When I first read this book years ago I was dreaming of travelling and its attraction was the wide range of places it could take me. This book has become a treasure because it offers so much more than that. From its very moving introduction provided by Salman Rushdie (written just a couple of years into his now lengthy life in hiding) Writing Away delivers insights that put it a step above your average travelouge. The people and places described are vivid, thanks in part to the fact that these piece were all provided by seasoned Canadian authors, many at the top of their craft. Particularily notable are the pieces my David Adams Richards, Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findlay, and Joyce Kyluk Keefer. This is one of those collections I come back to time and time again. A true gem of travel writing.

My avocation of working with the religion community requires me to have extensive reference material available at my disposal. Yearbooks of the past have been well assembled and edited. The one for 2001, however, is absolutely SUPERB! Not only does it contain lengthy information about each group listed, it provides telephone numbers, fax numbers, snail-mail addresses, and email addresses. Included are valuable statistics, listings of seminaries, listings of publications, etc. It is an absolutely invaluable reference work!

QUICK REVIEW
This is a strong and well written account of the tragedy of the Karluk and it's men. We see and feel the struggle to cope and survive in the harsh environment of the Arctic. It is a good book, and makes a nice addition to Arctic adventure literature.

FULL REVIEW
This is a wonderfully composed telling of the story of the Karluk. It is well written and nicely put together. The author draws from many different sources to give a full account of the story, including diaries and journals of the men, articles, books, newspaper clippings and interviews. The character development is superb - allowing us to really picture each person and their individual personalities. This is so important. The book centers around who these people were so that we can understand their actions and why tragedy befell them. Readers will be amazed at the strength and endurance of some men while being angered by the selfishness and ineptitude of others. The story is made richer by this, but the story is great on it's own. A ship-full of men surviving in terrible arctic conditions in desperate situations. Men struggling to travel to safety over torn-up ice and seemingly impassable ice walls and open leads of water between large ice floes. On top of this - the fight against starvation and disease. The beginning part of the book can seem semi-slow or boring if the reader is looking for adventure right away, but much of it sets up the story and develops characters so we get the full picture if the entire tragedy. Overall, though, it is a great book and will be enjoyed by anyone interested in Arctic adventure (sad though it may sometimes be).

This is a well told story of an ill-fated Canadian exploration effort in the Arctic regions just before World War I. Vilhjalmar Stefansson (a polar explorer, anthropologist and author) leads an ill fated attempt to survey the Arctic (1913-1918) in hopes of claiming an Arctic continent under the polar ice cap for the Dominion of Canada. In his rush to be first, Stefansson poorly organizes, proceeds with an ill fated plan (or no plan at all) and eventually abandons one of his three ships locked in the polar ice. This is the true story of the heroic efforts of Capt. Robert Bartlett of the doomed ship Karluk and his struggle to walk across seven hundred miles of polar ice from Wrangell Island to Siberia and his return by ship to rescue the abandoned survivors and crew. There is madness, murder malingering...starvation, frostbite and death. Although, in his time Stefansson somehow managed to receive praise and avoid criticism for the realities of his abandonment of the Karluk, the true story of heroism and leadership is exemplified by Capt Bartlett. This author has done an excellent job in presenting a very suspenseful and thorough factual account of an amazing true tale. Readers of the histories of Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott and other polar explorers will not be disappointed. Readers without any previous readings on Arctic exploration will also be pleased with this amazing history that is capably researched and well presented. Read it near an open hearth fireplace or wrapped in a blanket as you're likely to freeze to death once you become immersed in the book!

Ms. Niven has pulled together a wonderful account of the survivors of the Karkuk. This book is simply riveting from beginning to end and a must read for survivalist story fans. The sinking of the Karluk is proven to be just the beginning of the tale, but she never lets us miss a detail of the drifting along the ice for several months. The cracking and crushing of the ice as it works its crushing hands against the ship is described so well, you can almost hear it. These men, stranded on Wrangel Island as their brave captain + Eskimo, lived on mere rations more almost a year and still maintained a sense of hope. The fact that many survived showed that chracter and the will to live can sometimes be much stronger than the perils of starvation and frostbite (May I never find this to be true in my own life....) Each day, is lived in such agony, we the reader, are brought along the journeys with them, and feel as if we are leaving a group behind as the men move about the ice and land. A fascinating book, and well worth reading. After this, I promise you, saying "It's cold in here" will have a completely different meaning.

I thought that this was a beautiful book but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone-if you're the type whose reading is limited to thrillers and soppy romance then I doubt this would do for you. But if you like imaginative, beautiful, flawless writing, like me, then you'd love this wonderful memoir everybit as much as I did. Ondaatje transports you into his world through his witty, tender and sensual writing...in places it reads like a poem. Running in the Family is sort of like a sketchbook...filled with humourous anecdotes, sensual poems and glimpses of beauty and history...and of course, his outrageous family. Even though I live in Sri Lanka and am familiar with most of the places and things he writes about I was still delightfully stunned by the way he adds new insight and meaning and beauty to these things. Also, I used to imagine that memoirs were dull and boring...but I totally regret my words now. This is hilarious (though in places exaggerated), beautiful and powerful stuff and I give it my highest recommendation.

This book was just so enjoyable and hilarious but yet so beautifully written. From the beginning till the end Ondaatje opens up to the reader (in a journal entry) this magical and beautiful world. Onddatje's adroitness to include the reader right there in the conversations he has with various family member will bring you to tears. His captivating sytle takes the reader back in time with him trhough such tear jerking and amusing experiences.

This memoir will give you a deatiled verbalization of each city and place in Ceylon, so that the reader has a clear picture of what it was like to actually be there. His simple structure of setting things up, will make you feel the temperature and jungle like atmosphere by his entailed descriptions.

Ondaatje reminds me of Stein in certain passages because of how he holds nothing back from the reader. It's as though he's sitting down and talking to you while showing photographs and stories of his exuberant and loud family.

In Running in the Family (1982), Ondaatje turns the biographical microscope on himself and his personal family history. There are wonderful anecdotes about his parent's courtship (a story so amazing it would make for an excellent novel in itself) and Ondaatje's feelings on returning to Ceylon. I was pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to the personal anecdotes, many of the poems I love in "The Cinnamon Peeler" have their origins here. This book is a masterful blend of prose and poetry and a must read for the Ondaatje fan.

"Autobiography of Red" is the story of Geryon, a young boy with red skin and large wings, who grows into a young man. He is in love with Herakles, a young man who seems to return Geryon's affection, but is actually quite cruel in his fickleness. The two encounter each other on and off over the years, Geryon seeking love, Herakles seeking adventure. Their paths eventually cross in Buenos Aires, of all places, where Herakles is with another young man, Ancash, recording the sounds of various volcanos. The three venture through South America together, the tension between the three of them almost palpable, at least to the more sensitive two of the group, Ancash and Geryon. It is here that the three must decide on the nature of their friendship, and Geryon on the nature of his life.

This book is written in poetic free verse, and Ann Carson's style is nothing less than magical. It might seem difficult for readers accustomed to straightforward prose, but if one lets the words wash over them, their meaning will all be clear soon enough, and their beauty alone will convince the reader of their merit. The story is based on Greek myth, but rather than Herakles killing Geryon the monster literally, he "kills" by breaking his heart. Ultimately, the book's message seems to be that Geryon must learn to love himself first. The book is beautifully written, and cannot be recommended highly enough, to any reader who wants to read a delicate story in a challenging format.

This is poetry, in that it is beautiful and uses words ever-so carefully, but this is prose, in that it reads as easily as a novel and tells an engaging story. Geryon is a wonderfully-precise protagonist, going through his adventures with a quiet endurance and an energetic attachment to them. He has something of the quality of a Franz Kafka, a Michael Stipe, or an Angela Chase, but he's not so broodingly self-absorbed; rather, he's observant and thoughtful about the world around him. If the early-90s alternative rock movement had been more attentive and less despairing, it would have sounded something like this book, and would have taken a bigger audience.

The framing prose, inventing some poetic fragments of an ancient Greek poet, asks us to look at the story-telling, as a parable of history-making, and makes us sensitive to the way the book uses language. If the book made me think about its construction as a book, though, it didn't keep me from reading it as a great story.

This book completely fascinated me. I can understand the frustration of some readers, for the book doesn't fit easily into any defined category of genre or style. But I was captivated by its commitment to the imagination, by its fresh play with the traditions of poetry and narrative. The poems which make up the "story" of Geryon are witty and wry; they are also stunning (literally) and deeply poignant. I've read many books in my life, but this one is truly brilliant...and unforgetable.

I just finished one of the most amazing books I've
read this year. The Hero's Walk is undoubtedly one of
the finest books ever written in English by an Indian.

What makes this book so different and refreshing apart
from the plot is the treatment of the books and its
characters. The plot revolves around Sripathi Rao - a
simple man with simple needs in the town of Totapuram
nestled in the South of India - and in the Big House
we meet his wife Nirmala - the ever docile Indian Wife
- his horrendous mother Ammaya who in most respects
can be labelled a witch - his unmarried sister Putti -
who longs for the boy next door, and his son Arun - a
rebellion in the true sense of the word.

Amidst all this lies the past - of his daughter Maya
getting married to a foreigner and residing in
Vancouver - who has never seen her family for seven
years now. Her father has abolished her very name
being taken in the house - till she and her husband
Alan meet with an accident and Sripathi has to go to
Canada to claim his granddaughter Nandana.

With her parents no more, Nandana is lost and confused
in India and is trying to connect stuff to her past -
which is quite a task for a seven-year old.

The story revolves around the fact that simplicity is
the biggest act of heroism. Badami's style of writing
is dry, subtle and so so heartbreaking that it almost
had me on the verge of tears.

Though the authhor does remind you of R.K. Narayan at
various points in the book, she does have the finesse
to take you by surprise. A great read!

This book was full of wonderful imagery, and the themes were well-woven in this simple plot. As a reader, I really developed empathy for Sripathi, and admiration for Nirmala. The characters were life-like and this is what gave the story it's charm because we were able to also get a glimpse into the minds of the characters even for a fleeting moment. This is wonderful reading if you want to have a taste of India.

I just finished reading this book and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed reading.. it's one of those books which you cannot put down. The build up of characters, (particularly Sripathi Rao) is amazing, and so is the story development.. very touching and emotional at times. If there were a moral to the story, it would definitely be: Live In the Moment.

Frankly, I regard "Fifth Business" as the best book I have ever read, of any sort. Never have I read a book as fresh, as inventive, as rich in creating its own world, its own spell. "The Manticore" and "World of Wonders" suffer slightly in comparison, but still the trilogy ranks as a high point of imaginative literature in the English language in the 20th century. Never will I forget Dunstan Ramsay's obsession with saints, or with Mary Dempster, to his mind the most perfect of saints; never will I forget the story of how Paul Dempster, uneducated carny and abused child, was tempered like a bottle in the smoke to become Magnus Eisengrim, the magnificent, the nonpareil. Davies creates a magic world here, one I think most readers will not be able to resist.

I read "The Manticore" at the suggestion of a friend when I told him I was taking a course in Jungian therapy. HAH! Prof Davies taught me far more than my instructor (in fact, the instructor smiled ruefully when I showed him the book..."I can't compete" was his only comment). I moved backwards to Fifth Business, then to World of Wonders. The fascination never abated, the tempo never wavered, and Davies' fine touch was assured and light. It's obvious Robertson Davies was an accomplished playwrite, his written conversations are such that I want to cry out to the characters: Wait! I have something to say about that!

Needless to say, I went on to read everything Davies ever wrote, including his Samuel Marchbanks collections. He remains one of my all-time favorite authors, and this collection is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of his strength.

Robertson Davies has sadly left our world. And what we have is a wonderful corpus of literature that is imaginative, provacative and captivating. Among his excellent writing, the Deptford trilogy is his very best.

Of the three, I would say that Fifth Business is the best book, an almost cartain influence upon John Irving's Prayer for Owen Meany. At once, Davies weaves a tale of childhood and tragedy, mysticism and religion. I was enthralled by each book.

Davies' wonderful ability to write trilogies that use the same characters, but from the different perspectives of his many characters is brilliant. Here, we have three autonomous stories that intersect and overlap, but one could in fact read the trilogy in reverse order and still find that it coheres.

His humour is unmatched. Davies writes with a biting wit that cuts with razor sharpness. He uses an ironic narrative that will always not only make one laugh, but laugh thoughtfully. He makes us think of life and love.

Davies was never appreciated as much as he should have been outside of Canada. These books are timeless and worth being on anyone's shelf.

Bach has written a nine-step plan for couples that should not be overlooked by any couple doing financial planning. The book is written on two premises: (1) that the issue of finances cause couples the most stress of any issue in a relationship; and (2) everyone can become wealthy, no matter how much you currently make. The nine steps walk you through what you need to do to set up emergency reserves, and start investing, so that you can retire a millionaire. His plan is not revolutionary - it is essentially the same mantra of dollar cost averaging, invest in mutual funds, and invest at least something on a regular basis. But Bach adds a new spin by gearing his book to couples, and encouraging people to do financial planning with their partner, rather than independently. This is not a hard book to read or understand, and it is a relatively quick read. People who have read other books in this genre will recognize the theories and themes, but I think you will find that Bach adds enough new information and new slant on old ideas that you will learn from and enjoy this book.

Investing for your future is sound, strong advice at any age. As a teacher of business management and having counselled an overwhelming number of people in the area of finance, I believe investing is particularly critical for young people today. I am so happy to read that previous reviewers, in their twenties, have learned from this book and are planning for their future. If you are starting your career and in your twenties, now is the time for financial planning, even though you might not be able to put a lot of money aside, "every penny saved, is a penny earned."

There are many books on the market today on investing and financial planning. Some I would highly recommend, others are not worth the time it takes to read the book - save the money you would spend on those "guaranteed get rich quick books" and invest the money where it will guarantee a return. "Smart Couples Finish Rich" is filled with a wealth of information on money management, retirement accounts, living trusts, types of insurance and investing in general. After reading it, you will be better equiped to manage your money and save for the future. That not only makes "smart cents," it makes smart sense. Hopefully, with some financial peace of mind and stability, couples will not only finish rich, they will finish rich... together!

There's a lot of financial advice books on the market, but I really think this one is the best. The best for couples anyway.

One of the key concepts of the book is for both you & your spouse to read the book, get you to start discussing your values, finances, and future, as a couple so you're on the same page. Not being on the same page as a couple is probably one of the biggest reason for couples splitting up. My husband is not into self-help books, but this was one book that he did read. It has many helpful exercises, as a couple, to get you to realize some of the why's of your finances & to get you to plan better for your future. For example, it makes you start planning goals. Funny, many businesses have goals, but how many couples have established goals for their futures? And I'm sure most people would agree that their relationship with their spouse is more important than their work.

Before I read this, I read Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook, which was also a great book. But I feel I got greater value out of Smart Couples Finish Rich.

After reading this, I've actually started tracking all of my finances & have a much better understanding of how I'm doing financially & what I need to do to meet my newly established goals.

This book is a must for any couple to help plan for their futures.

Robert Cormier has writte a great novel about a boy with mystical powersand how he deals with them throughtout his life. fade is a story about oens wil to survive and how to make up for mistakes made during their life. The novel, yet conscienciousness, with which the author describes the events throughout the novel shows how great of a writer Cormier really is. This suspencefull novel leaves you with the desire o read more and more. Controversial sbjects such as murder, revenge and incest all wrapped around the possibility of becoming invisible makes the novels so enthralling. The boy must learn to control "the fade", as it is called, and make up for his faults. As he grows older he learns to control his powers he must then teach his successor how and when to use this incredible power. The probablity of becoming invisible,alone, draws your attention.

The book fade is about a kid who inherits a power from his uncle Adelard, the power to become invisble. To become invisible is one power everyone would like to have. Imagine moving around a place where no one can see, hear or sense your presence. Robert Cormier takes it to the next level by showing his audience what it's like to be the "invisible man." Cormier tells the story of a kid who uses the power of invisibility to the extent where it takes over his body. The "voice" as Cormier calls it, gets louder and takes over your actions every time the power is used. This book is very interesting because Cormier puts a twist on the fantasy of being invisible by setting consequences every time it is used. I recommend this book to anyone who ever thought of the idea of being invisible.

Robert Cormier's unique knack for capturing the turmoil of adolescence (and to a lesser extent adulthood) with a haunting sense of melancholy is displayed perfectly in this beautiful novel.

The book focuses on Paul, a boy who discovers he can "fade," or become invisible; a gift inherited from his uncle and passed on to Paul's future nephew. Paul sees it as a useful feature, but the things he sees while in the Fade shock and disturb him, alienating his from his friends, causing him to view the world in a different way. The bits narrated by Sally, the interlude by Paul's cousin, and the Olly section at the end are all well done and spice up the plot, but it's Paul's narration that I find most fascinating.

The author hasn't written a fantasy novel, he uses the fade to expand the idea of coming to terms with change and the pain suffered because of this supernatural ability. Just as Cormier exaggerated the search for identity in I Am The Cheese, he seems to use the fade as a metaphor for growing up. The initial delight, the confusion and disgust towards the things that corrupt innocent eyes, the weary character that emerges... all seem to link to the author's recurring theme of adolescence.

As usual, the characters conjured up are memorable and unique, and I love the way Paul's cousin casts them in different lights and adds a new dimension, challenging us to choose who we believe.
Aside from Paul, Olly is probably the boy that I remember most vividly; Paul's nephew who inherited the fade. Unwanted, he goes through life lonely and rejected, loved only by the nun that takes pity on him. When he discovers his ability to Fade, he sees it as a great tool and a secret only he knows, but soon becomes paranoid that people know about "his secret" and plan to conspire against him. His conscience wrestles with the voice inside his head, encouraging him to kill the few people who take an interest in his sorry life.

Haunting, gorgeous... All in all, a perfect book. Well worth your time and money.

This book was a bit challenging to rate because I had read all of Margaret Atwood's other novels before I read this one; her first. Ms. Atwood is a brilliant author and conveyor of the feminine mind and perspective. Some of her novels are outstanding while most are at least very good. "The Edible Woman" is an excellent beginning for the author but it has its' flaws. The main flaw is the symbolism. The symbolism is too forced and it doesn't work well. I found myself wondering if I wanted to spend the time trying to figure out the symbolism. I decided that I didn't. The symbolism centers around the inability of the main character to eat a growing number of foods. I guess this was to coincide with the events in her life in which she was being "consumed" by those around her. The author's talent gave us a good enough story without the food distractions. It is a story of a young professional woman who seems to know what she wants but lets others call the shots. She enters into relationships with two different men neither of whom is in anyway suited for her. We are glad that the relationship with her fiance fizzles but we are left wondering why she ever got involved with the graduate student. We rejoice at her ultimate independence but are made to sift through the final installment of symbolism in order to do so.

Ms. Atwood has used symbolism since her opening act as a novelist. However, to her credit, she learned to be more subtle about it. This was a good beginning and it only gets better from here on.

I've got a few Atwood books and this is by far the oldest one, so if it's not her writing debut (as opposed to poetry, which I think she did as well) it's pretty close and I have to say that I was pretty impressed with how strong her narrative voice was and how confident the book feels. Reading it you get a sense that the author knows exactly what she's doing and how to go about it. That sense makes the book that much more fun to read, even if it's not going to be recognized as one of her absolute masterpieces. The story concerns a woman named Marian, presumably in her mid-twenties, who after getting engaged starts to lose her desire to eat most kinds of food. But even that description is a tad misleading because the eating aspect doesn't even come into play until almost halfway through the book. Indeed those looking for a feminist version of "Thinner" should probably go the other way right now. Instead it's an examination of a woman's role in both society and marriage and that gives the story more weight, balancing the often silly and humorous situations Marian finds herself in. It's definitely the lightest book I've read by Atwood, it's hard to believe this is the same woman who did the ultra-depressing Life Before Man. But the main focus isn't even on Marian's quasi-eating disorder but on her interactions with her fiancee, her roommate (the subplot with her wanting a baby is absolutely hilarious in a darkly absurd way) and an odd graduate student she meets while out doing a survey for her job. That graduate student and his monologues was my favorite part of the chapter and probably represents Atwood's poke at the academic world, but definitely shows off her gift for words. But be on the look out for metaphors, just about everything means something else it seems, even the switch from first to third person struck me as odd until I realized even that represented something. In the end the metaphors get stretched a bit too far and the only truly silly moment is right at the end. But it's immensely enjoyable for an Atwood novel and one of the few that you'll find yourself laughing more than feeling glad you aren't the characters.

I just finished The Edible Woman a few minutes ago and felt compelled to write a review. This is only the second novel by Atwood that I've read and look foward to reading from her.
Very rarely do I ever finish a book without wanting to take a "break" from reading it. Atwood has a way of captivating the reader through her use of irony, character development and symbolism. Marian represents any woman who feels consumed by societal ideals--enough to ultimately reject it. But it is obvious that she still craves someone to escape with her. Peter is her answer to fit into what the world belives she should become while Clara seems to foreshadow what she would turn out to become if she were to be with Peter. Duncan is the antithesis of this, which attracts Marian. His gaunt figure seems to show his refusal to accept reality or consumption of ideals. Everything that I've only dreamed I could do (run away on a whim) is done, or merely attempted by Marian.
I know I'm rambling, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and cannot wait to read more of her works.