Heidi is ranked up there with, "Where the Red Fern Grows" with it's genuine love and care of the hearts of children and adults. I read this book to my children when they were in 1st and K...several times I had to stop to choke back the tears.. or laugh in exhuberance. It's a heart-warming tale of a little girl who didn't understand the "status quo" and sought to make sense of not only her own world, but those around her. Her innocense, genuine love and acceptance is so moving and so inspiring.

Heidi is very exciting. She is very outgoing and adventurous. She gets sent to the Alm Mts. with her grumpy old grandfather. She shows him how to be nice and friendly. She meets a boy named Peter and they become good friends. He then shows her his family. Heidi meets his grandmother and falls in love with her and everything that she does. She then gets sent to a weird house.She soon came home.
This book is recommended for all ages to be read to or read by you!
Why am I telling you this go read it for your self!!!

A while back when I was in my 30's (never mind how long ago that was!) I was sick with the flu, and I found a copy of HEIDI, so I crawled into a nice warm bed and re-read the book -- as an adult.

What insight into human nature! And as an adult I appreciated the dry, understated humor. I also appreciated the spiritual insights -- that God will give us what we desire, but sometims uses circumstances we don't like to teach us truths that we couldn't learn otherwise.

When I was a girl I was often turned off by what was called "good reading," but for some reason, I enjoyed Heidi and it never seemed sappy or corny.

Very much worth reading!

This was one of Christie's earlier novels, but one of her most entertaining. It's pure brain candy, full of wit and adventure, with an appealing, intelligent heroine of the kind found in P.G. Wodehouse books of this period, and, later on, in the mysteries of Elizabeth Peters. Anne makes some nice points about the difficulties of the usual cinematic methods of freeing oneself when bound and dumped in a cellar. She also eats an extraordinary number of ice-cream sodas and collects native art to interesting effect. Oh, yes, and there are some murders and stolen diamonds involved.

An advantage to the light tone, aside from its sheer entertainment value, is that it makes the reader a little more forgiving of Christie's stretches of credibility, which especially in some of her middle period novels can be a bit much. Not that I don't love her novels. But in some there is an almost palpable sense one kind of talent trying to be another...in "Endless Night", for example, she's rather clumsily dealing with the kind of psychological issues that writers like Thomas Harris would take up.

This book, however, is Christie at her brightest and most appealing, and shows the facility with plot which would develop into one of the greatest gifts for story-construction that English literature has ever known.

This is one of my favorite Christie mysteries. Even though Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are missing, the deductions and suspense are present in abundance.

The plot revolves around a young girl who is suddenly without family and longs for adventure. Sure enough, little time passes before she finds it, and romance as well. The book travels from England to north Africa, and through many plot twists and turns.

The characters are, as usual in a Christie novel, charming and engaging, and you root for this cunning woman to find the answer to the mystery, as well as love.

A must read

I really love this book, even though there's no Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple.In fact, some of the books without these marvellous characters are much more exciting.The suspense in "The Man in the Brown Suit" is great. The plot is superb, because the ending surprised me a lot!I also liked the bit of romance in it.The other books which are my favourites are 'The Secret of Chimneys' and "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?".

First of all, I must confess I'm not a huge Anne fan. I don't read this book so much for Anne and Gilbert as for Leslie and Owen. Their story is so romantic, so dramatic, fairy tale like, and sort of sappy. It's not the sort of book you are always in the mood for, but when you are it definitely 'hits the spot' as they say.
Picture a beautiful, love starved, miserable girl suffering silently on a gorgeous harbor in a gloomy house. Watch as she is transformed and comes to live happily ever after. Definitely all- girl and definitely fun.
The way Lucy Maud Montgomery describes the scenery, the ocean and all at Anne's new home is beautiful. Leslie's story is beautiful. If you want something sweet, fanciful while not fantasy, and just. . . lovely read this book.
Only thing I don't like is Captain Jim. He is boring and sort of drives me crazy, but he is in the book a ton. I often just skim the parts he's in.
Miss Cornelia is another new character, and she is sometimes annoying but on the whole is amusing.
I guess that's it. I also like all the Biblical references in the conversations. A lot of them are somewhat obscure, so they're probably some I'm not even picking up on, but they're good.

I have all of the Anne of Green Gable series and continue to read them over again, delighting in each new discovery that I missed when reading it before.

Anne's House of Dreams starts when Gilbert Blythe, who has loved Anne ever since they were children, becomes the doctor he has set his ambitions for. Anne had discovered that she was in love with Gilbert and so they are happily married and off to Four Winds Harbor where they start their new life, together.

Finding beauty and adventure wherever Anne turns she is forever making friends and finding new discoveries. Miss Cornelia becomes a friend as does the forever-interesting Captain Jim.

A mysterious young woman capitivates Anne's curious attention however and she finds that the young woman's name is Leslie. She cannot forget the beautiful but sad creature who seems to be hiding something. Enters Owen Ford and by chance mystery starts to be slowly revealed ...

This book was (and still is!) a fantasic read and I recommend it to anyone! As well as any other "Anne" books!

1,000 words can't describe how much I love this book. This book is where after agonizing along with Anne she finally gets married to Gilbert. They settle into a place called Four Winds. Through the story of there first years of marriage they experience their joy over Jem their first born and the pain of losing a child. They make life long friends that are as pleasant as Diana Barry and Rachel Lynde. L.M. Montgomery makes the charecters come alive. They go through things that we can relate to today. Her excellant writing makes this easy to read whether you are 10 or 100. I highly recommend that if you enjoy this book you need to read the first four books. Then there is three more books. If that isn't enough there are two movies. I hope that you enjoy this series as much as I have.

I have always enjoyed mystery books and surprisingly I liked this one as well. In the begining a man named Captain Hastings comes home from war. He meets an old friend named John Cavendish. John offers for Hastings to stay with him and Hastings delightedly accepts. Shortly after his arrival, John's mother, Emily Inglethorpe, is murdered by poison. Hastings hires a detective named Hercule Poirot. Throughout the book you wonder who the murderer is. There are a number of different suspects who all seem to have a pretty good motivation for killing her. There is John Cavendish, Mary Cavendish, Lawrence Cavendish, Alfred Inglethorpe, Evelyn Howard, Dorcas, and Cynthia Murdoch. I was in suspense through the entire book. The only thing that seemed to frustrate me about the mystery was the way Agatha Cristie would give you many clues leading you in the complete opposite direction everytime. Although, that is exactly what makes it a great mystery novel. I would highly recomend this novel. It will surely keep you on your toes!

For lovers of 'cozies', this first adventure of the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, is mother's milk. It is such an entertaining, such a comfy novel; that even though Agatha Christie has created others much bettter, one can still appreciate her masterful techniques from the very begginning.

The place is Styles Court, a great English country house in the village of Styles-St.-Mary, in Essex. The victim, Emily A. Inglethorp, the matriarch of the Cavendish family who has recently re-married. The suspects? Well, there are many, but her infamous new husband, Alfred Inglethorp, heads the list. The story starts with a re-telling acccount given by Captain Arthur Hastings, an old friend of Poirot, who ultimately brings him into the case to elucidate the murderer. As soon as Hastings arrives at Styles, he clearly senses that not all is well. His old friend John Cavendish tells him he is in financial trouble. John's wife, who conveys to Hastings "the impression of a wild untamed spirit in an exquisitely civilized body"; is entirely enigmatical. Emily's assistant, Evie, is a practical and matter-of-fact woman who "had a large sensible square body". Although we never really learn what such bodys look like, we can immediately picture them. Here, I find, lies one of the secrets of truly masterful character description. Even very early in the book, we come across the famous description of Poirot: "...hardly more than five feet, four inches...", with "the head exactly the shape of an egg", which "he always perched a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military." He was so incredibly neat that "a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound." The description of the characters is unique, and so is the great amount of interactivity among them. They are not a huge lot, but there's enough of them to give us a supply of good complications and 'red herrings': the sinister Mr. Inglethorp, the unimaginative John Cavendish and his perhaps too imaginative brother Lawrence, the servants, even the townsfolk. All the characters play their roles in due course, with none overshawing the others.

This is a very complete novel and, as such, is also very graphic. There are at least five illustrations created by the author, among plans of the house and handwritten letters. The reader has - apparently - all the clues at hand. This was very common at the time, as well as the titling of each chapter. It all works to provide us with the whole picture. Poirot displays his wits to no end (with quite a bit of activity I must say that we don't find in later novels), and the story - typical of the rules of a good mystery for the 1920's - ends happily for everyone involved except, maybe for Hastings; who seems to be looking for a wife but has no luck in finding the right one. Ah! No problem, mon ami, perhaps in the next adventure?

In 1920 Agatha Christie introduced a quirky little Belgian detective to the world in this book she wrote on a dare from her sister. The time is World War I and Poirot is one of a small group of Belgian refugees who has come to live in a rural English village. With his egg-shaped head and his well-groomed moustache, Poirot enters and soon becomes one of fiction's best-loved detectives. Also in this novel, the reader is introduced to his cohort, Captain Arthur Hastings, recovering from a war injury at the upper-class household known as Styles Court. The mistress of the manor is Emily Inglethorpe, an elderly woman who has just married a much younger man. The family members occupying the house all become suspects when Mrs. Inglethorpe is murdered and it is up to Poirot's little grey cells to sift through all the red herrings and, in the final chapter, reveal all in true detective fashion. High on Poirot's list of suspects are: John Cavendish, the elder stepson; Mary Cavendish, his wife; Lawrence Cavendish, the younger stepson; Evelyn Howard, Mrs. Inglethorpe's companion; Cynthia Murdoch, her protegee; and Dr. Bauerstein, a mysterious stranger who lives in Essex. All have motive and opportunity but only Poirot can discover the truth.

This first novel sets the tone for many Christies to follow. The wealthy family inhabiting a country house, the non-violent method of murder (poisoning) so favored by Mrs. Christie, and the light-hearted but often serious romance all became hallmarks of many of her later works.

Have a cup of hot chocolate with Poirot and enjoy the adventure.

As a personal journey--a man's search for answers about his son's murder--Gone Boy is superb. By avoiding the contemporary tendency to see experience through the lens of predictable, knowable, "normal" and generic psychological stages of grief, Gone Boy evades a trap which waylays many attempts to describe grief and healing. With a piercing honesty, Gregory Gibson does not avoid a few long, hard, deep looks into the darker--chthonic, say--side of his nature--and all our natures: the violence within. And so as the darkness of the experience is transformed into a kind of on-going enlightenment, the hard won hope rings true. Gregor, and in fact his whole family, never allow the darkness to get them. As the story of one event's expanding concentric circles, Gone Boy is also superb. In clear, vivid, often luminous prose, Gregor relates his experience of looking the vast, unknowable complexities--webs of interrelations-- surrounding his son's death straight in the eye. The complexities he examines most often arrive in the form of the actual people--the murderer's parents; the man who sold the murder weapon; a security guard wounded during the shooter's rampage; psychiatrists who interviewed the murderer; officials at the college at which the murder ocurred etc.--most intimately involved. Gregor does not treat these people as necessary but secondary players, stepping stones to his own self-analysis, but instead allows us to look into their eyes too, to see the pain, denial, struggles, and insights which each carries through a world irrevocably changed by the events which link them all.

The shooting at Simon's Rock College was the first of what has unfortunately become a decade of shootings. The case has been cited as a "template" for the series of recent shootings across the nation. In Greg Gibson's courageous GONE BOY, he puts into words what may have left others confused, angry or simply speechless. He offers a deconstruction and reconstruction of a school shooting that sheds new light and perspective on these terrible tragedies. This important and powerful boook is a classic for our time. It helps us to not only better understand youth violence in our world today but ourselves as well. Gibson has succeeded in delivering a beautiful, eloquent and engaging book sure to raise awareness and serve as a reminder that one person can make a difference.

Gregory Gibson takes the reader on a painful journey and makes it bearable.I appreciate his objectivity and honesty.No one can really understand what it is like to lose a loved one through murder but this book will bring you as close as possible.About the reviews chastising him for being angry:grieving people are angry,life has been pulled out from under them,control is gone, and yet the world marches on,rarely acknowledging their pain.That is part of the gift of this book,it is a real portrait of how prolonged grief is and how complicated.Maybe those naysayers were expecting some Oprahesque,shallow resolve.

Though I have never read Thomas Hardy before, I shall again very soon. I greatly enjoyed Far From the Madding Crowd. I kept associating Bathsheba, the heroine, with Scarlett O'Hara. They are both women from the past who are struggling for a place where only men typically tread. Unlike Scarlett, Bathsheba's emotions are more restrained. She's so young, but matures through the book. The reader yearns for the day she finally matures to the point that realizes she needs a partner in life, and her perfect partner is Gabriel Oak, her steadfast mate of fate.

I definitely recommend this book for one of those cold rainy weekends curled up on the couch.

I am looking forward to diving into my next Thomas Hardy novel, Jude the Obscure.

I've always condidered myself to be sort of an optimist; so it is really odd that I've always really loved Thomas Hardy's books. I count Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure among my very favorites, and whether or not it is my favorite, I think that The Mayor of Casterbridge is marvelously written. Still though, reading all of that fatalism and cynicism can be a little much. It was really nice to pick up this novel and not read so many grim scenes.

Far From the Madding Crowd is a pretty simple love story driven by the characters. First, there is Bathsheba Everdeen. She's vain, naive, and she makes the stupidest decisions possible. Yet, you still like her. Then there are the three guys who all want her: Troy who's like the bad guy straight out of a Raphael Sabatini novel, Boldwood who's an old lunatic farmer, and Gabriel Oak who is a simple farmer and is basically perfect. The reader sees what should happen in the first chapter, and it takes Bathsheeba the whole book to see it. The characters really make the book. The reader really has strong feelings about them, and Hardy puts them in situations where you just don't know what they're going to do. The atmosphere that Hardy creates is (as is in all of Hardy's novel) amazing and totally original. I don't think any other author (except Wallace Stegner in America) has ever evoked a sense of place as well as Hardy does. Overall, Far from the Madding Crowd is a great novel. I probably don't like it quite as well as some of his others, but I still do think it deserved five stars.

This book was a required read for Academic Decathalon but I was handed the cliff notes and told to study them if I didn't have time to read the book. I dislike cliff notes unless I have already read a book and I need to review so I chose to listen to it on tape. I was thoroughly surprised to find myself laughing at the overly-honest Gabriel Oak proposing marriage to Bathsheba Everdene, I had been informed that this book was something of a rural comedy but I had not expected such preposterous situations and ironies. The novel centers around Bathsheba though I would not label her the heroine because the reader is often frustrated by her behavior and even annoyed by it. She is quite poor but a smart girl and a particularly beautiful one as well. Gabriel meets her and soon decides he must marry this young woman. She declines deciding that she can't love him and soon moves away. Gabriel loses his farm in an unfortunate event and through circumstance comes to be in the same part of Wessex as Bathsheba. She has inherited her uncle's farm and is now running it herself and she is in need of a sheperd and sheperding happens to be Gabriels forte so he is hired. Farmer Boldwood who runs the neighboring farm becomes smitten with Bathsheba too when he recieves a prank valentine saying "marry me" on the seal(this valentine was sent by Bathsheba and her maid/companion). He soon asks for Bathsheba's hand and Bathsheba who feels guilty for causing this man's desire says she will answer him upon his return in two months time. The union with Boldwood is not to be since Bathsheba falls deeply in love with Frank Troy and soon marries him. An ex-girlfriend of Troy's shows up but dies shortly after giving birth, Troy is heartbroken and tells Bathsheba that he loved Fanny more and still does. Troy leaves and soon is assumed dead but is truly only missing. Boldwood moves in one Bathsheba again but in a set of bizarre events Troy returns to take Bathsheba from Boldwood once more. Boldwood is infuriated and turmoil ensues. This is an escapist novel in these times and is well worth reading. Weatherbury and Casterbridge will charm you and allow you to experience the little oddities of Victorian Era rural life in the pleasantest way imaginable.

"Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of beling black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century." -W.E.B. DuBois, in the Forethought

This book contains essays written by W.E.B. DuBois. Some of them are very historical and recount the African American events and progess, and some of them are very personal, in which DuBois tells about his own life. I learned a lot from reading this book. For instance, I had always thought of what an awful thing slavery was- a horrible part of America's history- and that is was such a good thing that it was finally stopped. However, I never thought about the implications of life for the ex-slave after it was ended. Here were many African Americans, free, yes, but with what? Nothing. How would they get anywhere without money, education, jobs, etc.? And after freeing them leaders imposed unfair segragation and Jim Crow laws upon African Americans, so they were not really free at all.

Another thing that interested me about this book was the evolution of the slave's religion. It is very interesting to me how DuBois discusses their original religion of magic/ancestor and earth worship,etc and their gradual progression to the Christian religion of their masters, and then back to the beginning in an almost cyclical pattern. I don't think the African-American culture would be the same at all today if it were not for this mix of religious belief, although some would argue about how good it was for a religion to be forced about them and I would tend to agree.

W.E.B. DuBois was a pioneer of African American literature and thought. This book of essays will make you rethink the progress and status of African Americans throughout America's history, and will help you understand and sympathesize much more. I do agree with a previous review's critique that this book has some disturbing anti-semitic passages in it; in fact, a friend of mine wrote her paper for our 20th Century American Literature Class on that subject, so that did point that problem out to me. I find it strange that DuBois can so effectively and reasonably argue for the equality of African-Americans while so irrationably spout such anti-semitic comments. Except for this problem (which should not be overlooked), the book is very important and powerful, and it did and continues to do a lot for the advancement of African-Americans in the US.

At the end of the century, in a few months there will be much debate about the person of the century, the writer of the century, the actor of the century and so on. This book, this writing should put DuBois at the very least in the top five ranking of the most important writer and thinker of the twentieth century. He is as far as I am concerned the Black Nostradamus. He forsaw what has been happening in recent years with the increase of hate crimes and mass acts of violence and oppression against the colored masses of the United States and the world. DuBois like no other from his time captures the spirit of the America Black and he allows his reader to read and to understand what has caused the Black consciousness to be in the state of disaster that it was in and is in in some aspects. He is a great writer and this book should be required reading in every American Literature and Black Literature class in every high school and college in this country. This is an important work not only for Blacks to read but whites as well. Well written and well received is all that I can say about this book. GREAT!!!!!

The Souls of Black Folks, as other reviewers have pointed out, is a masterpiece of African-American thought. But it is even more than that when we consider the context and time in which the book was written. Most of what DuBois discusses is still relevant today, and this is a tribute to the man, not only as a scholar, but as someone who was continually adapting his views in the best image and interests of black people.

Some reviewers refer to DuBois as "the Black Emerson" and, as a university instructor, I heard similar references made: 'the Black Dewey" or "the Black Park," referring to the Chicago School scholars. Du Bois was brilliant; indeed, these white men should be being called "the white Du Bois"! Du Bois literally created the scientific method of observation and qualitative research. With the junk being put out today in the name of "dissertations," simply re-read Du Bois' work on the Suppression of the African Slave Trade and his work on the Philadelphia Negro and it is clear that he needs not be compared to any white man of his time or any other: he was a renaissance man who cared about his people and, unlike too many of the scholars of day, he didn't just talk the talk or write the trite; he walked the walk and organized the unorganizable.

White racism suffered because Du Bois raised the consciousness of the black masses. But he did more than that; by renouncing his American citizenship and moving to Ghana, he proved that Pan Africanism is not just something to preach or write about (ala Molefi Asante, Tony Martin, Jeffries and other Africanists); it is a way of life, both a means and an end. Du Bois organized the first ever Pan African Congress and, in doing so, set the stage for Afrocentricity, Black Studies and the Bandung Conference which would be held in 1954 in Bandung, Indonesia. Du Bois not only affected people in this country, he was a true internationalist.

Souls of Black Folk is an important narrative that predates critical race theory. It is an important reading, which predates formal Black Studies. The book calls for elevation of black people by empowering black communities -- today's leadership is so starved for acceptance that I believe that Karenga was correct when he says that these kind of people "often doubt their own humanity."

The book should be read by all.

Gibson has both developed and regressed in this piece, which appears far from the noirish heights of Neuromancer, and yet somehow more mature. Mona Lisa Overdrive is a complex book, which tracks the overlapping stories of five characters, using neat chapter-size sections for each. He develops each character with startling skill, no mean feat for the man who filled Neuromancer's 300 pages with a host of electrifying descriptions, while failing to expand his main character's background beyond several brief paragraphs. The storyline, as per usual, is inane. The book is a cyberspace-Mafia thriller with Gibson's typical conspiratorial edge, and an ending that was meant to be profound - particularly to followers of the trilogy - but misses the spot. But it isn't the storyline which drives a Gibson novel, as any hardened fan will know. Gibson's true talent is growing his nebulous future world into new dimensions - this time into Japanese organized crime and the American 'urban refugee' scenario - and applying to it his extraordinary style; prose that has its roots in 30s detective fiction, yet, in my opinion, far exceeds the questionable efforts of Raymond Chandler and company. And this is where Gibson has failed this time around, inasmuch as he is capable of failing in the stylistic arena. Though in many ways it is a remarkable evolution from his uni-character, monologous works of the past, Overdrive is texturally thin. Unfortunately, Gibson shines mainly in his style, and so while he has stepped forward with this book, he has left many of his readers behind.

The third in the Sprawl trilogy, I'd really recommend reading this but preferably if you've read Neuromancer and Count Zero first. It's an awesome book, but without the background knowledge from the two previous books it could be a struggle. The imagery Gibson concocts for us is exquisite, from the neon and chrome plated Sprawl, to the urban junkyard of the Factory, the dilapidated future London stuck in a time warp and of course the wonders of Gibson's Cyberspace, made even more fantastic here by some clever plot twists. It's all so real you're right there with his characters yet he doesn't bore you with over description - that's quite an achievement. His characters are complex and breathe life and aren't just mono dimensional cardboard cutouts - they each have their strengths and frailties. And by the end of the book it all makes sense .... almost .... but leaving you to ponder some aspects of the story. Which is just as it should be :) Well recommended.

This was the first Gibson book I ever read. After browsing through a local Sci-Fi bookstore, and having heard good things about Gibson from a friend, I spotted this in the used book section, and picked it up. Immediately thereafter, I was enthralled.

Gibson has taken the probable, the possible, and the fantastic, and woven them into a single, believable entity. Mona Lisa Overdrive is a worthy successor to Neuromancer, in every aspect. Such favorites as Sally (AKA Molly), and the Finn tie this into Neuromancer quite well, as do the references to Case and the union of the Rio and Berne AIs.

Gibson's style is such that it takes several readings to truly understand a book; even then, you're left wondering "what did he mean by that?" Mona Lisa Overdrive is no exception. Never having read Neuromancer previous to Overdrive, I was mystified by the events described in the book; once I read Neuromancer, many things were revealed.

The technology, the political intrigue, and the societies of Gibson's future are projections of current trends, plus the mystical dimension of "cyberspace;" the medium through which the majority of the world communicates. There is nothing new under the sun, and Gibson proves this with Mona Lisa.

The book The Miracle Worker by William Gibson is written exceptionally. It is about Helen Keller (def/blind child) and how she is taught how to communicate.
Her teacher was a woman named Annie Sullivan. The story is told from Annie's view in the first person. Throughout the book Annie tries different methods of teaching Helen how to communicate. Finally, one method of hers works. At this point Helen understands that objects have names. By memorizing the hand motions (sign language) previously Helen knows the names for everything.
Because Helen can't talk, hear or see William Gibson describes everything she does in great detail. This gives the reader many visuals in their mind while they are reading. You can almost see Helen feeling things and you can also get a picture in your mind of what she looks like. At the beginning of the book, we don't really know what to think of Helen and Annie because of some of their actions. Helen as anyone could imagine is not well behaved and is a mess. Annie is very strict with Helen and other than getting very upset when Helen disobeys her she is a pretty quiet person. However, as the book goes on we learn to love both of these characters because we understand where they are coming from.
I would strongly recommend reading this book to gain a greater appreciation for the lives of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

Based on a true story, The Miracle Worker is a poignant drama exposing the childhood struggles and feats of Helen Keller. Keller's life story is widely regarded as one of the most inspirational triumphs of the human spirit in American history. This modern drama is a near perfect rendition of Keller's early years on a homestead farm in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

As the play begins, Kate Keller discovers that her child, Helen, cannot hear nor see her. A period of time elapses, and the family is trying to decide what they should do for Helen. After a bit of reluctance, Captain Keller consents to writing to Dr. Chisholm, an oculist who might be able to help her. It turns out that the oculist cannot help Helen, but he does contact Alexander Graham Bell, who in turn refers the Kellers to the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The Institute sends to the Kellers Annie Sullivan, a teacher who will attempt to communicate with Helen. Annie's first day with Helen is rough, as Helen ends up locking Annie in her room and throwing away the key. Eventually, Annie is able to finger-spell into Helen's hand, but Helen doesn't quite understand what the words mean. When Annie tries to discipline Helen, Helen gets mad and won't let Annie touch her. This prompts Annie to ask for two weeks alone with Helen in the Kellers' garden house. Once again, after great reluctance, Captain Keller assents. The two weeks pass and Helen still hasn't learned what words mean. Annie asks for more time alone with Helen, but the Kellers refuse and insist on bringing her back into the house. The reader is left wondering what will happen and reads on, awestruck, as Helen begins to make tremendous progress.

Besides educating the public about an important cultural icon, The Miracle Worker also promotes handicap awareness. I believe that this play can be used as a tool to teach children about accepting people with disabilities. As a disabled person myself, I testify to Keller's strength and every time I think of Keller, I am continually reminded at what I have accomplished in life despite tremendous difficulty. I'm sure that anyone who has ever been faced with an unusually tough set of circumstances will cherish this story, regardless of age, sex, or interests. As I said before, it's all about the human spirit -- if Keller's story doesn't inspire you to accomplish more in life, I doubt that anything will.

I read Miracle Worker in class with my classmates and teacher. I find Miracle Worker a very touching story, about Helen Keller and Annie Sulliven. Some of the other characters are: Captain Keller, his wife Katie and his son, Helen's half brother, James. In the beggining of the book, Helen is a wild animal, but we see how this all changes, with Annie's help. By looking at Helen's actions throughout the book, we see what a great mind Helen has, and if she knew how to speak she would have tons to say. It is a very good book

I hate to admit it, but if this novel had not been included in the Modern Library's Top 100, I probably would have never picked it up. I have never been a fan of socially conscious literature, and I anticipated a novel in the style of William Dean Howells - full of cardboard characters, most of whom would be down trodden and hopeless, or rich and ruthless, and enough moral pronouncements to make me feel guilty for at least a day or two. Thankfully, I let the Modern Library editors convince me that the book was worth reading.

The novel is set during the dawning of the twentieth century and concerns itself with the impact of mechanical innovation on the bucolic life styles of a midwestern town. As the novel opens, the gulf between prominent families and their aristocratic lives are contrasted with those in society whose main purpose it is to support this luxurious and frivolous existence. The aristocracy is personified by the Amberson family, wealthy and prominent, and particularly by George Amberson Minafer, the spoiled grandson of the family's founder. He is unable to understand that a great revolution is taking place around him, that the lifestyle he has always known is soon to become anachronistic as those people with talent, luck and a little capital will soon surpass him in wealth and prestige. Although he has the talent to join this new mechanical age, he prefers to be and to remain a gentleman and to believe that "being things" is far superior to "doing things."

As the midwestern town grows and expands and becomes more and more industrial, and even as the Amberson family compound becomes surrounded by apartment buildings and factories, George is unable to accept the fact that he and his family are becoming irrelevant. As the town quickly turns into a dirty and depressing city and the Amberson fortune begins to crumble, he still dresses for dinner, still drives a horse and cart, and still holds to his standards "as a gentleman." Tarkington weaves in subplots involving the love story of George's widowed mother and the Henry Ford-like Eugene Morgan as well as George's own romantic involvement with Morgan's daughter. These stories add a subtle ironic twist to the narrative as well as allowing the author to delve deeper into the consciouness of his spoiled (but sympathetic) antagonist.

Although there is some of Howells influence in this book, Tarkington does not succumb to the artistic sterility of his mentor. This author is able to tell an interesting story and to develop characters that are not only realistic, but invoke an emotional response from the reader. And although the ending seems to me a little contrived and more in keeping with some of the "realist" writers of the early twentieth century, Tarkington's novel is, in the end, successful and offers an enjoyable reading experience.

This epic story is about the ducal Ambersons -- a rich family in the midwest ( probably Indiana ). George, the grandson of the rich and famous Major Amberson and his mother are the primary characters.

George's mother worships him. There is not a thing she will not do for him. Her love for George, ultimately spells her own disaster. George, on the other hand, is very spoiled, superior, snobbish and self-centered.

As the story unfolds, the reader watches the Amberson estate slowly fall. The unsuspecting Ambersons, do not realize this until it is too late. George, who has refused to learn a trade ( that is for common folks ) must learn to survive through his own earnings near the end of the tale. However he has been ruined through his own actions and winds up nearly friendless.

A good book describing the rise and fall of families -- who are the center of attention one day and then forgotten in the next generation. The message of the book is that life is like sand hand in one's hands. For a while you have it but it slowly slips through one's fingers.

This Pulitzer Prize winning novel tells the story of the decline of the once magnificent Amberson family, the leading family of a Midwestern city at the turn of the century.

George Amberson Minafer is the spoiled young heir to the Amberson fortune, but America is now entering the automobile age & the conservative Ambersons are ill equiped to deal with the rapid changes.

Tarkington intertwines two tragic love stories with the theme of the Ambersons decline and produces one of the really great forgotten novels that I've ever read. Perhaps the book got lost because of the great screen version that Orson Welles produced, but whatever the reason, this is a book that deserves a wider audience and Modern Library is to be applauded for including it on the list.

GRADE: A