Wood Books

This book resides on my Top Ten all-time favorite books. I reread it several months ago and was amazed that after more than a decade, I still remembered details vividly. The plot is fast-paced, the characters are wonderfully fleshed out and the story is thought-provoking and quite timely. In fact, based on the current state of U.S. dependence on oil, it's not unrealistic to believe that U.S. oil corporations would be utterly ruthless in attempting to destroy or control a new cheap source of energy. One day, we can only hope that somewhere there will be an Emily Brand for us!

I'm not sure this is the correct book..am trying to locate it. Ipurchased the paper back sometime between 1985 and 1987.

A finely crafted tale of scientific possibilities apparently just beyond our grasp. A "what if" scenario of character, intelligence, power and true evil which rises to an exquisite level of tension and suspense. Emily Brand is so well drawn that I am still cheering for her; hoping she is out there somewhere, safe and working.

Emily is a physicist who has finally figured out how to power a large city using only the atoms from a glass of water. Nuclear Fusion. No more power crisis, no more outrageous oil prices. She is not after money or glory or fame, she just wants to build the machine. For a character to be antisocial, terribly shy, and a genius you would think that they would also be hard to care about. Bari Wood really brings Emily to life although she is all of the above. You cannot resist rooting for this woman because she is entirely unselfish and is determined to bring her discovery out because of what it would mean to the country and the consumer, not to herself. The Corporate Bad Guy is indeed bad, heartless and intelligent. The character of the President was very well done, appearing hopeless and helpless until you realized he was hiding intelligence and a steel determination. Emily's true nemesis, a boy she does not even remember from school grown into a unfeeling monster with a pathological need to hurt Emily for a perceived insult to him years ago, one she is completely unaware of having committed. The pace of this book is fast, the action never stops. The characters are very well filled out, some chillingly so as in the case of David. I highly recommend this excellent book!

If you watched the movie "Chain Reaction" and liked it definitely read this book! What if Economical Cold Fusion was a reality? Inexpensive and Plentiful Energy. What would the Oil companies do to protect themselves from ruin? A Lady Physicist discovers the answer forcing her to run for her life. Her only hope is to make the President aware of her discovery before the powers at be catch up with her. Not too technical, but a real thriller.

My son absolutely adored this book. For months, we had to check the produce aisle at the supermarket; if they were out of strawberries, we were sure the big hungry bear had come and gone.

This is a wonderful book and a delight to both children and adults. The illustrations are beautiful and endearing. It is sure to be a family favorite

This story is sure to tickle your funny bone! Illustrations are very well done and your child (or your child inside) will love it

This is my 2-year old's favorite book right now. She has the entire book memorized, and she "reads" it to me daily. It is so funny to listen to her expressions and watch her face while she dramatically "reads" this wonderful book. As in Wood's book "I'm Quick as a Cricket" the illustrations are beautiful. We love the book, and we have passed it on to many others as a gift. You can't go wrong with "The Big Hungry Bear"

the price. I heard of this book from a kindergarten teacher. She described a unique lesson she had given to her kindergarten class with this book and a bowl of strawberries. Before reading, she scented her classroom with strawberry scented sprays and candles and incense. Then she read the book. Afterwards, the students ate strawberries just like the little mouse in the story. I thought it was such a great lesson. She assured me that my grandson would think the story was wonderful. So I bought the book from Amazon.com a few days later, and by now I have read the book many times to my first grader grandson who is having trouble with reading. It has helped inspire him to learn new words. He loves the story so much that he will practice the words in the story.

Captivating reading. Toni's story of her life growing up and understanding the beautiful spirits surrounding her is so amazing. This book provides the reader with a comforting look at the prospects of spiritual enlightenment beyond this earth plane. At the time of reading this book, my father was very ill and the reality of losing him was overwhelming. I was very blessed to have Toni Lynn Wood and her spirit family help me personally and through this book throughout a very difficult experience. I recommend this book to anyone ready to embrace spiritual guidance and contentment as you walk through your journey in this life.

This first book is a most fascinating story about a woman who has devoted her life to serving others. The author has done a wonderful job of relating those incidents in Toni Lynn Wood's life as a spiritual healer that have prepared her in many different ways for the work she ultimately chose. Her unusual experiences and own personal suffering have provided the drive and compassion to bring the gifts of the spirit world to those in need of healing, comfort, or encouragement.

The book describes the eight spirits who work through Toni and explains how each of them came to work with her and what their specialties are. Through the author's incredible interviews with Toni's spirit family, I have learned much that has helped me immeasurably on my own spiritual path.

I personally have been helped repeatedly by the healing, guidance, and protection of these loving healing ministers who work through Toni. I consider myself very fortunate, to say the least, to have met her and also to have been able to take advantage of the invaluable information offered in the "Living in Both Worlds" series of books. I can't recommend them highly enough.

When I first picked up this book, I was amazed at how easily I was drawn into the life story of Toni Lynn Wood, spiritual healer. I was fascinated by what I was reading, learning many new things, including the attachment of spirit to our energy rings. I was very impressed by the author's (Julie Rae Paetow) ability to comunicate both Toni's world with her friends in spirit and Julie's evident bond with Spirit as well. I would strongly recommend that everyone read this book because I believe you will find the information and insights contained in it will help you as much as they have helped me.

What impressed me as I first began reading Living in Both Worlds: A Healer and Her Journey with Spirit was how easily the author, Julie Rae Paetow, brought me into the world of Toni Lynn Wood and her Spirit family. Julie's writing style is one which I find easily accessible; she crafts words together in a manner which conveys complex subjects and concepts simply.

Whether one is new to the world of spiritual discovery or an experienced traveler on a lifetime journey, I feel all readers will gain tremendous insight into the truth of this life as they read the life story of Toni Lynn Wood, watch her first rebel against, and later embrace, her life's work, that of a spiritual healer.

Enjoy.

This book made it easier for me to understand how a medium really works with the spirit world. It is well written and very humerous in areas. I really love the authors style of writing. It will make you laugh and cry as you learn about the life of this healer, Toni Lynn Wood. I loved it and I know others will love it as well.

This is an outstanding book for kids. Shirely Woods has a truly marvelous immagination. The story was filled with positive themes, memorable characters and beautiful artwork. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great read for kids! It was fantastic.

This book was an innovative approach to help children read. It is a forward thinking approach to introducing children to screen plays and movie making.

Shirley Woods has the amazing ability to take a simple life's lesson and express it in such a way both children and adults of all ages could understand and appreciate. The unique style the story is written in allows the reader(s) to "perform" the story and bring it to life. We have this book in our own library at home and it would make a wonderful addition to yours.

Who would have thought that anyone could come up with something so original to express life lessons and experiences in a way that our young people can understand it. However, this is what Shirley Woods has been able to do. The book is a great outlet for children, as it provides an opportunity for interactive role play and positive discussions. This book is definitely a must-read, and truth be told, this book inspires adults as well, as I can attest to that.

The Magical Mystery is one of the most inspirational and amusing children's books I have ever read. I love the unique screenplay format with illustrations. The Magical Mystery would make an excellent children's movie.

This book has been a great help with my class this term. It has great tips and helped a lot in building our case study marketing plan.

This book is one of my favorite text books I am using right now for classes. I have an Entrepreneur Marketing class which this book is perfect for!

Although I've been in marketing for more than a decade, I got a lot out of this book. The checklists provided invaluable pointers about what to cover when writing a marketing plan. I also bookmarked many of the web sites listed in the appendix so I can use them for further research. The author peppers every chapter with lively, in-depth examples that sparked a couple of new ideas for my business. Even the sample marketing plan in the back of the book was a helpful guide for fleshing out my own thoughts. Highly recommended!

this book is a great supplement to any intro marketing textbook or by itself -- taking you step by step through the process of writing a marketing plan. a practical book for anyone interested in learning/understanding how basic marketing concepts come together, or any new product managers out there not wanting to look like homer simpson ("DOH") when asked to write your first marketing plan. it'll help you frame your thoughts, create an outline of things to cover, and remind you of things you might otherwise forget to include. also serves as a great "cliff notes" type reference of the hefty marketing textbooks you devoured while in b-school.

Having no formal training in marketing, I was impressed by the straightforward way this book explains how to write a marketing plan. At times I'm tempted to go straight to the tactics-where should I advertise? What should I charge?-but this book prompted me to go back to the beginning, starting with my small business's situation, goals, and competition. This was the first time I've drafted a highly detailed, full-year marketing plan. I used the software packaged with the book as a starting point, but wound up creating a different format and order of topics for my finished plan.

A very beautifully written book, with fine photography. A great resource

I thought that this book was beautifully written by Risa Palazzo. While giving much valuable historical perspective, the spirit of the periods covered was wonderfully captured with great feeling.

A terrific book on antique china, silver and glass that was well-written and beautifully photographed. I felt like I was part of the periods discussed.

Risa Palazzo has truly captured the feel of the periods covered and made me feel as if I was there! A very good book.

I thought Risa Palazzo's writing was beautiful in this book. I gained a real understanding of the eras covered, especially for the way that women lived and entertained during the 1920s and 1930s. A very worthwhile book for anyone interested in table accessories.

Having already taken my kids backpacking once and camping via canoe a second time, I thought it might be a good idea to get someone else's perspective on "roughing it" with kids in tow.

I learned a few new things to make it more manageable for the kids (and myself). Overall I liked the book quite a bit. If you haven't tried taking your own kids backpacking because you are worried of what it might be like (whining, screaming, crying ... sometimes by the kids) ... fear not. This book will show you that it can be done and the kids will love it (and you will too).

Tim Hauserman, who wrote the guidebook for the Tahoe Rim Trail (Wilderness Press, 2002), now tells parents how they can take their little ones along on that and other trails, safely and happily. The beauty of "Monsters in the Woods" isn't necessarily that he tells adults exactly what to do to ensure a good trip; his book is packed with advice, but readers can take only what they need from it. (In fact, there are a few points on which I disagree.) Rather, its great value is in its down-to-earth approach to including kids on outdoor adventures. Tim doesn't discount the effort involved or the discomforts and dangers of outdoor expeditions. But he shows how proper preparation and an adventurous attitude result in wonderful experiences for ordinary families. With "Monsters" as a stepping-off point, adult backpackers with any level of experience can move confidently toward taking their children into the wilderness at the age and level of intensity they're all comfortable with. When my husband and I began backpacking with our infant daughter, there were no books of this sort, so we had to learn everything the hard way. Tim interviewed us for the book (we're on page 6) so I can say with certainty that the author did his homework before publishing this well-written family guide to the outdoors.

Professional wilderness guide and outdoors writer Tim Hauserman presents Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking With Children, a straightforward guide to backpacking and outdoors activities written especially for parents who want to bring their children along - whether the children are infants, toddlers, preteens, or teens. Chapters cover how to prepare for the trip (including what to take and what not to take), safety precautions, how to take care of necessary bodily functions, protecting oneself from bear attacks (since bears are guided by smell, two of the best defenses are to camp a fair distance from where you cook and to use a "bear canister" to guard one's food at night) and much more. Written in plain terms for parents and readers of all backgrounds, Monsters in the Woods is enthusiastically recommended as a "must-have" for outdoor-loving families with children everywhere.

The title should immediately tip you off to the fact that Tim Hauserman uses humor to make reading "Monsters in the Woods," and backpacking with
children, lots of fun. Hauserman combines solid advice and stories of his considerable backpacking experience with his own kids to make outdoor adventures safe and rewarding. He provides such information as how far to hike and how much weight children can carry depending on the child's age.

I'm a backpacker. I'm also a grandmother who wants to be certain that my youngest grandkids (aged 2 and 4) don't suffer from "nature deficit." Right now, I'm sticking with car camping with them, but I'm looking forward to the day when we can venture further afield and get away from crowded and dusty campgrounds.

I will definitely reread "Monsters in the Wilderness" before we go. I'm impressed by the fact that Hauserman doesn't gloss over the challenges, but gives lots of great ideas for keeping everyone upbeat. And I'll keep in mind his advice to let your child take a friend, because there'd be a lot less whining!)

Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking With Children is a wonderful book. Not only does it contain concrete, useful insider information (such as how far children of different ages are generally willing to go, what supplies to bring -- and, more importantly, what things not to bring), it also contains fun insider information (such as eleven things to do with a bandanna, and ten things to do with duct tape). Hauserman's credentials as a hiker (he's a professional wilderness guide) give him expertise in all things hiking, and he includes sections on much of what you'd expect from this experience: bear safety, dehydration, first aid, and even outdoor etiquette. But it is his friendly voice that makes the book a joy to read even if you never intend to leave your front yard. His sense of humor makes him the perfect guide into the challenges of bringing little monsters into the woods. The entire, short book (135 pages) is packed full of useful information, but my favorite part was Chapter 6, where Hauserman simply and beautifully tells about some of his own trips with his two daughters. Monsters in the Woods is filled with great advice, but it's also simply a great read.

This book is lavishly decorated by Bewick's works, with such a quality that it can serve as a little Bewick anthology. In fact the quality of printing is better than the Dover edition of his works (which you can get at Amazon), and this collection of his vignettes that I also own (Scolar Press, 1978). It's worth the money just for the illustrations. By saying this I'm not depreciating the text. Mrs Uglow certainly writes gracefully. But bear in mind that Bewick was a honest, though quick-tempered, craftsman. His life was not that eventful. There're no scandals to expose (well, Bewick actually ripped off his clients, when he felt like to). As a result, the book is at best lively, but not exciting. Chances are that you won't finish it in one sitting, especially when you're not particularly interested in 18th-century England. But get it anyway, if you care about art history at all.

I appreciate the years of hard work that authors put into their books. Their mountain of effort allows me to learn more about their subject through a few hours or days of careful reading. However, some books are greater gifts than others. Jenny Uglow has given me two of my very favorite reading experiences. Her "Hogarth" was a revelation to me. She opened up Hogarth's world and provided such a rich context for his life that my understanding of his time and context made his life and work much more meaningful.

With this book, on the life, work, and world of Thomas Bewick, I experienced that delight again. I took my time savoring this book and examining the beautiful reproductions of his work with a magnifying glass (since my eyes can no longer pick up all the detail). Frankly, I had never heard of Thomas Bewick and wanted to read the book because it is by such a wonderful author. He was an engraver who specialized in engraving in boxwood. Again, a subject I knew only in the barest outline.

Bewick was from an established but not wealthy family in the Tyne valley in northern England. He apprenticed as an engraver and demonstrated talent enough to found a shop with a partner. His work goes beyond the usual artisanship of wood engraving into a realm of artistry that sets him apart into a world that is still shocks in the effect and composition. This wonderful book provides a large number of his works in their actual size. Boxwood was used because of its hardness and ability to stand up to the number of prints commercial reproduction of the time required. However, the wood was small in diameter and the pieces tend to be small.

Yet, they demonstrate a full range of emotion. Bewick is able to capture the images of his time and the countryside he loved. There are pieces that are quite funny and make a point such as the man driving his cow across the river to avoid paying the toll at the bridge, but losing his hat that was more costly than the toll would have been. He also shows us the drama of storms, shipwrecks, and all kinds of vignettes from life.

However, his masterworks consumed more than twenty years of his life. The first was his Quadrupeds, which provided wonderful images and interesting text on animals both domestic and exotic. He then produced two magnificent works. The first volume was on the Land Birds of Britain and the second on the Water Birds of Britain. His presentation of the birds transcends mere illustration and were used and loved by naturalists for many decades. Even the great Audubon paid homage to Bewick's achievements. I find their beauty still has the power to stun and invite long and close examination.

Uglow provides what is known about his life, his apprenticeship and those who apprenticed with him (a list is provided in the back). We learn about his business dealings, his lack of skill in handling money, but his generous spirit with friends. His somewhat prickly nature also caused strife and ongoing difficulties that were needless and destructive. Yet, the work remains. And we are all enriched from Bewick's rich talents and Uglow's masterful and magical writing.

You owe yourself a trip through Bewick's life with Jenny Uglow as your guide. It will be an experience you will treasure.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Here is Uglow's magnificent biography of Hogarth:
Hogarth: A Life and a World

Thomas Bewick was a hulking six foot tall, in the eighteenth century when such stature was remarkable. His realm of interest was the broad Tyne Valley, the region around Newcastle in England. His art, however, was of the miniature, woodcuts of astonishing detail about the size of a calling card. You might think that the life of such a rural artist in a medium that was dying out even when he was perfecting it could not hold much interest, but Jenny Uglow who has written biographies of others from that era has made Bewick's life, art, and world quite fascinating in _Nature's Engraver: A Life of Thomas Bewick_ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux). This is a beautifully produced book, with scores of Bewick's engravings, most reproduced at the same size as he originally made them, often humorous tailpieces that were to fill the blank of a page at the end of a chapter, as well as serious reference illustrations of quadrupeds and British birds. Get out your magnifying glass. Each tiny vignette, composed only of minuscule blobs of black ink, is more full of details than you would have thought possible.

Bewick was born in 1753, and drew compulsively as a child. He was apprenticed to an engraver, and took up woodcuts when engraving on copper was becoming more customary. After his children's books, he spent nine years studying animals, live (sometimes in traveling menageries) or as preserved specimens. _ A General History of Quadrupeds_ appeared in 1790. He thereupon took on the task of documenting all the birds of Britain in _A History of British Birds_. An admirer was Audubon, whose big and colorful bird portraits were of a completely different branch of art, but who traveled to see Bewick in 1827, finding him, despite his age, full of life as "he delivered his sentiments with a freedom and vivacity which afforded me great pleasure... when I parted from Bewick that night, I parted from a friend."

The attention did not change Bewick in the least; he remained a plain, bluff, down-to-earth engraver. Uglow brings him to life. He was often irascible, and was not the easiest of businessmen to get along with, especially as he kept imperfect records. He chewed tobacco constantly, and might get into heated discussions over his pint at the pub. He loved music and angling, although he was no hunter, having killed a bullfinch with a stone when he was a boy; he remembered the bird long after, thinking that if it could have spoken "it would have asked me why I had taken away its life." He was a soft touch, constantly giving money away, to the consternation of his wife. He put feed out for wild birds, and he was much ahead of his time, as such eccentric behavior did not catch on until the mid-Victorian years. He was something of a conservationist. He sympathized with the Americans in their revolution, and he always felt that working people deserved representation in government. He disliked organized religion, and scoffed that the Bible's doctrine of original sin didn't "come within the scope of either rationality or justice." He could be classed as a deist, insisting that reading nature was the best way to understand its creator and to obtain a "perpetual cheerfullness". He was loyal to his family, and having been an apprentice, he took his own apprentices, and his relationships with them remained among the strongest of his life. One of his last woodcuts, included here, shows an ancient horse, and is titled "Waiting for Death". When death came for him, he was still at work on the impossible task of getting all the birds into his great work, and he was loved by almost everyone who knew him. He was an admirable man, Uglow plainly shows. Her book, full of Bewick's miniature masterpieces just as he would have printed them himself, lets him show what an admirable artist he was.

I'd seen Thos. Bewick's illustrations for years in NY Review of Books and elsewhere; they'd always seemed to me mysterious for their silent detail and concentration. So it was quite refreshing to find out that he was a loud, warm, confident man. He spent his life and career firmly rooted in one place, so unlike myself and many others of us in this "globalized" age. He devoted his career to appreciating the minutiae of life all around him, and innovated new techniques for portraying them. These circumstances, together with the author's calm, clear and often bemused style of writing, create a very cozy experience -- almost like reading a non-fiction fairy tale. I read most of this book in small bites of a chapter or two over the course of a couple of weeks of evenings, and found it a wonderful escape from the pressures of the day.

Though the book is very well-researched and surprisingly long (nearly 400 pages), it never drags. I'd been pretty ignorant about late 18th-early 19th Century English history other than a few names and dates, so it was also interesting to learn about the grass-roots resentment of government policies and wars, the government's tendency to turn dissidents into political prisoners, and much other historical context. But this learning is conveyed with a light touch. The illustrations are not only wonderful, they're as numerous as raisins in a cake, yet placed with great taste. A very outstanding book.

This is a very well written informative biography of the influential wood engraver Thomas Bewick. The author places Bewick and his artistic contribution in the context of his times describing the artist's rise to success at the beginning of England's industrial age and during it's wartime eras with France and America. Uglow is passionate about the artist and his work and the book is beautfully illustrated with well chosen examples of Bewick's phenomenal tiny woodcuts. His work has endured for 2 centuries and this book helps you understand why.

This book had such a wonderful meaning. I love the way she incorporates a leaf's point of view. Everytime that I babysit I read this book to them as a bedtime story. The kids always seem to enjoy it. Usually it's the first book they recommend for me to read to them at night. Sometimes I get feed back from the parents telling me that they hear their kids talk about the book. Believe me I think this book is worth every penny.

I bought this book at a book signing because as a child I always had a fixation for alligators. It is an easy book for young kids to follow and I would recommend this to all people, young and old. In the future when I plan on having a family this book will definately be read to my children.

I loved this book. I read it with my nephew almost everynight. It is great quality time. We love discussing her illustrations, they are so capturing. I would recommend this to anyone who loves spending time with their young loved ones.

I loved this book. I read it to my nephew almost everynight and have so come to value this time with him. He throughly enjoys the book with me. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to enjoy time with their young loved ones over a delightful book.

I am a 1st grade elementary school teacher and I purchased Not My Skin through a book club. I read the book and decided that it would be a great book for my students to hear. I read the book to my class and it became the class favorite. Not only is the message positive, but the story is one children will love. I recommend this book to anybody that cares about the message books convey while still captivating the attention of young people.

This book haunts me. I keep going back to it. Ive never reviewed a book but I felt the need here. Ive real endless books but this one is different. read it.

Michel Tournier is, without doubt, the most important French writer of the last 50 years. One of his biographers has spoken of him having "Reconceived the very nature of fiction". 'The Ogre' (his second book) is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of that same period and yet it seems to have fallen, if not into obscurity, then at least somewhat out of the spotlight.

Tournier is most interested in the essential myths of Western culture. He reinterprets these in his novels and uses them to critique the assumptions and the norms of our society.

'The Ogre' or 'The Erl-King' as it was originally titled, is an utterly extraordinary book. It concerns the life of Abel Tiffauges, a physical monster, but also an innocent. His story is set largely among the rise and fall of the third Reich, but encompasses a breathtaking array of mythological, psychological and spiritual ideas.

The language of the novel is sumptuous, the attention to detail unparallelled. Certain passages of the book are completely heart-breaking, particularly when exposing the casual cruelty of man, whilst others are entrancingly beautiful.

Alongside that the book is also a compulsively readable tale of adventure, destiny and discovery. Full of wonderfully arcane details and fabulously structured parallels and mirrors the book continually delights and enriches the reader.

I've just finished re-reading 'The Ogre', some 12 or so years after my first encounter, and I can honestly say it's still the best book I've ever read.

All lovers of Nabokov, Calvino, Borges, Joyce & John Banville, to name a few, should order their copy now!

Truly one of the great works of recent French literature.

Although considered part of the Western Canon (by Harold Bloom), you won't find this one on any of the lists of the Best Novels of the 20th Century. It's a shame that a work of this quality and power has not reached a wider audience, or has been so readily forgotten, especially since it deals with one of the most significant events of the 20th century: the Holocaust.

The Ogre is the story of of a French mechanic whose bizarre habits (eating raw meat, photographing and tape-recording children) would send most people running from his company, but Abel Tuffauges is an innocent who is slowly sucked into the German war machine. His adventures take him deeper into Germany, into the imaginative wilderness of his youth, and deeper into the past, illustrating the contrast between the French and the German cultures. The story is framed with wonderful mythoological images, from the story of St. Cristopher to a blind moose that visits Abel in 'Canada' -- a secluded cabin in the German hinterland.

The novel achieves its full power when Abel is drawn into recruting for the Hitler youth, though he does not realize what fate he has doomed his beloved boys to until he finds a Jewish child who has escaped from Auchwitz. Abel realizes that he has been living a life of ghastly inversions and that the only way to redeem himself is to rescue this child.

The Ogre is a stunning meditation on the nature of evil, and innocence, and the character of Abel Tuffagues has all the strange originality of literature's most memorable personages. Unlike Schindler's List, The Ogre deals ambiguously with the unambiguous evil of the Holocaust, and thus, offers a far more interesting, troubling and rewarding perspetive on the subject. Highly recommended.

When Michel Tournier is mentioned to someone, you often hear comments like: "Isn't that the author who could only write about human sexual perversions?", but if you examine his work more deeply, you'll see that there is a lot more to his writing than that.

"The Ogre" is his second novel and it starts by telling us the story of a French mechanic named Abel Tiffauges, living during the end of 1930's, who one day injures his right hand.

This fascinating novel is divided into six segments, from wich the first (and the longest) is the most fascinating, as it deals with this multi-dimencional character's past and present by the way of one year's worth of diaries wich he starts writing with his left hand after the previously mentioned accident. By the end of the segment this strange character of Abel Tiffauges with his peculiar habits and personality feels extremely real and deep, hence securing the feeling of reality of the whole artistically written book. Finally, the segment ends as Tiffauges stops writing after the beginning of the war between France and Germany.

The first segment is followed by three weaker segments wich, unlike the first one, are told in a traditional third-person narrating and are filled with surprisingly unlikely coincidences and forced events as they describe Tiffauges' journey through nazi-Germany, first as a French soldier, then as a prisoner of war, and finally a ranger.

Then the novel improves again as it gets to its fift segment, wich almost raises to the level of the first one. It shows us an itriquing transformation process, as, again by ridiculously not beliavable coincidences, Tiffauges ends up being an SS-officer and an instructor in a Hitler-Jugend training facility.

Step by step this first reluctant character grows more and more fascinated with anti-semitism and the complex scientific assumptions about racial differences. The segment is dark and unsettling, as the character is devided into two, when he can't separate reality with what he's been thought.

In the sixth and final segment the reader gets to witness Tiffauges' journey through chaos, as he experiences an enlightment that leads to his understanding of his own inner evil and eventually to self-destruction. This process is unevenly described, and not sufficiently explained, as it occurs suddenly and doesn't really lead anywhere.

The ending of the book is blurry, and it leaves the reader frustrated, as it leaves issues unfinished and not dealt with.

In the end "The Ogre" is a book that I recommend to anyone, even though many people will probably not like it as much as I did.

But weather you like it or not, don't leave it unfinished. Once you start it, you'll have to see it through.