Wang Books

Nice for beginners, easy to follow instructions, even older children can enjoy this with minimal guidence.

This book is an excellant reference and guide for the beginner and advanced artist alike. Several attractive subjects are demonstrated with step by step examples of the tradiitional brush strokes used in this ancient art form.

I've purchased 3 other Chinese Painting books recently, looking for one where I like the style presented. Lucy Wang is one of my favorites. Her style is brighter and looser than most "traditional" Chinese painting. I don't always like the Spontaneous style that she employs, because it can look very blotchy. But because she uses a lot of bright color, and less of the black ink, I don't find it objectionable in her paintings. She's also contemporary in her use of watercolor paper, rather then the traditional "rice" paper (actually mulberry or other plants). So your strokes might bleed a bit more than hers do, if you use the rice or Sumi-e paper.

The book features a short tutorial on the materials and strokes. They aren't gone into in much depth, but the projects all have arrows showing the direction of the brushstrokes. Then she moves on to 14 projects. There's one Siamese cat picture and a traditional style landscape; the rest are florals, nearly all of which feature a bird as well. Wang does 3 of the 4 traditional "Four Gentlemen" subjects, the Bamboo, Plum Blossom, and Orchid - oddly, the Chrysanthemum is missing. She depicts flowers and birds from all over the world, not just China, including 2 hummingbirds. The flowers show nice variation, but many of the leaves seem kind of generic - I would have liked them to be more specific to the plant being rendered.

I like the large format of this edition - it really lets you examine the pictures in detail. BE ADVISED, however - as far as I can tell, this is the EXACT same book offered in the Walter Foster Chinese Brush Painting Kit, just in a larger size. If you already have the brushes and other materials, this book is good to get; otherwise, the kit is a better value.

"~Finally, a full translation of the Wang Bi commentary. Lynn's translation of the Daode jing itself is nothing new (though it's nice to see many key terms bracketed in Chinese as they appear, and some passages are translated in a fresh and insightful way), but the introduction and commentary by Wang Bi are every bit as brilliant as I'd been led to believe. You cannot fail to gain a deeper understanding of this seminal Taoist text from Wang's commentaries."~ fair, and nonjudgmental throughout, a rare quality in Taoist studies, also providing an extensive bibliography, glossary, and index, in addition to an excellent introduction. This is _the_ best scholarly translation of the Daode jing I have seen.This is not some phony ancient Chinese justification of libertarianism, or think a translation of the DDJ has to be particularly beautiful and poetic to be meaningful (not that there's anything wrong with sounding poetic! it just misses the point of the DDJ), you simply can't go wrong with this book. Thanks to R. Lynn for making this available to all of us who cannot read Classical Chinese. I will not be surprised if this book is someday considered an authoritative translation.

I just got this and it has instantly become my favorite translation. It seemed to click. Add to that the fact that it is more than just the author's interpretation. He includes explanations from people other than himself to try and milk out as much depth as possible using words. Considering the Tao is a wordless form of teaching, these words are wonderful.

Do yourself a favor and add this to your balance of translations. If you don't have one, this is a great place to start.

This latest translation of the Chinese Taoist Classic is a dry and lifeless specimen, not surprising from a man whose translation of the I Ching was praised for "having no truck with 'timeless wisdom.'" (back cover blurb). This volume's claim to fame, beyond its slim and attractive appearance, is the complete translation of Wang Bi, a 23 year old commentator from 3rd century CE China. To determine whether this translation is for you, you should know that Wang Bi had a strong inclination toward political interpretation, a proclivity probably due to the "high official status and prestige" of his family and their role in government and politics [p. 9], a trend furthered by his great-uncle's "Treatise on Keeping One's Person Safe"-which begins by making government secure [p. 10]. (Now there's a Chinese virtue, eh?) Consider also Wang Bi's answer as to why Confucius never spoke of nothingness while Lao Tzu spoke of it incessantly (as the Mother of the Ten Thousand Things etc.): "The Sage [Confucius] embodied nothingness so he also knew that it could not be explained in words....Master Lao...constantly discussed nothingness...for what he said about it always fell short [p. 12]." Now if you believe that someone who could say that actually knew anything firsthand about the Tao, then this book is for you. And if you are interested in Wang Bi, see Ellen Chen's superb translation/commentary which puts it in perspective. Otherwise, this is a book on Te-social virtue-where the scholarship is impeccable and the feeling is weak. And that's the Way it is!

Well, what's there to say? It was written by the same talented writer who wrote Treasure of the Sierra Madre. You won't be disappointed. Traven delivers. Easy read. I read it in a day. The man is always for the underdog--who can't relate to that? The only thing that bothers me at times is Traven's political [views]. Man obviously had an ax to grind--well, ok, I suppose, everyone has an ax to grind about something. But when it comes to poltics and religion--well, two subjects that just sicken me--because you can never get anywhere with that stuff. You can talk about that b.s. until you're blue in the face and still end up nowhere.

Other than that--yes, I highly recommend the book.

This is an interesting story about poverty and worker exploitation in Mexico during the late 1920's. The story is narrated by Gales, an offbeat American living as a nomad in Mexico and bouncing from one crummy job to another. He picks cotton, works in a bakery, drives cattle, etc. The only jobs available to him, Indians, and other transients offer low pay, long hours, and demeaning conditions. Many jobs also feature crooked employers that cheat their workers. Despite these difficulties, Gales has a sense of freedom, which he greatly values. Also, there are a couple decent employers and some successful strikes by workers.

Author B. Traven (1890-1969) had a nicely readable style, a soft heart for underpaid workers, and disdain for the seamier side of capitalism. This isn't his best work, but it's an entertaining story of transient poverty and exploitation in Mexico. Readers should be sure not to miss his TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.

This novel, like "The Death Ship," does not have atraditional narrative structure. And like "The Death Ship" this story is narrated by Gales, a crazy American who goes through life doing one lousy job after the other. From cotton picker to cowboy, from baker to wanderer, Traven once again takes Gales through a trial-by-toil world.

Of course the book is entertaining and it's even insightful (especially if you've ever had a job in Mexico); but what worked so well for "The Death Ship" doesn't seem to be as effective here. It lacks the tough satire that his first novels has.

Also, if you've read "The Night Vistor and other stories" you'll feel a little ripped off, since about 40 pages overlap between these two volumes. But if you haven't, then you're in for a pretty good treat.

I mean, nobody sweats like Traven.

This book is a collection of the latest thinking in the area of data mining. The theoretical discussions would be useful to the initiated reader and the cases and experiments are excellent pointers for practitioners.

I have read this book with growing interest - this is the first major com­pre­hensive and current introduction to data mining (DM) in ten years. Extremely interesting and useful book! It contains a collection of 20 high quality articles written by experts in data mining (DM) and knowledge dis­covery (KDD) from the following countries: Argentina, Canada, Finland, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, and USA. The book is filled with fresh insights on data mining: it provides a complete overview of DM-technology and outlines how it can be applied to real world problems and applications.

This book is a very valuable guide into the field of Data Mining. Addressing theoretical issues and tools from Bayesian Reasoning through Rough Sets to Self-Organizing Maps along with a penetrating look at applications from HealthCare to Banking and Finances, it allows the reader to become acquainted with the state-of-the-art in Data Mining by a group of eminent specialists in this area. It will guide the reader directly to the hearth of the rich world of theory and applications of Data Mining. I am confident that it will become a good companion to any researcher and student in this field.

George Bernard Shaw is supposedly the opposite of Shakespeare, who was too pessimistic, being described as a 'serious optimist.' In Shaw's play "Man and Superman" creative evolution is the topic in serious dramatic terms, performed in 1903. He is the precursor of what is now called "creative intelligent design" as described in the book OF PANDAS AND PEOPLE (1993). While he had problems with the biological randomness of Darwin, he pretty much eliminated God from the equation of how human life began.

The God-incorporated alternative to Darwinism now being proposed by who else but the President of the United States of America, Shaw felt that the life force is transmitted by rare men of genius who were selected by nature to carry on the work of building up an intellectual consciousness. In "Man and Superman" the Don Juan was an asexual but in a way religious and felt that life could be improved and that meant getting rid of 'imprisoning conventions.'

The intelligent design is a hot topic now among theologians, educators and scientists who want this concept taught in the schools along with Darwin (leaving out the Biblical account). Shaw left out completedly the thought of God having anything to do whatsoever with the human existence; it was just a 'what-if' story idea which extremely religious people believe to be the truth.

Shaw's "Devil's Disciple" was his first commercial success with Richard Mansfield as the matinee idol starring in the play set during the American Revoluiton. His earlier "Man and Superman" was placed on a restricted list by the libraries so it could not infect young minds with its unorthodox view of God and matrimony. His play about prostitution, so prevalent in the century he was so prolific with his works, "Mrs. Warren's Profession," played to a sold out audience with up to 3,000 people turned away at the door. This popular sensation was closed down by the police and the entire cast faced charges of 'disorderly conduct.'

Every star wanted to be Henry Higgins in "Pygmalion" played by Peter O'Toole and Leslie Howard. Rex Harrison played the part in the movie, "My Fair Lady." Lynn Fontanne and Wendy Hiller, along with Mrs. Partick Campbell on whom the play was based, wanted to play Eliza Doolittle.

He wrote to Mrs. Campbell "I can't be sympathetic; these things simply make me furious," when her son was killed in 1918 by the Germans as the war was ended. He wrote articulate letters throughout his life to many people, "some subjects that language cannot accommodate."

He had his place in our world and prophesied what was to come on Broadway, the British stage, and the controversial world of science and biology. He was the forerunner to beat all!

In only one hundred pages Chesterton encapsulates the influences on and works of George Bernard Shaw, and he is on top form. I should say up front for those that want the Drive-Thru version, go direct to chapters 2 and 6 (35 pages total) for a sound grasp of the man, the playwright, and the later works; and double back to chapter 5 (20 pages) for the earlier works. The last chapter explains how Shaw lost his faith in humanism through reading Plato [tis se philei, o Sokrates;], and fell back in disarray to Nietzsche for backup.

What makes this biography so incisive? Firstly the fact that Chesterton and Shaw were old friends and debating partners. Second, that they were both literary gents of sharply contrasting style, and consequently struck generous bright sparks off one another. Under this stimulus the normally verbose Chesterton style is reigned in, which is a relief to those who have ever been frustrated by it. (It should go without saying that he is worth persevering with, but I took about five reads of 'Orthodoxy' to really get it. His fiction is much more concise - odd but true.)

Since Chesterton and Shaw so vehemently disagreed with each other on many topics, one would expect this quick text to be filled with antagonism. Instead, it is a delightful explanation of Shaw's background, biography and beliefs, told in a gentle, light-hearted manner. Chesterton shows a great respect for his adversary, while making clear his own views through quite a few of the one-sentence quotables for which he is well known.

A Fierce Green Fire provides an in-depth account of the history of the environmental movement in America. Phillip Shabecoff, writer for the New York Times, writes with much experience in the field of environmentalism. The book maintains a nice balance of description and conclusion, and holds the interest of the audience by noting specific examples and stories from both national and grassroots environmental efforts. The book is very specific and introduces several original theories regarding the evolution of this social movement. Shabecoff maintains an appropriate and rational tone throughout the book as he explains the ups and downs of the effectiveness of the movement between decades and among presidents. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone truly interested in environmental science, as it compiles information from many sources into one fantastic account.

This book provides a readable introduction to the history of the American environmental movement. If you're looking for a relatively superficial overview, this may be a good book for you. Be warned, however, that Shabecoff does not really address any particular topic in any depth.

The first two chapters cover ground familiar to readers of Roderick Nash's classic history of wilderness. Nash is much better at this general level, and manages to convey a deeper understanding of the issues at the same time. This intellectual history also overlaps with the substance of Max Oelschlager's far more challenging account, which provides a more in-depth and "philosophical" discussion of these thinkers if that's what you want.

Throughout the book, Shabecoff is pretty uncritical of the environmental movement. As a result, he mostly ignores internal conflicts, and debates over strategy within the movement - - to say nothing of outsiders and environmentalists' opponents.

Views will doubtless vary on these points, but I also found Shabecoff to be an untrustworthy judge of various issues. For example, I was surprised to see his claim that environmentalists view the Reclamation Act of 1902 as a "mixed blessing" - - wasn't it rather a disaster? This Act led to massive destruction of almost every river in the western United States, with unproductive and ecologically damaging irrigation throughout the region. Similarly, Shabecoff also has nice things to say about the Tennessee Valley Authority, whose environmental destruction at least had the advantage of contributing to the economic development of the poorest region in the United States. To his credit, in this case Shabecoff did try to respond to the obvious criticisms of the TVA.

Such examples convinced me that Shabecoff just hasn't thought very hard about this material. He spins a nice, readable story but if you're looking for a more informative account of the environmental movement and its challenges, this is not it.

This book is very thorough in covering the entire history of the American environmental movement. It starts by describing the waste and destruction caused by the European explorers who would later colonize and settle the vast, seemingly untouched American continent. At first it seemed that nobody knew of or cared about environmental protection, but eventually a few voices started calling out for reform. People started to realize that they could not do whatever they wanted to the earth and not suffer the consequences. Out of early movements to protect wilderness lands and wildlife by organizations such as the Audobon Society and the Sierra Club, environmentalism started to increase its ranks. It also broadened its range of issues to take on pollution, toxic waste dumps, and sustainable uses of natural resources. The book describes the second wave of environmentalism as a militant and passionate cause, and the third wave as more conciliatory and willing to work with business and industry. It ends on a pessimistic note, describing the antienvironmental policies of George W. Bush and what must be done to combat these types of actions in order to protect the earth.

Overall, I liked this book. It presented the viewpoints of all different kinds of environmentalists, ranging from wildlife conservationists to adovactes of socialism, governmental regulation, anti-industry tree-huggers, conservatives, and even the radical, violent eco-thugs who blow up whaling ships. The book was somewhat biased against industry and the free market, even if the author probably wouldn't admit it. I didn't really appreciate some of the closed-minded bashing of conservative Republicans; some are really bad, such as George W. Bush, but others did help the environment, such as Teddy Roosevelt. Overall, however, this book was not completely liberal propaganda, and it was interesting to learn about where environmentalism came from and what its goals are.

A. Matthias has written the previous review in 2005, I would like to join to his opinion in certains points and not to agree with him in others points.

The book contains the old characters that is true, but there are only a few characters which are different from the simplified ones, and if someone buys it with the book titled Read Chinese Book One, it could not cause difficulties. So I think even though it was written by the old characters, one can read it. I do not think the handwriting style could make difficulties, because the text is very clearly visible. The illustrations are very beautiful and they fitt well with the handwritten style of the book. So altogether I am glad to buy this book. The point in which I absolutely agree with Matthias that stories published with simplified characters would be well greeted by people studying Chinese!

In case you are learning simplified characters, beware: this book contains only traditional characters (at least the edition I just got by ordering it from here).

Moreover, the characters are hand-written. Most of the time they are quite readable, but the author's pen is too thick for a few of the more complex characters, which might therefore be difficult to identify easily. The rest of the layout has been done using a classic typewriter. The combination of typewriter and hand-written characters gives the book a somewhat makeshift flair, aesthetically far beyond anything that can be easily achieved with an office package today (the book seems to be a photographic copy of the 1957 edition, with Pinyin added to the margins later).

Still an interesting book, but a typeset version, optionally with simplified characters, would help a lot.

I used an older edition of this book after completing Wang's "Read Chinese 1", which teaches 300 characters of high frequency in their traditional forms. I found that this book greatly increased my reading speed and solidified my ability to recognize these characters. There are also about 20 - 30 extra characters introduced in this book that are not of high frequency but are essential to the story (e.g. pigeon, horse racing, tears, etc.). Some of these extra characters recur later in the story without explanations, which forces you to flip through to earlier pages trying to find that elusive footnote. The only English that appears is in the footnotes, glossary, and the brief introduction explaining the purpose of the book. Everything else, including the author's preface, is in Chinese. Also, the attractive black and white drawings help clarify the plot for those having trouble understanding the text. The only problem (probably resolved in the latest edition) is that the pictures occur a few pages before the actual events are read. This sort of spoils the plot, as it shows you what's going to happen next. Other than that, it's flawless.

This book brings together the original story by Eileen Chang and its screenplay adaptation by Wang Hui Ling and James Shamus, as well as succinct pieces of thinking by director Ang Lee and screenwriter Shamus. For students of screenwriting, the comparison between source material and adaptation is fascinating - for one thing, the story is short but the film is long (but not 'too long'). More fascinating still is the examination in story and movie of how people can escape into a role that then becomes both stronger and more real than their 'real' selves. As a 'Resistance' story (here Chinese resistance to Japanese occupation in WWII Shanghai), it is perhaps implausible, but the setting is not the subject.

I can recommend this expanded version of Lust, Caution to those who are interested in the adaptation of a novel to screenplay. It gives the reader insight into the mind of the seasoned screenwriter and how he goes about his work. I also found much information in the preface by director Ang Lee and the introduction by screenwriter James Schamus.

I read this book first in Chinese and then in English because I wanted to know how it was translated. Even for the Chinese reader Eileen Chang's original text could be hard to follow and necessitated rereading to fully grasp the details. Chang's writing is famously dense, lush, sensuous, and chock full of puns, symbolism and suggestion. She wrote with a vocabulary distinctive to her era and to her world. Her description of colors, for example, can be foreign to many contemporary Chinese readers. To translate her work will therefore inevitably strip the writing of that period flavor. Julia Lowell did an admirable job in presenting Chang's story in a very fluid and stylish manner in English, even if she could not adequately convey the mood that Chang evoked. In fact, it was easier to follow the plot by reading the English translation.

Unlike her other fiction pieces, Chang's Lust|Caution was extremely spare. Though Chang had always been precise and terse with her language she never spared details. In Lust|Caution, however, she seemed to have deliberately skipped some descriptions. Chang provided the motive for the two central characters to become drawn to each other: Chia-chih and Mr. Yee chose their diametrically opposite paths during Japan's invasion of China but in the process both ended up emotionally repressed, insecure, and isolated. This void drew them together, but Chang only informed the readers that they had become intimate twice without further details. This was unlike her other novels/novellas that at least briefly described the seduction (Red Rose, White Rose) or what the character was thinking as she got intimate with her lover (Love in a Fallen City). Such deliberate omissions added to the mystique of Chia-chih's impulsive and fateful decision at the end, leaving readers lingering with imagination and postulation long after they finished the story. For Chang's fans, in particular, we wonder if the conciseness stemmed from Chang's reluctance to delve into a personal wound that inspired the story.

I first read this short introduction to Machiavelli about ten years ago, when it was a volume in the Oxford University Press Past Masters series. It has been resurrected in updated form to be a part of their Very Brief Introductions series. The changes are all to the good. Whereas the Past Masters edition was printed on cheap paper with a tendency to age and yellow, the new edition features updated bibliography, the addition of graphics, reset font, a sturdier binding and paper cover, and a much higher grade of paper. In everyway, this new volume is an improvement over the earlier edition.

Content wise, you couldn't ask for a better brief introduction to Machiavelli. Skinner is one of the great historians of political thought of this generation, and probably the finest. His knowledge of 16th and 17th century political thought is difficult to rival. He covers Machiavelli's political thought in loosely chronological fashion, blending the highpoints of his biography with longer expositions of his three great political works. There are four chapters in all. The first details some of Machiavelli's experience working as a diplomat for the Florentine republic. It was by observing many of the political leaders he dealt with that he gathered the ideas for the composition by which he is best known today, THE PRINCE. Chapter Two provides a brief sketch of the contents and argument of THE PRINCE, and it alone would justify the purchase of the book. Luckily, the book contains more, including an exposition of his DISCOURSES ON LIVY in Chapter Three. This chapter (and Machiavelli's book) should be of great interest to any American interested in the founding of the United States, because many of the Founders considered themselves students of Machiavelli, though not of THE PRINCE, but the discourses. Most of the Founders had a fascination with the Roman Republic, and in founding the United States sought to emulate many of its features. Much of their exposure to the Roman Republic came via Livy and through Machiavelli's book, which covers the first ten books of Livy's history of Rome. The final chapter covers the history of Florence that the Medici family commissioned him to write, a history that expresses a deeply ambivalent opinion about the value of principalities over republics.

Skinner's book will not substitute for the reading of Machiavelli, and it certainly cannot constitute an in depth study of his work. But it makes an absolutely ideal overview to anyone about to read any of Machiavelli's works.

This is a fine book if you want to see what someone very smart has to say about Machiavelli's major works. What I wanted, however, was to understand the context in which Machiavelli wrote, and I would have loved to get some information on how and why his ideas began to have influence beyond Florence. If you understand references to the founding of Rome, to 15th century Papal politics, and have a good grounding in Livy, this book is for you. If, like me, what you wanted from a introduction to Machiavelli was to have someone explain Machiavelli's context and allusions, look elsewhere.

This is one of the best written volumes in 'The Past Masters' series. Skinner tells the story of Machiavelli's life, and places the major works at the heart of the story. Machiavelli, the high- ranking diplomat, and representative of his native Florence does not write the great political works out of the air abstractly. It is through his diplomatic experience, through his witnessing the city- state wars in the Italy of his time that he comes to the startling political conclusions that he does. Skinner shows how only when Machiavelli had to retire against his will from the active life did he turn to write his masterpiece ' The Prince'. 'The Prince ' teaches the Machiavellan lessons about how the ruler must be swift in decision, ruthless in action , inspiring fear and respect in his subjects. It teaches those lessons of the meaning of ' virtu' of how it is ' the brave to whom Fortune is given'. And how the ruler must shun mercenaries, and foreign dependancies built a defense force of his own if he is to rule securely. Skinner describes Machiavelli's other important writings that too are devoted to questions of ruling. Even Machiavelli's last work ' On the Florentine Republic' considers the mistakes made by rulers which cost the city its independence- and what the true way toward ruling should be. Skinner does not sentimentalize Machiavelli and he shows how private immorality is sanctioned by him if it may lead to what for him is of supreme importance, the public good.
This is an extremely good introduction to one of the world's most important political thinkers.

The book is good, but certainly not up to the other reviews I read. Surprisingly, it's purportedly used as a school text. That's surprising because there's absolutely NO theory inside this tome. It's strictly network by rote.

Especially frustrating were the Exercises and Case Studies *without answers*. Want answers? That's extra-$19.95 for the CD _after_ sending the publisher a "legal release form".

My advice-get a serious text, with extensive explanations (not just lists), good, tough questions and the answers in the back (right where they belong).

This is an awesome reference guide. I give it 10 stars! It is very well organized. All the information is presented in a no-nonsense fashion...perfect for the person who needs to learn this subject in a hurry or who wants to seriously study for the exam. I'm very impressed. After running into too many poorly organized computer guides, this one proves that you can organize technical topics logically and for any reader (at any technical level).

As an instructor of the Microsoft Certification curriculum, I can honestly say that this is by far the best book on Microsoft Networking Essentials I've seen. Whether your studying for the exam, or just looking for a concise, complete reference for network engineering, this book has you covered. It addresses topics in a manner that makes them easy to understand, while at the same time teaching you the tools you'll need to get, and keep, a network up and running at optimal efficiency. Its organization is excellent, and the referenced diagrams help to further explain the topics. Truly an excellent effort, this book will be an asset to both engineers and aspiring MCPs.