This book is regarded as the ultimate reference guide on Southern African butterflies, and not without reason. It contains an excess of 800 plates, covering virtually every species and subspecies of the region. Every family, genus and species are discussed in detail. Easy references between plates and descriptions are an added bonus. It was not intended as a taxanomic work though, and mostly discusses localities where specific specimens have been netted or spotted. The reputation of the authors adds authenticity. It is an absolutely brilliant book; indispensible for any serious lepidopterist or mere enthusiast. The hardcover version even makes for a great coffee table item.

This was an incredible book, the first one I read in the Pennington/ Ruth series. The characters were almost painfully true to life; Penn as a talented thug and Bates...especially stood out for their complex characters. It was difficult for me to read this book since I have known people very similar to Penn and co., and it was hard to suffer with them through their difficult last year of school until they developed the beginnings of an adult self- awareness. An inspiring read, true-to-life characters and a solid, realistic plot. Written for teens, but it almost takes an adult perspective to really appreciate the subtleties of the character's personalities and actions.

A wonderful allegory of a special flower--Sundancer--who wanted to be free of the "status quo" life in the garden. He was willing to take the risks required to live life as a unique flower with meaning, conviction and purpose.

This story can be applied to each of our lives... The allegory helps us to view life in a new way if we are willing to be like Sundancer.

Very simple story, but very challenging. Recommend highly!

Michael Pennington's Twelfth Night: A User's Guide takes the reader through one of Shakespeare's best loved and most frequently performed comedies, scene by detailed scene. Pennington reveals the play's themes, connections, characters, and individual lines in a sharp and telling focus as he offers an intensely practical account of the way the play actually works on a stage. Twelfth Night: A User's Guide is profoundly recommended reading for anyone aspiring to produce, direct, or perform in this classic Shakespeare comedy whether in school or community theater.

The title of the book is exactly right. I was so encouraged to learn that I know much more of the Bible than I thought I did. I didn't realize how many of the Bible scriptures are used in every day life by nearly everyone. It's nice to know I can flip through Pennington's book, find the verse I'm thinking of, and then go to the Bible to read even more. It's a great compliment to daily devotions and any Bible study. Much much recommended.

Nostromo is a novel much like War and Peace. Often seen as Conrad's greatest work, it contains clear - one might say appalling - insight into the human condition in the century that was just beginning. Conrad's father had served time in Siberia-like exile with his young family in tow, for participating in revolutionary, patriotic Polish politics. The experience had shortened his parents' lives and left Conrad an orphan at an early age, giving the writer a personal preview of what the new century was going to be like for so many others.

The novelist's modern insight was not only on the political and social front but also into man's sense of identity. With Godot-like despair, Decoud, the character closest to Conrad in Nostromo, "beheld the universe as a succession of incomprehensible images." Stranded by himself for several days he becomes suicidal, realizing that "in our activity alone do we find the sustaining illusion of an independent existence as against the whole scheme of things of which we form a helpless part." At the same time it is beautifully written and is a gripping adventure - so can work on many different levels. Anyone who reads novels should read this classic.

Revolution is a fertile ground for nascent ideologies, and neology is perhaps the richest algar on which emerging heroes feed upon. Costaguena is a territory existing only in the unparalleled imagination of Conrad, whose mind was perpetually stimulated by an abstract, unknown, and merely projected world. Nostromo is his instrument of oscillation; ultimately a pendulum caught in the momentum of change, he falls into the precipice that separates the glory of selfhood and the danger of vanity.

From the beginning, Conrad sheds equally heavy recognition on a string of characters. Charles Gould an European capitalist trapped in his father's tragic political enmeshment, Decoud an uprooted native who dies proving his credential, and Antonio Avellanos an audacious aristocrat who carries the torch of her generation are have the protagonist make-up. But following the Greek formula, Nostromo is the true hero who fumbles into falsity because of his one défaut: hubris. The enormous vanity develops into his temptress, and in a way, Nostromo makes the conscious choice to let his incorruptible pride corrupts his morale.

The fatality of Nostromo, very much like many of Conrad's protagonists, marks the inability of men, in the utmost bleakness of mental solitude, to reconcile to the goodness of nature.

For the first 150 or so pages of Nostromo, there were several times when I almost quit. The amount of detail about the political and social organization of Conrad's imaginary country was so dry and technical that I felt like I was reading an encyclopedia. But, the strangest thing happened on about page 151. . . I started to get into the book! Then, I couldn't stop. In retrospect, I believe that the exposition at the beginning of the novel could have been dispersed throughout the narrative, rather than shoving it down the reader's mouth at the beginning.

Nevertheless, Nostromo is a stunning and extremely pessimistic examination of the "heart of darkness" within all humans. Virtually all the characters are driven by self-interest and greed, and even our "hero" (Nostromo), is at times bestial and self-involved. But, I still loved this book! Joseph Conrad is like the literary equivalent of Paul Verhoeven- an extremely bitter artist whose dark view of the world serves to shed light on the audience. I know it sounds strange, but I mean exactly what I say.

Conrad is my favorite 20th century author, so I am biased. The reviewer who compared him to Tolstoy was on the money. Both lived lives that gave them fodder for their fiction; Tolstoy as a soldier in the Crimean war, an aristocrat facing the turbulence of the political and social upheavals of fin-de-siecle Russia, and Conrad as a mariner and a Polish transplant who carved out a language and a career for himself in England. Nostromo contains some of the most vividly realized characterization, plot, and sensory detail of any novel ever written in the English language, period. Do not pay any attention to a customer whose review is based on listening to the audio tape version. It doesn't do the book justice and is indeed labored to the extreme. I would also hope that readers do not form their opinions from the BBC film. It is infinitely shallow by comparison to this rich work. While the "eponymous" character remains purposefully enigmatic, the other inhabitants of Costaguena are stereoscopically fleshed out. We are on intimate terms with the Goulds. We know Decoud's innermost thoughts. It's true that Decoud is the central character of this novel. His isolation and mental defragmentation is Conrad's arguement for and refuation of existentialism. We are all islands, yet no man is in island. Take your pick. This is a very large piece of fiction. Do not approch it as you would some best seller. It's not going to entertain you on every page. What it will do is reward you in riches that can never come cheaply. Yet it is not like Finnegan's Wake, where you have to have your Boedekker's guide to see you along your journey. It's also a great adventure story, with a larger than life hero. If I could suggest one book to represent the most finely crafted novel of its era, this would be it.

Victory is the story of a man named Heyst who leads an isolated life in the South Pacific. However, he is drawn out of his isolation when he brings a woman to his island home. A chance encounter between a dishonest German who dislikes Heyst and two criminals sets up the dramatic ending. Conrad's style is as fluid as in his better known books, such as Lord Jim, and it is amazing that someone could write English so well who did not learn it until later in life and who always spoke it with a heavy Polish accent. Victory is similar to Conrad's other works in that the plot flirts with melodrama, but always is rooted in realism. Those who read the book will find the title apt.

Axel Heyst, the protagonist in Conrad's novel, Victory, makes a final statement to Davidson, a fellow seaman, just before he dies: "...woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love--and to put its trust in life!" This statement coming from a man whose whole life has been lived in isolation is remarkable. His father taught him that life was a Great Joke, that it was an illusion; that the best way to survive was to drift oneself into oblivion. But he found love in the person of Lena and it changed his perspective on living and was responsible for his change of heart as represented in the above-quoted statement. It's too bad that the novel could not have had a happy ending, but Conrad's view of the world probably would not permit it. I found the novel engrossing, somewhat melodramatic, yet vintage Conrad in its depiction of good and evil battling each other on the island of Samburan.

Victory is the best of the handful of Conrad novels I have read (for reference sake, the others are Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo). For one thing, the other novels were much heavier in their narrative and descriptive content. As a result, I often suffered from mental imagery overload when plodding through a page-long paragraph. Victory has more dialogue, making it an easier read. Conrad's characters are always great, and the ones in this book are no exception. I also really liked the correlation between these characters and their environment. Heyst living in a serene yet isolated island matched his aloofness perfectly. As the book reaches its climax and tensions reach a boiling point, Conrad adds to this tension in godlike fashion, as the storm evinces the internal and external struggles occurring in Heyst. Of course, Conrad don't write no happy tales (sic), but in the end, I think that the title Victory was still very appropriate. This was an excellent read and one of the best novels I have read in a long time.