IDID NOT READ IT YET ILOVE TO LEARN MORE A BUT HE

I have read this novel twice already, and find it captivating every time I open it. I have visited the Jamestown museum in Virginia, and find this account to be incredibly descriptive in the lives and cultures of both the English settlers and the Native Americans at the time. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the story of Pocahontas, as I feel that it seamlessly integrates the many different versions of this story. Good Job Susan!

It's a story full of descriptions, that, short of the more intimate details of the characters and their thoughts/feelings, are very accurate. Not only are the natural beauties of Virginia, the descriptions of the less-known Powhatan tribes, traditions, cultures and beliefs given full body by Donnell's imaginative writing and research, the venture's first aims in settling in Jamestown can be understood by the modern reader because of the artful, personal way it was presented. This is also a story, a novel of a girl who grows up with responsibilities and power play at twelve years old, of New English politics, of a world where Pocahontas is a 3-D figure here that every female leader in this world can identify with. It's a profound book.

I found this book mildly interesting, and for me that's a waste of time. I read books that will give me a wild, deep, thoughtful, or sensitive ride. This book did none of that. I appreciated the part where Serena threw away her magical ring, realising it was wrong to be at peace knowing SHE would be safe, while her poor companions could die. I read a different edition of the book, I don't know if it had the same illustrations, but I read a hardcover edition and there was a picture of Pocahontas for the second section that make her look UGLY, contradicting the amazing beauty the book talks about. The romance that developed between Serena and Thomas was rather undeveloped. I appreciated the insight about John Rolfe being torn because Pocahontas wasn't a believer, but I wish he had waited until she was.
The other thing was, WHEN DID SERENA GET MARRIED? I read kinda fast at the end b/c I was bored, but i caught Tom asking her and she said no, then later on, she says she'd never seen a man so happy, referring to John Rolfe when he married Pocahontas, except her Tom. ....

Scott O'Dell was a great writer of historical novels for young readers. "Island of the Blue Dolphins" is still one of my favorites from childhood. I recently picked up "The Serpent Never Sleeps" to see what he did with colonial Virginia, and I was somewhat disappointed. In a historical novel, there is really no place for magic that works; Serena's magic ring just jarred my sense of disbelief something fierce. If it had been an all-out fantasy, I would have enjoyed it more. But the journey to Virginia is told with real gusto, as is their shipwreck in the Bahamas. The arrival in Jamestown is fraught with danger and the threat of starvation, and only Serena (who knows Pocahontas) can save them. A decent adventure, just not O'Dell's best.

from the author of "The Island of Blue Dolphins." I found "The Serpent Never Sleeps" to be a rather weak novel with a sketchy plot and poor charcter development. Nothing in the book seems to be developed! Characters come and go for no reason such as Serena's brother who disappears after a couple of pages. Other characters are never developed such as Emma Swinton. Is she the accused murderer and why does she want Humility so badly? We are never told! Also Anthony Foxcroft was such a weak character that his death carries no emotional impact. The main character, Serena, does things for no rational reason. Why did she learn the Indian language? Why does she believe that only she can save Jamestown? Why she does these things is never explained- she just does them. The result is a novel with a plot that is paper thin and very sketchy. "The Serpent Never Sleeps" is not one of O'Dell's finer works.

Ok, Vollmann is brilliant, a genius. One has to give it to him with this and his other huge tomes in which he goes full-tilt in an attempt at literary greatness, and his passages are often riveting.

The book tries to out-do ULYSSES. It does. But finally, around the 400th page, who cares?

It helps if you're a little bit compulsive about reading Vollmann. Oh, he doesn't need the help, but as a reader, you do.

It's easy to compare him with Pynchon, since they both attempt a similar feat of matching subject with style in an expansive format that contains much humor peppered within the story. But Vollmann isn't a humorist at heart, he's part historian and part seer. He brings you the characters that you'd love to believe really are; he worms his insistent way into their hopes and imaginings so that he can present you with their characters.

You learn a lot of history reading the Seven Dreams series, of which "Argall" is a part. You learn more about how Vollmann regards history. But what makes the author so necessary and integral to my reading is that way of making me see how his characters regard themselves.

So throw your reading schedule out the window. Pick up "The Ice Shirt" and start in on this yet-to-be completed chronicle of how the Europeans came to the Americas and what that meant for both the Europeans and the people who were already here. Catch up soon, because you'll want to starting wishing for the next book in the series to appear... compulsively so.

William Vollmann is like the nerdiest person you knew in college or high school. He grew up to become a novelist who gained notoriety by writing in great detail about his experiences with prostitutes and having the audacity to claim that it took some sort of moral heroism for him to smoke crack with them in roach-infested transient hotels. Of course, it wouldn't do to be slumming all the time -- otherwise he'd just be another John Rechy or Bruce Benderson. So he adds Ivy League intellectual patina to these books by positioning them as meditations on the history of North America, or as reflections on how "all loving relationships are really forms of prostitution." He writes long, long books hoping that you'll be very, very impressed with him.

Folks, read this book or any other book by William Vollmann and keep in mind that this is an author with a profoundly stunted emotional growth. There's nothing cute about celebrating prostitution as the "most honest form of love" -- it's sickening writing, the babbling of a man still stuck in the fantasies of adolescence who will never understand that real love transcends economic exchange into a pure giving of oneself to another. He pats himself on the back for his "ferocity," when in fact he's never really outgrown being a journal-scribbling teenager who thinks every word he scribbles needs to be published and admired. His writing amounts to one big infantile gesture of lashing out at his Mommy and Daddy -- he admits as much in his interviews -- but at the same time hoping all these books he writes will make his parents love him. It's sad.

The fact that Vollmann has a big crowd of admirers says a lot about the sheep-like mentality and the moral vacancy of too many people who like cutting-edge literature. Read the bombastic praise Vollmann receives that is printed on the dustjackets of his books, and reviewers envious of his lifestyle just look like fools with the pumped-up praise that lavish on Vollmann. Go to a Vollmann reading and look around -- the people there are the sort who are hip, cynical, wear funky glasses and hate their parents, and whose main worry is keeping up with the latest slick novels and edgy CD's to hit the shelves. They have no ability to think for themselves and they are bored with life -- so they are profoundly impressed by this guy who writes about his experience with prostitutes. If you recognize yourself in this description, you need to get a life.

There's a certain sort of bourgeois person who believes their life can be redeemed by writing a novel in which they'll "show 'em all" -- the 'em being Mommy and Daddy, the cool kids who rejected them in high school, the jocks who called them nerds, etc. Vollmann is the "patron saint" of this sort of misfit. I read an interview in which Vollmann stated confidently that he is as important as Shakespeare or Faulkner. He doesn't seem to understand that the self-absorbed navel-gazing of a well-read prostitute's john doesn't quite cut it as great literature, no matter how many big words and descriptive phrases he tries to pack into his sentences. Vollmann's delusions are as bloated as his books, and his vision lacks even a hint of the universality or breadth or understanding that literary importance requires. Nobody but a few misfit loners and antiquarians will be reading Vollmann fifty years from now. Vollmann is a Montherlant in the making -- that is, an irrelevant curiosity that even most highly educated people will not have heard of.

Please think for yourself and don't buy this book just because you think it's kind of neat and edgy that this guy writes about his experiences with prostitutes. Don't engage in the sad spectacle of living vicariously through William Vollmann's sad, warped world. You'll just put yourself one step closer to moral oblivion.

This book's title claims a broad accomplishment, an "all your answers are here" assertion. Although it presents hundreds of historical figures, it is quickly evident that by "History of Women," the author means "The Plight of Women and What Their Heroes Have Done About It." The narrative embraces the concept that from this county's origin to the present, women are victims of misogyny, but that there are several heroes of the struggle. Despite the decline in feminist momentum, there nevertheless seems to be a wealth of "historical" readings recently published by feminists. A critique of feminism's tenants will not be attempted with this review, but it seems pressing to take issue with the didactic narratives of "historical" texts such as this one. Exempt from their presentations is a clear discussion of three essential components: definitions of the terms "oppression" and "liberty," and the ideologies that steer their metanarratives in the name of "history." The exemption of these elements does not allow for rhetorical inquiry, which is vital for the veracity of the texts' contents. Feminist history, arguably a genre of its own, credulously seeks to convert its readers on the pretense that there is a universal understanding of what it means to be oppressed and liberated. Once readers naively embrace this pretense, they are prone to also believing the tenants of feminism. Perhaps, then, the narrative of this book will successfully promote the feminist agenda, but its converts will have naively succumbed to the same tactics of hierarchical propaganda that it claims to abhor.

This well-researched book objectively covers every topic of women's history in America. With the mind of a scholar and compassion for her readers, Mills includes every major female in America's history. It will inspire you to learn more about the role models mentioned and provide a good source for research. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 12. It will change how you see the impact of women on America.

This book was very good, a help when i needed it.

i thought this book was a great way of showing how pochahontas lived with there family in and Indian culture is like and what histtorical events that happened

This book is a flash back of Pocahontas's life. It is a good book because it tells a lot about Pocahontas but not a lot about the Powhatan tribe. The part I liked the most was when Pocahontas saves John Smith from being executed. That is when Pocahontas becomes the Powhatan peace maker. Later on in her life Pocahontas was kidnapped by the English and is brought to Jamestown where Pocahantas met her husband John Rolfe. Pocahontas was then brought to England where she later died. If you are interested in learning more about Pocahontas, this book is a good book to start with.

If you ever need to look up something on the line of Pocahontas, this is the one! I found a lot of great information in this book!

I read this story to my little brother, and he really enjoyed this story. He also enjoyed the pictures in this book. The only problem with this book is that it was a little hard for he to under stand, but other than that it was great.

I think if you play the panio then this is a great find. Disney's songs are always excellent and Phcohantus is no exception. They are songs you will fall in love with and you will want to practice over and over again.

The Double Life Of Pocahontas is the True story of the young indian princess who falls in love with two English men.The reason that Jean Fritz choose this title is because Pocahontas really did have a double life. She started out as a young indian, and ended up as a well tailored christian named Rebbecca. This book was quite engrossing but thoroughly boring

The Double Life of Pocahontas was a good book! It had good facts about her life as she met the settlers and how her life ended. The book told me what they traded and how they traded. I would read it again because it had so many facts of what happenend when the Indians met the settlers. I would recomend to anybody who likes to read about Native Americans. Jean Fritz was a good author. She makes you want to keep reading more of the book. This was a very good book!

If you want an accurate description of Pochontas' double life this is the book for you to read. I would recommend this to people who have seen Pocahontas, the Disney movie, because that is an innacurate discription. Pocahontas lives a double life because on one side she must remain loyal to her father,and on the other she loves John Smith. I liked the book because it gave me an accurate account on Pocahontas.

Now a little bit about the book. The settlers from England come and immediatley find out there are indians and start to trade with them. John Smith, a short man with a scratchy beard, is caught by the indians and sentanced to death. Pocahontas saves him and he becomes her sister. Powhatan becomes mad with the English because they wont trade weapons; turmoil break loose between them and... read it and find out yourself how it ends. Jean Fritz delivers a great story.