Wang Books

I enjoyed this book though found it a little wordy in places. Was suggested reading for an online course and is a good basic history of the Civil War overall.

Chih-p'ing Chou has developed some of the best language textbooks available for Chinese students. However, amazon only shipped me the language and grammar notes for this series. Without the essays, it is a study in vocabulary. Call them before you buy this, or any two part series to be sure you are getting what you need. (5 stars for Chou, -2 for bad advertizing at amazon)

First, I actually gave this book only three stars because of my purchase: I bought a used 1970s edition with some wear (used-very good, said the seller), but honestly, I never read it was indelibly underlined up to page 41. Anyway, it's a great book for the 8 dls or so that I paid. Nilsen, says the legend, used to be a disciple of Sergei Eisenstein, and actually, he was one of the three cinematographers listed in Eisenstein's "October". Like Eisenstein, Nilsen went beyond technique, and actually wrote this seminal book on film theory, expanding the range of his menthor's own theoretical writings on the two-dimensional nature of film. As obvious as it sounds, you'll notice few contemporary filmmakers seem to take full advantage of that feature, or even reflect on it. If you've ever watched a Peter Greenaway film you'll understand what I'm talking about. But this is about Nilsen's book, so, in short, if you're interested to know about visual design on films, I'd suggest you read either "The Cinema As A Graphic Art", or the more recent and less profound "The Visual Story", by Bruce Block. Both are great introductions. Block as a technical primer, and Nilsen as a theoretical primer. This book is out of print, but there's many second-hand buying options here in amazon. You won't have to go safari, and it's worth it.

Oliver Wang has assembled a group of some of the greatest writers/media assassins to create a book of essays, containing some of hip hops greatest records. The book covers everything from the Cash Money crew down to Gangstarr. No years of hip hop history is left out up to 1998. Various writers cover certain albums which is a gift and a curse. A gift in that it brings out the passion of each writers experiences with the music they are documenting. A curse in that it seems like a bunch of essays were just jumbled alphabetically, by group name together with no cohesive reading from one page to the next. There are some pros and cons when reading this book.

One thing that is apparent are the memories the book provokes. For example, Oliver Wangs first time when his life was forever changed by "3 Feet High and Rising". Dante Ross' involvement in the making of seminal classics like "Mecca and The Soul Brother" and the self titled debut of "Cypress Hill". And of coarse, the music that is documented in each essay. However, there are some cons that really drags this book down from being great.

First off, even though many great records are covered...it is not nearly enough. Maybe time has made many of the non-covered material age like fine wine since the book came out, but there are dozens of records off the head that deserved recognition. With so many renknowned journalists, you'd think they could expand this hand book into something more. However, this minor criticism is shadowed by something much worse. Certain writers actually misquote the artists they are documenting frequently. For example, on pages 42-43 the writer transposes quotes between Brand Nubians Sadat X and Grand Puba. It's a little embarrassing, especially when they state, "back in 1990 everybody thought Grand Puba was the best emcee," when they were using Sadat X quotes by example. On page 81, another writer misquotes Willie D when Scarface used the line, "keep letting the gov't dictate what you hear/ Next they'll put stickers on your ears" from "We Can't Be Stopped". The misquotes keeps coming. On page 114, the writer quotes Prodigy using the opening line on "Start of Your Ending" with "I keep it real packin' steal" when it was in fact a Havoc line.

In conclusion, the frequent "not giving credit where it is due" hurts "Classic Material, The Hip Hop-Album Guide" from being great. I myself have made mistakes reviewing (like any human being) but from people whose profession is to critique albums presents some rough edges. Still..."Classic Material" is a solid read, front to back, with plenty of memorable moments. Hopefully, if there is another book in the making, it can be more accurate.

It's a good CJ book....easy to read. A quick read. Wish it was a little more interesting a read though.

According to Lionel Abel, classic tragedy died with Macbeth, and a new kind of pseudo-tragedy rose with Hamlet. Since "pseudo-tragedy" is a mouthful and Abel is a contemporary of those critics whose life's work, it would seem, was to add "meta-" to everything, Abel decided to call this new kind of drama "metatheatre." What is metatheatre? Simply put, it's the conversion of the tragic (anti-) hero's firm belief in forces outside his control-- the gods in Sophocles, or the Weird Sisters (Abel's take on them: a corrpution of the Three Furies, a view I suspect myself) in Macbeth-- to the (anti-) hero's less firm belief in the motives of humanity, and more importantly, the (anti-) hero's ability to put on an act in order to deceive the other players. The layers of an onion-- the actor acting a part to the audience, and acting a different part to the other actors.

Hamlet, according to Abel, was the turning point. It not only contained this mechanism-- given free rein by letting the other actors in the play think Hamlet was mad, leaving Hamlet to essentially do what he liked-- but was also metaphorized by the play-within-a-play Hamlet stages to uncover the treachery of his stepfather. If you believe Abel, Hamlet is, simply, the finest drama in the history of the form, and I'm not inclined to disagree. After this explication (a lucid and interesting one-- unlike many) of Hamlet, Abel whirls us through the next three hundred odd years of paywriting, giving us examples of metatheatrical works which have been mislabeled as tragedy down through the ages, both in drama and fiction (he specifically contrasts Don Quixote with El Cid in one essay), and makes a strong case for metatheatre as a valid genre on the stage.

Unlike most works of theatrical criticism-- I'm not a big stage fan, so I find most of it way above my head-- Abel's little work is readable, understandable, and finishable by the average joe on the street with more than an eighth-grade education. It may even lead more people to want to experience the theatre (at least, as long as it stays away from musicals). A fine little achievement that I hope is still in print.

This work traces the development of Engels thought, and focuses on his relation to, and contribution to the work of Marx. It is very skimpy on the life of Engels and does not provide any real understanding of his psychology. We do not get to feel the kind of person he is. The son of a rich industrialist he very early on became committed to Socialism. In meeting Marx he recognized someone who was his intellectual superior. Their collaboration and friendship involved also Engels promotion of the ideas and thought of Marx. Engels wrote multiple book- reviews at the publication of ' Kapital' and worked industriously to help Marx's ideas penetrate Western society.

I don't know why anyone with a great NN or other trading system would write about it, though that's what I hoped would be in this book. The Good: Lots of discussion about architectures (especially hybrid systems), training methods, and literature references. The Bad (IMHO): I felt deprived by the scant experience and method details and the marginal editing. There is a fair amount of vector algebra for devotees. Overall, despite disappointments, it's probably worth the price for a serious developer or academic researcher.

As a quality general textbook, I recommend 'Neural Networks: A Comprehensive Foundation' 3rd Ed. by Simon Haykin.

If you are an avid supporter of the European Union, this book will not be a fun read. In this polemical essay, Judt argues that the future of Europe cannot be a unified one and that the EU is ultimately doomed to failure. What is his rationale?

He writes, "The years 1945-1989 are thus coming to seem more and more like a parenthesis." Arguing that nationalism is the most powerful and influential force in Europe, Judt paints a picture of a Europe that has been historically divided. Any attempts at unity will founder because of inherent national differences and nationalist feelings.

Although Judt offers several cogent arguments, his book fails to take into account the current state of optimism in Europe and the fact that the EU has been widely accepted. After a tumultuous century of division (from the powerful pre-WWI nation-states to the Cold War's establishment of East v. West), Europe today seems eager to latch onto a system that would provide some sense of community. Judt ignores this fact. Also, Judt's argument about Germany seems to me to be illogical, and some his evidence is a real stretch.

Judt's book on Europe has some value--it offers some very provocative points about Europe--but in the end, its overly pessimistic view lacks clarity and a solid factual base.

This book is concerned that the rights of patients are being eroded by insurance cutbacks and control. Its goal is to foster a national debate on wise use of medical resources. Dr. Lockshin uses touching and funny anecdotes of chronically ill patients he has treated. His compassion and care are revealed as is his fear for the direction the U.S. healthcare system may be heading. Chapter 4 on science and medicine will cause controversy among scientists and I disagree with Dr. Lockshin's views of the dichotomy between physicians and scientists. This book should be read by anyone with a chronic disease,their relatives,the medical profession, and public policy planners. In short it should be read by anyone planning to use healthcare services in the near future.