This review concerns the revised 1970 edition. When a new hydrofoil is set to begin taking passengers between Bayport and Cape Cutlass, its owner, fearing sabotage from angry boat owners, asks Frank and Joe to come along on its maiden voyage. Arriving in Cape Cutlass, Frank and Joe also, try to help their father with his case concerning a gang that has been stealing boating supplies. I hate reviewing books like this one because there really isn't much to say. The book was neither excellent nor bad; just average. The mystery isn't one of the better ones; however , it is not boring either. I don't think that most fans of the series would rank this book as one of their favourites, but I don't believe that many fans would be disappointed with the book either.

Dear Mr. Dixon,
Hi, I'm a big, big fan of yours. I just absolutely loved your Flying Express book. It was great when Frank was pushed overboard and had to hang over the the blades for thirty seconds when his hands were really wet. Whew! It was a surprise when you found out Big Malarky, who seemed like a good man (But really wasn't) turned out to be behind the whole scam. I liked how Chet was turning into an Astrologer every time he met the Hardy Boys. I also liked how Zig who was the gangleader, liked Astrology, just like Chet. My favorite part was when the Hardy's found they're boat and Skee didn't know it belonged to them and let them test drive it but he ended up being arrested on the dock. I just wanted to congratulate you on this book and hope you keep on writing more fantastic books.
Your fan,
(***)

This review concerns the original 1941 edition. Mr. Hardy asks Frank and Joe to help him stop a group of foreign spies that are trying to upset the U.S. government and to locate the spies secret camp. I'd more accurately give the book 3 1/2 stars instead of a 4 star rating. The plot of the book was pretty good and there was a fair bit of action. I only found three things really wrong with the book : 1.other regular characters, like Chet, Mr. Hardy, etc., weren't included in most of the book, 2.the end of the book was a bit disappointing, as the spies were rounded-up with little incident, and 3.the author doesn't appear to have been that familiar with the characters in the series because he called Mrs. Hardy Mildred, instead of Laura and he replaced Chief Collig with a Chief Finch. Otherwise, the book was quite enjoyable and I think that most Hardy Boys fans would like reading it.

I had forgotten Hardy's unique way of making my jaw drop in the last few pages of his novels. If it's been a while since you've treated yourself to his unrelenting destruction of any hope you may be harboring for his characters, indulge. The man never disappoints a cynic.

This is one of Hardy's least known works, and is generally not regarded as highly as other titles such as "The Mayor of Casterbridge" or "Far from the Madding Crowd". Personally however it's my favourite Hardy book. I may be biased since it's the first Hardy I read and I was also "involved" with a pair of blue eyes at the time, but somehow it's a little more "reader friendly" than the others I've read (Under the Greenwood Tree & Far from the Madding Crowd) and seems to get you a little more concerned with the characters fates rather than looking for moral pointers or intellectual arguments. Try it - hopefully you'll love it too.

I've loved every Hardy book, poem, and short story that I've ever read. He reminds me of our own William Faulkner who surely must have read Hardy because he patterned his style in the same manner (Yoknapatawpha County versus Hardy's Wessex, etc.). The blue-eyed girl, Elfride, reminds me of the main character in a book I'm reading now: Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, also a book describing the conflicts of class and love and, since it's set in the US, lust for money. A long suit of Hardy's is his wonderful quotes from the peasants ("I have no use for a flower that neglect won't kill," and "dead, but wouldn't drop down." The other thing I like is his many references which enrich the story and educate the reader. Therefore I look for editions that have explanatory notes. Then too I like to have a pile of reference books on hand to get his fuller meaning: the Bible, Shakespeare, books on English literature, etc. And last, like all Hardy novels, A Pair of Blue Eyes has plenty of sex (if you can read between the lines). Hardy recognized that strongest of all drives beside the basic ones of survival, and despite what he called the Grundyism of the period, he conveyed that truth in his books. Read this book and any other by Hardy. A lifetime of pleasure awaits you. But of course that's just my opinion.

Just as he did with Monkey Business, his biography of the Marx Bros, Simon Louvish once again defeats his excellent research skills with his horribly corny and dated writing style.

Louvish's efforts to be as clever and funny as his subjects are embarrassing; good writing doesn't need to call attention to itself. Every page bristles with old medicine bottle sentences like, " To Stan, of course, art was not the issue so much as work and the remuneration therof," or, "This fact alone should provide a vital clue for the constant conundrum - the disentangling of the claims of authorship to Laurel and Hardy, the characters, the lines, the movies, the plots."

Editor!

Of course, any book with TWO subtitles is suspect. Louvish should stick to his terrific detective skills (and they are truly impressive) and get some talented grad student to do the writng.

To see what a good showbiz bio is like - well researched AND well written - check out "W.C. Fields: A Biography, " by James Curtis.

Simon Louvish's epic-length biography Stan and Ollie plays like one of those Laurel & Hardy comedies that were padded to feature-length by the inclusion of romantic leads nobody cares about. Like those movies, one has to wade through a lot of guff to get to the really good stuff.

Louvish has done his research (as he all too eager to convince the reader), and it pays off most admirably when debunking previous tales of the Laurel & Hardy history. The most compelling example is the chapter detailing Oliver Hardy's first marriage. Hardy and film historians have long maintained that he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, to pursue a film career, and there was where he met and married first wife Madelyn. Louvish detailingly reveals that Madelyn was in fact Jewish, that Hardy met her in Georgia at the time of an infamous Jewish lynching, and that Hardy and his wife exited Georgia as a result, never to return.

Such dramatic payoffs are alone worth the price of the book. Louvish also often gleans much enlightened insight into Laurel & Hardy's film work (as well he should--Louvish in a part-time film teacher). To cite just one example, his analysis of the finale of L&H's penultimate Hal Roach film A Chump at Oxford is as insightful and moving as the finale itself.

Along the way, though, the reader must endure the obstacle courses that plagued Louvish's previous bios of W.C. Fields and The Marx Brothers (both of which tomes are shamelessly plugged throughout this book). For one thing, Louvish lards his writing with enough precious verbosity to make L&H biographer John McCabe look like an illiterate slacker by comparison. (Prime example: "Babe's inner life has always been a...mystery wrapped in an enigma, hidden behind those folds of flesh.")

My final complaint with the book is that when it gets into Laurel & Hardy at their prime, it quotes other, far superior sources (most notably Randy Skretvedt's) to the point of [being word for word]. And even then, accuracy is not Louvish's strong suit. Louvish quotes a Skretvedt interview with Hal Roach in which Roach, by way of contrasting L&H with other comedy teams, states that "Abbott and Costello worked at our studio, and they used to fight like hell. But with Laurel and Hardy, when I fired Hardy, Laurel cried." This quote has almost as many errors as it has words: A&C never worked for Roach, and Roach never fired Hardy (Roach had Stan and Babe on concurrent, separate contracts and often suspended Laurel or let his contract lapse during certain disputes).

For all of its faults, Louvish's genuine appreciation for Laurel and Hardy's comic artistry makes a considerable amount of Stan and Ollie worthwhile writing for the fervent L&H buff. Just make to sure to avoid Louvish's verbal land mines in order to reach the real meat of the book

Author Simon Louvish has written insightful critical biographies on comic legends such as W.C. Fields and The Marx Brothers. However, this affectionate study on Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy ranks as his finest achievement to date. "Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy" adds new depth and poignancy to the team's life and work. Some of Louvish's opinions are not necessarily mine (he seems a bit harsh on "Babes in Toyland" and "The Flying Deuces"), yet he has a firm grasp of Stan and Ollie's modus operandi -- as well as the circumstances that hastened the duo's creative decline after leaving Hal Roach Studios in 1940. At 520 pages, "Stan and Ollie" is exhaustively researched and always engaging.

Isaiah Berlin is a good scholar and a colorful writer. However, his book The Roots of Romanticism, I did not find helpful. I suppose maybe if one approached this book with no prior knowledge of romanticism, maybe than it might provide some useful information. But if one is looking for further insight this is not the book.
My main critique with this book is its lack of conciseness. Beginning with the first two sentences the author makes this quite clear: "I might be expected to begin, or attempts to begin, with some kind of definition of romanticism, or at least some generalisation, in order to make clear what it is that I mean by it. I do not propose to walk into that particular trap." (p. 1)
No, instead Mr. Berlin walks into the trap of ambiguity. I understand that this book was originally a series of lectures, however, to say that one will not commit himself to particular meaning is absurd because, if 'truly' practiced this is a nonsense word. Maybe Mr. Berlin is purporting ambiguity as the 'definition' and in that case the introduction becomes ironical. In either case this book is filled with many more cases of such ambiguity. For example, in the rest of the chapter Mr. Berlin gives out a hodgepodge of 'everybody' else's definition and then commits himself to none.(This might have been a great lecturing device, but it is burdensome to the reader.) However, in practice Mr. Berlin attaches himself to the meaning of Romanticism as a historical movement: "I shall do my best to explain what in my view the romantic movement fundamentally came to. The only an sane and sensible way of approaching it, at least the only way that I have ever found to be at all helpful, is by slow and patients historical method." (p. 20)
The one thing that I did find interesting in this book was the comments on Hamaan the critic of Kant. As a historical figure Hamaan is virtually forgotten in most discussions on philosophy or romanticism.
These comments on Hamaan are better discussed in Mr. Berlin's book Three Critics of the Enlightenment. (I would recommend this to the reader). Also, for more recent scholarship on the interaction of Kant and Hamaan see Kuen's biography on Kant. For a better picture of Romanticism I would recommend Kierkegaard's book Either/Or.

Amazing, powerful detective work of the roots, the meaning and the aftereffects of Romanticism. Berlin uses a very nice plain "writing" style which can be easily comprehended, and yet it is beautiful enough and complex enough to give you great insights into one of the most tremendous movements in man's history. A great introductory work for the novice. This is how philosophical equiry should be like.

This is a brilliant series of lectures by one of the most outstanding humanist scholars of the twentieth century. His style is simple yet elegant, his expositions of even the most obscure thinkers are lucid and crisp. This really is a wonderful and important book.

Berlin sees Romanticism as a reaction to the universalism and exaggerated rationalism of the Enlightenment. He sees Montesquieu's relativism and Hume's skepticism as early assaults on this dominant frame of mind, but for the most part Romanticism is the creation of German thinkers. The link to German resentment against French pomp and superficiality is well known. The connection with the spirituality of German pietism, on the other hand, is largely ignored in other works on the subject, but convincingly argued in this book. Berlin gives clear and comprehensible accounts of the sources of Romanticism in the writings of Hamann, Herder, Schiller, Kant(!), Fichte, and Schelling. Especially the thought of the unknown Hamann and the aesthetics of Schiller struck me as fascinating, partly because of Berlin's gracious, flowing style which is both description, quotation and explanation at the same time. The author is also able to mix epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics in a holistic fashion, an accomplishment the Romantics would surely laud.

If I have to make one complaint, and it is perhaps not even that relevant, it might be that Berlin ignores Fichte's 'principle of right', which determines the limit of my individual freedom by the effects my free actions have on the freedom of other people. This is interesting because Berlin in his concluding remarks describes the "surprising" result that Romanticism, because of its insistence on both free will and the incompatibility of values, becomes a forceful defense for liberal pluralism and tolerance. In my opinion, this is not such a great surprise: if we scrutinize the ethics of the early Fichte, we will see that this connection is present even in the gestation of the Romantic movement.

A Review by Brandon

This book is about two boys named Joe and Frank Hardy that are on vacation. The local football team had a recent death on the team and nobody knows what happened. The owner talked to Joe and Frank and they decided the help crack the mystery. So the owner hired Frank as the back up punt returner and Joe as a guy up in an office that watches the game. Together they worked and found out who the killer was.

Three things I didn't like about this book are the realism, the lack of action, and the pace of the book. Let's start out with realism, it was lame, like they would really hire a kid on a professional football team and actually play him. Also like they would really have a couple of kids trying to solve a murder mystery. The pace of the book was really slow; it took forever for anything to ever happen. This book really lacked action; it had one good part in the beginning with the kids playing football. Then one in the end with a football game, they let the middle wide open.

I recommend this book to young teenagers that like sports/mystery books. If you don't like sports then this book isn't for you. Overall I thought this book was an ok book.

...The Hardy Boys: Illegal Procedure is a football mystery. Frank and Joe got to San Diego for a break with their father. The owner of San Diego's N.F.L. team seeks Mr.Hardy's help. He also gives Joe a job as the new punt returner, and gets Frank a job at the main suspects office. Through these jobs Frank and Joe solve the mystery.

The story is ended a little abruptly. It would be better if it told a little bit more about what happened after they solved the case. It was almost like the author got tired of writing and just quickly rapped it up. The story was easy enough to read, the author didn't use big rare words that bore and confuse people. That makes this book an easy and fast read. As far as the plot goes, it is easy to follow and moves at a good pace, so you shouldn't get bored with is. The author uses enough detail so that he leaves some things up to the imagination, but not to little that you're left wondering about the things that need detail to understand.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes football and mysteries. The Hardy Boys have been around for a long time. So a lot of people out there that like them, so check one out for yourself.

While in California, the manager of the San Diego Sharks asks the Hardys to investigate the death of one of the players. Joe gets to go undercover on the team while an evil plan is being formedagainst him. This book takes you on a wild ride to find out just who is responsible for the used to be player's death. This book is one of my personnel favorites because Frank doesn't get in on the action as much. Usually it is Frank's plans and Frank's ideas that break the case, but now Joe gets a chance at the action. Good Reading!

Anne Garland has three suitors - which one of them will win her hand? Hardy's "The Trumpet-Major" is set in Southern England during the Napoleonic Wars. This was a nervous time - tensions were high due to the threat of French invasion: this context permeates the actions of all the characters of the novel. Indeed, Hardy introduces into the narrative some real historical figues, such as King George III and Captain Hardy (of HMS Victory fame).

This isn't a bad book, but it pales in comparison to to Hardy's major novels. I like Hardy when he's at his gloomiest, when weird events happen in the depth of the English countryside. This book is pretty routine stuff both in its underpinning theme (who will marry the eligible young lady? - it seems to me that nineteenth century novelists were almost totally obsessed by this)and its lightness of style. Utterly harmless, but instantly disposable stuff.

I have read most of Thomas Hardy's novels--he is, along with Wilkie Collins, my favorite novelist--and this is the first one by which I have been disappointed. Still, a disappointing book by Hardy is worth ten by nearly anyone else, so let me explain. The ending felt quite out of the blue and abrupt compared to the events leading up to it, yet in retrospect, it makes more and more sense.

The ending aside--where the oddness is confined to just the last two pages--this is a superb character study of five disparate main characters and a handful of minor characters. Hardy is a master at imbuing each character with not only distinct personalities, but with the inconsistencies and flaws that make them leap, whole and warm-blooded, from the page. His characters are never stock people; they always seem as though they are people you could (or do) actually know in your own life.

The primary character is Anne Garland, a lovely country village girl who is much sought after by three different local men. These include Festus Derriman, a ne'er-do-well with a temper and a lust for his uncle's money; John Loveday, a soldier and the trumpet-major of the novel's title, who is the kindest, most patient character I believe I have ever seen in a novel; and John's younger brother Bob, who is a boisterous sailor with good intentions but a short attention span when it comes to the ladies. The machinations by which these three seek to catch Anne's eye is endlessly inventive and endlessly interesting for the reader, and her varied reactions to their attentions is a marvel of observed detail and the inconsistency of human nature. By turns hot and cold towards each of the men, Anne never seems shallow or thoughtless--merely human. There is also another sharply etched female character, the actress Matilda Johnson, who appears only a couple of times, but who is the linchpin of much important action.

As always, Hardy likes to insert subtle humor into even the most serious of situations. In detailing the village's concern about Napoleon (who is referred to frequently in the book by the derisive nickname "Boney"), Hardy writes:

Widow Garland's thoughts were those of the period. "Can it be the French?" she said, arranging herself for the extremest form of consternation. "Can that arch-enemy of mankind have landed at last?" It should be stated that at this time there were two arch-enemies of mankind, Satan as usual, and Buonaparte, who had sprung up and eclipsed his elder rival altogether. Mrs Garland alluded of couse to the junior gentleman.

You will be surprised, as I was, by the man with whom Anne Garland ends up. Yet now, just a day or two after having finished the novel and having been almost affronted by the abruptness and seeming insuitability of the ending, my position has softened and I can see that Hardy was actually quite true to the characters, their motivations, and their choices--however inconsistent they may at first have seemed to the reader. This is not by any means a great Thomas Hardy novel, but an average novel by Thomas Hardy is still a marvel of construction, of character, and of plot.

She was walking through the library carrying the university's entire Hardy collection. I already had a nasty schoolboy crush on her, but after that day I was jello. And perhaps it began on the afternoon she lectured on Thom. Hardy, describing him as a poet who sacrificed his art to survive as a novelist. Yet, his novels were not pot-boilers, and Hardy eventually returned to his true muse. I shouldn't write this - let Linda explain it to you.

Published in 1956 - I must admit I was a little disapointed with this book based on its title. However overall this was a pretty good volume. Set in Bayport the brothers are hired to find an ancient canon buried on Pirates Hill by Bowden who winds up being foe - not friend. Keeping the reader guessing throughout the book as to Bowden's innocence or guilt this volume drags you from chapter to chapter. Great exterior artwork on both the original & revision. RATED B-

It all starts when Frank and Joe are skin diving just for the fun and thrills. Suddenly, in deep waters that flow near the foot of a place called Pirate's Hill, dander is always on their trail. A stranger in the waters with Frank & Joe threw a spear into Frank's air hose. This is putting the very lifes of the boys at stake. Read this story, vacuum - packed with thrill & suspence hanging with you at the of each chapter, and I promise this will be the book of your lifetime!!!

The secret of pirates hill was a good book.It is very excit- ing and thrilling.All the Hardy Boys books are great litera- ture.

This book I rate a 1.6 in a sense. It was ok and worth reading, but was not all that wonderful. My biggest critique of this volume was simply this - and pardon me - but "American ignorance" And any Canadian will know what I'm talking about. First of all, before something goes to print - get your facts together and make sure its accurate. I see this with Scooby Doo, The Hardy Boys and other works of jeuvenille fiction. Americans think there are no English people in Canada!. The brothers travel to the Prairie provinces in Canada in this volume and meet up with who? PIERRE! A Frenchman. Everytime Americans come to Canada they run into French police officers, French fur traders, French lumberjacks etc. French people historically settled in Quebec, New Brunswick and to a lesser degree Nova Scotia - NOT the Prairies - which was settled by people of Ukranian ancestry. My problem with this volume is simply a lack of knowledge on behalf of the Syndicate. The book itself otherwise is medicore. RATED C-

Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff go to northern Canada to locate an ancient Viking rune stone that was recently stolen from the man who found it. This is an average book, so there is not much to say about it really. The plot isn't bad and there is a moderate amount of action. Most fans will probably not be overly excited about this book, but it shouldn't bore them either.

This book is the kind that you want to read again and again. It is about Frank and Joe who take a trip to Canada on a case because someone robbed a man of a valuable stone left by the Vikings. Carabou, a french canadian trapper was robbed of 1000.00 in cash from the sale of the stone. Will Frank and Joe find it?

This review concerns the revised 1967 edition. The Hardys and Chet go to Mexico to search for a missing witness in a stock-fraud case on which Mr. Hardy is working. Their search takes them to the desert and mountain regions of Baja California; where they come upon a village terrorized by a mysterious symbol carved into the doors of peoples homes and a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Much of the beginning of this book is similar to the original; however, the ending has been completely rewritten. The book is rather good and I would actually give it 3 1/2 stars. There is a moderate amount of action and the plot is interesting. I found the book made good use its mexican setting and the writing was fairly descriptive. It was a good book that is definately worth reading.

This review refers to the original 1934 version written by Leslie McFarlane.
The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe, along with their dad, Fenton, travel to Mexico to locate a missing witness in oil stock swindle.
Along the way, they rescue a kidnapped Mexican boy and get invited to his father's hacienda, where they meet a mysterious Yaqui Indian who aids them on their quest.
All the threads come together as the Boys and their father are captured by the murderous Vincenzo and his band of cut-throats.

There's plenty of action and adventure here as the Hardy Boys battle their way free and solve the case!

Frank and Joe are out in their motor boat when they have a run in with a man in another boat driving recklessly. Searching for him again, they find the boat abandoned and spot what looks like a submarine. Meanwhile, there father has started a new case. A bookkeeper, the star witness in a stock [problem] case, has disappeared, and Mr. Hardy must find him. Soon, the trails lead the Hardys down to Mexico, where they must use all their skills to track the men into the wilderness. But what will they find when they get there?

I always wanted to read this book as a kid (something about the name attracted me), but never got around to it. Finally reading it as an adult, I enjoyed being back in the Hardys' presence. Frank and Joe are still able to entertain, although I must admit they couldn't quite mystify as much as they did when I was a kid. Still, their fans will love this adventure with plenty of danger, excitement, and close calls. Not to mention a wonderful escape scene near the end.

These books have captured the imagination of generations of boys for a reason - the adventure. This book will keep readers glued to the page to find out what happens next to their heroes.

This was a forced attempt to bring Asian culture into the series. Keep in mind, The Mystery of The Fire Dragon of Nancy Drew fame was published the same year and it dealt with Asian culture. I view that as a negative. The brothers run a ferry service while operating a Chinese Junk in Bayport. The book was actually not too bad with a fair amount of interaction with the criminals. I rank it as average never really liking or disliking this particular volume. RATED C+

Frank, Joe and a group of their friends buy a chinese junk to make money during the summer by taking passengers out to picnic on one of the islands in Barmet Bay. However, shortly after they buy the junk, two rival chinese groups begin pressuring the boys to sell the boat. Also, Frank and Joe discover that a dangerous criminal who calls himself "The Chameleon" may be in Bayport. Frank, Joe and their friends must find out why the two groups of chinese are interested in their boat and discover the true identity of the Chameleon. The book has a moderate amount of action, but the mystery isn't that interesting. In the end, it isn't even Frank or Joe who discovered the secret of the junk or were responsible for capturing the criminals, it was their friends. While it was nice to see their friends do this for a change, this is the "Hardy Boys" series for a reason. One thing that I really did like about this book; though, was that it did remember that Frank and Joe have friends other than Chet and they were used quite often, unlike in many of the later books. The book is worth reading, but it is not one of the best of the series.

...Chinese Junk does neither, so it sits at a 3 rating. Its worth reading, but ranks among the average of the set. It is an adventerous book, full of that. Little suspense and little mystery however. The publishers in 1959 & 1960 published back to back Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys stories about Alaska/Hawaii & then added an Oriental book. Drew's The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, published the same year as Chinese Junk, correlates with Chinese Junk. Devil's Paw was about Alaska, and Drew's volume #36 about Hawaii. All this robs from all four volumes. I liked the characters in Chinese Junk. They seemed to have personality. Again average, but worth reading.