Gibson Books

I've read this one. It's by Captain Marryat http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1853261106/qid=1130814728/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3667137-5119336?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
A historical fiction of 4 wealthy children left poor orphans during the English civil war. Quality piece of literature, that is. There is also a video of the story.

The Treasure Seekers

The six Bastable children are determined to restore their family fallen fortunes. They do not know exactly what it was that made their fortunes "fall" but it had something to do with mother dying, father being sick and his business partner running away. This depressing information is brought about casually and is merely the background for what is about to follow - a (very funny) treasure hunt practiced upon in different ways. Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel and H.O. all have different plans to get to their goal, ranging from helping an elderly gentlemen in distress (absence of apparent distress is a small obstacle) to answering a newspaper ad promising 2 pounds a week earned in your spare time - and are about to systematically try out all of them.
The story is told by one of the Bastable children, one that does not wish to reveal his identity. It is a great wonder therefore that Oswald gets such a favorable description..."Oswald put lumps of coal on the fire with his fingers, so as not to make a noise. He is a very thoughtful boy, and he did not wipe his fingers on his trouser leg as perhaps Noel or H.O. would have done..."
This is a lesser-known story of Edith Nesbit but is the first book published by her and a real masterpiece. This book is just as lovely as her more famous "Railway Children" and like that story works on both the adult and the child level. The book is full of detailed descriptions of conversations, food (very British), grave decisions and pretend play. The Bastable children do not feel miserable unless reminded and the book is a great, very amusing read. The language (which can sometimes be quite difficult for the modern reader) is, as Oswald explains, sometimes taken out of books and especially the "Jungle Book" ("Good Hunting" they wish each other). Contrary to other reviewers, I enjoyed the "air of another time" even if I did not always understand all the expressions.
This is a story of children in another era, trying to entertain themselves when they cannot afford school and need to struggle alone without the presence and explanations of adults (their self made explanations to unclear expressions, such as "seven times removed from the queen" are hilarious). The story is very cosmopolite in the sense that these are really stories of human kindness and nobility in all its forms. This is something adults and children alike can share, each according to his perceptions. The story is so rich with a sense of a different time, adventure, humor and human sociology that anyone can find something to suit his heart.

The Treasure Seekers is written from the point of view of a young British boy trying along with his siblings to recover "the lost treasures of the house of Bastable."

The book is crammed with hilarity. To begin with, the speaker says that he will not give away who he is - "While the story is going on you may be trying to guess, only I bet you don't." Throughout the book, he makes little digs about his siblings, and adds things like, "Oswald often thinks of very intersting things. And directly he thought of it he did not keep it to himself, as some boys would have, but he told the others."

His writing is very straightforward and honest (if biased), like a boy. And he does not try to be funny at all. Some ironies are obvious to the reader, making us chuckle while Oswald is very serious about them.

On the whole, Oswald is very likeable and understandable and creative, as are Dora, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and H.O. They get into scrapes with their good intentions, but the ending (in Oswald's words) "is like what happens in Dickens's books; but I think it was much jollier to happen like a book."

I find it odd that a book should be faulted because a reader doesn't understand all the references. For me as a child, puzzling out what phrases like "Let dogs delight" meant was fun -- even when I never did figure it out, or didn't figure it out until years later when I came upon the source. That was fun, too: to be reading something else or traveling in England and suddenly get the reference -- and think "So THAT's what she meant!"

But the references are a minor detail.

This was one of my favorite books as a child and I now think it is one of the greatest books ever written for children: funny, insightful, well-written, inspiring -- and unexpectedly moving in places, too. I still laugh out loud when I read it, and I still admire the children enormously: for their imaginations, resourcefulness, kindness to each other, loyalty, and, perhaps most of all, for their very English courage -- the way they deal with what drearier people would complain about.

Philosophically, I very much object to the idea that everything in a book should be easy to understand and known already to the readers. Surely one of the joys of reading is to be exposed to new ideas, people, places -- to learn?

Another great writer for children, PL Travers, the author of MARY POPPINS, writes about the enormous pleasure and stimulation she (as a child) derived from trying to puzzle out the meanings of phrases in adults' conversation, such as "she lived on her capital." (She phrases it better than I do here -- but she as a child imagined this aunt as a sort of ogress, nibbling on her own fingers and toes during an afternoon nap.)

It's probably true that E.Nesbit's writing is not for everyone-- but what is? I for one think it's great that children still love her -- and despite all the efforts that have been made to dumb their books and everything else down,that they still enjoy puzzling out (or simply accept and move on from) what they don't understand at a first glance.

Many authors -- Noel Streatfield and CS Lewis to name two more - have paid tribute to E.Nesbit. Noel Coward kept copies of her books by her bed. She still makes me laugh out loud, and very few authors from any era can do that.

Some of the cultural references in the book are obscure, but finding what they mean can be a lot of fun. Here is the context of "Let dogs delight..." It is from an old hymn to encourage children to get along with each other. Here is the text:

Song 16. Against quarrelling and fighting. (8,6,8,6)
Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
For God has made them so:
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
For `tis their nature, too.
But, children, you should never let
Such angry passions rise:
Your little hands were never made
To tear each other's eyes.
Let love through all your actions run,
And all your words be mild:
Live like the blessed Virgin's Son,
That sweet and lovely child.
His soul was gentle as a lamb;
And as his stature grew,
He grew in favour both with man,
And God his Father, too.
Now, Lord of all, he reigns above;
And from his heavenly throne
He sees what children dwell in love,
And marks them for his own.

This book was good although extremely hard to read and get through. I only finished it because it was for book club. I would not recommend this classic.

Illumination (1896) has been an underground classic among serious writers and readers since its publication. Although it sold well in its day, it was largely lost to mainstream attention for most of the 20th century. Only in the 1980s did it first start appearing in school settings with the first critical edition by Nebraska Press (and Penguin Press editions around the same time). It has been called an "American classic" by more than one critic and writer.

First, an explanation of the odd title. Frederic intended the title to be simply "Illumination", which it was indeed published as in England, but due to some mis-communication at his (soon to be bankrupt) American publishers - a working draft had the internal working name of "damnation" - it was mistakingly published as "The Damnation of Theron Ware". Later publishers in the 1930s then combined the two into the full title "The Damnation of Theron Ware, Or, Illumination".

This is an important novel and can be critically approached from a number of perspectives. Probably most important and timeless (c.f. Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion" (2006)) is Theron Ware's "Illumination" about truth in religion. Is the value of religion based on the belief in a real God, or just a belief in a god that may not even exist - the existence of which doesn't matter - the value in religion comes from _pretending_ to believe. It is unclear in the end if Sister Soulsby, Forbes and others truly believe, or just pretend to believe, and if it even matters.

The narrative technique of writing from Theron's perspective, hearing in the first person about his own "Illumination" and personal growth (a positive healthy thing it seems to him) - which is then re-played at the end of the novel from other peoples perspective, is very powerful and well crafted. It really makes the reader examine times in their own lives when they thought they were on the right and true path. It has a certain Rashomon theme of subjectivity and what is the truth of events from multiple perspectives.

Although I was a lit major, this book was never on any of my reading lists in college. I chanced upon it when it appeared on my son's required reading for a course..and wow, am I glad I did! It should be a classic, have no idea why it isn't, if only for the detail and insight about church politics and the workings of congregations in the 1800s.
This gem of a novel focuses on Theron Ware, a Methodist minister who has had a less than stellar career, which leads to his current posting in a small, backcountry town. He vows to make a new start and, for a time, things seem to go well. But alas, Theron is less certain than he appears, making him easy prey to those with questionable values and setting him on a parth towards destruction. For the first time in his life, Theron questions his calling, his values and even his marriage.
I couldn't wait to see how this one would end..and I won't give the ending away here. I'll just say that if you pick up this one, you won't be disaapointed.

Although this is a Faustian tale, the redemption is not uncertain-it is completely absent. The much put out Theron faces his new future in the West as a hopeless innocent, only his wife expresses modest doubt about his re-education. Having succcessfully ruined the surprise ending, I can only suggest everyone find a copy of this wonderful novel, set aside a day, and read it straight through. An amazing work from an under appreciated author.

Okay, granted. In some ways, this is pretty thin soup. A short novel, after all, and not by any stretch of the imagination a major novel, certainly not in the sense that Middlemarch or Ulysses are major. But I'd put this on a list of personal favorites. And there are certain second rate novels which for all their second-rateness should not be lost. Frederic lived not too long, accomplished not very much, saw not everything there was to be seen - but in this little fable of a Methodist preacher who never quite got the point, Frederic himself pretty much gets it right. Not a mean achievement for a lifetime, and so one not to be forgotten.

We got the other 13 books a while ago in the Oz series and Glinda of OZ wasnt available. It came very quickly and is the edition I prefer, with the larger size page and full page artwork.

Glinda of Oz (Books of Wonder) by L. Frank Baum is the last in the oz series that was written by Baum and is a splendid tale where we meet most of ourbeloved charachters like Ozma, Dorothy, Glinda, Jack Pumpkin, The Glass Cat and many other memorable ones. The story centers around Dorothy's and Ozmas attempt to avert a war between two tribes called the Flatheads and the Skeezers. The story takes many zany and crazy turns is a fitting conclusion to Baums oz series and I can not wait to read the rest of the oz books written by the other authors like Plumly Thompson and others.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book on the shelf at Books Kinokuniya, which I bought within the next 2 weeks and read within the next day or two. As many of you already know, this is L. Frank Baum's last writing of an adventure in Oz involving our beloved friends and characters before he died. But what many of you don't know is that this book is the 15th (yes, 15. I choose to count 'Little Wizard Stories of Oz' as part of the series, as it was written by him).
I quote form the Afterword: 'Baum finished 'Glinda' in February of 1918, only 3 months before his death in May, and 1 year and 1/2 before the book was published. Though Baum did not live to see 'Glinda' published, he seems to have written it as a farewell to Oz. Since he was quite ill writing it, Baum knew this might be his last oz book. Perhaps that is why he not only gave so many of his beloved characters a "final bow" in 'Glinda', but also used the book to tie up the loose ends of how magic works in Oz'.
In this adventure, Dorothy and Ozma's visit to Glinda reveals (through the Great Book of Records) that the Skeezers have declared war on the Flatheads. Despite Glinda's lack of knowledge on them and her urging for them not to go, Ozma insists on solving the war, as she is Queen of Oz, and Dorothy agrees to come along too, who is given a magic ring by Glinda in time of need (Chapter 1 has a lot of pages, possibly the most out of the entire book). In their journey to the NorthWest, they manage to escape a Spider King, get across a Valley of Mist thanks to the Mist Maidens and arrive at Flathead Mountain. Meeting the King, Su-dic (L. Frank Baum makes another wordplay), they learn how his Queen Wife Witch, Rora, is also involved in the war and manage to escape before being captured. They arrive at the Skeezers' Lake Glass Dome, and their meeting with the young but selfish and vain Queen Coo-ee-oh results in being her prsioners, but fortunately become friends with one of her maids, Lady Aurex. That night, the Flatheads' attack results in the Glass Dome sinking into the lake and Coo-ee-oh being turned into a diamond swan (but still she remains vain of herself), which means that she cannot return the Glass Dome to the surface, leaving Dorothy and Ozma trapped below, even though they try to find ways to break the enchantment. Glinda learns of their trouble and calls together Ozma's Counsellors, which consists of (almost) all the characters we have known, met and loved. Together, they decide to find and free Dorothy and Ozma from their imprisonment. Meanwhile, one of Coo-ee-oh's servants, a young boy named Ervic meets the 3 Magic Adepts, who have been transformed into fishes, thanks to Coo-ee-oh's theft, and follows their instructions, which leads to his meeting of Red Reera the Yookoohoo sorceress, while at the same time Glinda and the others arrive at the Skeezer Lake. Reera returns the fishes to their true forms, who, along with Ervic, return to the Skeezer Lake, where they meet Glinda, the Wizard and everyone else, who together attempt to free the captured citizens of the Glass Dome. Eventually, the 5 magical performers join up with Ozma, Dorothy and Lady Aurex in Coo-ee-oh's basement, where they discover the means of Coo-ee-oh's magic, which rises the Glass Dome back to the surface. Once returned safely, a new Queen of the Skeezers is crowned, and the Flatheads are given treatment in a way that will stop further trouble from arising from them.
I loved reading this book and adding this to my collection of Oz Books by Baum and others. Although, even though this was a great adventure, it also had a few mistakes and/or disappointments:
* The only characters who failed to appear in this adventure are Aunt Em (Uncle Henry appears instead), the Hungry Tiger, Billina the Yellow Hen and Eurika, Dorothy's Kitten (Dorothy does mention the colours of the cat though). One character I HATE having in the series is Mr. H. M. Woogle-bug, T. E. (Highly Magnified, Thoroughly Educated), appearing here as one of Ozma's Counsellors. The story would've had an improvement if the HUNGRY TIGER had replaced him insted, along with a final appearance by Aunt Em, Billina, and possibly as an extra delight, the Good Witch of the North.
* Another disappointment is the pictures. John doesn't draw enough pictures throughout the book, and many chapters only have 1, 2 or 3 images: the traditional 'chapter-title', a 'full colour plate' and 'end-of-chapter' images (although, it is nice having the 'chapter titles' going for almost 2 pages). John does a portrait of Glinda, and it gets published twice. Fortunately, some chapters do have 5 or so pictures. There are no images of Reera the Red or Rora in their true forms, and quite a few colour plates are placed in the wrong chapter (e.g. the colour-plate of Dorothy and Ozma being carried by the Mist Maidens is placed in Chapter 2, when actually that particular adventure is in Chapter 3). Also, John draws 2 images of Trot and the Patchwork Girl: one in colour, the other black-and-white (which is far better, which means his should've kept the b&w version and changed the colour one to something else). Also, pg 176 has the Scarecrow drawn without his nose! And I much prefer having Dorothy's hair being long and brown, with Ozma longer and golden (slightly curled). But Dorothy still has short blonde hair, and Ozma's dark hair is tied up, a bit like Glinda's portrait. Glinda should've been drawn with her hair out in ringlets instead of in a 'net'.
* A few other reviewers have said that Glinda doesn't have a big enough appearance in this book, although her role is magnified. I slightly do agree that she could've appeared and done more in the story, maybe doing a 'end-of-story-speech-to-Dorothy-and-Ozma', which may have been expected, but rememeber, L. Frank Baum was sick during the writing of this story, so perhaps he meant to, but couldn't get around to it without letting anybody know.
But there are a few good points that are interesting about this book. L. Frank Baum may have gone back to his play and taken a scene/concept of that production and put it in this book: Glinda of the South gives Dorothy a Magic Ring in time of need which helps start the Rescue Expedition, which is just like how in the 1902 Stage play of 'the Wizard of Oz' how Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, also gave Dorothy a magic ring, which was later used to call for help in the Poppy Field, which summoned the snow storm to destroy the poison flowers.
As you may have noticed, the Flatheads who live in the NorthWest in this 'Glinda' book, are not the same Hammer-Heads as encountered by Dorothy and her friends in their journey to Glinda in the South in the 'Wonderful Wizard' book, which was an odd surprise. They are two entirely different people with different bodies, despite the similar flathead appearance.
But despite the mistakes and small/unimportant disappoitments, this was still a fantastic book to read. I'm sure that this would be an even more fantastic movie, if given a few improvements and slight changes.

...come to an end, so perhaps it's fitting that the last Oz book to be penned by L. Frank Baum was about Glinda, the good witch. This book always left me a little sad as a kid, thinking that it was the last of the original series. Baum seemed to really find his stride with in the last few books of the series, with such excellent installments at "The Lost Princess of Oz", "The Tin Woodman of Oz", "The Magic of Oz" and--of course--this one. Baum shows a lot of ingenuity in this book and the sinking of the city underwater reminds me of a work of science fiction--but of course, Baum has showed glimmers of this before, with the introduction of such characters as the robotic Tik-Tok. In many ways, Baum just seemed a bit ahead of his time, which is why, I suppose, his books remain so timeLESS.

The last by the original author of the series, this shows how peacekeeping ambassadors (Ozma and Dorothy) can become involved in a dispute and detained, their mission pushed aside by evil dictators. The Su-Dic and Queen Coo-eh-oh are vain, evil adversaries, causing a "war" between two of Ozma's populations. When Ozma and Dorothy try to reason with both parties they are rejected by one group, and taken prisoner by the other. Glinda and an entourage from the Emerald City must rescue the group, aided by three enchanted fish, who must first endure the odd cabin of Reera the Red, the Yookoohoo.

A great end to the original series, and these facsimile editions were long missing from juvenile libraries. Two generations missed the original Oz series when it was out of print for 25 years.

JB Priestly wrote a book about time ('Man and Time') and in it he referred to a WH Hudson novel called 'A Crystal Age'. His couple of paragraphs about 'A Crystal Age' stimulated my interest but nowhere could I find the novel he referred to. However, I did find 'Green Mansions' and I have read it several times. It is a beautiful novel with an undertone of darkness (is death the darkness that we all live with during the beauty of life?). Perhaps 'Green Mansions' disappointed me a little after triggering my romantic nerve. I did, however, keep exploring the writings of WH Hudson - 'Long Ago and Far Away', 'The Purple Land', 'Idle Days in Patagonia' and the wonderful 'A Shepherd's Life'.

On a recent trip to the States I visited a small specialist bookshop where it was suggested I might be able to get access to 'A Crystal Age' through abebooks.com. This was great advice. I have just finished reading 'A Crystal Age' and I concur with JB Priestley's assessment. 'A Crystal Age' is worth the effort of pursuing - it is a surprising first-person utopian novel in which Hudson's love of nature does not render him oblivious to the fact that there are downsides in all worlds - all imaginable worlds. Just like the dark shadows in 'Green Mansions'. The end of 'A Crystal Age' is so surprising - I believe very few readers would see what is coming - I certainly didn't as I rushed on towards it. There is a certain illogic to the ending, but there is also something that haunts me continuously. I hope the illogic has not been a contributing factor in this novel's failure to be reprinted. But why else has it not been picked up - I am sure there is a market.

'A Crystal Age' is a stronger less romantic novel than 'Green Mansions', but it is also exceptional for many reasons. I don't hesitate in recommending 'Green Mansions' but I also urge readers to pursue 'A Crystal Age' - it is only a matter of time before I will be re-reading it myself. As for publishers who are looking for books from the past to reprint - give 'A Crystal Age' a look.

This book encompasses the memoirs of Mr. Abel, an educated, middle class, urban dweller from Venezuela, who decides to journey throughout the primative wilderness of Guyana; he is transformed in the process. _Green Mansions_ is a harrowing adventure story, a romance, but is, above all, probably one of the most artistically stylized pieces on nature ever written. Mr. Abel is vulnerable to his new environment's treacherous heat, its indigenous wildlife, the cruelties (as well as the hospitality) of its native peoples, and suffers periods of disease and starvation.

Mr. Abel falls in love with a strange, beautiful, and exceedingly elusive young woman, named Rima, who has a rare affinity with nature and its creatures. Rima, whose mysterious family background figures strongly in the plot, is raised by her grandfather, Nuflo, after her mother dies. Mr. Abel accuses Nuflo of hypocracy, but eventually comes to respect him. Mr. Abel, despite his background and personal attitudes, learns to adapt to and eventually to accept nature on its own terms. As frightening and disturbing as many of the parts of this extraordinary book are, it is never less than mesmerizing.

Those of you who have read Rand Johnson's "Arcadia Falls - A Fable" will find interesting parallels here, albeit in a Victorian idiom, as Hudson presents a moving and mysterious romance against a backdrop of great natural beauty, in this case the South American jungle.

William Henry Hudson's novel Green Mansions is an exotic romance that takes place in the South American rainforest. The novel is written from the perspective of Abel, a young man who had to leave the city he was living in for political reasons. During his time in the rainforest he meets Rima, who he describes as a bird-like girl, and her grandfather Nuflo. Despite these two, Abel mainly interacts with the Indians with whom he was living before he met Rima and Nuflo. The Indians are mostly referred to as savages.
Green Mansions mainly focuses on the intimation of love and death, and the romanticism of nature versus the disturbing influences of civilization. However, Abel does not see any living creature during his stay in the rainforest as equal to him. He thinks of himself as superior to the Indians, Nuflo, and to Rima as well. He bases his sense of superiority on a better education, a greater intelligence, as well as a better physical condition. This sense of superiority is kept throughout the novel. However, his arrogance is one way to deal with his insecurity about many situations. Abel only seems to feel secure if he sees himself as superior to everybody else. This is the reason why he defines superiority based on the situation. Sometimes superiority is referred to as greater intelligence and in other cases as physical superiority. The way he uses superiority depends on the way it is easier for him to define himself as superior.

The main male charachter has reason to leave civilization and travels far into South American jungles, meets with native tribes, and finds one which takes him in. They all seem happy with him until his curiosity gets the best of him, and he goes to a 'forbiden forest' so feared by this tribe he becomes ostricised for having been there.

In the second part of this book he befriends a mysterious girl who lives in the forest and seems more farie than human. He finds himself doing things for her which he would have never thought he would do for another person.

This is a clasic love story, intriguing, beautiful, and tragic. This was one of my first introductions to the classics of lliterature, and prompted me to find and read more of classic literature which has greatly enriched the scope of my reading experiences.

I have thought about Alice Adams a lot these two weeks after reading it, and the thought brings a smile to my face.
First published in 1920, Alice Adams is a fresh, timeless story because we can see ourselves in it. The characters are what people call "good people," ordinary people who are characterized by pride, greed, deception and revenge. Half way through the book the reader can see what is coming, but Booth Tarkington had a knack for a happy ending, or at least one that leaves the reader satisfied (just as we learned in The Magnificent Ambersons that George was made of the right stuff after all). Booth Tarkington liked people. That shows in his books. He understood human nature, but he liked people.
Some demographics might help you evaluate my view of Alice Adams. I am a man who has been a small-town attorney for forty-two years, and I like people.

This Pulitzer Prize winning novel from 1922 is the sort of thing I would normally hate. I put down The Age of Innocence for some of the things contained in this novel: high society and classism, pretensions of upward mobility in society, and being with the "right" people. Yet I ended up enjoying this novel. Why? Well, because of Alice Adams. Not the book, the title character. Alice used to be her era's version of the "It" Girl in her community. Beautiful, from a good family, and style perfect. But with her father's lack of rise in income comparable to those of her friends and peers Alice's star has fallen. She is desperate to get it back but is also loyal to her family. Her desperation mixed with the understanding of her father's situation makes her an immensely likeable character even as she is attempting to be part of a crowd which I detest as a reader. This is a comic novel, though I would not go so far as to say it is "Laugh Out Loud Funny". Alice goes through a period of growth and her desperate maturity is charming. That's the word of Alice Adams: Charming. Considering that I find many novels of this era to be a bit dreary, Alice Adams is a charming novel and far more enjoyable than I had anticipated.

-Joe Sherry

The story is very boring. A middle class family has high aspirations for obtaining upper class status and this `class consciousness' controls everything they think and do. Despite their foolishness, one can't help but feel sorry for each character (with the exception of the mother) who continually finds failure and disappointment. The characters are not developed to the point that I usually enjoy, and there are quite a large number of characters. An interesting thing about the characters is, none of them are `good.' Probably the closest thing to a good character is Virgil's Boss, Mr. Lamb. But even he is a business monger, ultimately concerned with his own business. This reflection on man is insightful. In real life, are there any people without flaws? Major flaws? Even the Bible presents the heroes of the faith as people with big problems (King Solomon was a womanizer, David was a murderer, Peter was a coward, etc.). In general, people are selfish. Our motives are selfish, and our own desires drive everything we do. However, often fiction reflects one or two main characters who are flawless. In an attempt to make characters likable- reality is bypassed. This doesn't happen here in Alice Adams.

I believe this book is about expectations. The Adams' family lives in the false hope of a brighter future, all the while neglecting the life they are currently living. I feel that this is the same discontenting experience that Westerners face. Maybe this is even a reflection of the way the author wrote the book- seemingly slow, but with flashes of brilliant foreshadowing which gives hope to the reader that something more grand is on the horizon.

The story is interesting because of the absolute stupidity of this family, and the fact that it probably is a very real experience for many. The story, though slow, is written very well, and was very easy for me to read (a plus for me, I am a bit slow). It is also interesting because even though the story takes place in America- it seems a different culture. This different culture was interesting. I think the difference came in that the story is supposed to have taken place in the South (a foreign country as far as I am concerned), and it probably took place in the very early part of the 20th century. One aspect of Tarkington's writing that I appreciated was the way he foreshadowed things. Maybe I appreciated the subtle foreshadowing hints because of the drudgery of the story, but whatever the reason- I think he did an excellent job.

One of the great novels about failed ambition in an attempt to rise above the ordinary. Alice Adams is a dreamer who wants the things her struggling middle-class existence can't provide her, especially college and high-ranking prospects in the romance department. When the wealthy Arthur Russell comes within her sights, she fabricates a web of lies to impress him; but when he attends a family dinner at Alice's home he learns the truth about her real life and her posturing; the results are disastrous for Alice. To make matters even worse, her father is having his own humility issues involving a glue factory he owns and her brother has just stolen $300 from his employer to go gambling with. Alice loses Russell, but also her affectations, and the novel ends with her grimly entering Frincke's Business College.

This is Tarkington's best novel, and Alice is certainly his greatest fictional character. She is realistically drawn, and because she is so realistic we sympathize with her and feel every discomfort she experiences along with her. We wish we could get her to stop her pretending, but we know we can't, and sit by helplessly as she destroys all her dreams. We know her behavior is reprehensible and she gets what she deserves, but we can't help but feel sorry for her. It's an engaging novel, and can be read often without ever becoming dull.

The growing pangs experienced by the United States during the first couple decades of the twentieth century provided the literary fodder for a whole new school of American authors. William Dean Howells, Sherwood Anderson, Ernest Poole, Theodore Dreiser and Henry James all added their comments regarding the dissolution of traditional American values by the rise of industrialization, capital accumulation, and the strengthening of a caste system based on wealth rather than on family name. Booth Tarkington treated this subject in his The Magnificent Ambersons, but added an interesting twist: the scene of this novel was not set in the large industrial and financial cities of the East, but in a mid-sized Midwestern city as if to demonstrate the pervasiveness of this social and cultural revolution.

With this novel, Tarkington takes his demonstration one step further by writing about a middle class household in that same mid-sized Midwestern city. The Adams family, although comfortable enough, is excluded from the exclusivity shared by those families that are bound together by either name or wealth. Alice Adams is particularly chagrinned by this fact and atempts to imitate the actions and tastes of this exclusive group but can only act out daydreams in which she achieves the happiness and love that she desperately seeks. When she finally meets Arthur Russell, an elibible bachelor who belongs to that exlusive group, and futhermore, has a genuine affection for Alice, she can only fabricate lies in which she hopes to raise her own social station in his eyes. It is these pitiful, but humorous, attempts that give the novel much of its life and brilliance.

Tarkington does a fine job in developing his characters: the romantic yet incorrigible Alice; her scheming and henpecking mother, who although acting for what she sees as Alice's own betterment, brings the family to ruin; her henpecked father who falls prey to his own duplicity and fanciful ambitions; and her brother who has sense enough to see through the banality of what Alice is trying to do, only to fall victim to his own weaknesses. Although this novel won Takington his second Pulitzer Prize, it is not as well known as The Magnificent Ambersons; however, it is in every way the earlier novel's equal. His depiction of middle class society during the 1920's is judicious, balancing satire with the author's own sympathetic treatment of character. The major highlight of the novel is Tarkington's brilliant description of the dinner at which the Adams family attempts to impress Arthur Russell, a scene which makes the reader simultaneously squirm and laugh out loud.

Without giving away the ending, let it be said that the 1940s Hollywood film of the novel did Tarkington an injustice in that the filmmakers, intent on pleasing a movie audience, completely missed the point of the novel.

This book is extremely detailed and complete for those readers who already speak the language of computer and API programming. Some of the projects baffled me - I still don't get the point of the Google maps ghost, and also found that some of the GPS projects are now outdated, which is to be expected from any cutting-edge technology book that went to press three years ago.

It's probably a good time for the publisher to bring out an updated edition of this book. A valuable focus would be on the addition of GPS-enabled PDAs and Smart Phones. With Google's free GPS mapping program, I have been able to push my T-Mobile MDA to the limits, turning a basic wireless device into a fully functional GPS device that works in real time. Many of the GPS project suggestions in this book, complicated and requiring some extreme technical skill, are now done automatically with Google's GPS mapping program.

If you'd like to program or create sites with mapping tools, this book will really help.

Short and direct chapters. Easy to read and learn.

The book is interesting and has many good ideas and some valuable information. Be aware, however, that the advanced hacks (those dealing with calling the API from your own code) are based on a now obsolete version of the API. So, for example, Hack 62 that tells you how to find that longitude and latitude of an address doesn't tell you that you can accomplish the task via Google now. Hack 58 (Find the right zoom level) has one (of three) technique that uses an undocumented API that has, apparently, gone away. And, of course, it doesn't provide the easy way to do it using the current API.

I'm not faulting the authors for not seeing into the future. The book is well written and engaging. Just be aware that parts of it are already out of date.

Google Maps Hacks: Tips & Tools for Geographic Searching and Remixing (Hacks) (Paperback)

Are you a Google application developer? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Rich Gibson and Schuyler Erle, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you how to take full advantage of the mapping capabilities in Google Local.

Gibson and Erle, begin by showing you how to look up locations, get driving directions, look at satellite pictures, share links to maps in e-mails and on web pages, generate links to maps from a spreadsheet, and use del.icio.us. Then, the authors show you how to put a map on your page, capture user clicks, create a slideshow connected with a map, create custom icons, and measure distances. Next, they cover a variety of mashups, from mapping the news, to seeing where criminals "work," to weather maps, to answering the question: where is the Space Telescope right now. The authors then help you find the cheapest gas near you, load driving directions into your GPS to take with you, look at your GPS track logs, explore hiking trails, figure out why your cell phone doesn't work at home, and even beat a traffic ticket. They continue by showing you how to geocode your photos on Flickr, set up a blog that knows about place, geocode literature, and examine the choices that go into which satellite images are included. Then, the authors show you how to tweak and extend the Google map. Finally, they show you how to use a clustering algorithm so that your own points fit properly on a map, create your own map tiles, connect to a database, use web standards to display other data on your maps, an even figure out if your kids are likely to barf.

This most excellent book will show you how to make the most of Google Maps. More importantly, you'll find the tools and inspiration you need right in this book!

I've read both this and the ExtremeTech "Hacking Google Maps," and both have their place, but I found this one to be much more valuable.

It doesn't contain any introductory information to the API, which some may be looking for, but it's not something that I would expect to see in a Hacks book anyway. With the v2 release of the API in April 2006, Google's own documentation has gotten a lot better, and it's the best place to go for a tutorial.

The book contains a great collection of hacks from all perspectives: users looking to get the most out of Google Maps, power users looking to push the functionality in new ways, and developers using the API. There's also a good overview of some popular mashups from the mashups' developers perspectives, and extensions to the API (e.g. TLabel, TPhoto).

Because there are so many contributors, you'll notice a change in tone and writing style throughout the book; and different coding practices are easy to spot, e.g. one code sample might use a standard, documented JS call, while another uses a homegrown function to accomplish the same thing. Another drawback is that the book is written to v1 of the API, which was replaced months ago, although is backwards compatible. This doesn't affect readability or value, but several of the undocumented features in the book are in fact documented in v2!

Great book, filled with useful information.

Puck of Pook's Hill is Rudyard Kipling's attempt to convey British history in a unique way--as a kind of fantasy told to two small children. The children, Dan and Una, participate in a performance of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and then come across an elf (Puck) who claims to be from a nearby hill (Pook's Hill). Over a series of nine chapters characters appear from British history to relate stories of their experiences to the children. The children, of course are in awe and wonder at these tales. Each chapter also begins and ends with a song.

The first series of chapters deals with the adventures of Sir Richard Dalyngridge who came to England with William the Conquerer. In this story we also meet the heroic Saxon Hugh and De Aquilla the Norman warlord. Sir Richard and Hugh go on grand adventures involving being caputred by pirates and get a large quantity of gold. It is the stuff of Peter Pan and such fantasy adventures.

The second story returns to Roman times and here we meet Parnesius, a Roman centurion and other figures from that time. The story involves fighting between the Romans and a group called the "Winged Hats," as well as the internal intrigues within the Roman ranks.

While several other stories provide information on different aspects of British history, these two stories form the main part of the book.

It is hard to rate this book as it will have a strong appeal for some people--children interested in fantasy and history and adults with an interest in Great Britain. For others it may not be very interesting.

Most of this book is worth reading as fantasy fiction, and all of it is worth studying as an example of late Victorian attitudes. Kipling didn't handle the transitions between "fantasy" and "reality" as well as modern writers who specialize in this sort of thing, but he did pretty well. However ... every time I read this to enjoy the adventures of Dan and Una, I trip up on the character of the medieval Jew who has an inborn, racial "talent for gold." While I don't usually think books should be updated or abridged for modern readers, I would consider excising just a few sentences of this one before letting a child read it.

I recall the comments of a Chinese-American reader who discovered that the beloved Louisa May Alcott used some demeaning stereotypes of Chinese people: Suddenly, one is cast out of the category of "reader" into the category of "other," and one never quite comes back.

Marvellous!

In a word, that's my feeling about Puck of Pook's Hill (Dover Value Editions). I'll get into the actual story in just a moment but I first wanted to make some general observations about this terrific work of fantasy.

Kipling harbored a kid's imagination for fantasy stories and a sociology professor's knowledge of history, especially concerning 19th Century England and its colonies. Kipling lived from 1865-1936 and, of course, he generated a plethora of superb period literature including The Jungle Books (Oxford World's Classics), The Man Who Would Be King (Dodo Press), and Kim. The thread so common to the bulk of Kipling's work seems to be ADVENTURE, a theme in which he excelled beyond most other authors, either then or now.

In "Puck" he achieved a level of historical imperative and nostalgic fantasy that was only ever paralleled by Lewis Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkien. This book is (for reasons unknown to me) a real sleeper -- you don't hear much about it either in academia or in bookstores, which is a tremendous shame given its refreshing effervescence and rainy-day appeal. I feel compelled to say that it would be infinitely helpful in digesting "Puck" if you're already somewhat tutored in the history of England and, if you're accustomed to reading the vernacular of other works of Kipling's era. I luckily have the 1987 Penguin softcover edition of this book (Goodwill Store, 50 cents) which is heavily footnoted and which also includes a lengthy, informative introduction to the book written by Sarah Wintle. There even a nice little "Map of the Weald" (Kipling's Sussex) which provides added perspective.

The ten "stories" from this book first appeared in "The Strand" in 1906 which were then illustrated by Claude A. Shepperson. Additionally, some of these entries were published in "Ladies Home Journal" and in "McClure's Magazine". The lion's share of the book is prose but most stories either begin or end with a poem such as "The Runes on Weyland's Sword," a title which reveals much of the flavour of the overall work.

THE STORY: On Midsummer Eve in a secluded meadow just below "Pook's Hill," a boy and his sister (Dan and Una, respectively) acted out their children's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," coincidentally, inside a fairy ring (of mushrooms). Such an act on the part of these two kids was surely bound to give rise to something very magical (although they never anticipated this possibility) and, in fact, it did. Shortly after their little theater, Puck appeared to them!

Puck is enigmatic, for human adults at least. While he's referred to at one point as a "faun," he seems to be part Leprechaun, part fairy, and part sorcerer. He purposefully engages in shrewd indirect speech which he knows will give rise to endless questions from Dan and Una, thus allowing him to spin his yarns and to bring forth historic figures of The Weald, one after another, over a period of days. He's also capable of conjuring a little spell which has the net effect of eliminating his actuality from the minds of the children after each day's storytelling.

Puck brings on a Roman Centurion (who guarded England), a Norman Knight, a Renaissance artisan, Saxons, Picts, Norsemen (Vikings), a Chinese slave-master and many others, each of whom imparts his respective piece of England's history. There's even a dark adventure tale about a maritime journey along the African coast in search of gold where, of course, devilish monsters were encountered and a horrific battle ensued. Dan and Una are shrewdly drawn into each of these sojourns by Puck as if they had themselves been there.

In summary, if you have so far missed this most excellent proto-Hobbitish legend of ancient England and beyond, my personal opinion is that you cannot order this book fast enough. I give it my highest recommendation, especially for fans of either Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics) or The Lord of the Rings. 3 Vol. Set.

I will not recommend this book to people who are not familiar with English history. I found myself stopping in the middle to research the characters because you cannot truly appreciate the book otherwise. This took away from the book's appeal. Someone who doesn't have an idea of who the characters are and what role they played during the period will undoubtedly be completely lost, because you cannot really glean all this from the book alone. Otherwise the book was well written, as Kipling always is. It is, however not a book everyone would enjoy.

It seems to be fashionable, in this politically correct time, to find fault with Rudyard Kipling. But Kipling was a great writer with big ideas and a big heart. He wrote "Puck of Pook's Hill" and "Rewards and Fairies" to share his love of his mother country with young readers. These books are a great introduction to English history. I find it hard to imagine a reader not falling in love with the land and people of this great country after reading "Puck of Pook's Hill". The curious reader will seek out more information on what happened during their favorite characters' times, possibly leading to a lifelong love of history and the inclination to explore the world through reading.

Romola was engrossing and, of course, very well-written. I'm even inspired to find out more about a historical period that's not really one of my favorites.

Romola is constantly called Eliot's weakest novel, with even serious critics reluctant to praise it. However, it was seen in the 19th century as Eliot's masterpiece. Some of the blame for the novel going out of fashion must rest with F.R. Leavis who said that "few will want to read Romola a second time, and few can ever have got through it once without some groans." If Leavis, viewed as one of the great literary minds, thinks this, then more average readers like us are bound to be put off.

True, the start of Romola is bogged down in detail, but it is introduced by a wonderful, stirring and majestic 'Proem' which sees the Angel of the Dawn sweeping across the Earth and loftily states how humanity is the same now as it was when Romola is set. After this, the notes are best ignored - consult them separately, and concentrate on getting into the book. It is a stirring and sometimes hard read, and moves one with awe at what Eliot has created - you really feel you are experiencing Florence in the 15th century. There is one scene that stands out for me - the haunting and almost surreal episode where Romola drifts by boat to an apparent coastal haven. Images of peace and life are reversed disturbingly.

So ignore Leavis and the dissenters. If you've read another Eliot, you'll like it. If you haven't, maybe start with something else, but come back, for it's a rewarding read

Given the majority of Eliot readers begin with Middlemarch, I found myself in the unique position of not only beginning with Romola, but also on a subject that I find most interesting. That of Renaissance Italy. Beginning at the death of the great Lorenzo di Medici in '92 I read this great novel twice. Once quickly as any other Twenty-First century paperback; the second, slowly, with more respect for the intellectual scope within the pages.
After the first attempt I was mildly disappointed. I came away with no true sense of the whole that is fifteenth century Florence and a bewilderment at the inconsistent central characterisation of Tito Melema and his golden-haired wife, Romola. The supporting actors were brilliant, from Fra Girolama's fantatical Catholicism to Bratti's salesmanship. But I was left disappointed, believing in the superficality of Tito, the maddening naivety of Tessa, and the almost puritanical martyrdom of Romola.
So I re-read it. Slowly.
It is now extremely clear why this great work of english literature is, as Eliot herself puts it, a "book of mine which I more thoroughly feel that I swear by every sentence as having been written with my best blood".
Each scene is mesmerically depicted, the infintesimal attention to details and Eliot's total control of her subject matter shines through.
Renaissance Florence wasn't so well depicted by its contemporaries.
From Tito's waking at the Loggia de' Cerchi to his final fall at the Ponte Vecchio his character moves through a full range as you would expect from a man in his early twenties. His child-like mesmerism coupled with his Greek tutorage gives rise to a cherubic man whom Florence loves. His fatal flaw is his desire for love and a single terrible lie he gives that, like Murphy's Law, evolves into a a stigma that alters his very persona. What is all the more damaging is that you truly believe he is unaware of the pain he causes. He is truly egocentric, in an almost blameless way. For Romola, you cold argue the opposite. Indeed she is potentially more culpable. Her fierce intellectualism is offset by a descent into a world of religious supersition, a world where religion is used as a political tool. Throughout she has the knowledge of where her actions will take her and a terrible sense of duty and restrains her. From the beginning, with the story we hear so often of Tito's escape from drowning, to his final near drowning at the hands of the mob, to his strangulation by his father there is a certain bitter justice until all that he leaves is his proud and world-scarred wife Romola and the innocence that he preserved with Tessa. Tito's move from innocent 'hero' to startled villain is an excerise in human failings. Yet it is not a sufficient single human tragedy, as Eliot says, "Florence was busy with greater affairs, and the preparation of a deeper tragedy".
In many respects `Romola' is Eliot's King Lear. The parallels are many, including Baldessare's depiction. There is no Edgar, nor Edmund but the Fool is here in many guises. In taking one of Shakespeare's finest themes, Eliot has given true life to fifteenth century Florence and it is, perhaps, best encapsulated by Romola's final statement to Tessa's son, Lillo:
"There was a man to whom I was very near... who made almost everyone fond of him, for he ws young, and clever, and beautiful...I believe, when I first knew him, he never thought of anything cruel or base. But because he tried to slip away from everything that was unpleasant, and cared for nothing else so much as his own safety, he came at last to commit some of the basest deeds - such as make men infamous."
So, Eliot's `Romola'. Read it, delight in it because it truly is, as the author can rightly claim, one of the finest works in english literature.

Funny how Eliot's least-loved novel today was the author's personal favorite and her best seller during her lifetime. How did it slide into relative obscurity? Partly because Eliot's acknowleged forte is her depiction of rural life in Victorian England, whereas this novel is set in a large Italian city (Florence) during the Renasaissance. Also, the novel does bog down a bit in its own scholarliness, as nearly every reviewer has mentioned. Still, the innumerable references to prominent Florentines can be glossed over without losing much. As for the urban setting, Eliot's Florence is every bit as vivid as Dickens' London, or Dostoevsky's St. Petersburg. And, of course, every page is filled with Eliot's trademark wisdom.
For anyone who cares about great books, all seven of Eliot's novels are absolutely mandatory. So, by all means start with "Adam Bede" or "Middlemarch", but don't neglect "Romola."
A word about the Konneman edition: I love the compact format (It fits easily into a briefcase or purse), the lovely cover art and the high-quality cloth binding. Be advised, however, that it is loaded with typos, some of them hilarious. It's still a good buy, however.

When one starts reading a Victorian novelist, one prepares before hand to face a certain amount of wooden, heavy-handed moralizing, as every great narrative of the epoch is fraught with the opposition between the calls of pleasure and the calls of duty, between seeking for one's private advantage and sticking to one's role, with the writer making the latter to win overwhelming. This novel is no different, in that it's the dutiful Romola that has the upper hand over her nice and debauched husband Tito Melena in the end. However, the novel being set in late Renaissance Italy- a country with which George Eliot had an enduring love affair - it captures the atmosphere of the time and place in such a beautiful way that this enormous, throughly reserched historical novel has such a flowing, luxurious style that takes an almost liquid quality, like a fresh, transparent scream flowing along a summer Mediterranean landscape. Also, in the person of Savonarola, Eliot menaged to introduce the figure of the idealist turned evil through his attachment to his call. In short: a gorgeous novel. Loved it!

They have done a wonderful job of recreating the origninal feel of the work using beautiful illustrations, quality paper. A wonderful gift for any child, or for a grandparent to read to a child.

Through the Looking Glass by Louis Carrol is a great book if you like imaginary places and mixed up things as well as little kid stories I would recamend this book to kids 11 and under because it seems like a really little kid book!The main place the character goes is the looking glass and she finds a magical world where everything is backwards! The first thing Alice see's is the garden and not just any old garden with any old flowers in it. It was a magical garden with talking flowers. Alice is now strolling through the flower jungle when all of a sudden she bumpes into Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. After that they take her to meet the white queen. Will Alice meet the white queen? If she does will the white queen be as polite as nice as Alice expected? After Alice got out of the flower forest she wan'ts to meet the white king so Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum take her to see the white king and while Alice was talking to him the king took her to the castle to meet some of the people he knows and really the things wern't really people they were................?


The next part of my paragraph that I wan't to talk to you about the characters of through the looking glass. The main character is Alice she is so smart and so pretty and so young. The next two people I want to talk to you about are two idiots who are not so- smart and not so-small that are Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum they are so loud and rude they make a slob look neat. Another character is the white queen she is such a vrat she is ro rude Alice thinks she will explode if she said one more word. The white king is the last character that I want to talk to you about he is nice to Alice and not even as close to rude as the white queen is!

Illustrations are plenty, and the introduction is a nice addition. The best illustrated version I have ever seen, great for fans of Carroll and Peake both.

I read some of the reviews here... and there was a comment in one of them that says: "it's NOT QUITE a sequel to Alice In Wonderland because although Alice is older, she doesn't recall her past experience in wonderland."

Well... isn't that to be expected? How many dreams to you remember for the long term? None?

Alice DID change by the end of the first book -- but she may have forgotten exactly WHY she changed... because dreams just don't stay with people very well.

Also keep in mind that the author was a wierd drugged up stoner. So -- yeah... on all accounts -- I think this can be expected.

It's a good read.

I just finished reading this classic children's story to my younger son. It is just SO weird. Of course I - and both my sons - had been introduced to Alice via Golden Books as so many children have been for so long. So there are recognitions all the way through. But the strangeness seems intensified because of that. Some of it is the dated language (looking glass instead of mirror), the dated social customs (like the telling of stories in poetry). But the humour is not of the 'ha ha' type, it is definitely of the peculiar type.

Despite those reservations my son enjoyed the book, as he did 'Sylvie and Bruno' which we read earlier (even weirder and certainly less familiar - but it might be more inventive too).

Your Immortal Body
Mitchell Earl Gibson

Fascinating coming-of-age story about a man who realizes life isn't what we think it is. Touches on different philosophies and beliefs as well as personal research on spiritual forms.

Mitchel Earl Gibson, MD, offers a unique look at the evolution of the soul and our position within the realm of creation.

In "Your Immortal Body," we look at the basic concepts of God and spiritual beings and gradually move into a complex form of thought pertaining to the immortality of one's soul and Words of Power. It is here that we observe our ability to connect to this realm and the further possibilities to fulfill a higher purpose in the matrix of life.

Dr. Gibson graciously share his personal experiences of enlightenment through creative visuals, heart-felt stories, and tension relieving humor one can usually find under the well trained psychiatrist.

Your immortal body of light is an interesting look at the life of a man dedicated to meditation. His descriptions of out of body experiences along with conversations with Djehuti are filled with so much detail and warmth. Mitchell Gibson's words are not for the meditation dabbler but more for the seeker. He truly seems to believe his accounting of experiences relating to being a body of light. He pushes away religious structure to express his own unique perception of life, death and eternity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, my only regret is that I wished it was longer. In reading this book I feel very much connected to the author and his experiences (especially since I am going thru medical training myself). However, what is unique is that the author gives clues to the true nature of the soul. Especially, when he talks about his dreams which is actually worth reading over a few time because there is a great truth hidden in the messages contained in the dream section.

By the age of 10 author Mitchell Earl Gibson had read the complete Old and New Testament and actively poked and prodded his pastor with questions. At twelve, after seeing film on transcendental meditation at school, he began meditating. His desire for spiritual knowledge and experience continued and, at 37 he saw The Golden Man, a mystical figure that became, in some sense, his guide. Gibson, a board certified Doctor of Psychiatry, continued to harbor a healthy skepticism, but remained open to what was before him. His story is an easy to read exploration of his journey toward what he refers to as "Activating Your Immortal Body of Light" and its place in world religion.