Pacific University Books

Although not as well known as many of other Verne's novels, this one ranks as one of the best. It is the story of a group of people torn from the Earth by a passing comet, and their story of survival on the comet as it makes one orbit of the sun.

Hector Servadac is an one of the most interesting of Verne's major works. Written in 1877, it is so well done that something scientifically impossible seems quite plausible. French captain Hector Servadac and Russian count Wassili Timascheff have arranged to fight a duel on New Year's Eve at a spot in Algeria. Overnight, the Captain, along with his orderly Ben Zoof, are suddenly hurled to the ground in their home. The following day, they notice the sun is rising in the west and is moving through the sky in the space of a 12-hour day. Gravity has lessened, and a mysterious sea appears, replacing the nearby Chelif River. They also find that the Count has failed to show for the challenge with the Captain. Hector makes an exploration, surveying the new domain, and they find that they are now on an island. Ben Zoof, meanwhile, watches in vain for a ship to pick them up off the island. The Earth is also approaching the sun, for the temperature has risen. Venus, in perilous proximity, nearly managed to smash the earth into bits. The Count now meets up with Servadac, and hostilities are suspended. Captain Hector tours the Mediterranean (the Orderly left to tend to matters on the island) with the Count and his sidekick, Lieutenant Procopius, and six other sailors. On the way, they find some discoveries: St. Louis's Tomb (in Tunis), a fragment of Gibraltar (Spain) after the Captain and Count were sailing east, the residuum of Provence (France), and a speck of Maddelena Island (Italy). They pick up a young girl at Maddelena who is named Nina. They also find 13 English soldiers at Gibraltar who want nothing to do with everyone else. In addition, they recover two cases from the sea talking about the existence of a new asteroid that was presumably blown off the earth and is now called Gallia. Sadly, they found no astronomer to go with the notices. Getting back to the last bit of Algeria, it is discovered a secret of Ben Zoof's: there are now a population of 11 Spaniards and one German Jewish trader, Isaac Hakhabut. (Nobody likes Dutch Isaac much, so there is a hint of anti-Semitism here). The weather is now cold, but the people find a volcano in full eruption and live there. The place is called Terre Chaude (Hot Land), and the winter quarters are called Nina's Hive, in honor of the pretty Italian. At Terre Chaude, they get one last hint of Gallia from the mysterious astronomer, and the Captain and the Lieutenant rush to the astronomer's aid at Formentera (Balearic Archipelago, Spain). The man,99% dead, is taken to Terre Chaude and nursed back to health. To Servadac's surprise, the astronomer, the thirty-sixth and most important Gallian, is none other than Professor Palmyrin Rosette, the Captain's college professor. They never liked each other much. The Professor explains to them that the Earth was grazed by a comet on New Year's Day, and he discovered it,named it Gallia, and they are riding on the back of that very Comet! Much more comes of this, such as the weighing of the Comet, the eruption stopping, the Professor's miscalculations, the Comet exploding, and the Comet's contact with Earth after two years.

Undoubtedly this is one of Verne's greatest works, if not the greatest, and definitely deserves to be read much more. But, you can form your opinions too---if you read the book.

I first read this in an old (1895) copy of Century Magazine, and enjoyed it very much. I am re reading if, out loud this time, to my husband, who agrees with me. I was amazed to find it still in print, and look forward to having it in our library. I think this would be a wonderful movie, and good for our children to see.

Weir Mitchell's HUGH WYNNE is one of the best historical novels set during the Revolutionary War in American literature. Set mainly against a Quaker backdrop in Philadelphia, Mitchell creates an accurate picture of the social as well as the military history of the time. Hugh Wynne, the main character, is faced with a number of interesting conflicts with his father, the Revolutionary cause, his cousin Arthur Wynne, and his sweetheart Darthea. Hugh favors the Revolutionary cause, which brings him into opposition with his strict Quaker father, who is against war and is a Tory. Hugh breaks with the Quakers and his father, and lives with his non-Quaker and worldly aunt Gainor Wynne. It's at her home that Hugh meets Darthea and a number of other famous people fighting for (some against)Independence, including Washington, Benjamin Rush, Hamilton, John Adams, Col. Tarleton, and many others. His cousin Arthur, a greedy, cruel Tory sympathizer, becomes the chief villain of the story and Hugh's chief antagonist, especially after they both fall in love with Darthea. Hugh's adventures multiply after he joins the troops on the field, and his conflict with Arthur is resolved after Darthea agrees to be Hugh's wife (there's a lot more to it than that, but why spoil it?).

Like Churchill's historical novels written around the same time, Mitchell's novel is filled with accurate (thanks to years of intense research) historical and social information. It's a fascinating portrayal of Revolutionary-era Philadelphia. And the main fictional characters are also well drawn, especially Aunt Gainor, whose forceful personality resonates throughout the story. Mitchell's narrative skills are much better developed than the aforementioned Churchill's, particularly when it comes to creating believable dialogue. Mitchell also criticizes in an interesting way the strict religious discipline practiced by Hugh's father (he ends up going insane, a most pitiable character), and makes it a point to indicate that Hugh and Darthea's children will not be raised that way. (FREE QUAKER is an important feature of the title.) Lovers of historical fiction will enjoy this book immensely.

I was introduced to this book by my professor of plant taxonomy. While learning how to use plant keys, this book became an important source of plant characteristics with well drawn specimens. The dictotomus keys are clear and concise. The reward for finding the species was a clear diagram or good picture for confirmation. I bring it on every hiking trip to any state on the western side of the Rockies.

I am a writer and a professional horticulturist and I need good books. This is one of them. The drawings are clear, the writing is good, the information is helpful. I keep going back to this book over and over and always find something to use. For anyone exploring the Pacific Coast who appreciates trees, check this one out. Thomas L Ogren, author of Allergy-Free Gardening

This is a great book about the Haitian Revolution it is different essay about this revolution impact on other nations in the Atlantic World. It not only gives various historians thoughts and ideas but a more rounder view of what this revolution really did for the atlantic world.

Like most of the recent work of David Geggus, this book provides a good frame work and introduction for a much-needed academic study of the Haitian Revolution and it's world-wide impact.

It's a good thing that Polynesian culture encourages boastfulness among its elders and leaders, because otherwise this wonderful story would never have been told. In delightful detail, Tom Davis describes his many victories in life: over the challenges of living in two cultures at once, over poverty during the depression, over shoddy office practices in a Rarotonga hospital, over hurricanes at sea, flawed FDA processes in the USA, boxing and rugby rivals, cancer, and political opponents. His energy and enthusiasm for life shine through on every page. But for those who would follow his example, something else shines through: a sense of what a person can accomplish who is better with systems than people. That's right, he's a bit of an introvert, at least compared to his political rivals. A huge factor in his success is making processes work better for people rather than just trying to please everyone directly with his behavior. The lessons here are timeless.

This true life fascinating story, about a great man, is an inspiration to others, especially the young. It shows what one can accomplish with tremendous determination, perseverance, a creative mind, timing and an adventurous spirit.

Having known and worked with the author for many years, I can say first hand that this story would be enjoyable for the young, the old, the adventurous and politically minded. It is both educating and quite entertaining.

Read it!

In this gripping and controversial biography, Anne-Maree Whitaker uncovers the role of Joseph Foveaux, a neglected and sometimes unfairly criticised key figure in the colony's development.

The vivid prose plunges the reader into the worlds in which Foveaux moved: the elaborate milieu of parliamentary politics and patronage in London, and the rough and tumble of the colonies of Norfolk Island and New South Wales where he was lieutenant governor.

We meet the irascible William Bligh, the visionary Lachlan Macquarie, leading colonists including John Macarthur and D'Arcy Wentworth and an enormous cast of supporting characters in Britain and the colonies.

"I have never yet met with any Officer...that is more eminently qualified for forming and conducting to maturity and perfection any infant colony committed to his charge," wrote Governor Macquarie in 1810, praising Joseph Foveaux, the man who had presided over the colony of New South Wales since the controversial Governor Bligh was relieved of his duties two years before.

If you saw any of the Sydney during the Olympics, you are sure to find this account of its early years a fascinating revelation. Based on the life of Lieutenant Governor Joseph Foveaux, demonised in Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, this book reveals the links and patronage networks which held the British empire together. I liked the way the author in each chapter flung the reader into a physical description of the place where the action happens. And I even found myself caring about Foveaux's successes and setbacks. This is a warm, elegantly written and compelling new departure in Australian historical writing.

According to interviews with the author that I have read, he wrote this novel after suffering from a painful medical condition in the netherends for a few agonizing years. When he was finally cured, he wanted to write the pain out of his system.

Of course, he says, he could not tell a story without spinning wildly satirical and outrageous tall tales. The story addresses life in Oceania and life in the wider world through outrageous tales, from a satirical point of view.

Because he discusses a medical issue in the novel (relating to pain in the . . . um . . . "keester") some folks might consider bits of the story to be a teensy bit rude, and some folks might be a teensy bit uncomfortable discussing those details. I myself find Rabelais to be a teensy bit rude and I have been a teensy bit uncomfortable discussing the details of his works.

If you feel any discomfort, remember these words: "earthy, "humor," and " "Rabelais."

This may be one of the funniest novels I ever read, but it is also serious in its sharp satire. It should challenge one's views of Oceania, the world, and of our rather serious condition as mortal beings living on this earth, under heaven.

Mr. Hau'ofa and a critic friend have said that it is a moral novel, and that it should be read in Sunday schools. They may have been joking a little (a lot??). But all satire is moral in the final analysis, isn't it?

Since he wrote this novel, Mr. Hau'ofa has decided to stop the solitary work of writing literature, and he works with other artists from Oceania, assisting and participating with them in the fine arts and performing arts.

In my opinion this is an excellent novel. My only problem with it is that I can't decide if it is better than or "merely" "just" as excellent as his book Tales of the Tikongs.

Both deserve a wide readership and the author deserves credit as a world-class writer.

I recommend this novel and all of Hau'ofa's works (including the non-fiction!) very, very highly!

A very funny and insightful satire on the social scene and politics of life in the Pacific Islands. I recognized alot of situations and types of people I know, and felt it was told with great humor, a sharp eye, good storytelling and a wonderful sense of humanity.

It was really nice to discover this gem of a little book in a collection of Greek-Latin literature. Although since I was a child I've read my share of this Ancient kind of books, I had never even heard or read about Alciphron, a writer about whose life we know close to nothing. I understand that these letters are fictional, although some of them talk about real persons (Menander, Epicure and others). Even so, they have the power to put you right there several centuries BC, being witness to the daily life of Ancient Greeks. The first thing that comes to my mind is how much they resemble our own Western lifestyles, so much that it is easy to see that we are truly the children of Greece in many respects. Apparently, life was hard for Greeks, but much happier than for most other Ancient cultures, whether it was a nicer weather or specific cultural traits (or, most likely, the combination of both). The letters are wide-ranging in the emotions and situations they depict. Some are sad, some are happy, some talk about gruesome facts, and some other simply reflect common life. There is much interaction between city and countryside, between the well-to-do and the utterly poor. Which is interesting, since differences in access to technology were much less wide than today, but social and status differences were probably larger, and decreed by birth.

Farmers, fishermen, parasites and courtesans tell their stories in a straightforward manner, men and women alike. The Greeks are revealed to us as a funny, cynical, outspoken and expressive people. They are sincere, mischievous, hypocritical, tender and passionate as we are today. Some of the courtesans' letters border on the raunchy, telling about orgies, jealousy and lover-theft. All of them are interesting, both for the casual reader or for those who want to have more knowledge about what life in old Greece was like more than two thousand years ago.

As soon as writing was invented, people wrote letters to each other. The first letters were written in about 3000 B.C. on clay tablets using cuneiform characters (cones
or 'nails').
In classical Greece writing letters became a literary style. Entire collections of letters by politicians, philosophers and orators are preserved.

From Alciphron - who probably lived in the 2nd century AD - letters are preserved in four books divided in four categories: letter from fishermen, farmers, parasites and courtesans.
Alciphron used a sophisticated language and he had a great sense of humor. His "letters" were meant to satirize the society in which he lived.

In this translation, the names of the characters are given in the English equivalent without mentioning the original Greek names. I don't like that because it's unscientific and adds a rather childish note to the text, as if it was written for children and that's certainly not the case: it's adult stuff.

As an illustration I would like to quote the following short letter (Letters from the town - The parasites XXVII ):

C.Cooklove to D.Ishwipe.
Oh what schemes and plottings! Those damned ogres of women are in league with the mistress, and Master Bright does not know a word about it. Five months after they were married that woman gave birth to a male child. They put some tokens round it's neck and handed it over to our hired labourer to take to the top of mount Parnes. It was a bad business, but for a time I was obliged to keep it dark. Even now for the moment I am not saying anything, but if they annoy me in the least and call me " flatterer" or "parasite" or any other of the insulting words they use, the master shall be told of all that has happened.

Ralph Andrist, already in 1964, opened the doors for authors to follow, such as Dee Brown and "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Andrist tells the story facing eastward, part of his overall effort to incorporate the Plains Indian point of view into his story.

Putting the history of broken treaties and broken promises front and center Andrist paints a portrait of Plains tribes struggling to maintain an identity and way of life -- a struggle that continues to today.

After reading the other review calling the book revisionist...I was pleasantly surprised, by this book. I would call it very evenly balanced, presenting both sides of the historical record. Very equally balanced, and also extraordinarily well written. The author was a master of story telling. His historical accounts not only present events I had never heard of, they do it in such a way that you are informed and engrossed in the historical account.
Highly recommended for study of the Sioux, early Minnesota,plus many other tribes and states. (Osage, comanche, etc)
Your obt. servant,
Doc

...it was, for me, like a book of travelers' tales, about a land I myself am about to enter. Instead of dry academic posturing, "Love In A Global Village" led me on a dozen journeys taken, before me, by people with whom I could relate. I had actually met one of them, I found, a woman in Evanston, Shirlee Taraki, who married a man from Kabul and moved to Afghanistan. I knew something of her story, but I found out a lot more by reading Jessie Grearson and Lauren Smith's book. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to know about the day-to-day adventures and difficulties in an intercultural relatrionship.

Jessie Grearson and Lauren Smith have written a fine companion to their earlier book SWAYING, which was a compendium of writings by people in international, interracial, and intercultural marriages. This time, in LOVE IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE, Smith and Grearson are the authors, telling the stories of fifteen intermarried couples they have interviewed. Cynics (such as the anonymous author of an unfortunate review in Publisher's Weekly) may wish to see conflict, dysfunction, anger, poverty, and misery in intercultural families. To suggest, as that review does, that such negativities are the usual lot of intermarriages is a racist mistake. Grearson and Smith eschew such unthinking racism. Instead, they show us families as they are. The families they interviewed sometimes suffered the effects of racism and poverty. But the message here is ultimately one of confidence and hope. That is because these families basically work. As one who has interviewed thousands of intermarried couples and their children (author of Mixed Blood: Intermarriage and Ethnic Identity in 20th-Century America), I found Grearson and Smith's account rang true. The book is also beautifully produced by the University of Iowa Press. I recommend it heartily.