Better than any sitcom or news broadcast---this is a book that definitely puts the reader's finger on the pulse of Nashville. At least, that's what my entry was intended to do (and yes, I won.)

This book is a creative way to develop and express a personal relationship with God. Highly recommended!

An awesome inspirational journal. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in discovering more about life's journey.

When I look back on my sophomore year of high school, I will remember it as the year I read Gone With the Wind, and became hooked. I have thought about it everyday since I started it. I adore this story. The descriptions in this book will take your breath away. Once when she was back at Tara, in the dead of winter, I looked up and was shocked that the sun was shining, and there was food downstairs in the refrigerator. It will literally sweep you in. I read it in September, in a little less than a week. I didn't read it as a challenge or anything. It was actually a "rebelling" act. My mom hates the story line because she doesn't like how Southerners "won't let the war die." Her saying how much she hated it totally backfired because it only made me want to read it more so I could see what was so bad about it. Then I fell in love with it. When I re-read some of the dialogue, especially that at the end of the book, between Scarlett and Rhett, my heart positively aches. The language is so beautiful. I cried for an hour after I finished it. The ending is absolutely tragic, but there's no other way it could've ended and been as good. I don't understand how anyone can not like it. The Southern backdrop during the Civil War was a necessity to the essence of the story. I know slavery was one of America's greatest atrocities, but that's not what this book is about. It is the story of a woman trying to save herself and her home, and in the process, ruining the love of one of the most dashing, white knights of all fiction because of her only-human downfalls-greed, fear and lust.

I loved Scarlett's character. She was exactly as Rhett described-a brave, frightened, insensitive, bull-headed child. She did try to be good, and then something would happen to scare her, so she'd get mean again. I loved Melanie, too. I want to be a friend like she was. She was good, but not goody-goody. She loved people fiercely, as Scarlett wanted things fiercely. She stood by her beloved friend to the bitter end, even though she knew Scarlett had betrayed her. Rhett was such an absolutely wonderful person. He only couldn't show it to the everyday Scarlett-hardened and greedy-because she would think him weak. He was only tender and loving when she was in fear. I want to meet someone like him-I just hope I don't act like Scarlett! The characters were so human, I loved them all. Everyone should read this book. It is such a beautifully-written masterpiece. It's my favorite.

I'm a literary snob, I'll admit it. I've read all the classics, and I even know some Literary Theory. Gone With the Wind? Pul-lease, racist, sexist, revanchist trash, made popular by all the young woman dreaming of being Scarlett and having both their Rhett and Ashley. Cheerleader fare. Escapist. WRONG!

Gone with the Wind is an American War & Peace. This is serious literature, which won the Pulitzer prize, no less. Most people don't see past the epic plot (which isn't as cut and dried as you may think) or the love story, but this is no less than a successfull attempt to reclaim a discarded culture. It is not about crinoline and lace, it it about the Apocalypse and how losers of the counter-revolution must learn to live in a place where all their politics, personal or civil, are demolished. Scarlett O'Hara is popular because she is an American, driven, materialistic, sentimental and utterly ruthless. Rhett Bulter is the tragic character of this book; the way of life and ideals he disdained are killing him, and he suffers like no one else in this post-apocalyptic landscape. His departure at the end is an act of contrition as much as a romantic failure; he had tried to recreate the materialism of the ante-bellum world, but negeclected the spirituality (such as it is) of men like Ashley Wilkes. Both men, the dreamer and the realist end up alone in a very sterile place. This book is proto-feminist as well. Scarlett survives, even as everything around her dies, but in the end, she too is alone.

Don't dumb this masterpiece down. The movie fails to capture even a tenth of the depth here. And that awful sequel! Caused by the mistake that this book is some kind of romance novel. This is Art, and you can't stick a new ending on it, any more than you can a great painting or musical composition.

I have been reading "Gone With the Wind" every couple of years since I was first "allowed" to read it at the age of 14! (In those days our mothers had higher hurdles for "appropriate" reading). When I was younger, I read this book once every year. I actually learned to read French without a dictionary by reading the French translation. (It's long enough to have that kind of linguistic influence! )

The story of Scarlett O'Hara, a feisty and courageous southern "belle" whose beauty and sharpness was complicated by a lack of insight into human nature that ultimately left her unable to understand the hearts of those she most loved and by whom she was loved, until it was too late. It is also the story of the the South just before, during and after the Civil War.

A more sympathetic portrait of the South than many other Civil war histories, it has aged fairly well, despite a slightly more patronistic view of African-Americans than one might be comfortable with today. Given its authorship dating back to the 1930s, I believe one needs to look at the book in the context of its historical period, and not to demean its historical or entertainment value simply because we are more aware and more sophisticated after the Era of Civil Rights in the United States. I also believe a sympathetic and well-educated person such as the author Margaret Mitchell seems to be, would have been the first to agree had she lived long enough to undergo that period of transformation in our country.

Despite this limitation, few books of historical fiction are so well-plotted, and few characters in literature are so well-developed as that of Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, or Ashley and Melanie Wilkes--people I continue to feel like I "knew" in another time.

The story is also that of Atlanta, a city which was relatively young and "brash" as a Confederate economic and cultural center, relative to Charleston and Richmond, the more sedate Confederate capitals.

The book is valuable both as a historical text for those of us with little insight into the viewpoint of the South beyond that given in grade school textbooks, and as one of the most romantic dramas in American literature.

I enjoyed reading this book as much at the age of 48 as I did almost 35 years ago (and many times in-between). I can't imagine a better summer read for a teenage girl, or a better way to relax at the beach for her mother, or a better way to pass a cold snowy vacation in front of a fire. Definetely a book for the romantically inclined.

One should also note, that "Gone With the Wind" is one of the few books (until perhaps "Cider House Rules") portrayed almost as well on film as the book is written. However the pleasures remain different and self-contained, and no enjoyment of either is lost by viewing or reading the other.

The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe is an adventure and mysterious book of four kids, and an unknown world beyond. Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan get sent to live with a professor because of a war back in London. While the four explore the mysterious mansion and play games, Lucy finds a secret wardrobe with a country just beyond.
C.S. Lewis's story of, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe is one of the greatest books and definitely one I loved to read!
Lucy was the first to go to the magical land beyond of snow, a place called Narnia. As soon as she finds her way out, tales are told to the others about all the different creatures and things inside of the wardrobe. But all they seem to think of her is that she is a crazy liar. But soon to find out Lucy wasn't lying at all, it was a magical place they saw for themselves. With an evil spell the White Witch made it always winter but never Christmas. Trouble begins when Edmund betrays the others (not knowing anything about her) and takes side with the Witch. Because of Edmund'Lucy, Peter, and Susan need to get Aslan (a lion) to change everything and defeat the White Witch himself to break the spell and get Edmund back with them.
This book's theme can let you learn that you should always think and know before you except upon others. Well at least that's what I learned.
I loved how C.S. Lewis made parts of the book where you thought one thing was going to happen, but then after you read on, you find out you were totally wrong. That was the best thing about this book!
I would let people of all ages read this adventures novel, no matter how old you are. It's a book that you wont be able to stop reading once you start! But what will happen to Edmund, and will Aslan make the Narnia change? Your going to have to read it to find out!

A long time ago, four children found a magical world beyond (what they thought was) an ordinary wardrobe. This magical world led them to many adventures in a magical place called Narnia. I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in less than three hours because it was so interesting and captivating. this is now my favorite book. After I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I bought the other books in the series. I recommend that others do too. I enjoyed reading this book and then the Magician's Nephew. My favorite character is Aslan. Aslan is a lion that comes to save Narnia from the White Witch. Aslan is very courageous. My second favorite character is Lucy. Lucy was the first to enter Narnia. At the end, Lucy was named Queen Lucy the Valiant. My least favorite character is the White Witch. She made Narnia always winter but never Christmas. She also turned things to stone. She was truly an evil witch. My second least favorite character is Edmund, at the beginning. He lied and could have gotten his brother and sisters killed.Edmund became a better person in the end. My favorite part was when Aslan's army were battling the White Witch's army. I also liked when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were crowned Kings and Queens. Peter was crowned King Peter the Magnificent. Susan was crowned Queen Susan the Gentle. Edmund was crowned King Edmund the Just, and Lucy was crowned Queen Lucy the Valiant. My least favorite part was when Edmund entered the wardrobe. When he entered Narnia he met the White Witch. Edmund decided to betray his brother and sisters and take them to the White Witch. Then when he got out of Narnia he lied and said he had never been there. I enjoyed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I would recommend it to anyone who has an imagination. I also recommend the other books in this series.

When four English siblings (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) are sent to the country to avoid the air raids in London, they find a secret passageway in a wardrobe that leads them to an imaginary land called Narnia. Here the four young children meet a few interesting characters: Tumnus the Faun, a half-goat/half-man that befriends Lucy when she's lost; the Beaver family who help the children elude the White Witch and her dangerous allies; and, lastly, the White Witch herself, who has laid claim over Narnia with her year-round winter spell and her self-proclaimed title: "Queen of Narnia". She is also the one who lures Edmund to her side with endless supplies of Turkish Delight and subtle hints of him becoming King.

During their adventures, the four children ultimately meet Aslan, the rightful king of Narnia who has returned, at last, to reclaim his land from the evil queen. Together they--along with the help of several other mystical beings--aim to defeat the White Witch and return Narnia to its original state and ownership.

After reading "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", you'll definitely want to read the following books in this series: "Prince Caspian" (#2), "The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'" (#3), "The Silver Chair" (#4), "The Horse and His Boy" (#5), "The Magician's Nephew" (#6), and "The Last Battle" (#7). Although "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is geared for children age 8 to 12, I consider it appropriate for all ages and encourage everyone to read it.

I received the entire Narnia collection from one of my aunts when I was a kid, either for my birthday or some other holiday--I don't remember. Anyway, this book/series has been one of my all-time favorites ever since. It's a wonderful fantasy meant for children, but will inspire adults as well. Highly recommended. It also makes a wonderful gift. ;)

There are some Christian undertones in this book, such as the terms "Daughter of Eve" and "Son of Adam" for humans in Narnia, as well as Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund; however, I don't really regard The Chronicles of Narnia as a religious series. You can expect a wholesome story, but not to worry--it isn't preachy or overly self-righteous.

Several years after it was published, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was made into a TV series in the late 60s, which I never saw because I wasn't born yet. Plus it only aired in the UK. About ten years later, in 1979 (the year I was born), a cartoon movie was made, but I didn't see that one either. The only movie I vaguely recall watching was the 1988 movie starring Richard Dempsey, Sophie Cook, Jonathan R. Scott, and Sophie Wilcox. I remember that even then I wasn't too impressed with it, not as much as I was with the book.

So, for those who love children's fantasies, or are just C. S. Lewis fans, then I highly recommend this book and series. It's well worth your time.

As far as learning C++ goes, this book is excellent. Prata has a very readable style of writing, and this book covers a lot of terminology and material, from variables and functions to exception handling and the STL. I agree with a previous reviewer about reading Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in C++" after this one, or (as I did) alongside it. Eckel's book is much more technical and detailed, and it covers the more advanced topics that "C++ Primer Plus" doesn't.

The big problem with this book is the typos. I swear I've never seen so many in a single book! Even the cover has a typo (on the back, near the bottom): "Covers: ANSI/IOS C++". "IOS" should be "ISO". Just thumbing through the first several chapters, I found at least a dozen or more typos. I found three typos in a single diagram, and three more on the facing page. And this is the third edition?

If Sams and Prata would just proofread this book and correct some of the dozens of typos, "C++ Primer Plus" would definitely become one of my favorite introductory C++ books.

If you need help deciphering the complexity of C++'s syntax and complex ideas such as pointers you will definitely have something to learn from this book. It is useful both as a tool to learn C++ and as reference to re-enforce abstract concepts, like classes, objects, pointers and reminder of the limits of data types. C++ is a tough language to learn oneself, so I would definitely suggest that you have background in programming from a high school, college or university before buying this text. It is more of a supplemental text of a programming course then it is a book you can use entirely to teach yourself but it is not impossible to teach yourself with it. It can really only teach you about the foundations of CONSOLE type programming. Windows programming is something you'll have to learn from other books as you go along but I would definitely say this is one book you definitely need in your collection along with Herbert Shildt's C++ the complete reference.

Wow! This book is one of the best books I've ever read on any computer language! This is a definite book for beginners. It is very well written with a lot of very good examples and review questions at the end of each chapter. This book is quite large and covers many topics in detail from if statements to function overloading. Also, there is a chapter at the end of the book on STL.

The secret garden is a good and loved book. This book shows that nature would change human's personality how much.
The main characters in this book ware Mary and Collin. They are cousin and always cross and nervous. They have a point of sameness. They have lost his mother in child. The reason of their nervous character was affected their environment. In early, Mary's mother was not care of her daughter and Collin lost his mother in his one year. Mary changed his mind more and more because Martha concerned to her at first time. One day, Mary found the secret garden, which was not opened for ten years. Mary and Collin worked hard for recovery garden. They effort to garden's live, to have keep the secret.
I would you read this book what secret is. When you read the end of story, you would experience miracle. And then you will think about your family and your life. Through this book we will recognize what we love, how we love and whom we love at first. Furthermore, when you are lonely,read this book.

I am EAD a fifth grade student at Wadron Mercy Academy.
A sour nine year old, Mistress Mary, has just moved to her uncle's mansion in a far lonely place. She has moved here because Mary made a nasty wish that her parents and maids would die, and it came true! Now, Mary is lonly and unwanted by everyone. Mary's uncle is a widower who has one son named Colin.
Soon, Mary becomes used to this place and explores all of the gardens. She has an Irish friend named Deacon. Deacon and Mary explore all of the gardens. Does Mary, Deacon, and Colin find the magic garden that their aunt had locked up? Find out what happens to Mary, Deacon, a krippled boy Colin, Mary's mysterious uncle, and the magic garden. ... I think this book was a real page turner. I could not put this exciting book down. I highly recommend this book. It is a classic of all times! I rate this book #1 of all the books I have read. I also recommend the movie.

The Secret Garden (book review)

Soon Kim
June 18, 2002

Do you believe in magic? If you read The Secret Garden you will experience the amazing magic, I am sure.
Mistress Mary Lennox was born in India. Her parents paid no attention to her. Mary is not loved by all, she is spoiled, gloomy, sullen, and selfish in India. Suddenly, her parents die and she goes to live with her uncle on the Yorkshire moors of England. But also her uncle is an apathetic person.
When she arrived in Yorkshire she found another person who looked like herself. He is her selfish sickly cousin Colin. Mary and Colin discover his mother's garden. They take care of flowers and trees together, and they have a great deal of fun together. Mary learns to accept that there are other people in the world, and she helps Colin. The garden's magic makes the two children's characters normal and happy through good people and the beautiful secret garden.
I wish that you would read this book; if you need to love, if your mind has been devastated, if your life is dry and boring, if you lose interest in everything, then read The Secret Garden and your mind will sprout " The word is so beautiful." I still smell many kinds of sour smelling blushful roses in the secret garden. The sweet roses are coloring my mind still ......... I love them so.

I read Jane Eyre for my AP Lit. Class in the 12th grade. I figured, oh just another boring book. WOW! was I completely mistaken. ALthough long, Jane Eyre could have been 1,000 pages and I still would have read every page, with joy. The growth Jane Eyre, the novels main character and Protagonist, goes through throughout the novel is amazing. Born into an unloving world, with rejection and anger at every corner, Jane is forced to keep herself company and therefore, her only friend is herself. Adopted by her uncle, who soon dies, Jane is forced to live with her aunt Reed. I dont want to summarize about all this stuff, I am going to get down to the nitty-gritty. The novel mainly centers around Jane and her love for Rochester. When Jane becomes eighteen, she is hired to govern at the mansion of Rochesters, and to guide and teach his daughter, Adele. The marvelous love story between Jane and Rochester is as intense as anything you will ever read. At times while reading the novel, I would have to put the novel down and take in what I was reading. The passion and heart exhibited by these two characters was at times unbearable. If you want to read a true novel, full of power and emotion, read Jane Eyre- the best novel ever written. :-)

When I first read Jane Eyre, I (and I think many others) was taken in by the odd combination of romance and ominous overtones that makes Jane Eyre such a unique book. Of course, the Victorian-era writing and social commentary also made an impression.

But upon reflection, underneath all of this is a story of people with difficult lives learning to find and accept each other and hopefully coming to peace and happiness despite long odds. Maybe my second reading just comes from a twenty-first century mind reading things into a nineteenth century book that just aren't there. But to me, the book does have the feel of a modern story of hardship as well as a Victorian story of people trying to overcome their backgrounds to find love.

Jane Eyre tells the life story of an orphaned girl sent away to a harsh boarding school by a cruel aunt. Despite the harsh nature of the school, Jane thrived at the school since she is finally out from her aunt's crushing dislike for her. She graduated and took a job as a governess for a girl in the care of a mysterious man who spent much of his time traveling abroad, Mr. Rochester.

At first, the two do not like each other. This is compounded by the fact that Jane thinks she is plain looking and not worthy of his company. But the two develop a peculiar friendship, and there are many signs that their feelings are deeper. But Mr. Rochester is busy courting other ladies at the time. Mr. Rochester also seems to have a secret that he will not divulge to Jane but may have serious consequences for her.

Jane's job as a governess and the friendship that develops make it seem that the book will quickly become a Jane Austen book (which of course, would not have been a bad thing) in which the man and woman from different classes find love with one another, but from the point of the friendship blooming, Jane Eyre takes a few remarkable twists and turns that I had not expected and that make for real page-turning.

But it is as much the quiet desperation of both Jane and Mr. Rochester and their struggle to find each other despite this that makes Jane Eyre a book truly worth reading and treasuring.

I read this book in junior high school and, like so many other girls, fell head over heels in love with Mr. Rochester; after all this time, the book is still a terrific read. The first part is classic Cinderella with an interesting twist. Jane is an orphan who is abused and mistreated by her rich and evil stepmother and her nasty cousins; unlike Cinderella, Jane stands up age age 10 and fights back. She is promptly shunted off to a school for girls from poor families, where she spends the next eight years. Needing a change of scene and environment, she answers an advertisement for a governess and enters the household of Mr. Rochester. Rochester, however, is no Prince Charming; he's 17 or 18 years older than Jane, hard, bitter, cynical, selfish, and, unknown to all but a few, encumbered with a wife who is the prototype of the "mad wife in the attic". Rochester is a romantic at heart, however; he is captivated by Jane's innocence and simplicity. We all know how the book comes out so there is no sense in rehashing the plot; suffice to say that Bronte is a marvelous storyteller. The one problem I have with Jane Eyre is the same that arises in Bronte's other books, and that is her stifling insularity; she seems unable to find value in anything that outside her own narrow, English Protestant frame of reference. However, this is a small caveat in this book. "Jane Eyre" is a classic romantic novel that has entranced generations of readers and looks good for generations to come.

One of the reasons why Sister Carrie is worth reading has to do with the ending. If you've read any of these famous home-wrecking novels, where a young beautiful girl gets involved with an older man, and wondered if suicide always had to be the answer, here's your book. But surprisingly, the ending makes you sort of long for the good old suicide ending. Sister Carrie isn't bad, but a lot of the insights into human nature and society are expressed in the language of a talk-show self-help psychiatrist rather than a great author. There are better versions of this formula (Updike, Tolstoy, Wharton, Austen) but there is still something in Sister Carrie that makes it worth reading. Despite its title, the better character depiction in the book belongs to the lover rather than the heroine of the title. Like Updike, Dreiser makes you feel for the plight of the upper-middle class white man. And I mean that seriously, with no sarcasm.

Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" is a complex novel of linear events. It is a study in cause and effect -- how a character's environment, or change of environment, affects his or her values, especially with regard to money and the iniquity it brings.

18-year-old Caroline "Carrie" Meeber, bored with her life in a small Wisconsin town, comes to Chicago in 1889 to live with her sister Minnie. The only employment she can get is a laborious, low-paying job in a shoe factory, and when she loses it and wears out her welcome with her sister's family, a well-to-do young man named Charles Drouet, whom she met on the train to Chicago, sets her up in an apartment where they pretend to be married.

Drouet has a friend named George Hurstwood, a man in his late thirties and the manager at a local upscale bar. Hurstwood's home life is stagnant and empty; he has a self-centered wife whom he ceased loving long ago and two materialistic children around Carrie's age. He is going through what many decades later would be called a midlife crisis.

Through Drouet, Hurstwood meets Carrie and they form a mutual attraction. Unlike Drouet, to whom life is all about social status, Hurstwood does not patronize Carrie; he makes her feel intelligent and important, and Carrie exhibits Hurstwood's ideals of youth and beauty. When Hurstwood's wife gets wise to her husband's affair and sues him for divorce, Hurstwood succumbs to the temptation to steal money from his employer and tricks Carrie into leaving Chicago with him. They go to New York and experience curious reversals of fortune -- Carrie becomes a rich and famous showgirl while Hurstwood drifts into inescapable poverty and a bitter end.

This is no Cinderella story for Carrie. It may seem like she is being rewarded for her innocence and integrity, but since she realizes that her success is more the result of luck than talent, her new life is not as fulfilling as she thought it might be. I found myself surprisingly engaged by the story because Dreiser presents his characters as real people with unsolvable problems and doesn't try to teach a morality lesson. I finished the novel feeling miserable about the world, which is not something that many novels can do to me. My only complaint is that Dreiser's prose is a little awkward and excessively wordy without the benefit of clarity; it longs for the smoother touch of D.H. Lawrence or Somerset Maugham.

Living an average middle-class life, I have always wondered how the very rich and the very poor get where they are. Sister Carrie is a beautifully written and fascinating tale of how one climbs and descends the social ladder of life. I am aware that some readers have criticized this book stating that Dreiser did not develop the characters very well and that Carrie was not very likeable. Well, it is my thought that Dreiser never intended for us to become solely wrapped within the characters. He meant for us to become enveloped in the circumstance. The two main characters, Carrie and Hurstwood, are truly victims of circumstance - Carrie's never-ending unhappiness and Hurstwood's downward spiral. As we go through life, there are so many events and choices that will guide our lives to what they are. When one stops and thinks about this, it is really quite fascinating. I believe Dreiser r was aware of this aspect of life and he wanted to write a novel that would effect the lives of everyone who reads it. I read the entire book in 3 days. I simply could not put it down. I recommend Sister Carrie to everyone. It will leave you thinking and thinking and thinking.

If you are into existencialism or if you are worried about the meaning of your subjective life and the absurdity of the workings of modern society, this is a book you must read. Or maybe, if you read this though provoking masterpiece, you will start to think seriously about these issues and other aspects of the individual, and its daily relationship with society, bureaucracy and power.
This book was published poshumously in 1925 (Kafka died in 1924), and is considered by many philosophers and critics the best that he wrote.
The description of solitude and of the alienation of the modern human being is at the core of all Kafka's opus. We could consider that K. anticipated some recurrent themes of the existencialists. His detailed and realistic description of the human individual existence reveals its absurdity and irreality. From a metaphysical perspective, the absurd is based on the absence of God and the impossibility to understand anything that goes beyond rationality. From the social standpoint, it stems from the suffocating or controlling character of modern society. Struck by these complexities, the individual can only seek refuge in his small personal reality, renouncing reassuring answers and certainties.

When I was a child, I used to have a reaccuring nightmare; that my head was so heavy I couldn't hold it up, that my neck would be straining and my eyes were cemented shut and my mouth felt full of cotton. Helpless; all my senses were closed off to me in this nightmare. THE TRIAL is like this, only it is the more adult, sophisticated senses that Joseph K. is forced to abandon. His sense of reason, justice, community, responsiblity, sexuality and family duty are all indefinably and unceremoniously yanked from him by an errie, invisable, unnamed but powerful system of judgement. Claustrophobic feelings of growing helplessness and desperation emminate so strongly from Kafka's prose that you could cut it with a knife. I seem to get headaches and a sore neck everytime I read this story. Definately worth it, though. Kafka is brilliant. Average, even mediocre Joe's who always try to do the right thing have their deepest psychological nightmares projected into reality, and are destroyed by them. Everyone can relate to that on some level or another.

The trial puts "K." into a society where he is accused of a crime about which he knows nothing, and is unable to find information. Kafka's novel is the frustrating and futile tale of K.'s attempts at resolving the situation that has been thrust upon him. In many respects, The Trial is a judicial dystopia, representing a worst case scenario about the judiciary (as well as institutions in general). Like any great novel, Kafka raises more questions than he gives answers for. Questions regarding the nature of man, institutions, man's relations with institutions, and man's endurance are all questions that my mind was thinking about when I finished the last page.

The Trial is left intentionally vague and is thus much more far reaching than a simple commentary on judicial systems. Nowhere can you find any solid reference to time or place (save, of course, the names of the characters). The result of this vagueness is timelessness and universality. The questions raised in this book could be asked about virtually society in virtually any time period, and that is part of what makes this book so great.

I picked up this book on the recommendation of a friend and was pleasantly surprised. This was my first, though certainly not last, exposure to Kafka, and I recommend it to anyone with the ability to think!