Watson Books

I am a second year nursing student, and this has been my most favorite book this semester. Dr. Watson's definition of human care and caring is very clear and concise. The book is a true work of philosophical art. I enjoyed it very much, and will read it over and over. Thank you Dr. Watson!!

This book help us to understand the true meaning of nursing in our days. With this concept of nursing, nurses really understand that they make all the difference. Jean Watson view of nursing is one of caring and supporting people in their context, respecting them as complete human beens.

THE OLD MAN WHO DOES AS HE PLEASES : Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Lu Yu. 126 pp. New York and London : Columbia University Press, 1973. ISBN 0-231-03766-X (hbk.)

Burton Watson has always struck me as an eminently civilized scholar and as a fine translator. Unlike certain others, he wears his scholarship lightly, and doesn't overburden the text with extraneous matter. His many translations from Chinese and Japanese Literature are of uniformly high quality, and are well worth having as they are books one often returns to.

Lu Yu (1125-1210) was an amazingly prolific poet, and left behind almost 10,000 poems as well as a variety of prose writings. His poetry is characterized by occasional spasms of intense patriotism, but mainly by a carefree enjoyment of life. Hence his literary name 'Fang-weng' or 'The old man who does as he pleases.' He adopted this name as a gesture of defiance after being dismissed from his official post for "drunkenness and irresponsibilty." This image of a lively and lovable old rascal is borne out by the poetry.

The present book offers a selection of sixty-three of Lu Yu's poems which provide us with glimpses of the poet's daily life. Here is a brief example, with my obliques added to indicate line breaks :

"My medicine's crude, yet the old farmer / swears it really works. / my poems are shallow, yet the mountain monk / has immoderate praise for their skill. / Cakes in pockets, with packets of tea / they come to pay me a visit. / What harm if in the midst of loneliness / we have one little laugh ? (p.59).

Besides the poems, Watson has also included translations of excerpts from Lu Yu's famous 'Diary of a trip to Shu' which was written in 1170 and describes the sights along the Grand Canal, the hair-raising experience of sailing through the Yangtze gorges, and the temples, shrines, and scenic spots he visited when travelling to take up the position of vice-governor of the province of K'uei-chou. This is a truly marvelous travel journal, and presents us with a vivid picture of life in central China in the twelfth century. Here is a brief passage selected at random which described an event Lu Yu witnessed in the Ch'ien-tao 6th year (1170 A.D.) 12th month :

"25th day : I watched the troops staging a mock battle on the water. There were seven hundred large warships, each ... fitted out with walls and turrets. Their flags and pennants shone brightly, their gongs and drums clattered and clanged as they raced back and forth, crashing through the huge waves as swiftly as though they had wings. Thirty or forty thousand people came to watch - it was in fact one of the most spectacular sights in the world" (p.100)

In addition to a typically interesting and informative Introduction, and his usual light annotations to all selections, Watson has also provided a useful map of 'Places Important in the Life of Lu Yu,' along with some bibliographical information. The book is small 8vo in size (6 by 8.5 inches), beautifully printed on excellent paper, stitched, and bound in full cloth.

Lu Yu was a unique and interesting figure, and anyone who cares for Chinese poetry in English is certain enjoy this book.

As a poet, Lu Yu goes a bit against the grain. Hardly the refined Taoist recluse type, there's something defiantly ordinary and down-to-earth about this man whose greatest unrealized ambition in life was to see his country stop piddling around and go to war already. Probably this guy was a real jerk--but an irresistibly likable one. A good bulk of his poems dwell on patriotic dreams of retaking North China from the Barbarian Chin, and, since this stance went against the official policy of the Southern Sung Dynasty, the rest of his poems dwell in loving detail on his everyday country life when out of a job as a government official. Almost as if to say, yeah, you fired me on trumped-up charges, but I'm doing fine here, thank you all the same. Even his literary name, the loose translation of which figures as the title of this book, evinces some of his defiance, delightfully incorporating the charges of drunken dereliction of duty used against him.

Of course, bombastically hawkish poems with preachy political themes, while convincingly sincere, tend not to weather the passage of centuries all that well even under the best of circumstances, and Lu Yu's seem especially bound to jar against contemporary poetic expectations and sensibilities. The opposite may be said of his irreverent homebody poems of simple everyday family life--these appeal directly to us across the intervening barriers of time, space, culture, and history; they feel more like real poetry to us. In which case the translator, Burton Watson, has struck a judicious balance between these two themes, including enough of the former that we get a proper and accurate sense of what Lu Yu's characteristic concerns were while somewhat favoring the latter ones we (and he, the translator, as he tells us outright) are more likely to enjoy as literature. And as always, with Watson the resulting translations are as close to a brilliant fusion of scholarly accuracy and literary quality as is perhaps humanly possible.

In addition to this modest sampling of Lu Yu's voluminous output of poems, Watson also includes a selective translation of Lu Yu's prose "Diary of a Trip to Shu" (about one third of the original). This seems a bit chopped up, okay for a generalist like me but probably a bit annoying for committed Sinologists. But one gets a vivid impression of the sights and sounds, the experiences and hardships of river travel as Lu Yu records the ups and downs of his trip. Here too we get a glimpse of a different, deeper Lu Yu with hints of an interest in Taoism. Usually poetry is the venue by which scholar officials such as Lu explored such concerns, but there's almost no hint of it in Lu's poetry at all. And then here of all places in a prosaic travel journal on the way to a government post it pops up unexpectedly. Lu Yu, just as he pleases, going against the grain to the very end.

Another great read by a favorite author, an historically accurate romance aimed at teens by one of the originals in the field. If you're looking for lurid details, move on. If you're looking for a good read, stay and enjoy!

Oriel is a feisty young woman who maintains her own identity and integrity while coping with the complex courtesies demanded by the members of the 17th century English court. All of the characters have distinct personalities, reminding us that human nature hasn't changed as much as the manners of the period have. Despite other demands on my time, I read this in a single gulp.

I am slowly colorizing a newer off-white condo. I have about a million paint charts in a drawer, and I frequently pull them out and ponder colors, and occasionally I pick out a color and paint a room. I recently borrowed this book from the library, and now I'm buying my own copy. It's a timeless resource on color schemes because it's based on colors found in nature.

The book highlights six schemes - arctic, ocean, forest, earth, desert and kaleidoscope (kaleidoscope is not based on nature). Each scheme is introduced with outdoor photographs, then the color schemes are moved indoors and translated into home decor. The results are awesome, and have really helped me focus my color choices.

Elizabeth Hilliard and Stafford Cliff's Paint: Big Book Of Natural Color covers the new colors and finishes available to modern decorators, showing how these modern interiors can be transformed through a variety of innovative paint choices. Beautiful color photos abound.

Greg Watson's work is lovely, straight-forward poetry, easy for poetry novices to read but still rewarding for more practiced readers. All his books explore a mood or experience in related short poems, imagistic and moving. Ideal gift books, as almost any reader can enjoy these poems.

Greg Watson has an intensely focused vision & complexed word play. His descriptions are simply written but beautifully laid out. Beautiful descriptions of what he is able to see and perceive. For anyone who loves poetry, your library should not be without any of his books.

I have finished reading the Partisan now and was happy to see that the end was as good as the beginning. The nature of the boys life's and how much they depended on the garden was so life-like, I could remember places like that from years gone. I was glad that the story stayed constantly good throughout and failed to dissapoint.

Sef Britton

I have just begun to read the Partisan and already I am intrigued by the mystery surrounding it. Simon Watson has done a great job in this book, using description and emotion in such a way that it makes you feel like you have been to the garden before. The way he describes the children is so accurate with the child's needs, the need for fun, adventure, freedom and a leader. I hope to finish the book soon and post a full-review.

Mr Watson (as he is known to us) is a great man and his writings are just as grand. I hope to see him claim the respect he deserves.

Thank you sir.

I picked up the Disney World Passporter at a book fair and was so excited to see they have one for the cruise line too. This guide is packed with more information than you could possibly need with honest reviews and detailed information for the on-board activities and shore excursions. This spiral-bound version is nice because you can remove the pages you don't need and tuck things into the pockets. Highly recommended!

I can't even describe in words how amazing this book is. If you are thinking of going on the Disney Cruise you MUST BUY THIS BOOK. It has everything! Stickers, airline ticket holders, a leather journal with photo ID slots, website URL's to all of the vendors, fan sites, excursion companies, and everything you will ever need to know about the hotels, flight arrangements, ship crew, stats, ports, events, food, and every inch of the ships themselves. They have a ton of photos and it is written in the friendliest way. You must check it out for yourself! I wish I could give it 10 stars!

This book is the tops. All of the artists in this book are great. The content is great as well, it gives a short bio and general information on each artist as well as a list of what they use to design. Great book, please buy it.

After reading a review in one of my favourite monthlys I rushed to purchase a well researched and produced piece of graphic literature. A beautiful composition ranging from traditional media(paints, crayons...) to 3dimensional pieces of computer based work. Well worth my hard earned cash.

The books in the Pro-Photo series all share a few common characteristics. Each contains exquisite examples of photography that inspire a person to take out a camera and capture a special moment, person, or event. Unfortunately, many of the books are short on technique. PHOTGRAPHING ANIMALS AND PETS has the best of both worlds: great examples and practical technical information as well. All of the animals in the book seem exotic, whether the creature is a household pet, a farm animal, or an animal photographed in the wild. The book also has information on photographing fish in aquariums-underwater photography from dry land! Since the book was first published prior to the dawn of digital photography, digital buffs may not find the technical information in the book helpful, but everyone will find the photography inspiring!

This book provides excellent details and examples of how to photograph pets (and exotic animals). The author provides tips on composition, lighting, equipment, etc. A great book for those interested in pet photography as a hobby or business.

This book is not just a biography of Rolf Armstrong, it is also a commercial art history and fashion history of the first half of the 20th century. The book takes the reader through the decades in text and pictures. It is extremely well written-I got so caught up in his life story that I even got a little teary-eyed when he died. Especially interesting to me were the pictures of the advertisements of the time. Rolf Armstrong was beginning his career when color printing was starting to be used for magazine covers. The pictures of Armstrong's work are fabulous! Due in good part, I'm sure, to the fact that Armstrong's work itself was fabulous. The pictures of his 3,000 pastel palette were almost as interesting to me as his artwork, although most of the pictures he posed for, he posed with a brush and paint palette because he thought it looked better. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in art and/or the early 20th century.

Archie Dickens, Gil Elvgren, and Rolf Armstrong...they make up the "Holy Trinity" of glamour and pin-up artists. There isn't artist working in the pin-up field today that doesn't owe something to these men. Pin-up Dreams focuses on Armstrong, the earliest of the trio, born in 1889. Armstrong's prolific career included over 200 magazine covers for publications such as Photoplay, Screenland, and College Humor, and over 200 calendar images. Armstrong would begin his art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1907 and this book features some of Armstrong earliest charcoal work from the period. Armstrong moved to New York to pursue a career as a commercial artist when he got his first credits illustrating covers for long defunct magazines such as Puck.

Due to an injury suffered as a child, Armstrong was unfit for military duty in WWI but made his contribution in other ways such as by painting recruitment posters. In the 20's, Armstrong was doing a great deal of commercial work, illustrating his beautiful women hawking products such as Orange Kist and Nehi soft drinks, Tudor Plates, Blue Bird grape juice, and many others. Throughout the teens and 20's, the bulk of Amstrong's women were done in facial portraits. As we move into the 30's and 40's, Armstrong has now developed the glamorous pin-up style he's most well known for. The Armstrong woman is beautiful, demure, and always stylish. The thing that stands out about his work to me has always been that his women are painted in the latest fashions. His work from this period is my favorite. Page 109 of the book displays one of my most favorite Armstrong paintings entitled "Song of India" showing a semi-nude, raven haired beauty dressed in wispy, silky robes, fluttering in the wind against the back drop of ancient India. It's a striking, evocative piece.

But less you think that Armstrong was strictly a pin-up artist, this book shows otherwise. There is a marvelous pastel of The Frankenstein monster, done during the filming of Bride of Frankenstein that is just a treat to behold. There is even a photograph of Boris Karloff, in full Jack Pierce makeup, posting for Armstrong. Other celebrity portraits in the book include Constance Bennett, best known for the Topper movies; Mary Astor of The Maltese Falcon, and James Gleason, a great character actor who appeared in over 125 films in his career. Armstrong himself road the celebrity circuit and counted actors James Cagney and Henry Fonda among his friends. While the authors make the clear distinction between glamour and pin-up artists, Armstrong did certainly do his share of risqué pin-ups, including many nudes. One great piece in the book is "Hold Everything" showing an embarrassed brunette clutching her dress close to her that has just fallen off. There are a number of great WWII era pin-ups just like this one in the book.

This is a fascinating look at one of the true giants of illustration. The book features over 300 full color paintings by Armstrong, printed on heavy stock paper. An outstanding book from Watson-Guptill.

Reviewed by Tim Janson