As a flutist and music therapy major in college, I experienced chronic wrist pain because of countless hours of practicing several instruments, typing papers, and hauling equipment for music therapy sessions. I had been to see a physical therapist during school but was not satisfied with the answer: "Quit practicing." Last year, tired of the physical and mental strain of chronic pain, I tried Kate's book in order to take control of my pain. With daily practice of the exercises illustrated in this book, I was ecstatic with the results. I could not remember the last time my hand was free of pain! Since my livelihood depends on using my hands, knowing I could stay virtually pain free with daily exercises was a huge relief. The trigger point releases and self-massage techniques in this book, help me to release the daily tightness of muscles in my hand and feel great. The range of motion exercises and stretches are quick and easy to do throughout the day. Without this book, I would still be a victim of chronic pain. I have been more than pleased to find a way to strengthen my wrists and hands to prevent further damage and pain. If you are ready to take and active role in decreasing hand and wrist pain and preventing further problems, you will not regret purchasing this book.

Suffering from wrist pain that would not allow me to pick up anything heavy and sent me wretching with pain when I simply rotated my wrist at a dance class. I suffered for about four months and it seemed to be getting worse not better. Then I researched the web and found a carpal tunnel chat line. Person after person reported surgery that didn't work at all or pain that came back after six months or a year. 3 people used Kate Montgomery's method and all reported success. I purchased the book. I started working the suggested program and had relief in about a week. I was consistant with the program for several weeks. The pain totally went away. I still occasionally do some of the exercises. I have been pain free for over 18 months, now. Please try this before surgery. It worked for me!

My 10 year old son even uses the 12 step program to combat "gameboy wrist"!!!
As a massage therapist specializing in "medically sound massage" and caring for hundreds of clients in their workplaces, I have found this book a MUST HAVE resource for both myself and my clients!! I donate copies to every company I visit and have seen dramatic results in my those that follow this simple care plan.
I find the book easy to read and understand.
I recommend it for treating and prevention of pain, regardless if you are an office worker, LMT, musician, or just a warm body!

I think this book is as worth-reading as the rest of the other Anne books. I think people who love kids will love this book even more because both the children of Ingleside and the Manse are so cute and witty as usual. Like Anne, I myself also take a special liking to Faith. She is so much like Anne when she was in her Green Gables days. It bought back memories of Anne Shirley especially when Faith made those apologizes and explanations...oh..that blessed child is so much like Anne herself. I also like Walter for his courage to fight for both her mother and Faith. But I think this book has put too much focus on the Meredith clan...and that there really aren't much about Shirley and Rilla in this book.

This book is great! You need to have read all of the Anne of Green Gables books to understand it. Its about Annes cheeky children who meet the new vicars children.The vicars kids are very naughty and their father is in his own little world most of the time, and doesn't spend much time with them. Annes kids really like them and have adventures with them. The vicars kids also have a runaway orphan who lives with them. She is very outgoing and seems quite common.The children don't know what to make of her at first, but she soon becomes their friend. This is my favourite book out of the Anne series I and would reccomend it to anyone.

I really think the only reason not to find "Rainbow Valley" one of L. M. Montgomery's better novels in the Anne series is because it obviously has the least to do with Anne or her children. This one is really more about the four Meredith children who belong to Ingleside's new widowed minister, so I can see where some readers would be less than pleased with the direction. But the ending of this novel, where Una Meredith communes with her mother's wedding dress before going off to get her father a wife, is as touching as anything Montgomery ever wrote. All in all, "Rainbow Valley" reminds me more of "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road" than any of the other Anne books, with the Meredith children having a series of humorous misadventures. I am also impressed because as you can tell from the ending when Walter Blythe speaks of "The Piper," that Montgomery is already committed to writing about what happens to these children during World War I in her next Anne book, "Rilla of Ingleside." Even though it is atypical "Rainbow Valley" is my second favorite book in the Anne series and I am the proud owner of a first edition copy.

If you have read the earlier Pat book and you are really interested in what happens between Pat and Hilary your interest will jump every 5 years and will take up about 20 pages of the entire book. This book could easily have been made spanning only 4 or 5 years instead of 11. It seems to say a lot about the years that nothing happens in and then very little about the years where what happens in her life could be made into a book itself. It is almost irritating how little is seen of Hilary especially since he was such a main character in the previos book.I personally wish Montgomery spent more time talking about what happens between Pat and him throughout the book instead of mentioning him every 2 years and having him vistit only twice throughout the whole book.
If you really like Montgomery's very descriptive style and you can stand Pat's almost annoying dedication to her house and the decisions she makes because of her house you'll love this book. If not this probably isn't the book for you.

Pat Gardiner's dogged devotion to her home was natural and sort of cute in the first book, when she was a child. In this sequel it's a little bizarre; her hypersensitivity to even the slightest negative remark aimed at Silver Bush is just plain irrational. She seems to have no real goals in life other than to keep things unchanged as much as possible, which is not a terribly exciting or admirable ambition. There is a limit to how much landscape-gazing and nature appreciation one can find charming. Again, this was fine in the first book, where Pat aged from about seven to eighteen, but in this book she ages from twenty to thirty.

Why the author decided on such a long time span is beyond me, because nothing much happens in between. The most interesting complication is the marriage of Pat's brother to her arch-enemy May Binnie near the story's end, but it falls flat because May is portrayed as a static, one-dimensional villainess who can't do anything good, right down to her accidentally setting the house on fire.

Fortunately Pat's housekeeper Judy gets a lot of space, and provides some much-needed entertainment. Jingle is almost completely absent, and you'll need to have read the previous book to understand why they'd have any interest in each other now. The final scene between him and Pat is sweet, although a little anticlimactic; eleven years is a long wait.

This book also illustrates one of the risks of setting a story even a few years in the future. It was published in 1935, and calculating by dates mentioned in the first book, the story ends around 1944--with, obviously, not a single comment about World War II. I suppose even Montgomery, who had been so caught up in the first World War, couldn't be expected to predict the second, but it does give an interesting twist to Jingle's comment about the honeymoon they'll spend in the Austrian Tyrol. Now THAT would have made an interesting book!

Pat loves her home at Silver Bush. She always has and always will. Soon she realizes that she will have to decide between love and her beloved home. Everyone starts to leave and she feels lonely, but then a beacon of hope comes her way.

It is interesting that reviewers appear to be so critical of the translation, ignoring what Goethe himself did to the Faust legend. From the annoying homunculus to the exorbitant Walpurgis Night to the self-indulgent Gretchen 'Travesty,' this is a story that never should have been written, with parts that would have been useless to try to stage. Faust and Mephistopheles were used as tools in a story that Goethe wanted to tell, rather than him telling their story. It is an overwrought nightmare.
The only reason I give it one star is that the site does not permit zero.
Read Christopher Marlowe's version instead.

While the translator deserves praise in his efforts of tackling a difficult work, the result is average at best. The excision of text, as has already been noted by other reviewers, is the biggest reason to avoid this translation, but I will admit that it is perhaps the most accessible and easily read translation available. For those with a serious interest in Goethe and Faust, I would recommend the Walter Arndt/Cyrus Hamlin critical edition from Norton. I believe that to be a much more accurate rendering of Goethe's exemplary work.

I want to open up by saying that this particular translation is above all others. The penguin version is awful. Secondly, I will say that "Faust" is beautifully written, putting Goethe on par with Shakespeare. Goethe captures the phenomena of boredom and low capacity of freedom. The Doctor, Faust, has studied philosophy, science, literautre, and so on, but still feels empty and disatisfed. What would you do? Would you, as he does, take company with the Devil?

There is humour, wit, eloquence of language, and detail. There has to be some reason why it is so praised by scholars today. Even Oscar Wilde, who wrote "The Picture of Dorian Gray," borrowed from it.

Be aware, though, of how difficult the play is to read.

The next to next to last of the Anne books, I believe that this shows a marked decline in Montgomery's enthusiasm for the character of Anne Shirley Blythe. As a result, after this she focused on Anne's kids, and then on her daughter Rilla.

The book has a very haphazard feel to it, as if she didn't put much thought into the stories. Half of them aren't even about Anne, and when she does appear she has little of the old tang to her. When she doesn't seem snooty, she seems... flat. Devoid of the explorer instinct that showed up in previous books. She's no longer interesting.

Anne is about forty now, with several kids and a good life. Two of the long-running threads are A) the blight of Aunt Mary Maria Blythe, a creepy old lady who makes life in Ingleside a living hell, and B) the seeming blahnes of Anne and Gilbert's marriage. In the latter, there's reappearance of Christine, an old girlfriend of Gilbert's.

Unfortunately, the blah stories are not helped by the fact that none of Anne's kids ACT like kids. They seem more like caricatures of ideal kids. They never act/think/behave like real kids, and there's no dark side to their personalities. Gilbert hardly registers.

In addition, Montgomery lost a wonderful opportunity to make Anne daring and DIFFERENT. She turns from a fierce young career woman and enthusiastic writer into a so-so housewife. Yawn. Why is it, if you are married and have kids, but don't do any of the housework and don't have a job, you still can't work? Montgomery could have challenged the standards by having Anne continue writing--she even says to Christine that she's ditched her writing for her kids. (Can you imagine how proud they'd be?)

Rather than keeping Anne as a competitive writer, Montgomery turned her into an underappreciated "woman of the times." With the exception of overly-gooey "House of Dreams," this is my LEAST favorite Anne book. Ah well. There's always Emily and Rilla.

It seems that Montgomery didn't know what to fill this book with. There are some nice stories about Anne's children (who are very sweet kids indeed), but there is also the extremely boring chapter about the gossipy Ladies' Aid meeting, or the too lengthy presence of the personage of aunt Mary Maria. Anne herself has turned into a common housewife, and there is nothing left of the good naughty little girl with the great imagination or the clever and ambitious young woman. Gilbert is a doctor, Anne is "Mrs Doctor", and we almost forget about the earlier school and college competions between both of them, where they are equal and both interesting. Reading the previous books one could think Anne would become a famous writer, not just the shadow of man she loves. She is really a wonderful mother and wife, but she could be these things without losing her personality too.

a lovely book-though not as beautiful as the other Anne books. I was terribly disappointed with the names of Anne's children. Imagine naming your child after your sur name!(Shirley). And it seems so stuck-up somehow to name your child after yourself(Anne or Nan) I think Montgomery could have been a bit more original with regard to the names.

I like their system of naming your children after people you love-like James,Walter,Rilla,Diana. So why on earth could not Anne do the same with Nan and Shirley? Otherwise quite an entertaining book- I'm a HUGE fan of all Montgomery books and my personal favourite is Rilla of Ingleside.

Makes for good reading and the language is flawless and absolutely beautiful....

The Anne books were among my favorites growing up, and I thought it would be fun to re-read them. Boy, was I wrong! "Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat" and "The Materializing of Cecil" were both cute, and "The Brother who Failed" had a nice end, but the morals of 1920 are more than a little disturbing now. In "The Education of Betty" a man marries his high school sweetheart's daughter, whom he helped raise from childhood, and in "In Her Selfless Mood" we are expected to sympathize with a woman who throws her life away on her no-account brother. And the less said of the **appallingly** racist "Tannis of the Flats" the better. The stories that are not embarrassingly outdated are sappy little romances. The Little House books retain their charm in a way Avonlea has not. I will not be sharing these chronicles with my children.

I would recommend giving this volume a miss, if only to avoid reading the embarrassingly racist closing story, "Tannis Of The Flats", and being rudely reminded of an unsavory side that exists to some of our fondly idealized images of the past as filtered through the Anne series. Even without that, however, none of these tales are very good (though some of the light-hearted ones, like "Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat" are kind of fun); the melodramatic ones are often downright wretched. And, as with the first CHRONICLES, Anne appears only briefly.

I highly recommend this book for any fan of "Anne of Green Gables." It's for adults as well as children.

I can't believe how many people (including myself) had never heard of freshwater dolphins before seeing this book. Why isn't there any information out there about these intriguing cousins of the saltwater dolphins that we all know and love? Well, now there is! And Sy Montgomery takes us deep into the habitat of the freshwater dolphins --- the Amazon (where, as she explains, there are trees and ants that can kill you, among many other things). She not only explores the life and biology of these dolphins, but she also explores some of the myths that surround them. She learns that many native Amazon peoples believe that these creatures can take the form of humans in their efforts to seduce women into their underwater world. She relates first hand accounts of these stories and myths. But the author doesn't stop there, she writes extensively about the atmosphere of the Amazon, the people, the ecosystem, the cultures, the tourists, the industries, etc... She provides alot of interesting information about a very unique subject. As I read the book, I felt as if I was being pulled into the Amazon. Her writing is clear and approachable, sometimes poetic, but other times drawn-out. There are some very insightful passages as well. And fascinating photographs are scattered throughout. I recommend this book to anyone interested in animals, conservation, adventure travel, aboriginal/native cultures and all those intrigued by the idea of a freshwater dolphin!

I loved this book! Sy Montgomery is a talented writer, able to put you in exotic places with vivid descriptions, I almost felt I was in the Amazon. She really brought it to life, I look forward to reading another book of hers I have purchased, "Search for the Golden Moon Bear."

The book focuses on the author's quest for the pink dolphin, but really it is a journey to find not one but two dolphins. I don't refer to the other species of dolphin that lives in the Amazon, the tucuxis (one which she also covers in the book), but for two sides of the same animal. On the one hand she searches for the pink dolphin, the bufeo in Spanish or boto in Portguese, a living animal of which little is known about in comparison with many other dolphin species. Living in the most massive river system on earth, one connnected to innumerable lakes in the rainy season, in waters often black as coffee and infested with caimans, piranha, stingrays, and electric eels, in often very remote regions to which there is no reliable transportation to, it is a difficult subject to study. An example of cetaceans from an earlier geologic era, primitive when compared to modern oceanic dolphins, the pink dolphins preserve something from an eariler era, a holdover in the modern world. Montgomery and her various companions in the book struggle to get good observations of the dolphins, to try and track them, to identify individuals, to observe their behavior. The author finds that even experts who have studied the bufeo for years are often perplexed by them. She has many successes, providing much interesting information on them and a fine series of color photographs of the often startingly pink dolphins.

Montgomery though is also questing for the Encante, the mystical shape-shifting dolphin that is very real to many of the peoples who live along the mighty Amazon. Believed to exist in fabulous cities beneath the surface of the river, the locals speak in conspiratorial tones about the dolphins' magic powers and often lust for attractive humans. The natives often worry that their wives, husbands, sons, and daughters will be stolen about by the fabulous Encante, and speak with awe and reverence about the dolphins. Montgomery continually quests for the natives' views of the Encante, for their "true" tales, and for how they protect themselves against their fantastic attention.

Montgomery doesn't exlusively focus on dolphins though. Her book in part is a vivid travelogue of Amazonia, bringing us to many exotic locations. We visit Manaus, the impossible Paris of the Amazon, home to an opera house right out of a fairy tale. Built upon the backs of native jungle peoples by rubber barons, today it is a squalid city trying to embrace change. She takes us to amazing Meeting of the Waters, where for miles two tributies of the Amazon, the black River Negro and the white Solimoes, flow side by side before forming the true Amazon River. We are taken to two different nature reserves, both with differing strategies, Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo and Mamiraua, where some of the rich life and deadly beauty of Amazonia is preserved against an uncertain future. Montgomery takes us to the impossibly clear waters and white sandy beaches of the Tapajos and Arapiuns Rivers, where she actually swims with the dolphins, something not possible elsewhere in the dark and piranha-infested rivers elsewhere. She undertakes a vision quest by taking the hallucigenic Ayahuasca or "Mother of the Vine," something few Westerners have done (and for good reason).

Further, while the bufeo or boto is the star of the book, many other animals form a rich supporting cast. The odd hoatzin, a bird with claws, seemingly someting out of the Mesozoic. Electric eels, extremely common and suprisingly complex. Caimans, another seemingly prehistoric species. Amazonian manatees, gentle vegetarians that are much more intelligent than often given credit for. The weird side-necked turtle. All manner of insects, including ants. And more are given space.

Some have said that she rhapsodizes too much in the book, but I disagree. She has done her research, the book is filled with interviews with experts, and there is a nice bibliography at the end. She has skillfully combined hard science with poetry, and the effort is very worthwhile. I highly recommend it.

In reading this book, I feel as though I learned as much about the Amazon and its people and culture as I did about pink river dolphins. Mythology, botany, entomology, anthropology, zoology...it's all there, along with doses of history and present-day conservation and environmentalism.

I love Montgomery's style of writing (and thinking). There were times which were poetic, educational, reflective, and others in which I found myself laughing out loud.

A long-time dolphin lover, I appreciate Montgomery's enormous effort she undertook to connect with pink river dolphins. I'm happy to have found and read this book so she could share them with me...

This was the next best thing to being there.

In the mid 1980's, (certainly with the help of the Guide's forecast) I perhaps spent more time and energy than I should have with being concerned about the possible "Axis Shift" of the Earth which had been predicted by the Guides and Edgar Cayce as possibly happening around 1998-99. Now here we are, in the Year 2000, and the prediction of this "tilt" of the Earth (which the Guides still maintain WILL happen and cannot be stopped by human intervention) will not occur until maybe 2013 at the earliest! I've read and enjoyed all of Ruth's books as well, but this one reads more like a gossip letter from an old friend than a compelling book. Be careful not to worry or prepare too soon for such a catastrophic event, because who knows?, by 2013 it might be delayed for another 10 or 20 years again. I've enjoyed reading the commentary from Arthur Ford, Lily and the Guides, but their prognostications are far from infallible. Didn't they suggest once that the shift might have happened by now, and that Ruth would not be alive to see it? Please don't get too caught up in it. Also, I did not care that much for all of the historical figures from the Jesus Era who are purportedly reincarnated (and acquainted) in America today. This book is really for die-hard Ruth fans who needed an encore.

The World to Come was an incredible book to read! I have read many of Ruth Montgomery's books and enjoyed them all immensely. They were all enlightening eye-openers. It is good to know that not all predictions are 100% accurate...that's why they are called predictions, with an element of "possibility" within them. Psychic and Mediums are guided to give information. It doesn't mean it will be totally accurate or come about on a specfic date. If conditions change, thoughts change, or hearts change, so will the outcome of a prediction. You are on a path and if your free will chooses another path, its likely what was originally felt as your outcome will not come to fruition. When this happens, when a change occurs in consciousness, so will the outcome because of the changes you've choosen. God may have lesson the blow, do to the change of consciousness of our thoughts, our prayers, or our combined efforts up to this point. Nothing is written in stone with God, all things are possible. So for those who are disappointed that the Shift of the earth's axis didn't occur on a specific date, or hasn't yet occurred...do not lose faith in Ruth Montgomery. She was given information and shared this information with her readers. She was given "new" information and shared again with us. This does not make her have less credibility, or negate all the information she has so generously shared with us. If anything, we should be thankful for her honesty to set us straight. Frankly any delay in Shifts, or trauma to the world is fine with me.

Working in a book store in 1982 Ruth Montgomery's book "A Search For Truth" literally dropped in my hands from three shelves above me. The title caught my eye immediately because at the time I was searching for answers. From the moment I began reading I could not put the book down. Ruth has a way of writing that holds you captive. I read eight of her books after that and all were just as good as the first. Ruth Montgomery introduces topics of a metaphysical nature to her readers in such a way that make sense and sound logical. She is believable. Ruth is a great teacher on topics covering reincarnation, past lives, life after life, walk-ins, and the list goes on. Long before the rest of us would develop our insights in the late 90s and into the new century, Ruth was an original writing on subjects that during her days were considered too bizarre. Ruth is a pioneer in the field of metaphysics. Her books were written to bring us enlightment. This last book is a blessing to the ones that have enjoyed her previous writings. Reading Ruth's books were like having a friend that understood you and helped you find the answers to questions which were often crossing your mind, but never fully understood. Finding Ruth Montgomery's newist book after 12 years, I was not going to pass up the chance to enjoy my old friend again. For those that do not understand, or do not quite follow what she has written in a "World to Come" I strongly suggest reading all her books and coming back to this one. You will not be disappointed.

... I would have never purchased this book.
I love the idea of giving my little 2 and a half year old a universal approach to tales and stories from all over the world. I new Rudoph qualified. I had no idea that there was a monster in the story; note that it was the one thing that impressed her, and she asked me what it was.
I wouldn't suggest it to anyone that wants to introduce the idea of Santa Clauss to their child.

I was very impressed with this book . . . a beautiful book, wonderfully illustrated, containing the original story, which did not have the Abominable, or Herbie, or Yukon Cornelius, like the later movie. I remember as a child in 1951 listening to the original story on 78rpm records put out by RCA and have attempted for years to find the original story. Although I did notice some subtle differences in the words . . .the original referred to Rudolph's, er, "forehead" (Santa was too polite to call it a big red nose) . . most of the text stayed true to what I had memorized. Definitely a book not only for children, but for us baby boomers who remember the original. A must-have to hand on from generation to generation.

Yes, the other reindeer make fun of Rudolph's red nose. (I would hardly call this bigotry.) That is the point of the story: Rudolph overcomes adversity and the other reindeer learn to accept differences. Even the elves learn to accept a dentist and the misfit toys are given to boys and girls who love them. Maybe the USA reader should have watched (or read) until the end of the story instead of making snap judgements like all of the other reindeer.

The opening of "Magic for Marigold" is probably my second favorite of all of L. M. Montgomery's novels, after "Anne of Green Gables" of course. The story of how Marigold Lesley came by her name and was sealed of the tribe is wonderful, and the way Old Grandmother rules over the Lesley clan is the best thing in the book. Although the final scene between Marigold and Old Grandmother is equally wonderful, the novel seems to lose some spark once Young Grandmother is no longer "Young" Grandmother. Marigold's encounter with the young woman claiming to be Princess Varvana is another one of Montgomery's comic vignettes, which plays to her chief charm as a writer, spinning comic yarns about provincial life on Prince Edward Island at the beginning of the century (this novel was first published in 1929). I do not think the rest of the novel holds up as well as the highpoints, but when she is good, Montgomery is very good and this book remains my favorite one of her novels outside of the Anne and Emily series. Final Note: Having just returned from vacation on Prince Edward Island, I have to say that the house shown on the cover sure looks like the Green Gables Museum at Silver Bush to me.

I love this book! Montgomery eliquent use of prose,her vividimagination and poetry allow the reader to see life throughMontgomery's eyes. Montgomery's talent as a writer enable girls young and old to view life in its wonderful aspects as she does in Magic for Marigold. Marigold is a delightful girl with wonderful dreams and high adventure. My personal favorite is her journey with the uncontrollable princess and her midnight rendevous with Budge. I recommend this not only to girls young and old but to mothers to read to their childeren. Everyone should read L.M. Montgomery's books. I guarentee joy and happiness with each page.

My mother, who is 82, gave me her already old copy of this book about 40 years ago. I read it many times then and many times to my daughters when then were small. We consider it one of the best of the middle childhood books for girls. It uses images of nature to develop a powerful sense of place and an almost ecological ethic that is way ahead of its time. It is a feminist tale in that there is a big range of female characters of all shapes and ages, good and bad, strong and weak, boss and bossed, smart and very smart, to love and to hate. The book is a collection of chapters that stand up on their own, each with its own message, and in that way mirrors everyday life with stories of success and failure repeated over and over. It is a comforting book because Marigold is not too good, too beautiful, or too smart to stay out of trouble, but ultimately digs her way out using her own resources. Neither too good nor too bad, she is pretty much a regular, real girl trying to figure out how to grow up without being separated from her emotions, her imagination, and her true self.