have the audio cd to really understand the book. No problem with the book itself but I would like to be able to have the audio cd that suppose to come with the book.

What kinda looney came up with this idea? Basically, you are a cadet and you have to survive in the Star Trek universe. I don't know. Get it if you're determined to.