Chong Books

If you enjoy the FUIII sim then this is a good buy. I found the tips on the P-51 very useful. Goes into more detail than most Prima series books.

"The Global Experience" is a collection of excerpts from various historical primary-source documents, this particular volume ranging from the beginning of civilization up through the year 1550. The documents are arranged chronologically by civilization and time period, and each one is briefly introduced with appropriate background information provided. The book also offers "Questions to Consider" for each document, which may help the student focus on what is important about a particular piece. Occasionally two documents will be compared, showing similarities in theme from culture to culture.

This book is not, however, intended to be a history text in and of itself. It merely offers supplementary material, which may be incorporated into a curriculum. The background information given is only what is necessary for the understanding of the text, and does not go in-depth. The readability of the text varies from piece to piece, as is to be expected. Some are very easy to read and comprehend, and others take more work to get through. Also, it should be emphasized that the writings given here are, for the most part, ONLY excerpts, and not the full text. If you are going to be studying a particular piece of writing in depth, you would want to find a full-text version, and not use this book.

Topics covered include four different creation stories, Sumerian legend, the ancient Near East, ancient Egypt, acient China, Greek epics and poetry, Hindu writings, Buddhist writings, classical India, classical Greek and Roman texts, the rise of Christianity, the rise of Islam, Islamic law and culture, Germanic tribes, feudalism and chivalry, Africa, Byzantium, scholasticism and mysticism, Medieval life and government, the Mongols, the Black Death, the rise of the Ottoman Empire, Russia, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the Age of Exploration. This fourth edition includes 18 new texts not found in the older third edition.

This is an excellent and a very detailed report on one of the Korean Chaebol, Hyundai.

You will understand how the Korean economy is structured and operating in South Korea and why they have the problems facing today.

Also very valuable is the part on the difference between Japanese and Korean business operation in the States. It reminds the rest of the world about what difficulities would be encountered and what issues should be pay attention to.

Like I said, this book is really easy to read and the stories are short so you would not have to spend too much time on it. The stories can be read at leisure and are really interesting. The stories like Fountain of Youth and the Vanity of the Rat are popular stories and this book contains about 64 stories to read. I reccomend this book for readers who love korean culture and their folk tales.

A Ready-Made Life is a collection of translations of Korean short stories written during the 1920s and 1930s, a period when Koreans writers and intellectuals were just beginning to experiment with the short story form. The collection offers a diversity of stories whose styles range from comedy to romance to politics. Korean is a very difficult language to translate into English but Fulton and Kim do a good job of capturing the Korean authors' styles of expression. The only weakness of this volume is that it sometimes doesn't provide much explanation for certain peculiarities present in the stories. For instance, characters in some of the stories included in the volume have one letter names such as "P" or "M". I was left curious as to whether Korean authors actually had a common practice of using Roman letter names for their characters or whether these letter-names were somehow derived from Korean by the translators. Yet this is a minor defect that could be corrected by a few explanatory footnotes. Takes as a whole, this book provides a good introduction to Korean literature from a period that has been neglected by Koreanists in both Korea and the United States.

One thing I enjoy about AsiaPac's books--they're not quite like anything else on the market. 16 of Zhuge Liang's greatest strategies / philosophies are boiled down into an easy-to-access, unique presentation. Rather than throw a thick text bogged down by philosophical passages, the Wang Xuan Ming presents the concepts with cute, quirky illustrations in comic book format. Some of the illustrations are amusing and some are silly, but it gets the more high-brow points across quickly and easily. If you're looking for a deep, rich book on Zhuge Liang, this isn't the best title, however. It presents bare bones concepts with illustrations--but doesn't delve into his deeper works, or his actual phrases (the texts are paraphrased). If you need solid text and meat, try the Shambala Dragons edition of "Mastering the Art of War" which includes a translation of some of Zhuge's scrolls. As for the 16 Strategies of Zhuge Liang, I own it, enjoy its offbeat humor and quirkiness, and would recommend it to collectors of Romance of the Three Kingdoms related books. It may be the only comic book Philosophy 101 course you'll ever find.

Beautiful book but don't read it all at once because the agony of a child is a hard thing to handle. I have read some of the other reviews (some of which cite that there is no place in the book where a good memory of childhood is found)and I came away with the impression that such trauma so early in a child's life would most probably leave so much emotional and mental confusion that she only remembers the hard things.

The loss of her mother is most probably the hardest for her to deal with since it left her without the nurturing at a young age which then becomes the solid base for the adult. Over and over again we hear the little child crying for her mother.

It is the last part of the book which is the most frightening. I got the feeling that she has not resolved her horror of her childhood. There are too many suggestions of how she has planned her suicide(right down to the color of the ribbon in her hair when she is found). While she says that she feels better now; I question it. Anxiety if not relieved can beget anger; and sometimes this is turned against other people and sometimes it is turned inward toward the self.

Indeed, on page 219 she states, "I don't feel healed....there are many times when I feel utterly alone and terrified." I can only hope for her that in the future she rises from her past and writes about her ten thousand happinesses.

I bought and listened to the audiobook. It is narrated by the author Elizabeth Kim herself, and this gives weight to words' authenticity. I did not hear her whining or filled with self-pity. The book speaks plainly of her life as she experienced it, and that is how I hear it in her voice. Mid-way through listening to "Thousand Sorrows" I came to Amazon and saw the attacks. I was stunned by both the problems with historical truth (Kim's problem) and the strident open anger (her critics' problem). I finished the story and then borrowed the hardback from my library. Having both heard and read the book now, and browsed through most of the reviews and comments here, I choose to accept the heart of Elizabeth's story: girl meets love; girl loses love in her mom, new parents, school, abusive husband and especially herself; and girl finds love. I choose to accept the deep tragedy that spread through much of her life and in the end seems to have dissolved, mostly. I choose to think that the problems of veracity are problems of her editor's failure to amend a note at the front, warning us that this is a story of memory and not objective history. I choose to believe that Kim did witness what she interpreted as an 'honor killing' and yet I wish that Kim's editor had not allowed the dust jacket and Chapter 19 emphasis on it -- like others, I have found no other references in available literature to honor killing in Korea. Yet, I do notice that many of the attacks in the press seem to originate and flow from one person, a non-Korean graduate student.

Kim includes poetry here, of Blake and Millay and her own. She does not reference time, but does refer to a childhood memory of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" ('65) and draft resistance ('67) and, as a young bride, 1974's "The Total Woman". She includes comments from her adult daughter, a welcome breath of air, and from it we know that Kim did not become too terrible a mother. Not bad, all things considered.

SPOILER ALERT

I really liked this book. It was sad but not too self-pitying. I was absolutely riveted to the story and found the image of her walking away from her husband moving. I got the sense that the author understands her strengths and shortcomings. The writing was simple but deep. I couldn't believe that she's still in contact with her parents!

I've tried to find out whether honor killings happened in Korea and haven't found any evidence of it on the web, but I've only done a rudimentary search. Does anybody have any concrete information on this?

About some of the facts. Lucy Grealy who wrote "Autobiography of a Face" was asked how she could have remembered all the conversations in her memoir. She replied that she had used educated guesses to make them up. Some people were shocked but it makes sense to me. Memoirs are not autobiographies, they don't have to be based on facts, just memories. I never read a memoir expecting to tell the complete story or even an accurate portrait. It's a point of view. Kim wrote a really good memoir, now I just want to find out more about Korea at that time.

Sometimes, we don't know what is happening in the other parts of the world. Perhaps, we don't care. It is good to read something that is a true story and hear the story from the person who experienced the occasion personally. I love the way Elizabeth Kim tells the story. She described the situation well. It feels like we were actually there, watching her life being torn by someone else.

*this review refers to the unabridged audio book.

first of all, it's hard to say what i would've thought had i read this book rather than listening to it. my experience with audio books is limited. elizabeth kim, the author reads it, and i liked the soothing sound of her voice. also, she talks at a nice, relaxed pace--not as fast as some books i've heard. that made it much more enjoyable to me as it was easy to follow the story.

secondly, i started reading a few of the unfavorable reviews and had to stop. i'm also a korean adoptee and if i have any issues with this book, they most definitely do not center on the accuracy of its content. i feel like anyone who questions kim's account or sees it as a misrepresentation of korean culture probably could open their eyes and/or hearts a little bit. either that or take a creative non-fiction writing course because they're missing the meat and potatoes of her work.

if you've been adopted, you're already at the front of the "victim" pack. when you compound that with unloving and abusive environments, the issue can take an extraordinary amount of soul-searching, heartbreak and work to climb out of. and it's usually a very slow journey. kim's memoir depicts this with self-effacing honesty and raw emotion. i don't think the average person can relate to the sum total of the author's horrific experiences, but they'll recognize the themes of control, acceptance, self-discovery and redemption. this is the strength of the work and the best reason to read "ten thousand sorrows." i sobbed during parts, especially where kim talks about feeling unworthy, alone or hopeless. i don't know if that's because of what we have in common or because of the universality of these feelings.

the plot seemed to jump and skip around a bit toward the end, the author's adult years. i don't think it took a lot away from the flow, but i don't know how much i would've noticed it in the book form. all the necessary parts remained intact and the story was ably told regardless. my favorite parts are the author's reflections on poetry, journalism and motherhood--perhaps because they were among the major vehicles for her healing and say so much about the human spirit.

even if you don't personally share elements of kim's story, "ten thousand sorrows" is a worthy read. it's about forgiveness and redemption in the end, not all the suffering and cruelty in its beginning. but it's important to know where you came from to know who you are. kim fully understands this. the book also delves deeply into religious fanaticism, physical and mental abuse, and identity. i thought there were a few glitches here and there, some parts dragged a teeny bit and a few parts seemed to be handled with the same response of the author at the past-time rather than with hindsight and broader perspective. what you get here is completely personal insight with a packed plot. those are the building blocks of a strong memoir. kim covers a lot of ground and generously shares what she learned along the way. it's gutsy, inspiring and admirable.

Becker provides a relatively detailed exposition on the history of Korea and how the reign of Kim Jong Il came to be. Unfortunately, the book lacks a coherent organization and is, at times, difficult to follow. It's almost as if he had a set of anecdotes he wanted to include in the book and hastily organized them into chapters. One page he's talking about Italian chefs being flown in with pizza ovens to teach Italian cooking, then suddenly there is discussion of Stalin and Mao.

It's unfortunate because there is good information in this book (I think) and it's an interesting read, but it could really benefit from being written chronologically and just having a better organization overall.

Personally I wouldn't recommend it.

Jasper Becker does an excellent job detailing the rise to power of Kim il Sung and his struggles with the totally psychotic Kim Jong Il.

The book is well written and explores the horrific conditions North Koreans endure as well as the Machiavellian manner that Jong Il treats those close to him.

Becker derives most of his information from interviews with North Koreans who have escaped, but also uses military intel and his own travels there to craft a startling picture.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in NK (I'd also be remiss if I didn't ferverently recommend "Aquariums of Pyongyang, one of the finest books ever written on this subject.)

One caveat comes to mind however: The opening chapter examining what might occur in case of a military strike against NK is just down right hokey, and I'd implore the reader to carry on as it gets much better.

Becker has written what is essentially an incredibly long-winded diatribe that is more riddled with assumptions and condemnations than fact. In spite of his years of experience as a foreign correspondent -- or perhaps because of it -- Becker demonstrates an almost utter lack of understanding about North Korea as a country, government and about North Koreans as a people. As he does not speak Korean, his research obviously did not include any Korean primary sources--except for those from North Korean defectors, who are notoriously conservative. It's certainly true that the North Korean government has dug itself into economic collapse and that millions of North Koreans are suffering. It's also true that North Koreans are watched over and sent away (most certainly to prison camps) if they misbehave or are considered disloyal. However, it is one things to report the problems of a country, the corruption in its government, and the suffering of its people from a balanced and well-researched perspective and quite another to lambaste that country with accusations when you neither have the background nor have done the research to warrant doing so. Readers who wish to learn about North Korea would be well-advised to pass on Becker's book and find one written by a Korea specialist who actually knows something about the country.

I like the comment from one of the previous reviewers calling Becker a neocon. Well, here are the facts as Becker puts it. We have a dynastic Communist regime that invents history and is pursuing WMD such as nuclear bombs and delivery vehicles like incontinental ballistic missles. However this same regime cannot even feed its people. Still it races to acquire these arms. Ridley answers these questions. The regime will blackmail the rest of the world with these weapons. Since the mid 1990s, literally 2-3 million North Koreans starved to death. Those are facts and realities and the West has to face them.

Becker provides the information and states that the only reality will be regime change. Since the Kim regime will probably not go willingly, it will be bloody. However, the option is to buy this regime off (a la the Barbary Pirates-even though that didn't work well). The West does not have many options. I wish we could put the problem where it started-with the Russians who gave the DPRK the nuclear reactors, the Chinese who still support the regime, and their brothers the ROK who like to talk of a sunshine policy rather than cold hard facts.

This is a good read. However, I would like to comment that the reading could have been better organized. The flow of the book changes quite a bit in each chapter. That said, there is a lot of good info in this book.

Firstly, buy the book, you won't be dissapointed.
Although it suffers a little from some editing quirks, it's a great "can't-put-it-down" read. Especially if you want a quick condensed history of the North Korean regime and the absolute "Looney Tunes" that run the country.
If there is even an ounce of truth in any of this book then we need to afraid, very afraid!

this is the best for simulators that i have tested and tried. the only way that microsoft could improve this is the graphics. to make the graphics look more real. other than the graphics it is a joy to play

This book for this program is great.

You must like it!

If you just purchased MSTS and want to learn how to use "Route Editor", "Cab Editor", "Consist Editor", and activities....good luck trying to figure it out without this book.(I bought the book and I am still trying to figure it out!!) Unless of course you have a PHD. in computer science!Well rounded book outlining all the routes and features the simulator has to offer. Just wish it had an index.

This book is really a basic tutorial and not much else. A lot
of space is dedicated to geographical description of the train routes and less to the technical issues, especially the Tools and Editors. The coverage for this topic is very elemetary. This is the kind of manual that used to come with the software. There are, however, some useful pieces of information which are not included in the MSTS documentation. It's a good place to start...but not to finish

This book is full of helpful hints and strategies for the game. It could be more detailed but it covers all the activities and routes that come with the game.

The book is extremely useful when you're about to start an activity for the first time or you don't know quite where to begin. It's written in simple language, not technical jargon, so it's easy to understand and easy to use. Each of the acitvities for each of the routes is covered, with tips and helpful hints to point out "gotchas" and things to watch. There's a little bit of historical information as well.

What makes an activity "hard" on the difficulty scale? Can I complete it in the time allotted? What hazards or conditions make the activity easy or difficult? Is there a stategy I can employ to make the activity more successful? Where on the route will I have to slow down or stop my train, and why?

These are the sort of questions addressed by the book. While it's probably not a necessity, I would highly recommend it for the Train Simulator owner who wants to get the most from the game.

Starfleet Command came with a better manual than many games, and this guide is a helpful add-on to it. The mission analyses are useful; there is good discussion on campaign play and play vs. humans; the tactics sections and tables are well done.

However, since the manual was published, Interplay got around to releasing the Hydran campaign special missions; those, obviously, aren't in the book. Not a knock, just something the buyer should know. Conspicuously absent is a section on how to fight against and with each nationality; such sections exist for the different weapons, but not for the entire nationality. (For example, a discussion of anti-expanding sphere tactics, or how best to avoid ever letting a Hydran get a close range shot at you.) While there's a listing of all the ships, nothing is said about their unique qualities (for example, the old Federation destroyer not having nearly enough power to charge its weapons and move).

Better than many of the 'strategy guides' being sold, but could have been better still. Recommended mainly if you're finding some of the missions frustrating.

This book is a hit and miss. It's like a batter hitting a pitch straight back for a foul ball; it usually means he's right on the pitch and was expecting it, but he just missed it.

Some missions in the game are not even talked about in the book, and to my frustration, some of those not in the book were some of the hardest missions I played. Most, after time, you will be able to solve. However, you occasionally will need a little help. I was not happy to discover that this book left out a mission here and a mission there.

It does not talk about in-depth strategies to the game either. It is a surface-scratcher, and superficial at that. While it does have its redeeming qualities (it IS a strategy book, so it isn't all that useless), there are probably websites out there that would probably be a little more helpful than this book was.

"Starfleet Command" is a great game and not easy to master, but this book makes the process much easier. Two of the contributors were on the development team that built the game, and they provide excellent insider advice. There's fine tactical training, and I liked the hints about how to deal with the space monsters who are scattered around the game. All in all, the book is well worth buying.

This strategy guide just about has it all.. great ship to ship battle tactics, thorough mission walkthroughs and lots of stats. If you are enjoying Starfleet Command, snag this book!

Very thorough coverage of the missions, and some tactical information. However I found that the strategy guide lacked the internal information that I expect to see in every guide of this type. Things like formulas, weapon specifics, explanation of some things not in the manual (game effects of a type B rack for example) and the most prominent missing item: full overviews of each race, their advantages and disadvantages, and possible strategies against enemies of other races. This overview, for those interested, can be found in SFB Module D2: Tournament Tactics. Although aimed towards the tournament ships, you will get a good idea of good playing techniques for each race.