So why don't you buy this book, then? You will not be dissapointed. It covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Completely new algorithms for solving arithmetic problems. Everything you learned in school is wortless compared to those techniques. Of course, you must study them carefully. You will not be a genius after skimming this book on one day, but the one who study it carefully will be on he's way. The only reason it didn't get 5 starts is that there must be one left to "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ;)

To find out that everything you were taught in school about arithmetic was the slow dumb way to do it is a slap in the face. If you can handle that and are willing to have and open mind about it, this is the book for you. I have to say the methods are very different from what you learned, but it still builds apon the knowledge you already have about basic math. You must work at it though, simply reading will not help much. However if you follow the instructions you will exponentially increase your speed and without having to think about it as much as your use to. I am not much of a math person and I found the results very surprising. Buy it, period.

'The Tale Of Tom Kitten' sees Beatrix Potter at her most fey. Three young kittens muck about in the garden, tormenting their neighbouring creatures, and generally being boisterous-but-nice kids. Their class-conscious mother (very few fathers in Potter's world) is having relatives around for tea, and gives her children unwelcome baths and brushings down, before making them wear the most appallingly naff Sundaywear. Unfortunately, Tom's been eating one too many pork pies, and bursts out of his pale blue two-piece, looking rather seedy.

The charm of this story lies in the infectious playfulness of the children, their universally-understandable indifference to their elders' desire for 'respectability', and the quaint evocation of an Edwardian farmstead.

The Tale of Tom Kitten is Beatrix Potter at her best. It is certainly one of our family favorites. This is the story of three kittens all dressed in their best clothes and set out to play. They struggle to keep their clothes on only to lose them. They meet three ducks along the way who waddle off with the poorly fitted clothes. When the kittens return home their mother sends them upstairs while she hosts a tea party. Of course they cause a ruckus disturbing the "dignity and repose" of the party. The book ends with the ducks still searching for the clothes at the bottom of a pond. What makes Beatrix Potter so wonderful is her delightful vocablary that stretches a childs intellect. There is a mutual respect between Potter and the reader. Having drawn and painted animals and plant life since a child she is a master of anthropomorphisim, the giving of human qualities to animals or objects. Her delicate watercolors are perfectly suited to the playfullness of the story. This is a classic that should be a part of every child's library.

Despite not being a very recent book, a graduate student of mathematics who has to prepare complex analysis as a general topic for his qualifying examinations may find that this text covers all the essential material in the subject.

This elegant little book covers the elements of a senior or 1st year graduate course on complex analysis, although a really good mathematics program like at Berkeley may look upon it as providing some material for a junior course in advanced calculus. It is not a new book, i.e. it predates the space age and computers, but the material is timeless and fundamental. Highly recommended for those who want some exposure to a first-class style in mathematics.

I like this book, it's very interesting. I don't usually like to read but I enjoyed this book because it was interesting. It kept you guessing at what was going to happen next, and I liked the way some of the words were spelled; it showed how they pronounced the words. If you like suspense, then I would recommend this book.

It was just so awsome and my imagination is still bogiling from the solving of the mysteries like Jake Dunlap stealing the diamonds.

A very good sourcebook for Turkish (Iznik) Pottery motifs from the 1475-1660's. The designs are large and very clear, but they are only in B&W. This book is really good for people who want to learn about Turkish floral designs. There aren't very many geometric designs, or explanations about how's and why's (i.e. the book shows you the designs, but they don't explain why it's used or it's significance...though at the beginning of the book there is a short explanation...)This book is GREAT for ARTISTS! Though it doesn't tell you how to start your own design motif, there are so many examples, that it isn't hard to figure out! I thought this book was really helpful to me! (I am trying to design a pseudo-Turkish design for my own serving platter.)

This book is a real treasury for one interested in Turkish design art/illumination. (TEZHIP in Turkish) I`m interested in calligraphy and illumination as a hobby and this book is a very good source with its traditional Iznik pottery motifs. The only missing point for me is lack of colourfull pictures of Iznik plates. Everybody interested in design and pottery should see this book.

Fabulous rendition of this popular tale. The clay artwork brings the story to life in the way that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's three dimensional story does on televison. My only sadness is that on the page where 'sugarplums dance in the childrens heads'--there aren't any sugarplums dancing!! (as a child I was always partial to that particular image). Other than that this really is a beautiful book and the nicest one I've seen of this story.

THIS WAS JUST A WONDERFUL BOOK. I HAD PURCHASED IT FOR MY CHILDREN AROUD CHRISTMAS, AND WE READ IT 10 TIMES DURING
CHRISTMAS AND WHEN CHRISTMAS WAS OVER I WANTED TO PUT THE
BOOK IN THE ATTIC AND MY 8 YEAR OLD SON STOPPED ME WANTING
TO READ IT ALL YEAR LONG.ITS JUST A WONDERFUL BOOK FOR ALL
YEAR LONG!!

This is a tale of a boat trip up the Congo, although nowhere in the book is the actual name of that river or the Belgian colony that emerged on its banks ever used. The writer, Joseph Conrad, was probably more interesting than any of his characters. Although writing about stiff-upper-lip types and managing to be more English than the English, he was actually born in a country that was undergoing its own form of colonization in those days, that is Poland. Going to sea, Conrad experienced many adventures around the globe, providing him with the rich stock of stories that were to win him acceptance from the English reading public.

Most people now come across this book as part of some college course condemning colonialism. At least that's how I came across it. Others might know it as the prototype for Francis Ford Coppola's amazing movie "Apocalypse Now."

Although an enthralling read, it is also a strangely vacuous book and, as a consequence, extremely well-named, as Kurtz, the central character, remains a dark enigma at the heart of the story to the end. We never really get to know who he is. Sent by the Belgian colonial authorities upriver, Kurtz has 'gone native' and our narrator is sent after him to investigate.

This format allows the narrator to drop-feed us information about Kurtz during the long river voyage, giving us pieces of a jigsaw that is never completed. As we read we are nevertheless tantalized by the prospect of meeting the man who has scrawled "Exterminate all the brutes" on his report for the "International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs," participated in "unspeakable rites," and established his authority among the natives through the uncivilized practice of impaling heads on poles.

Is this a true picture of colonialism? During his life as a sailor, the writer visited the Belgian Congo so the details ring true. Also the objective, descriptive, and rather emotionally detached style of the narrator proves convincing. Nevertheless there is something rather mechanical about this picture. Conrad presents economic exploitation or vicious greed as the dominant if not the only force in this view of colonialism. Perhaps in the case of the Belgian Congo, a particularly brutal colonial system, this is justified, but those college students being fed this novel as representative of colonialism in general should be more wary.

To our modern materialistic sensibilities, it makes perfect sense that colonialism should be so greed-driven, but there were also more altruistic motives at work such as the desire to 'save,' 'educate,' and 'civilize' the natives. Conrad treats these with a healthy dose of cynicism. The philanthropic motives, sincerely believed by many in the home country, such as Marlow's Aunt, become in the face of the ruthless greed and brutality existing in the Congo no more than empty jargon, ironically spoked to justify the terrible cruelties inflicted on the natives for the benefit of the Company. But quite often these motives were actually sincere and brought great improvements to the natives, in many cases actually giving them the tools with which they later won their independence.

Although condemning their exploiters, Conrad has little real understanding of the natives who always remain mysterious and unfathomable:

"The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us - who could tell? We glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse."

In this there is a lack of true sympathy, which however reassures us that he is not exaggerating or sentimentalizing the plight of the Africans. Colonialism was certainly not a blessing; maybe it wasn't a mixed blessing, but it might have been a mixed curse. Anyway, however you choose to view it, it undoubtedly had a profound impact on the economy, environment, culture, and identity of native peoples. We get little of this from Conrad and his "unfathomable savages."

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.

Heart of Darkness is a novella that really needs to be read more than just once to fully appreciate Conrad's style of writing. The story is an account of one man's simultaneous journey into the darkness of a river as well as into the shadows of a madman's mind. There is a very brilliant flow of foreshadowing that Conrad brings to his writing that provides the reader with accounts of the time period and the horrible events to come. Through Conrad's illuminating writing style we slowly see how the narrator begins to understand the madness or darkness that surrounds him.

I recommend this particular version of the novella because it contains a variety of essays, which discusses some of the main issues in the reading and historical information. Issues like racism and colonialism are discussed throughout many essays. It also contains essays on the movie inspired by the book Apocalypse Now, which is set against the background of the Vietnam War. I recommend reading Heart of Darkness and then viewing Apocalypse Now, especially in DVD format which contains an interesting directors commentary.

Considered by many to be the great American novel, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the story of a boy, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the sequel to Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Where "Tom Sawyer" was more a care-free children's book, "Huck Finn" is a far darker less childlike book.

Judging from my rating you can see that I do not agree that this is in fact the great American novel. Twain seemed far too unsure of what he wanted to accomplish with this book. The pat answer is to expose the continuing racism of American society post-Civil War. By making Jim simultaneously the embodiment of white racist attitudes about blacks and a man of great heart, loyalty, and bravery, Twain presented him as being all too much of what white America at the time was unwilling to acknowledge the black man as: human.

However noble the cause though, Twain's story is disjointed, at times ridiculous, and, worst of all (for Twain anyway), unfunny. The situations that Huck and Jim find themselves in are implausible at best. Twain may not have concerned himself too much with the possibleness of his story; but, it does detract from your enjoyment of a story when you constantly disbelieve the possibility of something happening.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is an important book in that it did affect much of the American literature that followed it. However, this is another novel which is more important to read for its historical significance than for its story.

I read this, since it was my school's outside reading assignment. The printing was so small, that I first thought it would be a boring read. But I soon figured that I was wrong. I found myself slowly slipping into the story as if it was all happening before my own eyes. The characters were very interesting. Especially Huck Finn seemed like a very likable person with a strong identity, wit, and a soft heart. He does not want to sit and let the world rule over him, but instead test his own ideas and proves to the world that he can be better than what the society expacts him to be. And although many say it is a racially biased book because of its frequent use of N word, nobody can deny that it was a commonly used word in the 1800 where the rogue institution called 'slavery' was considered healthy and inevitable. As a matter of fact, this is a book that actually tries to tell the world about the evilness of racial prejudice not promote it. One should read between the lines, in order to acknowledge Twain's subtle attempts. It was a thrilling experience and I recommend people to have for their own!!!!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was one of the best novels I have ever read. When I was a junior in high school, I had to get signed permission to read this novel. I never thought a book could be so controversial that something like that would be necessary. I am so glad that I read it then, and again during my freshman year of college, because I think it sends a powerful message. Written in the dialect of the deep south, Twain successfully gets the reader involved in the book. When I read this novel for the first time, I did not want to put it down. The character of Huck intrigued me. Though a young boy, he had more common sense than many people years older than him. He knew what he wanted and was smart enough to know how to go about getting it. When he befriends a runaway slave named Jim, social issues are brought up and Huck is forced to follow what his heart says, instead of what society says is morally acceptable. I enjoyed how Twain portrayed Huck and Jim's journey down the river and the adventures they shared. It was a symbol of their need for freedom. By sharing the same goals, Huck and Jim become true friends. They are beyond the color barrier and realize that a person is a person, regardless of what they look like or who they are. I think much of today's society could benefit from reading this book. It helps you put things in perspective and think about what is really important in life; what others think versus how you feel. If anyone is looking for a good novel to read, one that captures interest and provokes thought, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is it.

The more Dickens I read, the more impressed I become at his skill as a writer. No matter the form, be it short, long, or a monolith like some of his best works, Dickens excels at changing his style of characterization and plot to fit whatever mode he writes in. "A Tale of Two Cities" is one of his shorter novels, and he manages to make the most of out of the allotted space. The compression of the narrative sacrifices Dickens's accustomed character development for plot and overall effect, but what we get is still phenomenal.

"A Tale of Two Cities" begins in 1775, with Mr. Lorry, a respectable London banker, meeting Lucie Manette in Paris, where they recover Lucie's father, a doctor, and mentally enfeebled by an unjust and prolonged imprisonment in the Bastille. This assemblage, on their journey back to England, meets Charles Darnay, an immigrant to England from France who makes frequent trips between London and Paris. Upon their return to England, Darnay finds himself on trial for spying for France and in league with American revolutionaries. His attorney, Stryver, and Stryver's obviously intelligent, if morally corrupt and debauched, assistant, Sydney Carton, manage to get Darnay exonerated of the charges against him. Darnay, a self-exiled former French aristocrat, finds himself compelled to return to France in the wake of the French Revolution, drawing all those around him into a dangerous scene.

Dickens portrays the French Revolution simplistically, but powerfully, as a case of downtrodden peasants exacting a harsh revenge against an uncaring aristocratic, even feudal, system. The Defarge's, a wine merchant and his wife, represent the interests of the lower classes, clouded by hatred after generations of misuse. Darnay, affiliated by birth with the French aristocracy, is torn between sympathy for his native country in its suffering, and his desire to be free of his past.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a novel driven by historical circumstance and plot, much like the works of Sir Walter Scott, wherein the characters themselves assert less agency, finding themselves forced to deal with the tide of epic events. Richard Maxwell's introduction to this newest Penguin edition does a good job outlining the themes of doubling and literary influence that Dickens works with. One specific influence I discerned in reading "A Tale" that Maxwell doesn't metion is Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France," which if nothing else, gives the feeling that the rampant violence of the early revolution and the later Reign of Terror has brought about an irreversible change in human nature. While Dickens remains cautiously optimistic throughout the novel that France can recover, the tone of the novel speaks to the regression of humanity into a more feral, primal state, rather than advertise any real hope for its enlightened progress.

Despite the supposed dichotomy between England and France in the novel, Dickens seems to suggest throughout that there are no real differences, due to the way that human nature is consistently portrayed. With England in between two revolutions, American and French, Lucie's sensitivity early in the novel to hearing the "echoing" footsteps of unseen multitudes indicates a palpable fear that the "idyllic" or "pastoral" England he tries to portray is not exempt from the social discontent of America or France. In this light, stolid English characters like Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and Jarvis Lorry appear to almost overcompensate in their loyalty to British royalty. In a novel that deals with death, religion, mental illness, I could go on and on for a week, but I won't. One of those novels whose famous first and last lines are fixed in the minds of people who've never even read it, "A Tale of Two Cities" demands to be read and admired.

Love, betrayal, drama, and suspense, the makers of a great novel, are all found in Charles Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens not only sets a great foundation for the novel but he also builds an illustrious story with great detail. His creativity explodes in this book.

The book is set in the time before and during the French Revolution. It is about the experiences of two French families and how those experiences later collide with their future. Their experiences not only create a great fictional story but they also dipict the true horrors that occured in France at that time.

Dickens makes the plot very interesting because he incorporates fiction and historical facts and events. For example in the storming of the Bastille scene, he brings to life an actual event and adds the fiction of what the peasants found in Dr. Manette's cell and the inside look on how they may have felt. Two other examples include the scenes where the revolutionaries kill the king and queen of France and the many times they use the guillotine. They demonstrate this mixture because they're true events yet, Dickens adds fictional characters and the feelings and emotions the people might have had.

Another great touch that Dickens adds is all the detail. Although at times it is rather long it helps to make a clear picture in the mind of what is going on. One such example where he does this is when he describes fate and death. He makes two rather hard to picture objects visible in the mind as the Farmer and the Woodsman. Another example of his great use of detail is when he describes Mr. Lorry's trip down the Dover mail. His description gives the feeling of actually being there. These are just two but there are numerous of other examples.

One more thing that made this novel fascinating was how Dickens reveals bits and pieces of the plot mixed together, but then ties every piece together at the end. For example he dipicts the Marquis' cruelness first and does not explain his involvement right away. However, by the end he turns out to be a key character. He also does that with the character of Dr. Manette. He introduces the character but leaves the suspense of that character's involvement until later. The suspense keeps the interest in the novel going. Dickens details, mixture of fact with fiction, and suspense makes the novel a extremely enjoyable book. After reading this book a clear understanding is achieved of why Charles Dickens is such a renowned author. A Tale of Two Cities is a unique and fascinating story which is why it is a must for anyone's bookself.

Even after many centuries, a classic novel can still be read, understood and charm a wide audience. For it teaches the reader about life and death, society and history through a magnificent story. "A Tale of Two Cities", written in 1859, is one of those classics.

This magnificent story begins a year before the American Independence and several years before the French Revolution. As only Dickens can, he breathes life into the most bizarre, comical and memorable characters... such as Madame Defarge, Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher and a slew of others. But in the midst of these people, the light shines on the few characters on which the story hence revolves. About Lucie Manette who has a true and beautiful heart that affects everyone around her and her aristocratic husband Charles Darnay, an ambitious man of French blood. Dr. Manette who after surviving 18 years in jail overcomes his weakness to rescue another. The light shines strongly upon Sydney Carton... a man who doesn't seem very redeemable in the beginning but who has a heart of gold who is capable of the greatest sacrifice of all for the woman he loves. It is these people whom Dickens chose to give life to during the grim and bloody French Revolution.

This novel is one of my most favorite of Dickens' novels. The hero and the heroine are rather complex and admirable characters. However, they are not necessarily the ones that win the sympathy and the heart of the reader... but suprisingly (and pleasantly) to the most unexpected of Dickens' character. On another note, the novel starts with a famous and recognizable opening line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." and ends with a very memorable line, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." To which I give great credit to the novel by Mr. Dickens.

Wuthering Heights is a disturbingly dark book about love, obsession and revenge. It is a romantic novel full of twists and turns that nearly requires the reader to keep a running dictionary of characters, especially since names have a tendency to pop up in different places and on different people throughout the novel. I read this novel for a class assignment in Victorian Literature but it is helpful to know that the book employs many themes of the Romantic literary genre as well. Victorian ideas of social class are brought up as well as the fantasies of adolescence. Some of the Romantic ideas found in the novels include the idea of the tragic landscape. The landscape of the novel is foreboding and isolated, borrowed most likely from the gothic novel. The characters are extreme in their varying passions and the concept of the dream is used in a type of ghostly communication. One of the story's narrators has a dream of being visited by the ghost of Catherine, which causes a startling and dramatic reaction in Heathcliff. The belief that the reader cannot fully hate Heathcliff because of how he was mistreated as a child is also a Romantic ideal.
The story contains a great deal of darkness and some cruelty, which may turn readers away. Love is often extreme to the point of violence in the novel while the romances themselves are nearly incestuous in tone. Cousins marry and adopted siblings hold lifelong affections and obsessions for each other. The novel also illustrates an element of cruelty that can be slightly disturbing at times. Heathcliff, the novel's antagonist, goes as far as to string up the beloved dog of the young woman he courts after Catherine rejects him.
The main focus of the story is the rather twisted love story element that develops between Catherine and Heathcliff. Heathcliff is adopted into Catherine's family at a young age and the pair become close, though Catherine rejects him because he is poor and instead marries a rich neighbor. Though throughout the novel, other romances develop between the two highly inbred families, they are side stories in comparison to the main romance.
The love of Catherine and Heathcliff eventually develops into an obsession that lasts, and in fact becomes even stronger with the eventual death of Catherine. Her spirit seems to haunt Heathcliff and further fire his obsession. Even before Catherine's death this obsessive love broadens to include an equally obsessive drive to ruin the lives of all the people who mistreated him and stood between him and Catherine, including her husband and older brother.
These obsessions eventually lead to the last of the major themes of the novel, revenge. A good part of the book is spent upon Heathcliff's attempts to destroy the lives of anyone and everyone who mistreated him or got in the way of his relationship with Catherine. His need for revenge does not lessen as the book moves on and Heathcliff continues to take his revenge even upon the next generation, including Catherine's daughter and his own son. Whether or not Heathcliff succeeds in his attempts I leave to the reader.
Personally, I enjoyed this book a great deal, if for no other reason than the simple fact that it was quite different from the usual school assigned reading. I was pleasantly surprised by how well woven and engaging the book was. The calculating lengths that Heathcliff goes to in order fulfill his quest for revenge are nearly reason enough to read the book. The old style language of the book, which I expected to be a hindrance, was hardly noticeable. In short, if you can handle (or enjoy) the book's darker aspects, then I highly recommend this classic to you. (And I'm not just saying that because I have to! ;))Enjoy!

Perhaps it's the winsome imagery, perhaps the profoundly real characters one switches between loving and hating, or maybe even the dry humor that is the style of the British, but Wuthering Heights is my all time favorite book. How can words possibly do it justice...the only way to surely judge it is by reading it. Never before have I been so moved by a story; it might be Heathcliff's overflowing love for Catherine that drives him mad yet, ingenious in his revenge, or Cathy's shallow duty to society that denies her the power to be true to herself (I believe the main point of this novel is to not deny your feelings; go with what you feel rather than what should be), but I always find myself reading it on days I need to be cheered up or am really lusting after a good book. If one's not paying attention, you know, one of those days where you just read to take your mind off of something, it can get rather dull and confusing (the diction isn't as simple as say...Ethan Frome), but if you're concentrating, Bronte's words are so amazingly beautiful, it's hard to put it down. When read aloud it sounds like Shakespeare, and I like Emily's work a lot more than Charlotte's, for some reason. Gothic literature is so peculiar and wonderful: a class of it's own, and she really masters it. At the same time she avoids stereotypes and entertaining happenings (the spectre that appears to the somewhat insecure Lockwood early on foretells the chilling story, while at the same time hinting there is something deeply wrong about Wuthering Heights that needs to be corrected), actually writing the book with a purpose behind it. All the characters have very cool qualities about them; all have the potential to be irritating, but hey, we're all human. By imperfecting her people she has perfected the novel, and I'm so thankful I've had the privilege to read such a piece of art. This book forever remains with me; it's a part of me.

I read what the self-proclaimed "immature" reader wrote, and I beg to differ. I love this book not because I'm supposed to, but because I just do. The austerity of the language, which you term "dull", is what sets the whole tone for such a troubling work. I doubt that Bronte set out to write a classic romance; I believe she was denouncing the sins of her characters. This novel is multi-faceted with its never-ending parallels: two houses (Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange), two love stories, two heroes, two heroines, two narrators, etc. The inexplicable love that two heartless people like Heathcliff and Catherine share is fascinating to say the least. When Catherine cries out, "Nelly, I AM Heathcliff," I'm sure many a girl's heart has thudded in her chest. This book sweeps you away to a place and time far removed from us and gives us a view into a harsh and distant world. You don't have to like the book. But don't be so dumb or immature as to assume that no else does either. The longer you study literature, the more you'll see that some books have passed the test of time, because, well, they're just that damn good.