Bates Books

The Legions have the most members compared to the other psi orders. They are the soldiers of humanity. Their primary mission is to protect humanity from aberrants, aliens, and from itself. This book expands on each one of the seven legions in the psi order. New psychokinetic powers were introduced and many of them were useful. The amount of detail on the legions such as their numbers, history, training, recruitment and commanding staff was a fast and entertaining read.

Their homebase of Australia was also given a lot of space in the book. What separated this book from the other ones, was that the cultures of each one of the Australian states were discussed. Though viewed as the new melting pot after the USA became the FSA, Australia still suffers from many social problems. This book was realistic in its portrayal of what the region would be like given its policies and populations.

This is one of the best psi order/region books available for Trinity. Little fluff and plenty of substance. It is useful for both storytellers and players who want to use the Legions and/or Australia in their games.

In the world of Trinity, the Earth is treatened by various forces: the alien Chromatics, the all powerful and lunatic Aberrants and the crossbreeding Coalition. The Earth has the Psionic orders, humans with great but sometimes limited powers. This book tell us about one of the orders: The Legions. Like an armada of soldiers but with the ability to use their mind with the gift of Psychokinesis. This discipline devides in 3 branches: Pyrokinesis, Cryokinesis and Telekinesis. In the book they explain how the Psion uses this powers and the full structure about the order. Besides being an Order book, it explain us about Australia, the Legion's homebase. From political conflicts to local lifestyles, this book tells us what we need to run a chronicle on Australia. A good book, worth a look.

A great compilation of short stories that allowed me to really get inside and want more. I read this book quickly and left me wanting more!
Can't wait for the next one from this pair.

Each of these stories by Carmi Cosmos and Sarah Bates creates characters that are fully developed in just a few short pages. The authors' imaginations (out of their minds) allow the reader to meet each character and find out a little of their history, then move on to the next. I look forward to other books by these talented women.

I really enjoyed this book. He took all the Lord of the Rings concepts and explained what norse myths they had originated from. He writes in an easy way and obviously loves his subject. I would recommend it.

The Real Middle Earth is a largely forgotten civilization stretching from Old England to Scandinavia and across western Europe, a culture made up of the early European tribes of Celts, Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen. It is a time and culture which foreshadowed Tolkien's imagined world on which he based his `Lord of the Rings'.

The Real Middle Earth begins by looking at the daily lives of the people of the time, their customs, culture, and governmental structure. We see how these people lived and are offered an insight into their beliefs and customs.

Next we enter the magical forests of Real Middle Earth, looking at places such as Runnymede, which in Anglo-Saxon times was known as Rune-mede... the place of the casting of runes.

We read of the `Towers of Doom', the `Dragon's Lair', `Elves Arrows' and `Plant Magic'. Next we are introduced to the `Wells of Wisdom', the `Raven's Omen' and shape-shifting into magical beasts, the `Web of Destiny' and the Celtic, Germanic and Norse Seeresses. Both the magical implements and rituals of the day are discussed.

The Real Middle Earth is an outstanding book, well-written and offering insight into the soul of the great cultures of Northwestern Europe. For fans of Tolkien this book shows you the real history behind his imagined world. For those interested in the history of the peoples of Northwestern Europe, the Real Middle Earth offers a unique and enjoyable presentation of the history and insight into soul of these great cultures.

Highly Recommended.

The story of Bill Bates is a story of overcoming the odds. What I found to separate this tale from other sports stories is that Bates provides great insight into his thought-process during the events of his life. He was the thinking man's football player. He changed with the team and with the game, constantly staying one step ahead and anticipating and filling the need on the Cowboys.
He doesn't just tell us that he overcame a serious leg injury. He tells us how he overcame it, what goals he had and what his thought process was. It was fascinating to read how he viewed things.
Often times the best sports stories are told by players who weren't huge stars. Bates was on a team of huge stars, but he certainly had his moments to shine and he candidly shares these moments with us.
This is an interesting book, covering and balancing his personallife with his professional life.

Fans of the Dallas Cowboys will love this down-to-earth story of one of their greatest heroes, Bill Bates, but anyone who follows pro football can enjoy this inspirational story. Bates begins by describing how he had always wanted to be a Cowboy and goes into detail about how he never allowed anyone to derail him from his dream of wearing the star on his helmet, even when he is bypassed in the NFL draft. His hard work and determination enabled him to carve out a long career as a special teams standout and starting safety despite being labelled "too slow" to play professionally and having to prove himself all over again with each new coach.

The book is exceptionally readable, and Bates is candid with both his emotions and opinions. Even if you're not a Dallas fan, and I'm not, you can't help but cheer for Bill Bates at each twist and turn his career takes. The story at times seems more than a little corny, but it is a nice antidote for the image of spoiled pro athletes that is so prevalent these days.

While emphasizing pattern histories more than actual technique, this is nevertheless one of my favorite books. As a tyer, I benefit from the extensive pattern lists and learn a little about each one in terms of where it came from. The book doesn't have as much material covering how to fish streamers, but there's enough for the beginner to learn and more advanced anglers will enjoy the book anyway. Highly recommended.

J.D. Bates delivers exactly what this title indicates. Reflections of big fish taken, and the flies he used to take them. Written in the language of a by-gone generation, this book is easy to read and enjoy. Mr. Bates writes with the colorful appeal and common sense approach of Joe Brooks coupled with the technical efficiency of Mr. Art Lee. A most dangerous com- bination to all fish holding water! 500 streamer and bucktail dressings, 164 of these on 12 full color plates with historical accounts of their origins. A must read for anyone who fishes with the fly.

Luis Mejia - Desperation is a deep and certainly scary work of fiction which gives way to a general sense of message through it's thoughtful scenaries. Among the King universe Desperation is unconventional, although it gets quite refreshing for it's style. It captures the crudeness and strambotic sense of the desert, the mystic power always present in his paranormal fiction, the storyline is easy-going and lineal (which gives the plot a witty sense), and the reader can be excited by the All-American characters King writes with such a dark sense of anti-humor. Apart from this factors usually present on Stephen King's work, it's impossible not to think that, even for King, the work shoud've been better crafted; while the storyline is understandable, it hits into common and even incredilby predictable boundaries; clutches of plot pieces are wrolngly scattered on through (Eg: the survivor lady which gets to the cinema and the impossible to connect section's of David Carver's past) and specially the quick and running ending, which is worst portrayed than the length of the whole novel. By all means, at the end of the novel, take a great time to think about the deepness of the messages so wonderfully expressed on the novel; the merciless aspect of God (the "hole" Desperation represents, the destiny God carries out on David and even the rest of the connecting survivors), the crude appeareances of stereotypes, and how evil and goodness are balanced. Be prepared to read an unconvential King novel, all gotten into the bloody side of the desert and the terrible perspectives of loneliness in towns and it's only connections.

This was the first Stephen King book that I ever read. I saw it at a 2nd hand store and figured for $5 I couldn't go wrong. Well I have to say when I opened it that night after work I could not put it down! This book was amazing! The intese details paint a perfect picture. Definately a good read.

Once again a novel about the classic battle of good vs. evil, but King (as usual) does a good job of coming up with original material. This keeps the reader involved, as the suspense comes from trying to figure out just what/what the bad guy is and what he wants.

That said, even when writing a horror book about the unreal, it is not justifiable to throw all logic out the window, and sadly King forgets logic in both the details and the overall plot.

For instance, in one scene a main character is looking at a WALLET-sized photograph and is able to clearly identify not only three men, and the baseball cap that one of them is wearing, but also the name of the club on a sign behind them. If this isn't bad enough, it should be mentioned that the photograph is 30 years old. (I guess they don't make photos like they used to.)

Flaws in the plot are also clumsy: in another scene hero David makes another one of the main characters empty his pockets to make sure that the guy isn't carrying any "evil rocks". But when does he do this? Not after another lady is found with evil rocks, when it would be logical. Instead, the pockets are emptied in fact much later: RIGHT AFTER David declares that this guy has had a "change of heart" and is now certainly on the good side.

Most embarrassing is the overall theme. All through the book, the main characters all determine that "God must be cruel" to let so many people die in the town. But on the last page of the book, it is once and for all decided that "God is love". What happened during this time for the main characters to change their minds? The evil guy decides to let the main characters escape, but God commands them to destroy the evil guy, which leads to the death of 2 of the main characters in the process.

Flaws aside, overall the book is entertaining. However, in between the action, King for some reason has some of the narrative recounted by hero David (who tells the background story after seeing it in a vision) rather than just having flashbacks in the story. This leads to a book that would be equivalent to a fast-paced action movie that is inexplicably interupted up by 10-minute sequences of dialogue.

This book concerns a number of travellers trapped by what appears to be a maniac cop, in a mining town called Desperation, and their attempts to escape.

As Stephen King books go, I did not think this was one of his better ones, but was a pretty good read, nonetheless. I felt the characters in the story were reasonably good, and kept you interested in them, for most of the time, anyway, as it should be pointed out, that this book is slow moving in parts, by this author's standards.

The main drawback, I felt was that the whole 'Tak' thing was weak, and got slightly boring at times. It also could have been explained a bit better.

Above all, the book is poorly written. The plot is formulaic and forgettable. The author's attempt to be suspenseful and scary fell flat. I'm not a Stephen King reader but I was sorely disappointed by this book.

Treasure Island / 0-375-75682-5

There's been so many movies based on Treasure Island that it's almost impossible not to be somewhat familiar with the story. Stevenson shines here, managing to carefully craft a story for children that will also appeal to adults.

The boy hero of the story is respected enough to be included in the plans and tribulations of the adults onboard, but is not kowtowed to the point of offending adult sensibilities. The pirates are realistically rendered, but not to the point where real children would likely be frightened - the violence here is fantastical only, of the sort that was seen so vividly in other classics, such as Peter Pan. Indeed, I am tempted to categorize Treasure Island as a children's classic, alongside such classics as Barrie's work, but I feel that the slightly dated format and feel of this particular classic might present a barrier to young children. Perhaps this is best read as an adult's guilty pleasure, or as a group reading choice, with the adult explaining the more esoteric references and sea-faring minutia.

TREASURE ISLAND is quite simply *the* classic pirate story. It is a supremely enjoyable read, an adventure tale with danger, mystery, suspense, and travel to exotic places--not to mention pirates!

Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND tells of the coming of age of the boy Jim Hawkins, the son of innkeepers. One day, Jim's parents take on a strange boarder, the "captain," later revealed to be a pirate mate, Billy Bones. The "captain" kept in his room a chest within which, it is revealed after his death, there is a treasure map indicating gold and silver buried on a deserted island. Jim takes the map to the local physician, Doctor Livesey, and the squire John Trelawney. Spurred to action, Trelawney secures a ship, the Hispaniola, which is captained by Alexander Smolletts. He invites Livesey to serve as ship's surgeon and Jim as cabin boy. Trelawney also hires the crew--most of whom turn out to be pirates associated with the treasure map's original owner, Captain Flint. The pirates are led by the ship's cook, Long John Silver, a wily, one-legged, parrot-bedecked, opportunistic pirate chief. (Stevenson's Long John Silver profoundly shaped later popular pirate lore.) The pirates intend to kill the captain, squire, doctor, and Jim on the return voyage after having found the buried treasure. What follows is Jim's adventure of a lifetime.

Though intended to be a story for youth, TREASURE ISLAND's nineteenth-century language, particularly the patois of the sea dogs, will challenge readers under ten. Amusingly, it sometimes also challenges Jim Hawkins, who can't always follow what the pirates are saying. Though the language at times may be difficult, the suspense of the tale will keep propelling readers forward to its exciting and satisfying end.

This "Whole Story" edition is lavishly illustrated with color drawings based on the story. There are also pages devoted to types of sailing vessels, sails, knots, compasses and other nautical stuff. The book also includes a number of sidebar-like illustrated fun facts about pirates and other things only tangentially related to the story. In fact, I often found the additional material not terribly germane and sometimes intrusive and distracting. Still, it makes for a handsome gift book. One simply interested in reading this ripping yarn might choose an edition with simple illustrations or no illustrations at all, save for Stevenson's treasure map.

This is a solid condensed version of the classic search for buried treasure in the late 1700's. Author Robert Louis Stevenson draws readers in early as the Captain arrives at the Benbow Inn in Britain, focused on incoming ships, and warning young Jim Hawkins of one-legged visitors. The story picks up as Billy Bones arrives, bringing danger and discovery of the treasure map, a discovery that leads Jim and his companions to risk the long trip in search of riches. I felt the suspense as Jim's group boards ship with a hardened sea crew that includes Long John Silver and other tough cookies. Then the ship finally arrives at the Island, where Jim and his companions must survive treachery and deadly struggles at the fort - before they even see the treasure.

I just taught this abridged version to English-literate students at a high school in Latin America; most liked it although some wanted even more action. This is a solid read for adventure fans, capable young readers, and those that desire a good story.

My dad and I are reading this book, and we think it's totally awesome! If you are 11 or 12, you may want to read this book with an adult, but you'll love the adventure and pirates, the treasure map and the Hispanola. I think I am going to start learning pirate lingo now, so I'll be ready if Long John shows up at my door! If you read this book you'll have to rate it a five star because of the adventure. Kids, hope you can get YOUR dad to read it with you!!

Cracking good pirate tale hits all the high points of treachery, adventure, narrow escapes, and treasure hunting, usually misfiled in the Juvenile section.

"Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!"

See my review of the new novel Silver: My Own Tale As Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder that tells more of the story behind Long John Silver.

I read this book years ago and still remember the characters, as well as some of the events. I'm unsure if my love for chamber music had any bearing on my feelings towards this book, but it did allow me some additional insights. As someone who is familiar with the conversations between musical instruments, I'd neglected the lives of the musicians. In this book, the reader is shown the alliances, as well as the disagreements among the "players" of beautiful music. Rarely do good musicians make mistakes with warhorses. However, they certainly are human, and herein is the interest -- at least, for this reader. The characterizations are quite believeable, and some of the relationships are funny, sad, as well as down right heart breaking. Some situations -- two stand out -- are unforgettable. Seth's prose is smoothe, as well as melodic. This is a beautiful book and extremely satisfying -- especially to someone who appreciates books, as well as music. Highly recommended.

I picked this book up in the hotel I was recently staying at whilst at a loose end on holiday. I'd heard the name Vikram Seth but knew nothing about him or what he wrote about. I opened it, read the first page, and was immediately sucked in by the beautiful prose and the depiction of London which was so evocative I could practically smell and taste the city wafting off the page.

I continued reading and simply could not put this book down. It is the only novel I have ever read in one whole sitting, in a single day. It is absolutely compelling.

Seth's prose style is stark and minimalist in the main, and the unsaid silences and spaces between the words were, for me, often as important as what was said.

The love story between Michael and Julia is so beautifully wrought, and with such verisimilitude that at many points in their story I was struggling to read the novel through the tears in my eyes - tears of joy and sadness as the fortunes of their relationship waxed and waned.

This book will haunt me for a long time to come. Unforgettable and irresistible from start to finish. On the basis of this novel alone, in my opinion Vikram Seth is as gifted a writer as exists today and an undeniable genius of the written word.

You will rarely find more authentic insights into the lives of classical musicians. Aside from the fact that this is a great book and compelling story, the realism of it is overwhelming. Highly recommend.

A haunting, romantic novel with layers of meaning unfolding long after reading. Wonderful dialogue--fluid, subtle, witty and truthful--which fully animates the characters and gives us the feeling we're under their skin. This quality makes the story seem much more realistic than the highly romantic and somewhat contrived plot-line would on its own.
What is remarkable is how unspoken dynamics between the protagonist, Michael, and his love, Julia, are evoked through both what is said and unsaid. The professional competition between them, both are musicians, is never mentioned but can be discerned in retrospect. It is hidden in the story by an overlay of their over-identification with each other and lack of emotional boundaries.
"An Equal Music" is the concept that liberates Michael; the realization that any one piece of music is democratically available for anyone to play. Somehow he grasps this finally from the little dog in a Carappacio painting, so powerfully significant to him at the most difficult point in his life, because the dog knows to accept what is and what is not. The writing during this difficult period, however, seemed to seriously degenerate. Seth's word choice is sometimes problematic--as if his experience as a poet of rhyming verse has influenced his diction. It isn't much of a problem until the last 80 pages of the book when it becomes very pronounced; the writing becomes a sort of convoluted prose poem--occasionally rhyming, that is difficult to understand or even read. Yet overall, this novel is so deeply felt it's a marvelous product of the imagination.

... explains Vikram Seth in the "Author's note" to this engrossing novel. His intimate connection to music and the process of bringing it to life is palpable throughout the book. The story closely follows the ups and downs in the life of violinist Michael Holme and, to a lesser degree, that of the mysterious pianist Julia McNicholl. What makes the story move far beyond a romantic novel is Seth's ability to convey the deep significance of chamber music by no lesser composers than Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert for his characters' psyche and everyday lives. You don't have to be knowledgeable about the music to feel absorbed by this rich, complex and intimate love story. *)

The story, told through Michael's eyes, is mostly set in north London, where he has found refuge after fleeing Vienna, the town of his professional training. Ten years have passed but his musings keep returning to events in Vienna: self-doubts in his talent as a soloist, amplified by the demands of an exacting, overbearing teacher, had resulted in a complete breakdown. His abrupt departure left Julia, his love, music partner and muse, without a word of explanation or good bye. As he slowly recovered, he tried to reconnect with her, wrote, contacted her father, only to meet a wall of silence. Seth's depiction of Michael's continuing emotional immaturity, his increasing despair at having lost what he now recognizes as his great love reveals the fragility of a character where musical brilliance and human weaknesses are interdependent. His solo career seemingly over, Michael joins the Maggiore Quartet as second violin. While in many ways a close knit group - the "family" gives his life the needed structure and support - it also is the source of inter-personal rivalries. The tensions, creative or destructive, between the quartet members are perceptively explored and the reader can appreciate the complex personalities of highly creative and sensitive virtuosi, whose captivating performances we tend to take for granted. Nonetheless, playing together, following the structural and harmonious intricacies of each composition, whether as duo, trio or quartet, overcomes any such impediments and leads to a level of intimacy and understanding that goes beyond speech. Getting into Michael's head with great skill, Seth creates a complex but believable character whose actions are often more the result of deeply felt emotions than rational analysis. To complement his protagonist's musings on his chamber musician colleagues and friends, and, of course, Julia, Seth turns to extensive passages of direct dialogue, thus energizing the narrative flow.

Michael's precious violin, an early 18th century Tononi, occupies one of the central themes in the narrative. It is another love affair of sorts and one he cannot abandon without losing his identity. Seth, well known also as a poet, finds the right lyrical tone when describing Michael's interaction with his violin, complementing the moods created by the music he plays or listens to. The violin, however, is only a long term loan from his violinist neighbour and music teacher in his home town in Northern England. She "discovered" and nurtured his talent from an early age and he keeps returning to her regularly for companionship and solace. Michael's family, while sympathetic, had no resources to support his ambitions. Seth very delicately raises the issues of family tensions, class and education as he contrasts Michael's upbringing with that of Julia, privileged daughter of an Oxford professor. Despite their differences, music can bridge any differences and misunderstandings between them.

It wouldn't be much of a story, if the former lovers were not to meet again... The romantic settings in Vienna and Venice add a beautiful and vivid backdrop to the concert tour by the Quartet. Those who have read the various reviews and book blurbs will no doubt know the main elements of the plot, unfortunately. I was cautioned by a friend not to read those and consequently explored the slow revelation of key events and secrets carried, with great pleasure. Seth has a wonderful sensitive touch in his exploration of the challenges faced by Michael and, in particular, Julia. This gives special depth to the story and take it beyond what one could have expected. [Friederike Knabe]

*) It is worthwhile exploring the music while reading or listening to it later on the companion CD Vikram Seth: An Equal Music

In some ways this is a hard book to get into since it is set in a totally different culture from ours -rural England of the mid-nineteenth century. You would think that that is close enough in time to not be a problem. But to me the things like their courtship customs, or what is considered scandalous/honorable behavior, are really at a variance with the way we act today that I found it hard to relate to. Add to this some of the implausible melodrama and coincidences that make up the plot and I almost ended up putting down the book.

However I kept reading and in the end I thought it was an excellent story. This is because it illustrated a truth about life that I could empathize with. How a man through pride, anger, stubbornness and alcoholism could end up destroying his relationships with all of the people he is close to and in middle age end up being alienated from everyone who was important to him in his life. Since this story was written there have been millions of guys like Michael Henchard. The details of their lives are different, their endings may have been different. But there is an underlying truth that is the same. That aspect of the story is timeless.

Michael Henchard, a down-on-his-luck, unemployed hay trusser, succumbs to the siren call of alcohol at a country fair. Subconsciously feeling his wife, Susan, is holding him back from success in this world, he awakes to sobriety the next morning and realizes that, in a foolish fit of pique, he has auctioned her and his daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, off to a sailor. Despite his frantic efforts to find them, they have disappeared. Ravaged with guilt over his selfish, impulsive act, he swears he will not take another drink for twenty-one years.

Whether his wife was indeed one of Henchard's problems is left for the reader to ponder as Henchard moves to Casterbridge, prospers wildly in business and eventually becomes the town's leading citizen and mayor. Henchard's wheel of fortune, however, begins to spin on a wobbly axle as Donald Farfrae, an enterprising young Scot travelling to seek his fortune, enters his employ as the manager of his business. At the same time, Susan and Elizabeth-Jane, re-enter Henchard's life believing that Michael Newson, the sailor who had purchased them some nineteen years earlier, has perished at sea. Henchard's life truly begins to come apart when Lucetta Templeman, a former lover, also moves to Casterbridge and, ashamed of her past romantic entanglement with Henchard, seeks to hold him to his promise of marriage!

Hardy raises many issues but, not expressing his own opinion through an unequivocal direction in the story's plot line, seems content to leave these issues as topics for sober analysis by his readers. Hardy questions the conflict between the merits of tradition vs modernization. There is the enormous irony that Henchard's success as a business person seems clearly attributable in part to his tee-totalling vow but is founded upon the five guineas seed capital raised through the auction of his wife and daughter! Henchard seems to epitomize the constant personal conflicts we all face between decisiveness and strength of character as opposed to impulsiveness and stubborn bullheaded intransigence! One wonders whether Lucetta is flighty, coquettish, thoughtless and selfish or is she an early manifestation of modern woman sadly out of time and years ahead of the ladies around her? Is Farfrae to be admired or scorned for his meteoric rise to power in Casterbridge and his complete devastation of Henchard's place among his peers?

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the entire novel comes with the discovery of Henchard's will and his words directing that the world leave him to rest in forgotten isolation and that no person mark or mourn his passing in any fashion. Once again, we are left to decide for ourselves whether Henchard's life should be pitied, forgiven, admired or looked upon with scorn and disgust.

To the readers of the day, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" would have been perceived as a darkly pessimistic tragedy that might have evoked emotions akin to those raised by Shakespeare's "Hamlet" or Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex". A classic worthy of the term, "The Mayor of Casterbridge", certainly never cheerful or uplifting, is however many, many things - compelling, moving, disturbing, thought-provoking and poignant. Above all, it is worthy of being read and enjoyed by any lover of classic 19th century British Literature.

Paul Weiss

In the novels of Thomas Hardy, tragedy can be an externalized force like Egdon Heath in THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE or it can be of the internalized sort, the kind that Michael Henchard brings on himself in THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE. In either case, nature is unforgiving, a quality which is a given in any of Hardy's works. When tragedy is of the latter kind, then the protagonist is not unlike the doomed tragic hero from classical Greek drama wherein he is first seen as a great or simply a good man who suffers from a tragic flaw, the results of which drag him down so that by the end of the action, his state is so miserably pathetic that the reader/audience can do no more than shake their heads in sorrow at his downfall, that in another and less proud man need not have happened at all.

Michael Henchard is the post-Victorian man of mixed qualities who like Oedipus, commits a sin and then spends the rest of the book trying to make amends. His sin is maudlin self-pity. He allows his current debased financial position to lead him to drink, all the while blaming his wife and child. At an auction, he offers his family for the sale to the highest bidder. He ignores the warnings from those present that he is courting disaster. An unknown man offers the highest bid and off he goes, taking Henchard's wife and child with him. Hardy takes pains to place Henchard squarely in the middle of this somber farce. Hardy gives no name to the successful bidder nor does he allow the reader to note the wife's actions. She, surprisingly, remains silent, but weeping. Henchard, by contrast, is loud, crude, and obnoxious. He occupies central stage until the next chapter when he sobers up, is filled with remorse, and then tries to set things right. He fails and winds up the leading citizen of Casterbridge. The image of the drunken Henchard and the mayor Henchard are startlingly unlike. The latter is sober, industrious, and respectable, causing the reader to commiserate with him. But the tragedy of Henchard does not lie merely in a series of vain regrets. Just as he seems to undergo permanent rehabilitation of self, his ex-wife shows up again, with a new child from the now dead bidder. Hardy complicates the plot with his usual unwieldy complications. As a result, Henchard plunges again into the depths of despair; this time he shows that his old sins of false pride and egotism have returned with a vengeance. He tries to bankrupt his business partner Farfrae, for reasons purely of jealousy. It becomes progressively more difficult for the reader to maintain the same sympathy that they had earlier. Later, at the novel's close, Henchard is made to wander like a wounded Lear, and this alone partially elevates him back to his previous stature of a tragic figure. He, like Lear, dies repentant. From his death, the audience discovers that the essence of a tragic fall lies not so much in how much sympathy that protagonist garners during that fall but rather in how true to life his fall was. Michael Henchard was neither saint nor reprobate sinner. He was the Victorian Everyman with a mixture of goodness and mean-spiritedness, either of which could emerge under the right circumstances. At his fall, the reader saw that the "right" circumstances were sufficiently ordinary so that anyone of us might have done the same. This is the essence of the tragedy of THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE.

Thomas Hardy has a reputation for writing bleak, sad stories. The Mayor happens to be my first Hardy read, and I can't tell you how saddening I found the overall tale.

Many points are made by Hardy: dealing with the past and its haunting effects; pride before the fall; and even the folly of mental inflexibility.

I couldn't shake the parallel of the King Saul/David story from the Bible while reading this. You have the powerful man who takes in an apprentice then becomes overcome with jealousy and envy as his apprentice eventually outshines him. And rather than putting his usurped life in perspective, allows his anger and envy to make matters much worse.

I saw Michael as a flawed man who is redeemed by his sense of duty and obligation.

I think the theme of duty to world versus self is important here. Michael's duty to his first family overrides his desire to be with his new girlfriend Lucetta. He probably would have been happier with Lucetta; but wouldn't we as the audience have seen him as selfish if he had chosen her instead of Susan? Both women were manipulative, one aggressively, one passively, so it probably didn't matter. But it does raise the question of how much of our personal happiness should be sacrificed for societal duties.

Donald Farfrae, the Scottish apprentice is put here purely to provide Michael Henchard with a foil. I don't feel he is developed at all, and is kind of dull, as is Elizabeth Jane.

There are character driven stories and plot-driven stories. And in plot-driven stories, you know that the characters' personalities or decision-making won't really matter in how things end. That's an aspect of Mayor...that some may find the most frustrating. You never could shake the feeling that destiny was unalterable. I, however, had no problem with it. It was a good ride.

Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge is a story about Michael Henchard attempts at redemption and the many sorrows, pain, and misery that comes with his decision to uphold his pride and name. To say that Henchard is the only character that suffers in this novel would be a misrepresentation; almost every character at some point suffers immensely in some trial of life, whether it is death of someone close, pain of separation, or the frustration of a relationship. For these reasons, this work is not a "light" read by any stretch of the imagination, and will probably test even the optimist's patience in getting through. Still, Hardy's story, the descriptions of the countryside and the characters' inner feelings, as well as the way he ties together every character in this book, is a remarkable feat and makes for a powerful read.

The story begins with Michael Henchard walking with his wife, Susan, to the fair as they cross the countryside. While there, in an act of drunkenness, Henchard sells his wife to a sailor, and seemingly sets in motion his irreversible bad fortune. Not being able to find his wife the next day, he makes an oath to not drink alcohol for 21 years, the exact amount of years he has lived. The novel then fast forwards 19 years to find Henchard the Mayor of Casterbridge, and a noteworthy man of respect. Susan finds him, marries him after forgiving him, but there are many secrets that both parties have and will have until the end of the novel. It seems that many of these secrets are the character's downfalls. Henchard, while Mayor of Casterbridge, meets a man named Donald Farfrae, who he comes to like and implores to stay in town; however, eventually he and Farfrae become bitter rivals in not only their business and society, but also in their relationship with Lucetta, a woman who had an affair with Henchard in the past.

Henchard's fallacy of character lay in his stubborn pride and his foolish belief that name and appearance is everything. He sometimes tries to create a façade, or cover up one sin with another secret or problem. When he tries to persuade Lucetta to marry him, so as to not destroy her name, he retorts: "But it is not by what is, in this life, but by what appears, that you are judged." He is a tragic individual who seems to not be able to change his views long enough to make something right occur; when something does go well, it is short lived. He even gets to a point where he connects himself with an ominous and unpreventable fate, at one point referring to himself as Cain. He never really heeds Elizabeth's attempts at love until very late in the novel when tragic occurrences seem to be set in motion.

Still, despite all his problems, and all his pride, he is a "likeable" character because he makes the effort at retribution and is sorrowful each time he gets hit with a dilemma or makes an unfavorable decision. He has the willingness and conscience to try to amend his deficiencies, but, in the end, he just makes too many mistakes, and has too much pride to reverse his fortunes.