Peter Telep is one of my favorite Wing Commander authors. That's how I got interested in this book. Red Planet was another one of his great books that I really enjoyed reading. It didn't take any enjoyment away from seeing the movie, either. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly recommend that you do. You won't regret it!

Red Planet was very enjoying for me to read. I liked how the chapters were setup into small bursts of excitment, unlike many other books that trundle on in each chapter twenty pages too long. I am a fan of future settings and future technology so this book also quenched that thirst too. The one thing that I thought was cool about the whole book is that it would be able to fit into a 2 hour movie. So you would be able to go watch the movie to further clarify some situations that your own imagination may have gone over board with. Not to long ago I read Battle Field Earth before it came out at the movies. I thought that book was really good too, but I was REALLY disapointed when I went to see the movie. I should have known better to think that a director would be willing to justify all 1600 pages of the book on film. Well I am truly looking forward to more work from Peter Telep, and if the movie doesent live up to the quality of the book that wont be a suprise, but I do think that it has a good chance of being a carbon copy of the book. One last thing, if you are a reader like me with little time to dedicate to reading I would highly suggest this book because it is setup so you can break in the action and put it down with out loosing too much perspective. Good luck and good reading

`Red Planet' is an very well written and entertaining read. I tend to read novelizations before i see the film because often a movie will gloss over, bypass or ignore details that a book will take note of and make the characters and their situations much more interesting. Mr. Telep has done a excellent job with that because he explores the relationships between the astronaunts (the best part of the book) and their reasons for going to Mars, other than the mission, in such a way that only a book can divulge. This is a good old astronaunt story...no ET, no giant ant-like creatures, no Darth Vader - but there is...something up there. Read this book and you will believe you are walking the surface of Mars. If the movie is half as good, and believable, as the book then they have a blockbuster on their hands.

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.

Eight Cousins in one of my favorite books! The stories behind the pages showsuspense and brilliance in every word. Please, reader, read this book, for you wont regret it! Rose Campbell has it all: wealth, brains, beauty, and kindness, well, she has every thing but a mother. But her father is kind and cherishes her beyond love, but then suddenly Rose is an orphan at her Aunts' house. Her many aunts all want custedy of her, but finaly, she is put into the hands of her Uncle Alec for a year. Alec is a kind and simple gentleman who gets rid of Roses corsets and things and though she is aghast at such notions, she soon becomes grateful for him. Then, seven boys come into the picture, though all gentlemen, still were boys! Rose dispises boys, but must learn to get along with them for the sake of Alec, for she is ready to do every thing possible for him. But after the year, through tragety and scorn, Rose finds that she can't tear away from them. This novel is possesive and ful of suspense and I recomend it with full heart. Sincerly, a reader of this book.

When my teacher told us that we had to choose a book from her book list for our book reports, I had no idea what book to choose. After a while I finally chose this book, Eight Cousins. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down!!

The book is about the time when Rose Campbell's father died, and Rose went to live with her Aunt Peace and her Aunt Plenty , who lived in a big house on Aunt Hill, until her uncle, her legal guardian, came for her. When Rose arrived she was a very sickly & scared girl. Her aunts didn't know what to do with her, and she was surrounded by 7 loud and wild boy cousins. When her savior/guardian, Uncle Alec arrives, she puts her full trust into him, and he helps overcome her fears, & turns her into a very pretty and healthy child. It wasn't long before Rose was as happy, healthy and lively as any of her cousins.

Don't worry, I didn't give away the ending, (the back of the book tells even more than this)! As I said before, this is one of the best books I have ever read, (I even cried a little at the end!!!).

ENJOY!!!!!!

Rose is a sad little girl. Orphaned at the tender age of 13, she has been in the hands of several well-meaning but misguided aunts, all of whom are stifling her with their good intentions.

When Uncle Alec finally arrives on the scene, he vows to undue the damage done by the aunts. To that end, he demands one year to do with Rose as he will. If, at the end of that time, the results are not satisfactory to all, he will again concede control to the females.

Touching and sweet, most little girls will enjoy this book. I read it over and over as a child, and never tired of the antics of Rose's 7 boy cousins as they tried to please, entertain, and earn her favor. Reading it over again as an adult, I'd say there's nothing in this book to worry a parent. It's a good, wholesome story, and some of the lessons found inside it's pages still apply today.

ADAM BEDE is a thrilling read, though it may seem hard to believe given the unpromising setting and the stilted way Eliot introduces her story. But after the first few starchy chapters, abruptly, something wonderful happens: she gets wise to herself. It's as if you can see her realize that the upright characters she *thought* she was pinning her story on, dull Dinah and Mr Irwine, aren't really the stuff of which fiction is made -- so she shoves them aside and takes up the flawed characters of her triangle, who resonate with possibility at every turn. Suddenly, miraculously, with almost no warning, all Eliot's amazing gifts as a writer take center stage: Her psychological insight. Her phenomenal wit. The dramatizing genius that allows her, effortlessly, to plot the most intimate narrative developments against the gigantic backdrop of a county-wide feast or funeral. Her fearlessness and surefootedness in picking her way (and ours) through the tangle of social and class relationships of an entire village. In this embarrassment of riches, maybe most rewarding for a reader like me is Eliot's unerring ability to pay off her plots: here, ladies and gentlemen, is a writer who knows how to write the hell out of a climax -- George Eliot's big confrontation scenes never, ever disappoint.

Too, some wizardry seems to keep her narrative touch both incomparably delicate and completely unflinching at the same time. At the heart of ADAM BEDE is a story so sordid I wonder whether it could be broadcast on network TV today, and Eliot tells it without vulgarity but without ever shying away from its ugliness. My most serious criticism of the book is that Eliot didn't quite trust herself enough not to tack an unconvincing (and, worse, uninteresting) happy ending onto her story. But the hair-raising drive of the middle two-thirds of the book is something you'll never forget.

George Eliot weaves a simple story of love, suffering, and goodness. While the plot is hardly complex (boy loves girl, another boy gets girl, unhappiness abounds - also reused in Mill on the Floss), the manner in which Eliot develops her characters and their emotions and actions ring as true and resoundingly as a bell. It's so clear, so obvious, but also moving and textured. You feel Adam's absolute love for vain little Hetty, Dinah's calming grace, Arthur's good intentions, Lisbeth's fretting nature. Eliot draws you in with her honest observations of life in a country town, without the background becoming a dominant factor. The near idyllic life the characters lead is a healthy contrast to the town's emotional upheaval.

Adam is an upright, genuine character, and not as perfect as he seems. If his love for Hetty seems unfounded at times, it only serves to highlight how dangerous delusions can be. All the "sinners" are ultimately redeemed by truth - true love, true friends, true promises, and true acceptance. Religion plays a significant part in the novel, but don't let that deter you. It's so much more than that - Adam Bede is truly one of the few works that encompass a world of humanity between two covers.

AB reminded me of Tess of the D'Ubervilles a bit, but there is no villain here, just flawed, honest people in search of unattainable dreams. In the process of trying to get a bit of happiness, they stumble and bleed, but ultimately find something truly worth having. Bittersweetness is Eliot's trademark for good reason.

George Eliot's first full novel is obviously a bit less polished than her later works, but you see the wonderful command she has over language and expression. The book, the people, the story all come alive with her touch. A rare read that has something to say and says it beautifully.

This book was a dirty task to complete, but I was so enchanted with the romances that I couldn't put this book down. Not only of romance (Eliot's forte), but with tragic twists. Superb, and also difficult read. Readers of all ages will find this story beautiful and hard to forget.

I didn't like to read any books before, but after I have read this book , I become more and more interested in reading. I started to have motivation to read as many books as in my life.
" A Study in Scarlet " ( written by Conan Doyle ) is the first full-length novel appearance of Sherlock Holmes. And I know Sherlock Holmes is very famous detective in fiction. Therefore, I choose this book.I like Holmes's deduction the most. He has great power in observation and understanding in all types of crime. He is full of knowledge that can help him to solve the problem and he likes violin and opera. If his brain contains anything apart from these , he must try to forget them all as quick as possible.

I am quite interested in mystery. If you don't know which book is good to read , try to read the story about Sherlock Holmes . You must like it .

A Study in Scarlet is a good detective story, but certainly not Doyle's greatest. But it bears the distinction of being the novel which introduced the world to the legendary Sherlock Holmes. First appearing in 1887, it was not to be the greatest story about Sherlock Holmes, but it was the first. Doyle first introduces us to John H. Watson, a medical doctor recovering from duty in Afghanistan. Watson needs a room-mate, and a mutual acquaintance introduces both him and us to Holmes. So we come to know both Holmes, Watson, and the memorable 221B Baker Street.

Watson's first impressions of Holmes are merely that he is a man enshrouded in mystery and eccentricity, and Watson politely restrains his curiosity by avoiding asking too many intrusive questions, despite the parade of strange individuals that come to their apartment to consult Holmes, and despite his bemusement at Holmes' passion for playing the violin and his egotism. Watson's perplexation at Holmes' character and profession is slowly unravelled in the second chapter which Doyle appropriately titles 'The Science of Deduction'. Watson observes that 'his zeal for certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me 'His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing ' That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.'(p11). Holmes apparently is brilliant at identifying a stain on your trousers, but completely ignorant about the most elementary contemporary political events.

Ironically, Watson's inability to deduce Holmes' profession proves that he lacks the very ability that he is seeking to uncover in Holmes: deduction. For Holmes doesn't just excel in specialized knowledge, but especially in the science of deduction and logic. By utilizing the skills of observation and analysis Holmes asserts that logic could solve all virtually all problems. In his words: 'From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it. Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches on where to look and what to look for. By a mans' finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirtcuffs ' by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable.' (p14-15). Watson calls this science of deduction 'ineffable twaddle', but as we know, this is the vintage Holmes we love and the very core of his being. Not only does he prove it to Watson by remarkably deducing that Watson had served duty in Afghanistan, but by collaring the criminal in a murder case.

The story itself consists in two parts: the first part introduces us to Holmes and Watson, and describes the murder of Enoch Drebber and his secretary Joseph Stangerson, and several failed attempts of Scotland Yard detectives to solve it, concluding with Holmes unmasking the real perpetrator, to the complete astonishment of all present. The second part is a flashback, explaining the background and motives for the murder, as finally Holmes relates the observations and deductions that led him to solving it. In short, 'the crime was the result of an old-standing and romantic feud, in which love and Mormonism bore a part.' (p103)

But what is fascinating about 'A Study in Scarlet' is not so much the mystery, but the man: Holmes himself. Doyle would later learn to eliminate some of the excess baggage present in this story (such as the extended flashback) and focus on Holmes and his deductions. The characterization of Holmes as an eccentric man driven by logic is wonderfully created for the first time in this novel. Already here is the foundation of the Sherlock Holmes that would become so successful in all of Doyle's later stories. A few quotes illustrate how the tone of the deductive Holmes is set: 'In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much.' (p99-100) 'There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.' (p100) 'You see, the whole thing is a chain of logical sequences without a break or flaw.' (p102)

Here the successful formula is already established: Scotland Yard is baffled, so is his foil the bumbling doctor Watson, and so are we the readers. Holmes has long solved the mystery before we have even begun identifying red herrings, and it is when he sits by the fire and explains to Watson the process of deduction that we curl up in delight. The partnership between the super-sleuth Holmes and his beloved side-kick Watson all starts here, and if you love Sherlock Holmes, you won't want to miss it!

This is where it all began, the very first Sherlock Holmes story. If you want to read all 60 Holmes adventures in chronological order (as you should) then by all means make this the first Holmes book that you ever read. They are all literary masterpieces, and this was the first one! Out of the 4 Holmes novels, I would rank this third, behind the Valley of Fear and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I will spare you the plot details, you can do that elsewhere. Just get and read this book and it will start you on a fascinating and extremely entertaining journey through Conan Doyle's world of Sherlock Holmes, one of the most widely recognized, and best, figures in all of literature.

Little Lord Fauntleroy is a story about a little American boy, Cedric who suddenly finds himself the heir-apparent to a title in England. His grandfather, the present Lord Fauntleroy, (who originally disowned the boy's now-dead father for marrying his American mother) sends for the boy to live with him. His faultless mother of course agrees to let him take this opportunity, while she goes to live in a nearby cottage.
Then a woman appears with a boy she claims to be the son of an older son, apparently displacing Cedric as heir. It is a testament to Little Lord Fauntleroy's sweetening effect that his grandfather unites with his mother to fight against this alternate claim (successfully, of course...this is no book for bittersweet endings--the good always triumph, the evil always meet they're downfall, and the good and the evil are always on opposite sides).
Enough sugar to gag a horse, but no story. From the start, the little boy is perfect...charitable, pretty, strong, and smart--but infinitely oblivious of others' defects. He does not grow or change. He does not wrestle with problems. He does not even realize there are problems. He is not a character--he's a pro-American fantasy.
The real protagonist is the present Lord, the boy's grandfather. His transition from conceited grump to true grandfather is mildly interesting. However, far too often Cedric's perfect little self takes center stage, constantly presenting himself to be admired by the other characters, who were not so fortunate as to be perfect or American.

A fine story is good enough to read several times, like good music or art. That is true of Little Lord Fauntleroy.

This is by far, in my opinion, the best version. While some license has been taken to compress this great story into the time available, many of the lines are word-for-word from the book.

Stories like this become classics because of the author's great style and skill in the art of storytelling. Directors would do well to accurately portray to original and not try to innovate too much.

This version actually lends to ones imagination when the book is read, even though there are some differences. Our family has watched this video several times and will, I'm sure, watch it again.

This is an excellent book. The man who wrote the book is called F.H.Burnett (Francis Hodgson Burnett).
I read this book because my sister was telling me all day long to read it. Now I have to say thanks to her, because it's a great book, what's more, is one of the best books I've ever read.
It is about a boy called Cedric Errol. He's not only intelligent but also kind and beautiful. He used to live with his father and his mother, but his father died, so he started trying to make his mother happier.
One day, he was in the corner with her close friend Hobbs (he is a man, not a boy), when the woman that works in his house, Mary, went to the corner to tell to Cedric that he have to return to his house. There he saw a man... This man was called Mr.Havisham, he was the lawyer of Cedric's grandfather. This man was there to go with Cedric and his mother to Dorincourt (that was the castle of his grandfather). Cedric would become a Lord, Lord Fauntleroy. At first, he doesn't like that but then...all the things change.
The lawyer of his grandfather gave him a lot of money to do what he wanted. The surprise was that Cedric, instead of buying things for himself, decided to help other people. For example: he helped the old woman that sold apples in the street to buy a shop.
When Cedric met his granfather, he thinks that his grandfather is the kindest man in all the world, but this opinion is not the same that the poor people that lives there have.
Cedric and the countess become very close. But suddenly, a woman appeared telling to all the people that her son was the real Lord Fauntleroy. This new Lord was very stupid and he was not what we can call "beautiful". Obviouslly, the countess doesn't accept that this stupid boy was the son of his son, and he starts investigating.
Here I have to stop, if not I will tell you all the book, no?. Well, I recommend this book, it is really amazing!!!
Andre (=_0)

This review of the book Pollyanna may be affected by the fact that it's being written by a boy, but let me say first that I enjoyed the Disney film version with Hayley Mills. I just didn't like the book as much. It's really nothing more than your average "irrepresible orphan turns everything upside-down" story, and like most of them, it's filled with cliches and is blatantly unrealistic, not to mention cloyingly cute. I could not stand the character of Pollyanna; she spent too much time chatting her mouth off and misinterpreting every cold act of her aunt's as an expression of love to really make an impression on me with her "glad game." While the characters are somewhat interesting, they're all stereotypes: the cold, unloving mother figure (in this case an aunt), the kind doctor who spends too much time with his patients to blot out an unhappy personal life, the embittered millionaire with a secret, the hypochondriac, grumpy invalid. It's so easy to notice these stereotypes that it makes everything so much less real than it already is. The movie was different in that it was completely believeable, thanks to the talented cast and the calm, subtle playing of Hayley Mills, who actually made a difference and had an obvious, BELIEVEABLE effect on the town without drowning us in cuteness. Get the movie; forget the book.

This book so effected me as a child, to this day, many many years later the phrase, "If you look for the good, you will find it" still serves as a valuable reminder for how we can effect our realitiy with our personal perspectives. This little girl, Pollyanna, teaches other children how to play the glad game in a wonderful and engaging story. Too few children today, know how to recognize or be happy. They haven't learned the "glass is half full" thinking. This book is a great spiritual guide, without trying to be one. Please read it and discuss it with your child. You'll both be happier. Thanks.

Have you ever been dropped into a house where you feel invisiable? Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter is a tender heartwarming story about a girl and her aunt's relationship. Eleanor H. Porter has touched many souls with this heartwarming and loving story.

This heartwarming story is about the relationship and concern of an aunt and her niece. They both try to accept that there's someone important and new in their lives.

Meet Pollyanna, and her aunt Polly, they both live in Vermont. Pollyanna and her aunt devolp trustcin each other after facing many obsticles.

Eleanor H. Porter brought in very discriptive detail. She changed font and size when she expressed what each of the character did, said,see and thought. Eleanor H.Porter is a very talented author. She convinces the reader with her expressive chapter endings.

You will find this story irrestible if you love stories that have characters who devolp many relationships. Adults and kids who have read this book will say its hard to put down. Don't miss this wonderful oppertuinty to see how this very good relationship begins, devolps and ends.

I loved the constant satirical wit and subtle depictions of character in Babbitt and Main Street (something of a forerunner of Friedan's The Feminine Mystique). Arrowsmith retains some of Lewis' virtues but it is a bit disappointing. Unlike the afforementioned novels, it is not primarily a satire but rather a medical bildungsroman. Martin Arrowsmith's character is subtly explored and his shortcomings and strengths closely examined. Lewis has some cogent criticisms to make of the commercialization of the medical establishment and here his habitual satirical bent seems appropriate but it does not always work when he takes occasional potshots at his main character, Martin Arrowsmith. George Babbit was an essentially satirical character that deserved Lewis' constant satirical attacks but the portrayal of Martin Arrowsmith seems at times out of focus, as if Lewis was not always sure if he wanted to stick with satire or just do a straight portrayal. Another criticism I have of the book is that the medical details occasionally seemed superfluous and plot details at times repetitive and monotonous. I think he could have trimmed about a hundred pages off this book. Arrowsmith is still worth reading and Martin Arrowsmith is an endearing character whose life story unfolds with much subtlety and insight on the nature of love, friendship, work, the struggle to maintain integrity in a commercial world, and the desire to do something meaningful in life.

Author Sinclair Lewis had some exposure to the medical profession early in his life through his father, who was a country doctor. Yet, even with some personal exposure, it's amazing how much of the idealism and cynicism, evident in modern physician practice, Lewis portrays in his 1926 pulitizer prize winning book, "Arrowsmith". Martin Arrowsmith, M.D. is a fictional idealist who is a human being before all else, but trying to bring science to the practice of Medicine. Actually, the story seems almost autobiographical due to the personal intensity and human fraility of the complex main character. As a registered nurse, reading Arrowsmith brings flashbacks of the past, like the cliches "deja vu all over again", or worse, "the more things change, the more they stay the same". Medicine for financial- profit, patient care challenges, personality conflicts, political shenanigans, professional competition, and overutilization of medical technology are some of the common problems Arrowsmith faces as he pursues a career in medicine after barely struggling through the politics of medical school in the mythical town of Wheatsylvania, Midwest, USA, in the early 20th century. This is not another novel about how physicians affect people's lives, but a masterpiece about the nuances of the medical profession as mysterious and suspect,of physicians who are heros and villans. Most surprising are the humerous vignettes sprinkled throughout the plot like bits and pieces of old Jack Benny radio show skits. When Martin Arrowsmith must decide if he is to fulfill his promise to marry Madeline Fox or betray her for his soul mate Leora Tozer, the genious writer Lewis creates such humor in the ensuing restaurant scene, that should be frought with melodrama, but, instead, is absolutely delightful reading. Similar humor engulfs the life portrayed of Arrowsmith's employer, Pickerbaugh, and his fleet of daughters named after flowers, like the saucy Orchid. Arrowsmith is simply a joy to read, especially for people who have a flair for some classic literature without getting too deep into concentrated philosophic thought. Simply put, Arrowsmith today, were he to practice in modern medicine, would probably be no better or worse off than he was in 1908 through circa 1920, when the novel takes place. Arrowsmith is a classic American novel and an entertaining story.

Lewis has written such a wonderful story, filled with tongue-in-cheek contempt for the mercenary ways of mankind. In Arrowsmith, he has created a protagonist who is not without flaws, but has good intentions. Also a wonderful story for people who enjoy medicine or the medical world. (But you don't have to to enjoy the book!) After reading it, I'll want to check out some of Lewis' other works.

I am a devoted fan of Agatha Christie and usually rate all her books "5-stars". In this case however, I would give it "4-stars" because while the characters of Tommy and Tuppence are really well drawn and it's great fun to read about them, the book is more shakily plotted than many of Dame Agatha's other books. I spotted the master criminal almost immediately and normally never do that. Also the basic plot line was thin at best and never really hung together in any coherent way. I got the feeling that Christie enjoyed creating and writing about Tommy and Tuppence so much that the mystery became almost secondary in this case. But the characters are so entertaining to read about that it's impossible to not enjoy the book! If ypu enjoy reading about post-WW1 England and the struggles of young people who find themselves suddenly at a loss to get by, all done in a most light-hearted, fun manner, then you need look no further!

Though not exactly a mystery, Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary is yet another wonderful and exciting adventure starring Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, probably the most lovable of Christie's detectives. The answer to this mystery/adventure may not be too difficult to guess at, but it's the fun-loving, humourous characters one falls in love with. If only Agatha Christie had written more books staring the Beresfords.

First I would like to say something, I LOVE Tommy and Tuppence. The young and lively Tommy and Tuppence (portrayed in Secret Adversary and Partners In Crime) not the middle aged couple the later novels made them to be. The mystery itself is pretty good (it is Agatha were talking about, after all) but what makes this book stand out from the rest are the two main characters. Their dialouge is witty, their romance (they are in love, aren't they??) is sweet. This is easily one of my favourite Agatha Christie books.

This is a classic work explaining in a remarkably objective manner the many varieties and possibilities of religious experience. It well avoids the common trap of falling into a polemic either for or against religion; nor does it become a tract supporting Protestantism over Catholicism or vice-verse; or even Christianity over Islam or vice-versa. The book is extremely well-reasoned and liberally dosed with examples of the extremes of religiousity. These extremes not only make for entertaining reading, but James argues that we can learn more from the people who have felt the religious impulse strongly than we can from those who neatly fit religion into their otherwise secular lives. An over-weaning theme of the book is James's respect for the individual's experience of religion. As a result, this is not a book about the varieties of religions, as it does not compare Protestantism and Christianity; nor Judaism and Buddhism, or any other forms of established religion. In fact, in his chapter about mysticism, he argues that the established religions customarily treat mystics and mysticisms as heretics and heresy. Mysticism then either succumbs or successfully survives to either break off to become its own established religion or becomes absorbed into an established religion. By the time that has happened the individual aspects of mysticism are lost and are replaced by still further dogma.

This book should really have been titled "The Varieties of Christian Religious Experience," for it is only for Christianity (and to some extent Judaism) that James is well-versed enough to give a thorough examination. It is not that he does not respect Islam or Buddhism; it is that he doesn't know them well enough to draw them fully into the discussion.

A hundred years after its first publication, James' "Varieties of Religious Experience" is still probably the best place to start a study of the psychology of religion. Based on lectures delivered at Edinburgh in 1901-2, it is supplemented with an astonishing wealth of extracts from religious writings. Although understandably biased toward Western, specifically Christian traditions, it is breathtaking in its scope. Nowhere else will you find such a wide ranging and thorough survey of all those experiences and attitudes - mystical, emotional, ethical, visionary - that we term 'religious'. You will never get around to reading all of the authors quoted in this book, so this is the place to sample them.

Some readers will approach this work as believers seeking clarification, others as skeptics seeking to understand. Their viewpoint may be philosophical or theological or psychological. All will be rewarded. Critics voted this among the best 100 books of the twentieth century. If you want insight into humanity's religious dimension, it should be your number one choice.

You will not draw the nectar out of this book unless you are aware (the earlier the better) of James' premise that the stronghold of religion lies in individuality. These lectures are not a study of "religion" nor even a study of religious "experiences" in toto, but a study of "individual" religious experience. Singular. It sounds narrow only until you add the other word of the title... "varieties."

Why such an emphasis upon the individual? Because, as James states, the pivot around which the religious life revolves "is the interest of the individual in his private personal destiny." All proper "religion" by such a definition must consist in an individual experiencing connection with that which he considers to be the higher power(s). In fact, at one point James states that "prayer is real religion." And further, "Wherever this interior prayer is lacking, there is no religion; wherever, on the other hand, this prayer rises and stirs the soul, even in the absence of forms or of doctrines, we have living religion." A thought-provoking principle.

You will never appease your hunger by staring at a menu. You have to actually open your mouth and "experience" the eating of some food. Similarly, we can only learn about religious experience by recounting the experiences of those who've done some profound religious eating (so to say). This is James' method. He renounces the ambition to be coercive in his arguments (this is not an apologetic work) and simply focuses on "rehabilitating the element of feeling in religion and subordinating its intellectual part." He does this by the examination of diverse case histories.

And he uses the "extremer examples" because these yield the profounder information. He called these types "theopathic" characters; those who tend to display excess of devotion. His reasoning is thus: "To learn the secrets of any science, we go to expert specialists, even though they may be eccentric persons, and not to commonplace pupils. We combine what they tell us with the rest of our wisdom, and form our final judgment independently."

Concerning this "final judgment" I found the following principle in the lecture entitled "Mysticism" to be particular liberating. As regards the extremely theopathic: "No authority emanates from them which should make it a duty for those who stand outside of them to accept their revelations uncritically." A good word to hide in your heart against the next time some well-intentioned saint feels that their eccentricities should be yours.

To be honest, I found the lecture entitled "Philosophy" to be fairly technical and daunting, but such criticism I charge to my own lack of knowledge in this area rather than to any deficiency in the book itself. Upon closing its covers, I was a satiated bee. The book is total nectar.