I have ordered these books because I found them at a house I was visiting in Austin. An Indian couple generously invited me into their home to see these books after they found out I was interested in women's history. I was particularly impressed with the writings of the woman, Tarabai. She wrote a feminist treatise in 1873, excerpted in this anthology, which reminds me of a poem, Hombres Necios, written by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in the seventeenth century. It also called to mind the work by Matilda Joslyn Gage in the U.S. a few years later, 1893--Woman, Church and State. Tarabai's words are so brilliant and inspiring. Fantastic! Our women's movement has a much longer history and a more global representation than I ever learned about in any of my schooling.

Virginia Woolf created the persona of Shakespeare's sister - an equally talented writer whose creativity was stifled under the rigid Elizabethan society. Her Indian counterpart could be called Tagore's sister. Actually, Rabindranath Tagore did have an older sister, Swarnakumari Devi, who became an accomplished writer and journalist in her lifetime. However, rather than being patronized so often, had she received the same encouragement and support as her younger brother, she may have reached an equivalent level of international acclaim today. Editors Tharu and Lalita's anthology is an excellent collection of works by women who throughout Indian history have rarely been encouraged express themselves. Male critics have often ignored women's writing or have been condescending. Until the 20th century, female literacy in India has seldom been advocated. This book captures the development of women as writers in India, from early 6th century Buddhist nuns to the social reformers of the 20th century. Devotional writing provided a safe outlet for the Indian woman, and the bhakti (devotion) movement began in south India in the 8th century, and moved north through Maharastra, Gujarat and Rajasthan by the 16th century. A bhakti poet could express her feelings under the guise of religion, surpassing caste and gender barriers. For example, romanticism and eroticism is acceptable through the lovers Lord Krishna and Radha. Another acceptable method was to invoke the inspiration of Krishna, as Tarigonda Venkamamba (19th century Telugu) did before she imagined Lord Vishnu as her husband. A woman of a low caste, normally forbidden to read the scriptures, could create her own religious songs by attributing it to divine inspiration. Atukuri Molla, from a Telugu artisan caste in the early 16th century, actually revised the Hindu epic, Ramayana. She produced 138 slokas (verses) in six sections within five days, and Molla Ramayanam depicts the story from Sita's point of view. Like most women writers, she was apologetic about herself, "I am no scholar . . . " and said divine powers had given her this voice. A particular mark of the bhakti writer is the ankita - the author's name embedded in the text. An example is Mirabai, a 16th century Gujarati and Hindi writer, whose songs and poems are legendary today. *"Mira is the servant of her beloved Giridhar (Krishna) And she cares nothing that people mock her." (p. 93) Although there are no reliable manuscripts, Mirabai's songs have survived thanks to their lyrics and strong rhythm. Tharu and Lalita have definitely broadened the scope of women's writing in India by embracing the folk song. India has a rich oral tradition of singing at weddings, lullabies, and during house and field work. There is also a stronger collection of songs about with intense statements about childbirth and mistreatment by in-laws and husbands. In this collection, the readers can witness the centuries of oppression, as told by the women in their own words. Rassundari Devi (19th century Bengal) wrote of her own life -- weeping as child bride, bearing and raising eleven children, running a household on an empty stomach at times, and secretly learning to read behind her kitchen stove. She writes: *"I kept the sheet in my left hand while I did the cooking and glanced at it through the sari, which was drawn over my face . . . Wasn't it a matter to be regretted, that I had to go through all this humiliation just because I was a woman? Shut up like a thief, even trying to learn was considered an offense . . . the little that I have learned is only because God did me the favor" (p. 202) These women struggled for a voice within their own households - confronting forced marriages, abuse and neglect by husbands and in laws, the denial of education and the ostracization of widows. There is an especially moving personal and anonymous account of the dehumanizing treatment of widows in the 19th century. If she only knew that a hundred years later, her words had survived. One of the most insightful stories was written by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (19th/20th century Bengali) whose essays on the rights of women have been compared to English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. In "Sultana's Dream," she envisions a society in which men are restricted to the murdana (men's quarters), while women are free to rule the country, and excel in science and politics. She sharply and logically details the women's acquisition of power and how they utilized it to create a utopic society. This dialogue is indicative of Rokeya's wit: *"[Men's] brains are bigger and heavier than women's. Are they not?" "Yes, but what of that? An elephant also has got a bigger and heavier brain than a man has. Yet men can enchain elephants and employ them according their own wishes."(p. 347) There are 140 women writers from 13 languages in this collection and every one has a singular story deserving to be told. Many pieces have been unearthed for the first time, while others are now translated into English. This collection is most likely available at university bookstores.

This book was a major find for me, since I'm Indian-American and most fiction I read in college was by white male American and European authors. It's great to have a book like this one and its companion volume. Many of the pieces have never before been translated into English. For example, there is a version of the Ramayana, one of the major Indian epics, written by a Telugu woman, parts of which are translated here.

Women Writing in India is great for curling up with in the evenings, and is a wonderful resource (the ONLY resource, as far as I can tell) for Indian women writers through the ages. Buy it now!

This book has the perfect mix of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and conversation. Okell is a superb teacher, and has chosen good, native speakers for his tapes. The progression of information is very logical and helpful. He also includes an Appendix to allow you to quickly get some useful prhases under your belt, as you methodically learn the carefully chosen vocabulary in the Lessons. The review sections are thoughtfully designed to quickly get you back up to speed after a break (as opposed to having to work through lessons again).

The pronunciation section (book & tape) portion is the best I have seen in an introductory text. For example, having wroked through introductory texts in Greek, Thai, and Vietnamese, his explanation of the differences in aspirate, plain, and voiced consonants is the most clear.

As you consider purchasing this text (a wise decision), you really ought to consider simultaneously purchaseing Okell's Burmese: An Introduction to the Script. For anyone wanting to learn more than cursory Burmese, the sooner you learn the script the better. The Roman-alphabet transliteration is far from standardized in Burmese (as opposed to the Vietnamese standardization a century ago) and can get confusing.

Final note: although amazon.com asks that I not display postal addresses or URLs, at the time of this writing, amazon.com was out of most of these books, while the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois Univ (the publisher) was fully stocked. Just an FYI.

I have purchased many self-teaching language courses and this is by far the best. Starts off simple and builds knowledge and confidence gradually. The variations in exercises also keeps the student interested throughout the book. The tapes are very much like an actual lecture. Okell includes many fascinating points about Burmese culture and the added bonuses at the end of the tapes such as BBC Burmese broadcasts and traditional Burmese music are really interesting to hear. What every language package should be.

In this book, Dr. McKelvey wrote a detailed and intimate account of the South Vietnamese military officers' fates after the end of the Vietnam War.

The message is troublesome but not surprising: the military personnel were rounded into re-education camps and suffered untold tragedies from humiliation, torture, mental degradation to physical impoverishment within a communist prison system. The majority of the officers were jailed from ten to fifteen years; one officer was detained for a total of 22 years.

While 70,000 former political inmates and their families were allowed to immigrate to the U.S. through the ODP (Orderly Departure Program), many more are still living on the fringes of the Vietnamese communist society. A former major drives a pedicab for a living. In this McKelvey's book, we heard the voices of a doctor, a tailor, a politician, an engineer, a spy, a pilot, and a teacher. They all endured "grueling and unforgiving ordeals that only the strongest would have survived." Family members were ostracized for being related to the political prisoners; their wives suffered uncounted financial, emotional, physical hardships, their children barred from a decent education.

The book is one of the few that deal with the long-term psychological effects of the incarceration on the inmates and the sufferings of their relatives.

The author concludes that: 1) War does not end when peace treaties are signed because the negative rippling effects of war and destruction affect many generations to come. 2) The U.S. should be very careful about intervening militarily in any part of the World. 3) The U.S., if it does go to war, cannot simply abandon friends and allies to the mercies of common enemies.

I am a student from Vietnam and now studying in the U.S. I chanced to read this book in our university library. Thanks the AUTHOR for an insightful book.

In fact, my family background was 'clean' in the eyes of our government because my parents were not involved in any military service for the former government. But I have friends whose family situations were exactly the same as those portrayed in the book. I must say those are incredible human sufferings, and not only for one generation. I am glad some of those stories are now heard, perhaps a bit late but still, better than never.

Here's a life-time lesson for me (and perhaps some others): no matter how and what communists tell you, don't hastily believe them. Just look at what and how they do, and you'll see it for yourself. For many of them, human dignity and lives are trivial and cheap.

It is obvious the author put a lot of time and effort into this book. The ghost stories are well-researched and there are photographs of each haunted location. Ms. Turnage also provides a lot of additional useful information such as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and rates. I can't wait to visit some of the haunted inns and plan to do so within the next few months. I am particularly interested in the St. James Hotel in Selma, Ala., said to be haunted by Jesse James, a lady named Lucinda, and a phantom dog.

If you like to travel and are interested in the subject of ghosts/spirits, you will enjoy this book highly. This book not only gives you a short history/story behind the various Haunted Inns, but also gives contact information to inquire further and/or make reservations - including webpage addresses when available. Shelia Turnage has put a lot of work and research into this book. She does a great job getting directly to the point describing the hauntings.

The book's introduction is a quick overview on "Things To Know Before You Go", which is informative especially for first time ghost/paranormal researchers.

Edward F. Murphy, Dak To: America's Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam's Central Highlands (1993, New York: Pocket Books edn., 1995)

The appearance of this marvelous little book is deceptive. Its pocket-book format might suggest a brief regimental history or narrow personal account, but author Edward Murphy's text is, in fact, a captivating and relatively sophisticated narrative of the 173d Airborne Brigade's five-month campaign in 1967 in the dense jungle of South Vietnam's Central Highlands. The fighting around a small hamlet called Dak To proved to be especially hard for two reasons: the first concerned the physical conditions and the second was in the nature of the enemy. Daytime temperatures were in the upper 90s, with humidity in excess of 90 percent, and the moisture brought out mosquitoes and leeches. At times, it rained hard practically every day. According to Murphy, "frequently [the American paratroopers'] clothes rotted in the damp jungle," so, about once a month, fresh fatigues were delivered by supply helicopter to the field. The jungle was so thick that visibility often was limited to a few meters, and nearly every foot of ground was covered by vegetation. Sometimes the paratroopers had to carry chain saws to cut through the jungle and to make landing zones for their supply helicopters. (It could take two hours of hard work to hack a landing zone out of the jungle.) Enlisted men carried their weapons, ammunition, and personal gear on their backs in rucksacks which weighed from 75 to 90 pounds. During the rainy season, marching 1,000 meters through the jungle in a day was considered "good progress."

The physical conditions often negated the United States' vast superiority in weapons technology. For instance, according to Murphy: "Artillery [could] be ineffective in the jungle...[because] shells [had] the tendency to burst in the tops of tall trees, scattering shrapnel harmlessly about." "Too often, airstrikes and gunships could not effectively penetrate the thick jungle canopy." Furthermore, according to Murphy: "To prevent U.S. air strikes and artillery from decimating its ranks, the [North Vietnamese and Viet Cong] 'hugged' the Sky Soldiers, closing to within ten to twenty meters of their perimeter." In addition to the difficult conditions, and in contrast to the combat farther south, which was mostly against Viet Cong irregulars, the paratroopers, many of whom were still teenagers, battled elements of the North Vietnamese Army, "professionals who [knew] how to fight." The fighting often was brutal. One of the favored weapons of the North Vietnamese was the RPG, a Soviet-manufactured antitank rocket used as an antipersonnel weapon against American infantry. Furthermore, there was nothing chivalrous about the war at Dak To. After one fierce firefight, Murphy reports, a medical specialist "could hear the wounded screaming for mercy as the NVA walked among them, executing those paratroopers still alive." On another occasion, when the paratroopers returned to the site of one battle to recover their dead, they found that "corpses had been mutilated, their features destroyed, ring fingers cut off, and ears removed." Early in the book, Murphy writes that the "173d possessed great morale. All its men were volunteers for airborne training and most had volunteered for South Vietnam." During the Dak To campaign, however, the paratroopers' frustrations mounted. At one moment, when a "friendly" artillery round landed too close for comfort to an American captain, he grabbed his company's radio handset and screamed: "Send another round this way and I'll kill the son of a bitch who fires it." One of Murphy's clearest themes is the gradual erosion of the paratroopers' confidence in their superior officers. According to the author, the generals' "grand plans meant little to the average Sky Soldier. All he knew was that he was out in the boonies, humping day after day in the monotonous mountains and valleys of the Central Highlands." Furthermore, Murphy writes that when Gen. William Westmoreland, the American commander in Vietnam, flew to Dak To on June 23, 1967 to talk with the survivors of one fierce battle, "You took on a tough NVA unit and whipped their asses," a sergeant whispered to a buddy, "Wonder what he's been smoking?" Murphy offers many glimpses of the cruel ironies and inequities of war. In one instance, after a Marine jet dropped a 500-lb. bomb directly on an aid station for wounded American paratrooper, an American officer on the ground pleaded into a radio: "No more f------ planes. Please no more planes. You're killing us up here. Stop it." The bomb wounded over 80 men badly enough to be brought to the aid station, but nearly all the medics were dead. Meanwhile, the pilot returned "to his base at Da Nang with its air-conditioned officers' club, ice-cold beers, hot showers, and clean sheets," The ongoing controversy about the accuracy of "body counts" is on display here. At one point during the Dak To campaign, when North Vietnamese dead were reported as 1,644, Gen. Westmoreland stated in a press conference: "I think [the battle was] the beginning of a great defeat for the enemy." According to Murphy, however, "these figures are suspect,"and the actual number probably was closer to 1,000. (After one battle, the 173d's after-action report stated that 513 NVA had been killed even though the best estimate of men engaged in the battle was that the number of enemy of killed in action actually was 50 to 75.)

One veteran master sergeant, who fought in three wars, told the Murphy that, in 25 years as a paratrooper, he had never seen anything approaching the death and destruction at Dak To. The author leaves no doubt about the paratroopers' bravery or the 173d Airborne Brigade richly-deserved reputation as one of the elite units of the United States' armed forces. But the answer to the larger question - What were American fighting men doing in the jungles of Vietnam in the first place? - remains unanswered.

This book was fabulous, my brother was the FNG written about. It was the first I ever knew about his experiences in Vietnam and I knew he was wonderful, but I never imagined the experience he and the other soldiers had. For whatever reason, he never discussed his tour with us and after reading this book I know why. It is just so much to bear for so many, so young. They really were heroes. A must read for anyone interested in the Vietnam war.

This is one of the best volumes about a desperate, bloody battle during the Vietnam War. Fought between the veteran paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade and North Vietnamese Regulars in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in late 1967, the author demonstrates through graphic prose and primary evidence just how savage and vicious the fighting in Vietnam was. This legendary fight took place almost immediately before the TET offensive of January 1968 and ruined some of the NVA units that were to take part in that offensive and helped ruin the chances for the Comminists to gain victory. Victory in this fight came at a heavy cost, and this book chronicles just how savage and desperate, and how heart-breaking the American losses were.

For me personally, this book means much, as my brother was a company commander in the 2d Battalion of the 503d infantry, one of the four infantry battalions of the 173d Airborne Brigade, and he was killed in action leading his company on Hill 875.

This book is as good as We Were Soldiers Once And Young, and it is one of the best books I have read on the war in Vietnam. It shows the courage and skill of outnumbered Americans who fought, died, and never quit-something that never really came out of the general media coverage of that unpopular war.

This volume is highly recommended and the author is to be congratulated for he has told a story of high valor and much suffering, and of the ongoing skill of the American soldier doing his duty, appreciated or not, in foreign lands fighting and defeating a skilled and determined enemy.

Virtute et Valore

In my title sentence, I basically give a summary of Shawcross's contention that Cambodia was destroyed by the United States. I think Shawcross makes good points on why the United States must bear some responsibility in the destruction of this small country. What is lacking is an even review of all the characters in the history (Khymer Rouge, Viet Cong, NVA, ARVN,
and the Thais) of Cambodia. The Vietnamese Communists have as much a stake in why Cambodia turned out as it did. I think Shawcross purposely overlooks this and points the finger at what he percieves as the evil doers of American policy--Kissinger and Nixon.
I think Shawcross does a good job of relating how the USA tried to salvage the intervention in Vietnam at the cost of destroying a small country. I think he proves that point. I also enjoyed his portrayal of all the principal American and Cambodian players in this drama. As I said, a more critical look at the Vietnamese would give this book a more even outlook. After I read this book, I understoon why Presidential Administrations did not involve Kissinger in future policy. Henry comes off as arrogant in the least, evil at the most. For more information on what happened after this time in Cambodia, please read Brother Enemy.

While I've read this book many times over the years, my most recent reading struck me hard. The description of the May 8, 1970 meeting between Henry Kissinger and a number of his friends and personal advisors from Harvard did not seem especially interesting in past years, but jumped off the page this time around. Thomas Schelling told Kissinger that after the invasion of Cambodia the group no longer had faith in Henry or the Nixon administration's ability to conduct foreign policy, and would have nothing further to do with Kissinger. The group pointed out that the invasion could be "used by anyone else in the world as a precedent for invading another country, in order, for example, to clear out terrorists." Another section recounts Arthur Schlesinger Jr. quoting a historian's recollection of the Romans -- "There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, the allies would be invented." Shawcross also notes that in 1964 the US condemned Britain for assaulting a Yemeni town used as a base by insurgenets attacking Aden. Another chilling touch is the mention of Lincoln's reaction when he was advised that the President could invade a neighbor if necessary to repel invasion -- Lincoln replied, "Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you give him as much as you propose." Lincoln's famous speech given as a young man in the 1830s in which he remarked that all the armies of Europe could not forcibly take a drink of water from the Ohio River and therefore "... if this great nation is to ever die, it will be from suicide" rings more true than the words of today's politicians proclaiming the right to declare preemptive war.

An excellent summary of the events that overtook Cambodia, "Sideshow" has much more to offer to us today as we try to figure out how we reached this turning point in our history and recall how badly things can go wrong whenever we deviate from the principles upon which our nation was founded.

I have had a lot of trouble finding this book. It had been recommened by quite a few people to me, but I had a hard time finding it.

I found it in of all places, a outdoor market in the capital of Cambodia this summer. Cambodia is great for finding bootleg copies of any books on Cambodia.

Shawcross has written a well documented, researched, and written book on Cambodia's role in the Vietnam War. It was easy to read and it certainly made you think.

Unfortunately, I disagree with the tone of the book. And ultimately I disagree with the author's point of view. But anyone interested in the Vietnam War, Nixon, or what happened in Cambodia should read this book. I ultimately disagreed with the book, you may or may not, but regardless it is a book that is well written and will make you think.

Check this book out!

I read this book with great interest. Certainly the story of Rama's tale is exciting and one that is recounted many time in the East. However, in reading the story, one thing kept getting in the way: the book keeps praising the virtues of Brahmins non-stop. After a while, this ceaseless glorification of Brahmins became extremely annoying, at least for a non-Indian like me. I am speculating here but the story of Ramayana probably had a big influence in the way the caste system in India evolve through the centuries.

Krishna Dharma's retelling of the Ramayana excels at conveying the greatness of this ancient story. The battles in the story are larger-than-life, the emotions intense.

I was put off a little by Rama's behavior from time to time, especially when you consider who he really is. The outcome of the story was utterly obvious from the moment we become aware of Rama's true identity; however, the twist in the story that occurs near the end caught me off guard.

There are other versions of the Ramayana that I've recently become aware of. One portrays the villain, Ravana, as the real hero; if this were one of Homer's poems, Ravana could definitely qualify as a great hero.

I highly recommend Krishna Dharma's retelling. He knows the story well enough, and is creative enough a writer, to fully convey all the messages and emotions the Ramayana attempts to send your way. The artwork is also very beautiful.

Rama is the most perfect of King Dasarath's sons. He is wise and kind, devout, respectful, and a fearsome warrior. In the course of his youthful exploits he has fallen in love with Sita, who he now brings back in triumph to his father's city of Ayodhya. But, on the very day he is to be named Dasarath's heir, treachery takes place. Banished from Ajodhya by the machinations of one of Dasarath's jealous wives, Rama and Sita undertake an unconceivable adventure to rid the world of evil and return to Rama what is rightfully his.

And so begins one of the oldest and most spectacular adventures in literary history. Perhaps the oldest Indian epic, 'The Ramayana' is a grand story, a cautionary tale, and a vivid picture of the Vedic culture of one of the world's larger countries. This story, like told in 'The Mahabharata,' is deeply embedded in Indian culture. The tales display many of the key beliefs that have shaped Indian thought for centuries. For a student of the area, searching for common threads, they are required reading. For many this is still a text of religious importance. As Dharma quotes, "This legend is the bestower of longevity, the enhancer of fortune, and the dispeller of sins.

Certainly, in addition to these virtues, 'The Ramayana' is a font of creative ideas. For those of us who get bogged down in Western approaches and answers it is an opportunity to see how other cultures have come to deal with questions that are common to all. As such it is a lesson in the ingeniousness of the human mind and the great commonalties of the human spirit. The difference in context and the epic scale can be a source of inspiration as well as outstanding entertainment.

This edition was created by Krishna Dharma, a Vaishnava priest and well-known translator of Sanskrit writings, is not so much a word for word translation as it is a detailed retelling. As such its style and rhythm is better adapted to Western tastes than stricter, more academic fare. On the other hand, Krishna Dharma leaves little out, and truly captures the feeling of the original. As such this is a massive accomplishment. The inclusion of various illustrations, both black and white and color enhance its value and impressiveness. Previous to buying this copy my exposure to the legend has been via excerpts, descriptions, and reenactments. These were adequate to their purpose, but reading the story in its proper sequence has added much to my experience.

Traditionally, four major East Asian languages have used Chinese characters for their writing systems: Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and, of course, Chinese. Wm. C. Hannas knows all of them, and in this book he uses that extensive knowledge to deliver a broadside against the Chinese characters' lack of efficiency as a writing system.

Anyone familiar with John DeFrancis' work on the Chinese language will recognize some of Hannas' arguments (DeFrancis writes the forward for this book and was clearly an inspiration for Hannas' work). But Hannas is more wide-ranging in his scholarship and goes further with his arguments.

The first part of the book introduces the four major languages that have used Chinese characters for their writing systems, introducing them in order of the frequency they presently use the characters. Thus, Chinese -- which is comprised entirely of characters -- is introduced first and Vietnamese -- which no longer uses any characters -- is introduced last. This part describes the history of each languages' writing system and is highly readable.

After the languages have been introduced, the second part of the book critiques the Chinese character-based writing system. This part varies between highly readable sections and some more abstruse sections that deal with linguistic, analytical, and even psychological arguments that require close readings by the layman who doesn't have an expertise or at least a strong interest in those areas. But these arguments are the meat of Hannas' book as he looks at what Chinese characters represent, reading and literacy in Chinese character-based scripts, and even whether those writing systems are really appropriate for East Asian languages as some people have argued.

The third and final part winds down with a look at why reform of the Chinese character-based writing system fails (as Hannas argues it does) as well as what the future is likely to hold for it. One chapter alone is dedicated to the effect computers are having on characters. I found this part the least plausible of the three and also somewhat repetitive as arguments made earlier were restated.

While I agree with most of Hannas' general arguments and found his book both highly interesting and entertaining, I also think he greatly overstates his case. Hannas seems to actually believe that characters are on their way out. The growth in education and wealth, as well as the general social vibrance found in so many of the societies which still use Chinese characters suggests, at the very least, that perhaps inefficiency in a writing system is simply not an important aspect to a well-functioning, modern society -- that whatever impact it has is more negligible than Hannas imagines.

But disagreements over some of its points shouldn't be a reason not to read this outstanding book. Hannas' scholarship, lucid writing, and forceful exposition will give anyone who has experience with any of the East Asian languages that use Chinese characters a wonderful read.

I found this book to be a well written and interesting look at the use of Chinese characters. It uncovers some of the commonly held misconceptions about the use of the characters. It does a very thorough job of examining the differences between them and phonetic alphabetic scripts. The book covers the use of characters in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The view of Hannas is that the characters are "on their last leg". I have discussed this book with several of my Chinese, Japanese, and Korean friends and they all seem to disagree with Hannas and are not in favor of abolishing the use of the characters. Hannas claims that he is not writing from the point of view of a disgruntled Westerner, but sometimes this is hard to believe. The introduction by John DeFrancis states that Hannas is one of the few people (Western or Asian) to have mastered Chinese (several "dialects")Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. I would highly recommend this book for anyone curious about East Asian languages. As an aside, I'm sure that an Asian could find plenty of things about English that do not make sense and should be changed!

This work is a highly polemical look at the writing systems of East Asian languages, specifically those that use Chinese characters. The author is out to demolish standard ideas about the use of Chinese characters in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, and he does a thorough and persistent job of it. The book is accordingly much more exciting than a straightforward introduction to these writing systems could ever be. What is more, the author's insights are pretty well spot on, although not likely to endear him to those who entertain the myths that he sets out to demolish (which includes most speakers of these languages). Bold, refreshing, and definitely recommended.

A very well written book, "Counterpart" is an interesting personal memoir of life in Vietnam and the ravaging affects of war. The book ends with his departure and fresh start in the United States. Having worked in the power industry with Kiem Do and Julie Kane for a number of years in New Orleans, I'm glad he has finally published his long awaited memoirs.

As a "young" Vietnamese -American who did not participate in the war, I find the book entertaining and educating. This is a book every family, especially Vietnamese American, should own because it is so well written with a sincere heart and offers an accurate realistic view from an ex Navy commander from South Vietnam. The more I read the more I admire and respect him for sharing all his invaluable experiences to subtly teach the American public as well as Vietnamese- American young generation about the truth of a major period in American history - the Vietnam war. I now clearly understand what our heroic South Vietnamese soldiers went through. Mr. Do Kiem was successful in restoring well -deserved honor to our patriotic South Vietnamese soldiers. It peaks my interest and leaves me wanting more when I finish reading . This is truly an amazing account! Somehow, it brought back to memory a poem, learned many years ago in high school, belonged to our national hero Dang Dung in his noble fight against the Ming dynasty's fiendish invasion in Vietnam in 1400's.

Revenge is not yet fulfilled, my lord! and hair already turned white. Too many times whetted my precious sword, under the shining moon light!

Dong Nhac

Some books about the Vietnam War are basically worthless, filled with "blasting machine gun fire" stories similar to Rambo, etc.

However, this book is refreshingly different. Officer Kiem Do reveals a story unheard by most Americans. Not only did he battle the communists, he constantly fought government corruption and bureaucratic interference from his (our) side.

This is a must read for anyone interested in Naval history.

As a life-long student and instructor of languages, the Pimsleur method offers a unique learning experience for those who find traditional language study or classes difficult. The Pimsleur method is especially good for extremely active people, as it teaches the language through listening and spoken repetition rather than on any written text. The tapes are easily usable when working out, in the car, etc.

I own and have experience with a number of the different Pimsleur sets. In terms of this abridged volume, it is the approximate equivalent of the basic language skills necessary to travel to Indonesia. However, after completing the 10-lesson set, the user has the equivalent knowledge of an Indonesian 101 student after the first week of class. The lessons are fantastic for teaching basa-basi (small talk that is very different from "Western" small talk and much more culturally necessary), but are also extremely oriented to the male traveler.

The lessons begin with a man striking up a conversation with an Indonesian woman seated next to him on the plane. As the conversation progresses, more vocabulary and syntax structures are introduced. After the man arrives, he goes around Jakarta asking directions to different jalan (streets), thus teaching the user how to inquire after directions. The lessons do transition fairly well, but do not cover a lot of material on the whole.

Upon completing the course, the user has basic essential travel vocabulary that will truly ease a trip to Indonesia. These same scenarios are less applicable to meeting orang Indonesia in different situations, but this can be overlooked by someone just wanting the basics. There are very few decent Indonesian language courses or materials, so Pimsleur definately provides a decent start. But user beware--the tapes include very few cultural notes, so be sure to read up on Indonesian cultural norms prior to heading over there.

In sum, 4 stars is very generous for this course. Being that there are very few available, it is a good place to start. However, you can learn just as much by finding an international student or immigrant who wants to tutor. In one lesson you are likely to cover more material--focused on your needs--than in the entire 10-lesson set.

Language aquisition doesn't happen easily for me. The Pimsleur tapes patiently taught me a foundation of words and phrases in spoken Bahasa Indonesia which were immediately at my disposal when I arrived in Java. This is amazing - I promise you. The language "vapor-lock" was greatly diminished because of the Pimsleur method of teaching and my pronounciation ability had a leg-up on many expats who had lived here a long time. Those with better brains for language may find it tedious. Okay, where's Vol 2?

This is the first Pimsleur program I have ever tried, and I am impressed. You learn a small but highly functional vocabulary and you learn to use the words in ordinary conversation. The native Indonesian speakers are very clear and understandable. Also included is a small booklet, however the "readings" are little more than learning to pronounce the written word. I would suggest getting a book for additional vocabulary, and you will be amazed at the sentences you can form! It really is a springboard for further learning.