Shaw Books

In this autobiographical story interspersed with long and short poems, a middle aged woman embarks on a journey of reflection and self-discovery. It's quite an emotional ride through anguish, heartbreak, hope and redemption with faith and spirituality as central themes guiding and influencing her. She is pensive and the mood is undeniably melancholy but by the end we find that she has reconciled her circumstances and found her peace.

The poetry mixed in with the stories make the flow of this book fun and exciting. The stories are full of hope and inspiration no matter what point in your life you are in. This author is gifted and talented in the area of using her life experiences as a nurse, daughter, mother, and woman to make one see their importance in this life.

You want to know about semicolons? You like learning big time about hyphens (where did I forget to use one)? Well brother, you came to the right place! Get this book and it'll be a punctuation party until dawn! Yeah! It loses a star due to its unfair treatment of the ellipsis.

This is a very thourough, yet compact book on punctuation. It is very well organized, gives quality definitions, that do their job to explain rather than to confuse more with complexity of more unknown terms. The examples used are also well chosen to help make connection with the use of the rules in popular everyday context. And again, what I like most about it is the organization of the content- when order of knowledge is present, knowledge is much easier acquiered.

This one-day read was amusing and clever. The witty banter and characterization of Eliza Doolittle the 'guttersnipe' and Henry Higgins the restless Phonetics teacher, sets the tone of the play, and the humour maintains itself. This was my introduction to the work of George Bernard Shaw, and on the back of this one I'm ready to dip right into another of his works. 'Pygmalion' is a quintessential 19th century text, as it deals with the sensibilities of the day, especially Victorian prudery. Henry Higgins has a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering, that he can pass this "squashed cabbage leaf" (Miss Doolittle) off as a duchess in 6 months. Decked out in finery and with her new, deliberate and well-mannered tongue, Eliza debuts at a London reception, rendering everyone awe-struck by her startling beauty and refinement. Higgins laps up the success of his protege, gloating and dismissing the possibility that it was Eliza's quick learning that made him win the bet. Higgin's godlike power over Eliza underlines book's sexist subtext. Eliza is abused and bullied by her professor, remaining the object of his ridicule, irrespective of her new-found station in life. The ending of this book surprised me, and Shaw interrupts the play format to conclude it in prose. I found 'Pygmalion' enjoyable, and would recommend it to those seeking insight into 19th century ways of thinking, or simply those seeking a hearty and amusing read. Note: this is the DEFINITIVE TEXT version of the play.

Published as a play in 1916, 'Pygmalion' is one of Shah's play
not heavy on philosophy. I, personally feel that his plays heavy
on philosophy are his best - 'Man and Superman', 'St.
Joan', 'Androcles and the Lion' et al. Among his plays of 'not
heavy on philosophy' genre, I rate 'Pygmalion' as one of the
best. It is full of fun, gaiety, humor, Shavian wit and is a wee
bit didactic. As Shaw wrote in the preface of 'Man and
Superman', that all good, great writing should be didactic. So,
even in the mildly didactic 'Pygmalion', Shaw had more than one
axe to grind so to say.

The central theme of Pygmalion is the gift of speech in human
beings. Shaw has tried to depict as to how a person speaks
affects their own personality and the people around. As a
corollary to this theme, Shaw hoped to popularize the science of
phonetics. In the short preface of the play, Shaw also makes a
plea for enhancement of the English alphabet (with it's too few
vowels and few consonants) to make English reading pronunciation
rational. Both his wishes of popularizing phonetics and getting
the English alphabet enlarged remain unfulfilled even today,
perhaps a measure of how much ahead of the times he was or still
is!

The locale is London's Covent Garden vegetable market. The time
is late night. It is pouring heavily, everybody is seeking the
shelter of a church's portico. Among the shelter seekers is an
impoverished, bedraggled flower girl Liza with a terrible
cockney accent. Liza is trying to peddle her flowers to the
crowd of shelter seekers. A middle-aged gentleman, professor
Higgins is taking down her speech (in Bells Visible Speech) in
his notebook. Professor Higgins is an eccentric phonetician,
expert on London accents and can place a person by their accent
to the street they originate from. One other shelter seeker is
an ex-military man, Colonel Pickering (also middle aged) with a
deep interest in phonetics. As professor Higgins Colonel
Pickering get talking, Higgins bemoans the terrible accent of
Liza (most depressing and disgusting sounds) and boasts that if
given a chance to teach and train her to speak for three months,
he could pass her off as a duchess on the basis of her fine way
of speaking! It comes about that Colonel Pickering is willing to
bear the expense of teaching Liza to speak by Higgins. The rest
of the play is about Liza 'the live doll' learning to speak like
a Duchess from two confirmed bachelors Higgins and Pickering and
whether they are able to pass her off as a duchess.

The woman protagonist character of the play Liza like all Shaw's
woman protagonist character is strong willed and assertive.
Having to endure during her learning the overbearing ways,
domineering mien, downright bullying from a socially superior
Higgins her teacher, she manages to hold her own. In the latter
stages of the play, she even manages to get the better of him
and Higgins has to tamely acknowledge that he has made a 'woman'
of her after all. (a lame defence) Although there is a romantic
angle, (Liza and Freddy) the relationship between Liza vis-à-vis
Higgins and Pickering are pivotal, focal relationships of the
play. The Liza, Freddy romance is a relegated affair. I feel
only Shaw could do this i.e. make a non-romantic relationship so
interesting over the other. But then Shaw loved debunking
popular notions. All in all a much readable play.

After having spent my third week in this 'Philosophy of Law and Ethics' Class, it is critical to be a week or two ahead of the game(to be successful); most of the Philosophers and/or Political Figures are from another Era (Classical and Some Contemporary). It takes a bit of practice to read or even think along the lines. The paragraphs are a bit 'flowery' and long-winded versus 'straight-to-the-point'. Take Good Notes and Find A Quiet Place. An individual that is new to this type of reading would need to re-read the pages 2-5 times to grasp the lingo thus be prepared for the Comprehensive Exams.

However, it is a very good book and highly recommend. If an American Government class could be taken in conjunction with this, it would actually do a world of good. It kind of fills in the Gaps.



SusanSaige
Susan Bradbury (Bernstein)

I am a student at SUNY Binghamton and have been tought by Professor Arthur. This particular book I have dissected for two classes, and tought as a TA for one class. This book consists of articles written by such philosophers as Dworkin, Hart, etc as well as brief summaries and questions for each. This book truly is a masterful piece and should be taught in any philosophy of law undergrad course.

Our small group just started on this book. We've done lesson 1, and so far, I'm very pleased with the book. I really like the format of the study - it incorporates questions throughout the lesson, rather than having them all at the end. The questions are thought-provoking and relate well to the study.

This book gives hope that our Heavenly Father still loves us "Imperfect" people- and inspires us to keep trying~

This is a great book, fun to read for the adults and fun to look at for the kids. We have the entire collection and can't decide which one is our favorite. Makes a great gift for baby showers, etc.

Bought the book on a whim because I have a friend who loves sheep and I love Halloween. The rhymes are catchy, and simple, the pictures are fun at first look, and even more fun to look at again and again to point out all the silliness and explore the words. The idea of sculpting a Frankensheep monster costume using gel and the wooly coat just tickled us when we read this little board book.

Ends abruptly so it wasn't the usual smooth finish to a storybook, but overall fun four stars.

The initial accident report and then this book brought back the realization of how little real communication there was between the FAA and the pilot community.

In the fall of 73 I was an instrument student living in Marin County, just across the bay from San Francisco and flying out of the east bay airport. It was a dark, wet night with visibility limited to the dim wingtip lights illuminating alternating snow and rain as we started our late night descent out of 7,000 feet for Oakland. Although the weather was ugly I was comfortable with an old freight dog, J Smith my instructor in the right seat and warmer weather below.

The voice of Bay Approach instructed us to turn left to a new heading to intercept the localizer, followed by cleared ILS Runway 27 approach Oakland. We were a long way out but cleared the approach so I started down. Both of us knew we were well clear of the terrain. A few minutes later Smith yawned, poked me in the shoulderm and announced that I had just killed my family.

Over a beer he mentioned that this was one of the geatest areas of misunderstanding between pilots and controllers and that our controller, like those across the country had a very different understanding of what was going to happen. I was stunned as only a few nights earlier one of his younger instructors had yelled at me that cleared for the approach DID include a clearnace to descend.

Sound of Impact picks up the same story but with two pilots flying a strange approach into an alternate airport in a raging storm with fatal consequences for a planeload of pax. The author traces the chain of errors on both sides of the radio that lead to this and other crashes. As a result of the accident report and perhaps this book training and procedures have changed. When pilots are cleared for an approach they are now given an assigned altitude until they are on a published approach segment for which altitudes are shown on the charts.

Highly readable and a great contribution.

The Sound of Impact: The Legacy of Twa Flight 514 is not just like every other airline accident book. This book is touching and tear provoking because of it's chapters with interviews from the victims families.

The author felt that the 514 passengers were SOMEONE to SOMEBODY and wanted to remember them. They weren't just another statistic- they had names. He interviewed many family members to get a portrait of these mothers, daughters, fathers & brothers that were taken away. It's a glimpse into their lives the morning of the crash and a snapshot of who they were: the pregnant young wife, the congressmans aide with his wife & baby, the teenage son of divorced parents, the young marine, a prominent dentist & his socialite wife.

Of course how this all came to pass and the changes made because of it were covered. It was simply a God awful mistake waiting to happen. The result of a few small things that added up to one tragic accident. If you read accident books and have an investigative interest, this book is a new way to approach the topic. Even though it's been 27 years, the stories read like they could have been yesterday. Or 9/11. I only hope someone takes the initiative to write one just like it about that day too.

The 'Three Sisters' is another Chekhov depiction of life's pains, disappointments, hopes , illusions and moments of beauty. It is once again as in the 'Seagull' life in the provinces which is a central villain depriving the heroines of what they believe would be a fuller more realized life in the city. Each one of the sisters does not come to the Love and realization in life that they dreamed. Olga the schoolteacher ends up as the mistress of her school, but this is not her heart's desire. Masha longs for a richer kind of love with one wiser than the husband she has outgrown .Irina dreams of an escape she can never make. Their brother Andrei who marries the peasant woman Natalya and has two children with her , sees her take over his life and drive out the sisters from the ancestral home.
The characters as is usually the case with Chekhov are not one- dimensional but are complex mixtures .Though the play ends in the seeming failure of all , a speech of sister Olga suggests that 'hopelessness' is not the last word for Chekhov, but dream and delusion maintain us to the end.

"We shall be forgotten, our faces will be forgotten, our voices, and how many there were of us; but our sufferings will pass into joy for those who will live after us, happiness and peace will be established upon earth, and they will remember kindly and bless those who have lived before. Oh, dear sisters, our life is not ended yet. We shall live! The music is so happy, so joyful, and it seems as though in a little while we shall know what we are living for, why we are suffering... If we only knew--if we only knew!"

Checkov was a master of composing life's largest problems into beautiful language and ordinary situations which the entire world could understand. Granted he wrote them a long time ago but the underlying situation exists everywhere today. Here are three sisters completely unable to move on with their lives. They are unhappy, they are desperate for a change of scene, they are forced to give up anyone they love to someone else but yet they remain glued to the exact place where all of this occurs. Olga has passed her prime, Masha loves someone other than her husband, and Irina has no idea what could possibly make her happy and all they do is talk about change, but never do anything active. And in the end it all comes full circle and we as an audience, a reader, need to decide how to not fall into such a life rut, to learn by their actions as we do from Aesop's fables. This play is just written a great deal better, with a little more comedy and tugging at the heartstrings.

James Evans' candid and clear testimonial about dealing with his ADD is an important story to be told. Autobiographically written, he manages to bring out his pain in the midst of struggling through ADD as well as his spiritual growth.

I never would've read the book had a dear friend not given it to me, just as I was learning about my own ADD. I thought it might be trite, but Evans' story of his life is filled with depth and passion. His life is far different from mine, but, boiled down, we have shared similar experiences.

Other books on ADD are out there, but for the spiritual person, especially Christians (Evans is a Presbyterian pastor), there are few sources for encouragement.

Balanced in his book, Evans shows his struggles were real, drawing him to question his gifts and wonder where God intended him to go. Through the help of a theater coach and a family who cared deeply for him, he learned how to manage his focus better.

Any person with ADD who can learn as Evans' learned to focus will see improvement in his or her job, relationships and internal life. Anyone with ADD or another LD issue knows the workplace is affected, but social (platonic) and romantic relationships are where the biggest hurts are felt. Jobs are easy to find. Friends and significant others are harder to replace. The pain of losing a job via ADD-related matters is minor when compared to losing a close friend.

The gift of this book didn't transform my life, but it did encourage me through the toughest diagnosis of my life. Like my friend realized, I needed to know other people could live successfully with ADD. Evans' shows it is a long road, but on the road is evidential growth.

I fully recommend this book.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is a well-written first person account of the LD experience. The author illustrates for the reader not only the academic difficulties experienced by the individual with LD, but also the effects of learning differently upon self-esteem, familial relationships and social relationships (often the pieces forgotten by us, the professionals). I feel that this book can be valuable for practicioners, parents and individuals with learning disabilities (particularly as they move throughout their lifespans and continuoulsy greet challenges unique to those with LD). Overall, this piece is well-written, difficult to put down and offers valuable insights that can benefit those who are LD and/or work with individuals with LD.

There are those of us who would just like to use the UNIX operating system. Then there are those curious people that want to know what are the inode is, and the Super block is, and how is the directory structure made?
Most of us would be satisfied, if someone said the inode was a file. Then there are those, who say "Oh know you don't. What is its structure?" I say, "just read Unix Internals"

Informative. Reads like a college text. Excellent in citing references at the end of each chapter. I couldn't help but notice 'exercises' at the end of each chapter. It filled me in on a few things. Covers quite a bit of history, focusing mainly on BSD and SVR4.