This Review refers to the paperback edition of On Dreams (Dover Thrift Editions), composed by Sigmund Freud and as translated by M. D. Eder.

Freud's On Dreams is, quite simply, a downsized Interpretation of Dreams simplified so that non-psychologists are able to understand the basics of his theories concerning the matter. In this particular work, Freud makes an effort to explain what dreams are and how they relate to the dreamer. He also explains his thoughts on how the mind constructs dreams during their production, as well as how to analyze their content and meaning. Also included is a rather short biography about the author.

On Dreams presents wholly compelling arguments as to how the mind designs, produces, contorts, and presents the dream content. The work describes how the dreamer's psyche, he hypothesizes, will normally block the dream content while in a conscious state and due to the weakened state of this during sleep, these thoughts give birth to dreams.

Freud's work is in older English, which may make it slightly troublesome for the more modern readers to grasp. However, the work is in good composition and properly conveys his ideas and hypotheses concerning dreams. Freud also seems to have a tendency to state many educated guesses as fact in this work; therefore, the reader must keep an open mind regarding the presented concepts. The translator appears to have reproduced the text into English quite true to the original. Although, it would be desirable to read a different translation, in order to verify that the work's translation properly presents Freud's initial ideas.

Freud's theories have largely become the basics of modern psychology, for better or for worse, and are therefore all completely relevant and needed to understand the topic of psychology. On Dreams is an interesting look at what, exactly, dreams are and how they work. The overall recommendation would be that an individual interested in psychology read works by Freud and his contemporaries, however to mix those works with more modern concepts and ideas so as not to get an older, and somewhat outdated, view of the said concepts.

This book is an extremely condensed version of Freud's thoughts on dreams. The book is 45 pages so it is an easy read that tends to be more readily available though other book selling sites.

Freud groups dreams into those with obvious meanings, those with latent meanings, and those that are incoherent. He goes on to explain how dreams can be interpreted. A section is even devoted specifically to interpreting the dreams of children. Freud has a lot of interesting things to say, but like anything he says, take it with a grain of salt.

WORD OF ADVICE: Don't let others see you reading Freud for pleasure, as they will think you are weird.

Freud has taken a beating in recent years, but if you ask me, far too many people blindly accept all the received wisdom about him (he was sexist, unscientific, dogmatic) instead of going straight to the source. The agreeably brief "On Dreams," while far from a comprehensive look at the subject, is a good crash-course on this fascinating topic, still worth reading generations after its initial publication.

Here, Freud convincingly demolishes the long-standing scientific argument, which is still very much with us, that considers dreams as simply random mental events. He distinguishes between the manifest content of a dream (what happens) and its latent content (what it means). He also makes valuable distinctions among the different types of dreams, varying from the simple wish-fulfillment dreams mostly restricted to children and the bafflingly weird ones that we all get on occasion, and takes a stab at explaining why and how they are formed in our sleeping minds. You can love Freud or hate him, but you cannot imagine the 20th Century without him, and he still deserves our attention.

Everyone knows OW was a witty guy.

If you want to find witty things he said in one small book such that you can try to emulate his wit, this book is for you.

It's good for an hour's read where you will snicker, snort, and grin.

It's exactly what i expected and exactly what I got. Whee!

"I can resist everything except temptation."
"There is no sin except stupidity."
"It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances."
"It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done."

These laconic aphorisms are just the tip of the iceberg of Wilde's impressive, yet oftentimes eclectic and nihilistic, use of the English language. Dover gives us 60 pages of brilliant witticisms and axioms to use over and over again for a mere dollar. You can't go wrong. Also recommended - Dover's Shakespeare quotes book for a dollar. Enjoy.

This collection of Wilde's greatest quotes is an easy read, and wonderful to keep around the house. Wilde's wisdom is displayed throughout this edition, and is a must have for any Wilde fan.

From high school American Literature I remember four writers that impressed myself and my friends: Edith Wharton, O. Henry, Edgar Lee Masters and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Therefore, I reread Renascence as part of a reading stroll down memory lane - and found again the elegence that impressed us many years ago.

Many of these poems deal with grief and death including suicide. But beginning with the near-mystical Renascence there is a confidence in something more. Her skill is best shown in the sonnets, a form she used extensively as it is a near perfect fit for her sensibilities.

She is very much a traditional in form and rhyme with much of her imagery being garden and flower. However, there are few times that the syntax becomes awkward or forced in order for her thoughts to fit the form. In short, this is a poetry book worth reading.

I was captured with the first lines. Never have I read more captivating words about life and losing someone of importance. I have looked for these words, the ones that expressed what I was feeling for many years and found them waiting in Edna's book. . .just incredible.

This book contains one of my favorite poems, "Ashes of Life." My copy of the book is hardcover from 1917, but the poem is the same no matter what printing you read.

This little Dover edition is cheap and fits easily into any bag, which makes it good bus stop reading. There is, however, a disadvantage to this portable Poe; namely, it's not all there. The collection excludes the story for which Poe is credited for having begun the detective genre itself: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" introduces the characters of Dupin and our narrator, and prepares the scene for the detective figure to fill the gap of reasoning that the overly-methodical Parisian police have left. It sets the tone for the increased emphasis on analysis in "Marie Rogêt" and the humorous rivalry between police and detective in "The Purloined Letter." That being said, the other stories fit well together; "The Oblong Box" has one foot in the detective genre and the other in that species of psychological drama that we see in "William Wilson." Wilson and his doppelganger compliment the double corpse question in "Marie Rogêt," and the parallel worlds and coincidences, which make the mystery of Marie Rogêt more fascinating, lend an uncanny quality to "MS Found in a Bottle," with the discovery of Mercator's map. If these stories show us anything about Poe, it is his ability to bring a story to a logical conclusion that still leaves an eerie taste in the reader's mouth.

As always Edgar Allan Poe has created a masterpiece with this work, just as he has done with all his others. He makes haunting, chilling, and tingling stories come to life like nightmares during the daytime. He was a true master of suspense and storytelling and this work is no exception. If you enjoyed any of his others, like The Tell-tale Heart or The Raven, then you'll be sure to enjoy these tales of terror and detection.

Edgar allen poe is one of the greatest short story writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. His stories are varied and extremely intelligent. And at the cheap price this collection of stories are a must buy. I give it an extra star just for the price.

This book by Gwen Marston like the others in the series "Twenty little quilts" that I have read so far has 18 quilts shown in color on the inside of the cover plus 2 on the backcover. The photos are small and you can see little detail, but you can easily grasp the concept of each quilt. Some of the colors are not to my taste, but that will just keep me from copying any of the quilts exactly.

Patterns are provided with both template and rotary cutting instructions. A short annotation with each pattern gives a little additional info about how the quilt came about and I appreciate that. The templates are included in a take out section in the middle of the book on light cardboard. Gwen says she makes little quilts to be able to try a lot of different ideas and you can either follow suit or develop the patterns into larger quilts.

I came across those books after reading Liberated Quiltmaking and find them a good additional source.

I love this book! I made the block in a block pattern and it turned out beautifully. All directions are easy to follow especially for beginners and the patterns are on heavy cardstock in the middle of the book so there is no need to trace anything. Best of all, the seam allowances have been included so you just cut and sew! Hope you like it! Erin Pennington, Carmi, IL

... I love it. Each quilt has easy to follow directions and diagrams. Also, the templates are included in the center of the book on heavy cardstock paper. Every quilt is depicted in a full color picture. Plus, I made an Amish square in a square quilt in one Saturday afternoon. Just in case you are wondering, the templates ARE FULL SIZE fo you do not have to add a seam allowance to machine piece these.

This short story is full of intrigue. I am a lover of mystery and suspense. Young Goodman Brown has twists and turns that will surprise you. I recommend this short story for anyone who loves intrigue.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, as a writer and artist, has a
unique effect upon me as the reader. I am a bit put off
by his keep-your-distance...this is my stage, my characters,
my plot...you may observe, learn, but not participate
as experiencer...approach. Thus he is the master artist,
displaying his wares...and they are wondrous. The other
effect of Hawthorne upon me, is that I seem to feel that
his works are as carefully crafted, visualized, and
fatefully fulfilled (using all the motifs, symbols,
and foreshadowing--as well as irony, psychological
insight, and artistic deftness of creative imagination
and clever nuance) as Wagner's operas. Though "Young
Goodman Brown" seems a bit (just a bit,) too blatant
with the symbols and allegory, yet there is something
also immensely satisfying and complete in the intricate
way in which all the parts fit together. "The Artist of
the Beautiful," for me, is the supreme creation in this
collection of stories.
It is Hawthorne's insights, both about human
psychology and artistic awareness and limitation, that
amaze and please me. Here is an excerpt from the haunting
tale, "The Birthmark," in which a perfectionist husband
attempts to remove a small birthmark from his wife's
cheek so she will be completely perfect. The husband
is Aylmer; his wife is Georgiana. The wife chances upon
the volumes which Aylmer has, and one of them is a record
of all of his own experiments. "But to Georgiana, the
most engrossing volume was a large folio from her
husband's own hand, in which he had recorded every
experiment of his scientific career, its original aim,
the methods adopted for its development, and its final
success or failure.... The book, in truth, was both the
history and emblem of his ardent, ambitious, imaginative,
yet practical and laborious life. He handled physical
details as if there were nothing beyond them; yet
spiritualized them all, and redeemed himself from

materialism by his strong and eager apiration towards
the infinite. In his grasp the veriest clod of earth
assumed a soul. * * * The volume rich with achievements
that had won renown for its author, was yet as melancholy
a record as ever mortal hand had penned. It was the sad
confession and continual exemplification of the
shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened
with clay and working in matter, and of the despair
that assails the higher nature at finding itself so

miserably thwarted by the earthly part. Perhaps every
man of genius, in whatever sphere, might recognize the
image of his own experience in Aylmer's journal."
The greatness of that insight is that it not only
applies to Aylmer, but it also obviously is something
which Hawthorne as an artist of the imagination
had grappled with himself -- while still having to live
in the practical world of matter, being assaulted by
its harassments, sicknesses, weakenings, dangers,
limits...and being forced to scratch out something by the
way of making a living for himself and his dependents.
Yet he feels somehow compromised and humiliated by the
ironic joke of having the transcendent consciousness
and soul imprisoned in the body's corruptible matter.
Here is Hawthorne the Artist expressing it so well
in "The Artist of the Beautiful": "He knew that the
world, and Annie as the representative of the world,
whatever praise might be bestowed, could never say the
fitting word nor feel the fitting sentiment which should
be the perfect recompense of an artist who, symbolizing
a lofty moral by a material trifle, -- converting what
was earthly to spiritual gold, -- had won the beautiful
into his handiwork. Not at this latest moment was he
to learn that the reward of all high performance must be
sought within itself, or sought in vain."
The insight and artistic sensitivity and psychological
understanding more than outshine the stand-offish
stage manager and manipulator of effects.

"Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories" brings together 7 tales by the great United States author Nathaniel Hawthorne. These stories date from the 1830s and 1840s, and reveal Hawthorne, well-known today as a novelist, to be a talented practitioner of the short story genre.

These are stories of weird science, romantic and professional obsession, thwarted love, witchcraft, guilt, and the quest for beauty. Irony and tragedy mark many of the tales. Hawthorne takes us from the rugged American frontier to a sunlit Italian garden. The title story is a strangely compelling evocation of the Salem Puritans and their obsession with Satanic conspiracies. Also impressive is "Roger Malvin's Burial," a devastating psychological tale.

If the only Hawthorne you know is the author of the justly-celebrated "Scarlet Letter," check out this collection. Overall, this book is a good choice both for classroom use and individual reading.

Chaucer begins a literary tradition by writing about everyday people, not just the nobility. He depicts the characters with humor and insight. The tales themselves say much about the times and people. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean it isn't good. This edition saves you money but still gives you the Chaucer "flavor."

Please realize that the above reviewer is mistaken; Chaucer does not chronicle the lives of Greeks WHATSOEVER. The Tales recount a pilgrimage in England!

This book was wonderful and exciting. Chuacer, a old Greek writer, was a magnificent author and this book deserves a look. Reviewed by many historians, this book reveals much about Greeks past and is worth the 1.60 price (compared to 2.00 at bn.com). RECOMMENDED

Cost being a factor in determining books to be purchased by students, I strongly recommend this translation by Leonard Bacon (1914). The lines are mainly in iambic heptameter (seven beats per line) with a clear caesura, which facilitates a student's oral reading of the poem. Though the original French used assonance more than end rhyme, Bacon does rhyme his English lines. Compared to the iambic pentameter of the Dorothy L. Sayers translation, Bacon's is a little faster paced, but one senses the hoofbeats of the horses with two more beats per line, which isn't altogether bad for an epic poem about a military massacre. Though a good choice in terms of price, Bacon's translation lacks glosses of archaisms (e.g., the word "eme" is not explained as an archaism of "uncle"). Still, the teacher can supply these as necessary. For [the money], you can't go wrong!

well worth the time. Sure, it gets a little repitious, but you really get a feel of how important knighthood and chivalry were to these people so lang ago.

Not a must-read, but definitely worth the time for leisurely reading, especially if you enjoy history or just heroic epics.

I have had a chance rather vividly to contrast this version with the Glyn Burgess translation, and Harrison is not only more readable, it's better poetry. I use the book in a class of eighth grade boys in New York (who love it), and by mistake a bought a slug of the Burgess translation. Then I had some boys with Harrison, some with Burgess, and the howls from the Burgessites were considerable. Harrison is just a better, livlier, even funnier translation.

This collection features dozens of patterns from the 1930s and 40s; more than 100 patterns for less than six dollars! For designs created during a time when tatting is thought of as being mostly doilies and edgings, this collection is pretty creative. Some of the most unique designs are the baby bonnet, earrings and boutennieres. I love looking at the models for some of the designs, everything is so vintage. My only problem with this book is that the patterns are written in longhand, making it easy to lose your place while tatting.

This is a huge collection of patterns from the 1930s and 1940s---more than 100 patterns for less than six dollars. For designs that were created during a time when tatting is often thought to have been limited to edgings and doilies, there are some pretty creative ideas. The tatted earrings, baby bonnets and handkerchiefs are all especially beautiful. There are a ton of edgings to dress up clothes and linens or turn into bookmarks. I love looking at the photographs of the models wearing the collars, they have such a vintage look. The only thing I don't like so much is the way the patterns are written out only in long form, which can make it easy to lose your place.

This book consists of reprints of patterns from thread company pamphlets of the 1930's, 40's and 50's. The reprints are well done and clear, and the original instructions have not been altered (In addition to the many patterns, readers will enjoy a nostalgic visit to an era when luncheon cloths, chair sets, and even roller shade pulls were supposed to exhibit a housewife's skill and elicit the envy of her neighbors).

This book would be a good choice for a novice tatter who is looking for more patterns. Not only are the instructions written out in longhand, but there are hundreds of patterns to choose from (some tatters find longhad instructions difficult to follow because you can lose your place; they have a point! I use a Post-it Note as a marker, which helps).

Tatting patterns from mid-century were marketed with a focus on novelty and "modern" styling. They also tended to be simpler than older patterns. Was this a reflection on tatters' decreasing skill level, or an acknowledgement that modern women had less time to devote to handwork?

I give this book five stars a) for the number and variety of the patterns and b) for the quality of the black and white reprints, which are very clear.

An extremely important work in the history of philosophy that everyone reads and then dismisses. You should too!

First, this edition is, like the others in this Oxford range, superb, with an excellent long introduction and numerous helpful notes. You can't do better than this unless you're looking for all of his works shoved into one volume, like the Everyman. So basically, if you're looking to study Berkeley seriously, get this edition (and pick up the Dialogues too).

On to the work itself. Berkeley's starting point is Locke's theory of substance, so it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with that first. His basic proposition is Locke's theory of ideas, without the substratum supporting them - there is, therefore, nothing material in the world other than our minds. Berkeley is a brilliant writer and he sweeps you up so thoroughly in his arguments that you can't help but be convinced. But once you've stop reading and take a step back the gaping holes in his arguments become quickly and painfully apparent.

Regardless of the validity of his argument, it's worth buying the work for two reason; his historical importance, and the sheer quality of writing - it's a highly enjoyable work to read; only Plato equals Berkeley for easy and enjoyable to read works of philosophy.

This is a very important work of George Berkeley. On of its most interesting topics is that about the existence of matter. As, for human beings, the "existence" of something is related to its perception, there is a very close link between "things" and ideas. Both cannot have their existence completely proved. The arguments place the book among the most interesting on the top issues discussed in its time (empiricism, materialism, etc.)

This is not the place for a philosophical analysis of Berkeley's original text, and its content of argument. The review concerns the specific book edited by Dancy, and its worth in respect of its further contribution to understanding the Treatise.
This book is to be strongly recommended as it provides a multitude of resources that contextualise, criticise, and clarify, the positions put forward by Berkeley in this work.

The most substantial contribution is the extensive introduction comprised of 15 punchy sections, covering Berkeley's life, his academic heritage, and analysis of his thought (both internal and external to that given in the Treatise). Dancy is fair to Berkeley in setting forth the most robust defences of his position, and marshalling critical arguments against the Berkelian stance. This is supplemented by an extremely thorough set of endnotes that are continually present in the background of the text, offering detailed guidance whenever necessary, or desired.

Additionally, the book offers a summarised concise overview of the arguments provided in the Treatise, a glossary of archaic terms(!), and a very helpful short section entitled "How to use this book" (why don't more books include this sort of thing?). There is also a manageable annotated bibliography of further reading to trail a path for academic expansion.

Overall, I found that this book provided a systematic treatment of the text and provided a solid structure of support surrounding the subject. Also included, the letters between Berkeley and Johnson, provide an unexpected bonus. This book is relatively cheap, considering its breadth and depth. In my opinion, it is an ideal text through which to study (and enjoy) Berkeley's Treatise.