I almost stopped reading this novel in the early going, and it is not the type of novel I would normally select to read. But idle time around the swimming pool and chance discovery of it at the bottom of my carry pack put me back on track and I am the richer for it. Joy Luck Club is a family saga written with the perspective of a person who seems much older and wiser than one would expect from Author Amy Tan in this first novel. In this portrait drawn from life, there is structure rather than plot. The structure is the telling of separate tales of two generations of Chinese-Americans who have emigrated to the United States. The older, traditional Chinese "aunties" who are depicted in the book are filled with old world wisdom and the bitter skepticism which comes from hardship. Their lives are based on time-honored traditional concepts, their utterances hinting of the shapes of formal philosophies like Buddhism, Confucianism, and the Tao. These introverted crones are often a source of embarrassment to the newer generation of Chinese adapting to American food, customs, manners, and most of all, to the plethora of choices which confront Americans. The world of ancestor worship, obedience to parental dictates, and to arranged marriages is anathema to second generation Chinese who, like their Caucasian counterparts, inhabit a world of fast-food restaurants, romantic love, and social mobility. Amy Tan has a sharp eye for the sometimes clamorous humor resulting from the clash of generations and cultures. It is both funny and touching the way one of the old mothers views the trendy, modernistic design of her daughter's house. It's designer tables and accoutrements are seen as whimsical and flimsy, like the marriages and relationships falling down around the younger generation's ears. Hazards and evil omens are apparent everywhere in the eyes of the old school traditionalists as they sharply criticize the dangerous objects positioned in unlucky and haphazard fashion, without regard for feng shue (sp?), the propitious (and perhaps obsessive) arrangement of objects in harmony with human spirit. Indeed, in Amy Tan's novel, human spirits are inclined to fall down into toilets or roll off of roofs or step on their own feet. The collisions of tradition and superstition and the "modern" generation are everywhere in this novel, but the stories are told with love, not the cloying love of American television series, but the kind of subtle, firm, and abiding love that comes from hard lessons learned. The "Joy Luck Club" is a small group of elderly ladies, the modern equivalent of the American Garden Club. The relationship between the members of the Joy Luck Club and their daughters and other relatives is the thread that ties these disparate tales together. The saddest, most tragic thread of their joined lives leads to a remarkable reunion when the author and her aging father fly to China to meet the author's long lost step-sisters, abandoned as infants along the road while their mother fled the brutal Japanese invasion of that country.

"Intensely poetic, startlingly imaginative and moving, this remarkable book will speak to many women, mothers and grown daughters."

This book is about four, Chinese women, who migrated from China and to America, during the confused time of war, between Japan and their country. Each women experiences very hard and sad time in her girlhood, but they migrate to America with big hope of a new life. However, they were forced to live unstably as immigrants in America. They also struggle for confrontation with their daughters who were born in America. But they can overcome these difficulties with their positive attitude not to leave their hopes. We can see the ideas and sense of values of Chinese women in this book. This book gives readers courage and hope.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is truly a remarkable book. It is a novel that deals with the relationships between mothers and daughters and also the conflicts between Chinese and American cultures. A delight to read, this novel involves the reader as it progresses through the stories of these four mothers and four daughters. These characters deal with issues such as rape, divorce, failure, abandonment, and many more. Throughout this novel, by dealing with these issues, the daughters learn to understand their mothers' views on life.

The Joy Luck Club is a collection of short stories, arranged into chapters with an individual theme - love. The stories are all diverse, which keeps the book interesting, yet they still intertwine and relate to each other. Along with the chapters being in different themes, the book is grouped into four segments containing four chapters, one chapter per segment from each of either the mothers or daughters. The mothers and daughters have extremely different outlooks on life, which are shown though the chapters from their own perspective. These outlooks and different perspectives add to the depth of the cultural conflict between the American daughters and Chinese mothers.

I could not put this novel down once I opened it! As a result of reading this novel I have learned to really treasure the mother-daughter relationship. This novel holds a truly remarkable story that helps one to appreciate human diversity and understanding. It is honestly one of the best books I have ever encountered. The Joy Luck Club is priceless.

This novel was an exceptional piece of literature. I have never read anything by Amy Tan before, but I can honestly state that it is one of the most beautiful and thought provoking stories I have ever read.
This story is about four Chinese mothers, who grew up during China's war with Japan, and before China became an officially Communist country, and their daughters, who grew up in America. The Joy Luck Club is a gathering of their families to celebrate life and heritage. Each of the mothers and daughters tell their own story, with the exception of Suyuan, whose story was told by her daughter because the book begins about three months after she has died. Each chapter can be looked at as a separate story, but the book still floes together beautifully. Most of the novel is set in a series of flashbacks, which give the readers an opportunity to understand the mothers, and the ways that their childhood and histories affected the decisions they made and the way that they raised their daughters. However, the mothers and the daughters have a hard time communicating with one another, and not because they do not understand each other's languages. They have a hard time communicating because the mothers and the daughters do not understand each other.
Each of the mothers has been through a very traumatic experience either as a child or as a young woman. They were all taught by their society that they were worth almost nothing, and judged "by their husband's belch." They were not valued for who they were as individuals, and each gained a sense of self-awareness because of their experiences. The readers gain insight on what life was like for these four amazing, strong, spirited women. Their daughter's stories involve the ways that their mothers raised them, and how it has affected them as adults. While their experiences are, for the most part, far less traumatic then their mother's, they have hard times as well. All of them have problems understanding their parents, who try to raise them with the same guidelines with which they were raised, but with the sense of American pride and self-worth. Nonetheless, all of the daughters interpret their mother's pressure the wrong way. They feel that they are a constant disappointment to their mothers. Unfortunately, they do not realize that their mother's constant pressure and subtleties in behavior happen because their mothers want to show them that they love them. This novel shows how important it is to know your mother, before it is too late.
One of the main themes and concepts of this wonderful novel is that you must understand your mother and your past before you can understand yourself, and that you must never doubt your own self-worth.
This novel is the most beautiful, heart-warming, and meaningful mother-daughter story that I have ever read. It explores mother-daughter relationships with heart-felt honesty and beauty, and has universal appeal. Its eloquent words and fascinating stories make it an absolute delight to read. "The Joy Luck Club" will make you laugh and cry. It may even help you understand your mother, and your other relationships as well. This novel does the best thing a novel can do; it helps you to understand the world.

Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale is a dark and gloomy portrayal of the United States in the not-so-distant future, when a totalitarian government takes over all aspects of life. Atwood covers controversial issues including feminism, abortion, violence against women, pornography, environmental issues, bisexuality, ethics of cloning, racism, anti-feminism, militant nationalism, and religious differences.
The governmental structure of Gilead, including its state religion, is horrifyingly built around one goal: the control of reproduction. Controlling women's bodies can succeed only by controlling the women themselves, so Gilead's political order requires the subjugation of women. They strip women of the right to vote, the right to hold property or jobs, and the right to read. Women are a "national resource," Gilead likes to say, but they really mean that women's ovaries and wombs are national resources. Women cease to be treated as individuals, with independent selves, rather, they are seen potential mothers, leasing them to high-class families.
Biblical terminology is revealed when Gilead theocracy develops its own words to give the state control over the sentiments and ideas people can express. The vocabulary makes you think and relate religious features to characters and places in the novel. The people of Gilead must carry on conversations within the suffocating confines of officially sanctioned language. Saying the wrong thing can lead to a swift death, so people watch what they say, thereby subordinating their power of speech to the power of the state.
The main character, Offred, is exposed to the consequences of the reversal of women's rights. She craves happiness and freedom from the lock down society she now has to bow down to. The consistency of her sadness is painful and the reader is reminded of her dreadful lifestyle when compared to her past memories of normalcy. To escape her struggles with the corrupt government, she attempts to run away but gets caught. Previous handmaids have committed suicide to end their misery or to avoid getting caught having an affair with another man.
Its scary to even think of this could actually happen in America but we can relate some events that could lead to this state ruling. The extremes in the novel are a little hard to believe but it makes women now relieved and thankful that this is not how life is. The female is too strong willed and not a pushover; I do not see in the near future anything like this happening.

I came upon this book at Waldenbooks about a couple of weekends ago, and I decided to look at it. I haven't read the entire book, but what I did read was truly horrifying. The story takes place in a future where women have been robbed of their rights. They can't hold jobs, have their own money or property, have their own names, and they're no longer allowed to read. They have been reduced to the role of babymakers--literally. The reason for this is that the United States, which is now known as the Republic of Gilead, has been destroyed by a nuclear war. As a result, most of the female population has been rendered infertile. The few who are still fertile are indoctrinated into becoming handmaids, women whose sole purpose in life is, literally, to make babies. They are then shipped off to affluent households to produce children for couples who are unable to have any of their own. The handmaids who, after three tries, don't produce offspring are sent off to the colonies to clean up nuclear waste and are labeled "unwomen."

This scenario is truly terrifying, but it can also make one feel lucky for what we have in today's society. I feel lucky to live in a society where women are valued for more than just bearing children; where women are women, whether they have had babies or not; where women have their own names; and where women are allowed to work, have their own property, read, and get educated.

It is scary to think that a scenario like this could happen in our country. Hopefully, it never will-- not if we don't let it.

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of Offred, one of the few fertile women left in the Republic of Gilead, a dystopia at its worst. Toxic waste has left population levels dangerously low and religious leaders have taken control of the country, using desperate measures to repopulate the Earth. Offred is one of the many "handmaids" who are forced to live with a commander and trys to conceive a child with him once a month. The book chronicles Offred's life as she is living with Commander Fred (hence "Of Fred"). Atwood wrote this novel at a time when there was the possibility of religious leaders establishing a theocracy. She portrays the havoc that can come about when a democracy loses its control over the people. Atwood does this extremely effectively. Since the whole book is through Offred's eyes, the one-person limited view point makes you use your imagination to fill in the gaps left by her lack of knowledge. The book isn't so extreme that it's unbelievable and is so descriptively written that it almost feels as if it the events already happened in history. It was truly a great read.

Okay, you're probably thinking that I'm just someone complaining about having to read it in my freshman year's honors English class. No, I was not forced to read this. I read it far before it was on the reading list. Just wanted to clear that up. Back to the review. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an intriguing autobiography of a man obsessed with tampering with the laws of nature by reversing them. This novel shows how man deals with failure and loss. Unfortunatly, Victor Frankenstein dealt with failure and loss the wrong way and... Wait, I don't want to give away the ending. Anyway, Mary Shelley creates a clever plot and adds some gruesome happenings and romance, combining the three to make one of the most famous horror stories. Unfortunatly, for those of you still hooked to video games and fast-paced action, you may have a difficult time reading this for it tends to drag out at some points. But that's how literature is, you'll just have to deal with it. Apart from that, I would definitly recommend this book to just about anyone.

The Frankenstein monster is truly one of the most tragic characters in classic literature. He is obviously quite brilliant, having learned to speak (rather eloquently, I might add), and to read simply by secretly watching others. He's sensitive, kind, and appreciative of nature's beauty-all of the most admirable characteristics of a wonderful soul. And yet, he is vilified by all who come in contact with him because of his physical repulsiveness.

His longing for love, especially from Victor, was so painful that it became difficult for me to read. I kept hoping he'd find someone to show him the littlest bit of kindness. His turn to violence is entirely understandable, and Victor's irresponsibility toward his creation is despicable. Victor, who is outwardly handsome but cowardly and cruel, is the story's true monster.

In addition to writing a captivating story, Shelley raises many social issues that are still relevant today, nearly 200 years later, and the book provides a superb argument against *ever* cloning a human being.

(Note: I have the edition with the marvelous woodcut illustrations by Barry Moser and the Joyce Carol Oates afterword - superb!)

After seeing at least five versions of this tale in film - one of my great childhood monster loves - I was happy to finally read the novel. As so often occurs with classics, I was as surprised as I was fascinated.

For starters, the characters are far more subtle than any of the film versions: Victor F appears as a brooding and obsessed genius, but also as a great lover of life and nature. The monster, who is an articulate and literate creature who read Goethe, is even more interesting, from his hopeful beginning to his bitter reaction at rejection and his thirst for vengence. His eloquence was vivid and his pain horribly realistic.

But the work is also fascinating as a window into the mind of the Romantics, who at once strove to reject the rationalism of the Enlightenment yet reflected it. The creature starts off empty and what it becomes is due entirely to his experience. Knowledge is not always good, etc.

Finally, the themes are timeless and full of conflict: creativity giving birth to unimaginable destruction, tampering with nature as its necessities overwhelm even genius, and the like. THe book is a kaleidescope of philosophical reflection. The pain of the creator and the monster alike are inescapably linked like father and son.

I did find the style of the book a bit difficult. It is full of florid rhetoric and lengthy circumlocutions, as the doctor and then the monster tell their stories in almost identical prose.

Highly recommended.

This is a tale of a boat trip up the Congo, although nowhere in the book is the actual name of that river or the Belgian colony that emerged on its banks ever used. The writer, Joseph Conrad, was probably more interesting than any of his characters. Although writing about stiff-upper-lip types and managing to be more English than the English, he was actually born in a country that was undergoing its own form of colonization in those days, that is Poland. Going to sea, Conrad experienced many adventures around the globe, providing him with the rich stock of stories that were to win him acceptance from the English reading public.

Most people now come across this book as part of some college course condemning colonialism. At least that's how I came across it. Others might know it as the prototype for Francis Ford Coppola's amazing movie "Apocalypse Now."

Although an enthralling read, it is also a strangely vacuous book and, as a consequence, extremely well-named, as Kurtz, the central character, remains a dark enigma at the heart of the story to the end. We never really get to know who he is. Sent by the Belgian colonial authorities upriver, Kurtz has 'gone native' and our narrator is sent after him to investigate.

This format allows the narrator to drop-feed us information about Kurtz during the long river voyage, giving us pieces of a jigsaw that is never completed. As we read we are nevertheless tantalized by the prospect of meeting the man who has scrawled "Exterminate all the brutes" on his report for the "International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs," participated in "unspeakable rites," and established his authority among the natives through the uncivilized practice of impaling heads on poles.

Is this a true picture of colonialism? During his life as a sailor, the writer visited the Belgian Congo so the details ring true. Also the objective, descriptive, and rather emotionally detached style of the narrator proves convincing. Nevertheless there is something rather mechanical about this picture. Conrad presents economic exploitation or vicious greed as the dominant if not the only force in this view of colonialism. Perhaps in the case of the Belgian Congo, a particularly brutal colonial system, this is justified, but those college students being fed this novel as representative of colonialism in general should be more wary.

To our modern materialistic sensibilities, it makes perfect sense that colonialism should be so greed-driven, but there were also more altruistic motives at work such as the desire to 'save,' 'educate,' and 'civilize' the natives. Conrad treats these with a healthy dose of cynicism. The philanthropic motives, sincerely believed by many in the home country, such as Marlow's Aunt, become in the face of the ruthless greed and brutality existing in the Congo no more than empty jargon, ironically spoked to justify the terrible cruelties inflicted on the natives for the benefit of the Company. But quite often these motives were actually sincere and brought great improvements to the natives, in many cases actually giving them the tools with which they later won their independence.

Although condemning their exploiters, Conrad has little real understanding of the natives who always remain mysterious and unfathomable:

"The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us - who could tell? We glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse."

In this there is a lack of true sympathy, which however reassures us that he is not exaggerating or sentimentalizing the plight of the Africans. Colonialism was certainly not a blessing; maybe it wasn't a mixed blessing, but it might have been a mixed curse. Anyway, however you choose to view it, it undoubtedly had a profound impact on the economy, environment, culture, and identity of native peoples. We get little of this from Conrad and his "unfathomable savages."

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.

Heart of Darkness is a novella that really needs to be read more than just once to fully appreciate Conrad's style of writing. The story is an account of one man's simultaneous journey into the darkness of a river as well as into the shadows of a madman's mind. There is a very brilliant flow of foreshadowing that Conrad brings to his writing that provides the reader with accounts of the time period and the horrible events to come. Through Conrad's illuminating writing style we slowly see how the narrator begins to understand the madness or darkness that surrounds him.

I recommend this particular version of the novella because it contains a variety of essays, which discusses some of the main issues in the reading and historical information. Issues like racism and colonialism are discussed throughout many essays. It also contains essays on the movie inspired by the book Apocalypse Now, which is set against the background of the Vietnam War. I recommend reading Heart of Darkness and then viewing Apocalypse Now, especially in DVD format which contains an interesting directors commentary.

Considered by many to be the great American novel, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the story of a boy, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the sequel to Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Where "Tom Sawyer" was more a care-free children's book, "Huck Finn" is a far darker less childlike book.

Judging from my rating you can see that I do not agree that this is in fact the great American novel. Twain seemed far too unsure of what he wanted to accomplish with this book. The pat answer is to expose the continuing racism of American society post-Civil War. By making Jim simultaneously the embodiment of white racist attitudes about blacks and a man of great heart, loyalty, and bravery, Twain presented him as being all too much of what white America at the time was unwilling to acknowledge the black man as: human.

However noble the cause though, Twain's story is disjointed, at times ridiculous, and, worst of all (for Twain anyway), unfunny. The situations that Huck and Jim find themselves in are implausible at best. Twain may not have concerned himself too much with the possibleness of his story; but, it does detract from your enjoyment of a story when you constantly disbelieve the possibility of something happening.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is an important book in that it did affect much of the American literature that followed it. However, this is another novel which is more important to read for its historical significance than for its story.

I read this, since it was my school's outside reading assignment. The printing was so small, that I first thought it would be a boring read. But I soon figured that I was wrong. I found myself slowly slipping into the story as if it was all happening before my own eyes. The characters were very interesting. Especially Huck Finn seemed like a very likable person with a strong identity, wit, and a soft heart. He does not want to sit and let the world rule over him, but instead test his own ideas and proves to the world that he can be better than what the society expacts him to be. And although many say it is a racially biased book because of its frequent use of N word, nobody can deny that it was a commonly used word in the 1800 where the rogue institution called 'slavery' was considered healthy and inevitable. As a matter of fact, this is a book that actually tries to tell the world about the evilness of racial prejudice not promote it. One should read between the lines, in order to acknowledge Twain's subtle attempts. It was a thrilling experience and I recommend people to have for their own!!!!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was one of the best novels I have ever read. When I was a junior in high school, I had to get signed permission to read this novel. I never thought a book could be so controversial that something like that would be necessary. I am so glad that I read it then, and again during my freshman year of college, because I think it sends a powerful message. Written in the dialect of the deep south, Twain successfully gets the reader involved in the book. When I read this novel for the first time, I did not want to put it down. The character of Huck intrigued me. Though a young boy, he had more common sense than many people years older than him. He knew what he wanted and was smart enough to know how to go about getting it. When he befriends a runaway slave named Jim, social issues are brought up and Huck is forced to follow what his heart says, instead of what society says is morally acceptable. I enjoyed how Twain portrayed Huck and Jim's journey down the river and the adventures they shared. It was a symbol of their need for freedom. By sharing the same goals, Huck and Jim become true friends. They are beyond the color barrier and realize that a person is a person, regardless of what they look like or who they are. I think much of today's society could benefit from reading this book. It helps you put things in perspective and think about what is really important in life; what others think versus how you feel. If anyone is looking for a good novel to read, one that captures interest and provokes thought, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is it.

The more Dickens I read, the more impressed I become at his skill as a writer. No matter the form, be it short, long, or a monolith like some of his best works, Dickens excels at changing his style of characterization and plot to fit whatever mode he writes in. "A Tale of Two Cities" is one of his shorter novels, and he manages to make the most of out of the allotted space. The compression of the narrative sacrifices Dickens's accustomed character development for plot and overall effect, but what we get is still phenomenal.

"A Tale of Two Cities" begins in 1775, with Mr. Lorry, a respectable London banker, meeting Lucie Manette in Paris, where they recover Lucie's father, a doctor, and mentally enfeebled by an unjust and prolonged imprisonment in the Bastille. This assemblage, on their journey back to England, meets Charles Darnay, an immigrant to England from France who makes frequent trips between London and Paris. Upon their return to England, Darnay finds himself on trial for spying for France and in league with American revolutionaries. His attorney, Stryver, and Stryver's obviously intelligent, if morally corrupt and debauched, assistant, Sydney Carton, manage to get Darnay exonerated of the charges against him. Darnay, a self-exiled former French aristocrat, finds himself compelled to return to France in the wake of the French Revolution, drawing all those around him into a dangerous scene.

Dickens portrays the French Revolution simplistically, but powerfully, as a case of downtrodden peasants exacting a harsh revenge against an uncaring aristocratic, even feudal, system. The Defarge's, a wine merchant and his wife, represent the interests of the lower classes, clouded by hatred after generations of misuse. Darnay, affiliated by birth with the French aristocracy, is torn between sympathy for his native country in its suffering, and his desire to be free of his past.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a novel driven by historical circumstance and plot, much like the works of Sir Walter Scott, wherein the characters themselves assert less agency, finding themselves forced to deal with the tide of epic events. Richard Maxwell's introduction to this newest Penguin edition does a good job outlining the themes of doubling and literary influence that Dickens works with. One specific influence I discerned in reading "A Tale" that Maxwell doesn't metion is Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France," which if nothing else, gives the feeling that the rampant violence of the early revolution and the later Reign of Terror has brought about an irreversible change in human nature. While Dickens remains cautiously optimistic throughout the novel that France can recover, the tone of the novel speaks to the regression of humanity into a more feral, primal state, rather than advertise any real hope for its enlightened progress.

Despite the supposed dichotomy between England and France in the novel, Dickens seems to suggest throughout that there are no real differences, due to the way that human nature is consistently portrayed. With England in between two revolutions, American and French, Lucie's sensitivity early in the novel to hearing the "echoing" footsteps of unseen multitudes indicates a palpable fear that the "idyllic" or "pastoral" England he tries to portray is not exempt from the social discontent of America or France. In this light, stolid English characters like Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and Jarvis Lorry appear to almost overcompensate in their loyalty to British royalty. In a novel that deals with death, religion, mental illness, I could go on and on for a week, but I won't. One of those novels whose famous first and last lines are fixed in the minds of people who've never even read it, "A Tale of Two Cities" demands to be read and admired.

Love, betrayal, drama, and suspense, the makers of a great novel, are all found in Charles Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens not only sets a great foundation for the novel but he also builds an illustrious story with great detail. His creativity explodes in this book.

The book is set in the time before and during the French Revolution. It is about the experiences of two French families and how those experiences later collide with their future. Their experiences not only create a great fictional story but they also dipict the true horrors that occured in France at that time.

Dickens makes the plot very interesting because he incorporates fiction and historical facts and events. For example in the storming of the Bastille scene, he brings to life an actual event and adds the fiction of what the peasants found in Dr. Manette's cell and the inside look on how they may have felt. Two other examples include the scenes where the revolutionaries kill the king and queen of France and the many times they use the guillotine. They demonstrate this mixture because they're true events yet, Dickens adds fictional characters and the feelings and emotions the people might have had.

Another great touch that Dickens adds is all the detail. Although at times it is rather long it helps to make a clear picture in the mind of what is going on. One such example where he does this is when he describes fate and death. He makes two rather hard to picture objects visible in the mind as the Farmer and the Woodsman. Another example of his great use of detail is when he describes Mr. Lorry's trip down the Dover mail. His description gives the feeling of actually being there. These are just two but there are numerous of other examples.

One more thing that made this novel fascinating was how Dickens reveals bits and pieces of the plot mixed together, but then ties every piece together at the end. For example he dipicts the Marquis' cruelness first and does not explain his involvement right away. However, by the end he turns out to be a key character. He also does that with the character of Dr. Manette. He introduces the character but leaves the suspense of that character's involvement until later. The suspense keeps the interest in the novel going. Dickens details, mixture of fact with fiction, and suspense makes the novel a extremely enjoyable book. After reading this book a clear understanding is achieved of why Charles Dickens is such a renowned author. A Tale of Two Cities is a unique and fascinating story which is why it is a must for anyone's bookself.

Even after many centuries, a classic novel can still be read, understood and charm a wide audience. For it teaches the reader about life and death, society and history through a magnificent story. "A Tale of Two Cities", written in 1859, is one of those classics.

This magnificent story begins a year before the American Independence and several years before the French Revolution. As only Dickens can, he breathes life into the most bizarre, comical and memorable characters... such as Madame Defarge, Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher and a slew of others. But in the midst of these people, the light shines on the few characters on which the story hence revolves. About Lucie Manette who has a true and beautiful heart that affects everyone around her and her aristocratic husband Charles Darnay, an ambitious man of French blood. Dr. Manette who after surviving 18 years in jail overcomes his weakness to rescue another. The light shines strongly upon Sydney Carton... a man who doesn't seem very redeemable in the beginning but who has a heart of gold who is capable of the greatest sacrifice of all for the woman he loves. It is these people whom Dickens chose to give life to during the grim and bloody French Revolution.

This novel is one of my most favorite of Dickens' novels. The hero and the heroine are rather complex and admirable characters. However, they are not necessarily the ones that win the sympathy and the heart of the reader... but suprisingly (and pleasantly) to the most unexpected of Dickens' character. On another note, the novel starts with a famous and recognizable opening line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." and ends with a very memorable line, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." To which I give great credit to the novel by Mr. Dickens.

In "The Sun Also Rises," Hemingway, through his alter-ego, Jake Barnes, tells us that the true meaning of "aficionad' is passion. In Spain, there is a more restrictive meaning. 'Aficianado' only means one who is passionate about the bulls. In fact, the concept is so restrictive that some bull fighters are considered to be just 'commercial' bull fighters and are not passionate enough about their chosen profession to be considered 'aficionados.' This is so according to Hemingway.

In the broader sense of the word, Hemingway, in this book, reveals himself (as Jake Barnes) to be an aficionado when it comes to boxing, drinking, fishing, and bull-fighting.

I had a problem with one aspect of "The Sun Also Rises." I found Hemingway's excessive use of negative ethnic stereotyping to be troublesome. For starters, he has created in Robert Cohn, a character who is emotionally unstable and thoroughly unlikeable because of his 'Jewishness.' Following are a few examples of this portrayal:

In reference to Cohn (observations of Barnes and his friends):

"He had a hard, Jewish streak."

Brett's gone off with (other) men, but they weren't ever Jews."

"That Cohn gets to me. He's got that Jewish superiority."

"That kike."

In reference to Jews in general: "She gets five hundred quid a year and pays three hundred and fifty of it in interest to the Jews. They're not really Jews. We just call them Jews. They're Scotsmen, I believe."

There are numerous other instances, but these already cited should suffice as examples of Hemingway's Jewish stereotyping.

He went after other groups too. To wit:

On Blacks: "The n , , , , drummer waved at Brett. He was all lips and teeth."

On gays: "I wanted to swing on one . . . . to shatter that superior, simpering composure."

He didn't quit there either. He went after the French and, on numerous occasions, showed his disdain for all casual tourists.

There is so much of this sort of prejudicial stereotyping throughout the book that it was ruined for me. It's too bad, because his bull-fight descriptions obviously came from an aficionado but were, for me, tainted by his attitudes.

I was fascinated with the characters and settings of this book. I looked forward to seeing what the "lost generation" was doing every time I picked the book up. It's a romantic (dysfunctional romantic), tough, insightful book which shows how a specific generation lived in Paris during this time. Hemingway has such a way of painting a picture, that I could vividly picture them at the cafes in Paris, fishing in the mountains, and watching the bull fights in Spain. On top of the pictures he paints, I had insights/emotions into the characters. If there was anxiety between them, I felt it; if there was love and jealousy between them, those emotions were conveyed. It was amazing and I definitely want to read the book again, because I don't think I even began to grasp everything possible in this novel. And the amazing part is that the writing is so simplistic and minimal. Obviously I recommend this book.

"The Sun also Rises" made a huge impression on me when I read it as a college student a number of years ago. It is true that one must look beyond the surface to get a clear understanding of any book by Hemingway. It is also true that the language that he used was not flowery, nor overly eloquent but the meaning revealed within the lines. It is also true that the characters are often expatriates; living on the fringe of society and hedonistic to the max. All of those elements are visible here, yet sometimes it might require a magnifying glass to see it. However, these are the qualities which make Ernest Hemingway, the seminal writer for a generation and certainly one of the best.

I propose one hint when reading "the Sun also Rises." Pay close attention to the relationship between Barnes and Robert Cohn. Barnes laothes Cohn for being everything that he is not. What drives him over the edge (in the inner sanctum of his own mind and demons) is the success Cohn has insofar as his relationship with Lady Brett. Barnes is impotent and this is a crushing blow to his manhood. The tragedy here is his inability to consummate a sexual relationship with her. It destroys him--yet he is still accepting of his predicament. This is what allows this character to maintain "grace under pressure"-- as Hemingway once coined the term or the ability to stand or hold ones ground when all odds are against you. Certainly this can be a tragic flaw for any of Hemingway's male characters--the total loss of his virility. Yet he stands his ground and never loses it. He just hates Cohn from a distance and rationalizes that he (Cohn) is one who cannot do anything just for the sake of doing it---whether it be drinking, winning the Princeton boxing title, or being in love with Brett. It is complicated but one can come away with these qualities after finishing the novel rather than while reading it.

I think his friend and sometimes rival, F. Scott Fitzgerald, summed him up best when he said of Hemingway: "He's the real thing."

For the english portion of my communications class in high school, we were told to write a book review of The Bean Trees. A novel written by Barbara Kingslover. During this book review I will be discussing the plot, theme, character analysis, and author's style. The story tells about a young girl named Taylor Greer. She takes a '55 volkswagon bug and sees where it will take her. On the way to her unknown destination, she recieves a baby by a mysterious woman. She takes the baby with out really knowing what she is doing. She ends up moving to Tucson. She winds up living in a house with another woman whose husband has just left her and she had a baby of her own, Dwayne Ray. Taylor ends up working in Jesus is Lord Tires with Mattie as her bus. Mattie has a sanctuary above her buisness. Esperanza and Estevan are two people running from their government of Guatamala. Later in the story Tayloe decides to take Esperanza and Estevan to a safe place and on the way she decides she is going to try to find Turtle's aunt so she can give Turtle to her legally. She doesn't fine them so Esperanza and Estevan act like her parents and let Taylor adapt her from them. At the end of the story Taylor and Lou Ann figure out that they are a family. The author use many themes in her story and one major theme is family. Everything that happens in this story had something to do with family. Taylor and Lou Ann become a family through out the story and figure it out that they are at the end. Lou Ann describes family as knowing everything about each other good and bad sides. The politcal theme is very strong also. It also plays an important role in the story by using the immigrants form Guatamala. The main characters in the story are Lou Ann, Taylor, Turtle, Mattie, Esperanza, and Estevan. Lou Ann started out with a low self esteem to being confident and sticking up for herself. Taylor was strong willed and confiednt from the begining and became more sensitive through the story. Mattie likes to help people through hard times. Turtle was extremly quiet but then became rather talkative through the story. Esperanza was extremly emotional and quiet. Estevan was brilliant and strong. The author's style was brillant and well put together. She used a lot of figuaritive language. She knew when and where to put in the politcal points and she explained everything in detail. She used a strong theme and stuck to that one through out the book. I thought that this book was pretty good and overall I gave it four stars. This story took people from entirely different worlds and meshed them together. They discover each other and help them discover themselves.

For years it seems people have been telling me that I need to read anything by Barbara Kingsolver. As a matter of fact so many people have told me to read her and she has been on so many reading lists that I did not want to read her. But I yesterday I found THE BEAN TREES on the bargain table and figured what the heck, it was really inexpensive.

I am so happy now that I have read this book. Kingsolver tells a wonderful story about love. About the love a person feels for friends, family and children even when the children are not biologically their own.

Taylor Greer is a woman who has taken her life into her own hands. She managed to escape the fate of most of her contemporaries in her rural, Kentucky town. She was able to reach adulthood without becoming barefoot and pregnant. She saved money, bought a car and headed west. Free at last. Then fate stepped in a two year old girl was left in the front seat of her car.

I am actually glad that I waited so long to pick up a book by Kingsolver because now I have so many books of hers to look forward to reading.

Taylor Marietta Greer grew up in rural Kentucky (Pittman County) hoping to avoid pregnancy, motherhood, and getting away from home. When she ventured out with great ambition and a barely-working, cantankerous car, life took a whole different turn. Some woman at the Oklahoma Cherokee nation abandoned three-year-old, American Indian girl Turtle and Taylor, for the first time, met the complication of life. Upon arriving in Tucson, Arizona, Taylor realized she must come to terms with motherhood and settling down. She was hired by Mattie who owned the Jesus is Lord Tires Company and became roommates with Lou Ann, a woman divorced by her husband Angel. Taylor spent the first half of her life avoiding motherhood and tires, and later she counted them as blessings. The Bean Trees is a book of determination, compassion, and love. It's a quick read that will warm your heart and make you sniffle. Through raising Turtle, Taylor learned that she could never protect the child from the world. What would be interesting, maybe even in the long run, is to share her life with the kid and give Turtle her best effort. The Bean Trees is the first book I read written by Barbara Kingsolver. Her storytelling magic absorbed me completely from the beginning. I could not put the book down and read cover-to-cover. Great tale on love and friendship, abandonment and belonging.

A Farewell to Arms was the first book I've read by Hemingway. Seeing as he's such a well known author, I figured I'd try reading one of his books. But, I'm not exactly sure what to think about this book. I'm not sure if I really understand the main theme of the novel. At first it seems to focus on Henry's, the main character, time as an ambulance driver in Italy(although he's American himself), but after he gets hurt the novel makes a sudden change and focuses on his relationship with the English nurse Catherine Barkeley, whom he had me previously. But, the relationship between them seems to rushed. They claim to be in love with each other, although they've known each other for only days. Although I don't think it's impossible to love someone after only a few days, it seems as if the relationship wasn't given enough time to develop, perhaps maybe to get the novel moving. Anyway, after Henry's injured, he decides to flee with Catherine to Switzerland and his journey to get to her(while facing danger since he is apparently deserting the military) before they flee together and their journey together takes up most of the book. One thing I found particulary strange about this book was the dialogue, mainly between Henry and Catherine. It consisted of fairly short simple sentences and they never seemed to have real conversations. Also, and this may sound kind of weird, they seemed to agree too fast. I mean, it seemed as if as soon as one of them suggested doing something or going somewhere, the other one quickly agreed with out any discussion or protestation. They way in which they always were so willing to do what the other one wanted just seemed too simple and unrealistic. Also, often I found their conversations, mainly what Catherine said, to be comical, but I don't think that was the author's intention. The only part of this book that really touched me, was the end, but of course I won't mention what happened and ruin things.Anyway, I'm glad I read this book just to see what Hemingway's work is like and although I didn't enjoy the novel a lot or see clearly what the point to it was, I'll admit that perhaps it's one of those novels you'd have to read more than once to really appreciate. The book was fairly easy reading and if you read at a good pace and are interested in this book, or you're a big fan of Hemingway's, I think this book is worth reading.

For a writer at the tender age of 30, Hemingway sure knows how to set the stage. The problem is, he doesn't know how to what to do with his characters. Lieutenant Henry and his love, Catherine, were so intangible that I hardly shed a tear at the novel's "tragic" conclusion. I just couldn't make myself relate to them. I also find that the whole "love story" was a little far-fetched. After knowing each other for over six months, Catherine asked her lover whether or not his father was alive. You would think that after such a long time, the two would have plenty of time to discuss things of such importance. Although Catherine's devotion for Mr.Henry was pretty convincing, his output seemed a little short. One wasn't sure where he made the transition from not planning to love her at all to wanting to be with her all the time. (If you want to read a really convincing love story, read Erich Segal's poignant work, "Love Story"). Not only was the couple in question rather questionable, but the minor characters lacked, well, character. It was difficult to distinguish Mr. Henry's "war buddies" from one another, having only dialouge to rely on.

Having that said, "A Farewell to Arms" was overall a good read. Despite the fact that I was unable to sympathize with the characters, I found myself to be entranced with Mr. Henry's tale. It was quite exciting, and I always waited for his return to Catherine, and for their playful,(although somewhat silly) dialouge. Up until the end of the tale, I was satisfied. Only after the "tragedy" did all the minor problems come shame-facedly to the surface. I would recommend this book to any lover of classics, but if you're looking for a war story, this clearly isn't the book for you.

Despite criticism of its "harshly realistic" dialogue and the rather simple outer layer to the plot, A Farewell to Arms has emerged as one of the greatest war story ever written. Known for his wealth of experience gained in the brutality of battlefields, Hemingway gained instant fame with his highly autobiographical tale of a tenuous love caught in the sweeping wave of WWI.

Set in Italy, the story unfolds when a young American ambulance driver, Henry, meets a gorgeous English nurse, Catherine Berkley, for the first time. Perhaps it was due to the powerful binding hands of the war that Berkley confides in Henry of her tragic love and places instant faith in him. At first, Henry regards Catherine only as an unwonted addition to his foreign "episodes" after he convinces himself that this feeling of strong attraction is only the ramification of war, of loneliness, and of the desire to share one's misery with someone else. Yet as their affair progresses, especially after Henry was wounded and put on covalence leave, he begins to see the sparkle of his passion for Catherine expands into this glowing fire of love. War is a vital component in Henry and Catherine's relationship as they plot their future together with war as their perpetual constraint; they only lean on one another more when Henry was forced to return to the front after learning Catherine is pregnant. The irony of their love is the shared conviction that their affair is in some way a representation of matrimony; refusing to marry Henry after he has learnt of her pregnancy, Catherine urges Henry to go back to where he belongs. During the retreat, Henry deserts the army in order to escape the persecution that awaits all officers. Fleeing back to the side of his love ready to sacrifice his life in order to be with her, Henry prepares Catherine for the journey of their lives. The ending, set in a Swedish hospital, is by no means a reconciling "period" to the long sentence with few commas even.

Hemingway's own tragic romance is beautifully depicted by the movie made from Agnes Wiensky's novel, In Love and War. In some way, despite occasional righteousness and victors' justice, war is an opening to the broader side of nature's hideousness. Wars are not meant to be sweet and gentle, even if they are enshrouded with the divine touch of patriotism and of love. Henry and Catherine had grace under the soaring siege of WWI because they didn't just observe the on-going war as a superfluous event, but as a contagion of fear from which they must flee. And in fact they do flee to freedom. Through Hemingway's laconic and rough narration, few insights emerges above the surface; yet, what his pen doesn't convey on the surface is an even deeper well that awaits discovery and understanding, and that is the reality apart from the polish plane of prose.

Some asks if the setting has been different, could A farewell to arms have been culminated by a more jovial ending that may in some way capture the triumphant nature of love. After all, we as a species do rise above history, more often triumphant than not. But Hemingway is not only a survivor of two wars, he is also the keeper of poignant memories of his own love loss. It doesn't necessarily mean that Henry and Catherine's love was killed by war-it was finished by fate. Their love never died, it is immortal in the sense that their tale is an on-going story without end. Their love is as great as love can be even without ornamental phrases fictional lovers whisper in each other's ears; one gesture, one glance, one word is enough to convince each other as well as the readers how strong the war has made them to be, as one.

Men make war, true enough for most of Hemingway's works, but also, more significantly, wars make men. Hemingway is one of those who were certainly made stronger by not only triumph, but also losses in the hands of fate and of Self.

I am currently being forced to read this book for my Honors English class in high school. I've already read it once before for a different class, so I know what I am talking about when I say this book is the ultimate cure for insomnia.

I honestly try to appreciate what is *supposed* to be fine literature, but "Great Expectations" is about as entertaining as watching kale grow. First off, the fact that this book has two endings inspires a bit of skepticism in me. I've never heard of an author so indecisive that he would put two endings in a novel. It creates a generally unsatisfying conclusion, as you're at a loss for which ending to "accept".

Aside from which, this book has enough useless passages to fill a hundred pages or so. It seems that, basically, Dickens didn't quite know exactly what to write about, but felt the urge to *write* *something*. So he wrote "Great Expectations", following the traditional poor-boy formula of his previous 15 or so books.

I find it especially hilarious that none of my teachers have ever even read the bloody novel, but it's "good" according to the curriculum. In the words of someone from a certain other Charles Dickens book, "Bah! Humbug!".

Don't judge Dickens by this book, however. "David Copperfield", for example, even though it follows the same "poor-boy" formula, is worlds better than this.

As much as I'd love to say, "Oh, it's a classic, everyone should read it!", I personally don't think so.

Like many other high schoolers who wrote reviews on this page, I was forced to read this in my freshman english class. I thought it was an extremely good story. The characters (my favorites being Orlick and Trabb's Boy) are brilliant and subtley funny. The story is creative and unpredictible, and overall, it was absolutely supberb. The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because it tends to drag a lot of the time, and Dickens overlong descriptions are a bit grating on the nerves, but I DO understand why people would have liked it like that in the 1800's. They liked their books long and juicy. It's a bit dated but Great Expectations is well worth a read if you have the patience. Even if you are impatient, you can not miss this great story and its wonderful characters, so at least see one of the many great movie adaptions. My personal favorite movie version of Great Expectations is the 1999 Masterpiece theatre version.

I spent a whole term going over this book in freshmen English class. It is an overall good book, full of interpritations. There are many symbolisms and allusions. However, it is important to remember that this book was originally a serialization, as it came out every week in the paper. There are some parts when Dickens drawls on with his plans, events, ect. However, there are scenes that are very fast paced and action filled. The overall plot is a young, naive boy of about ten lives with his sister and her simple husband named Joe. However, Pip is given a secret benefactor and is thrust in the life of nobility. Pip is tangled in his probelems of leaving Joe behind and his encouters with the shallow (and I mean SHALLOW) Estella and the wicked Miss Havisham. Dickens is a master with characters and the languege, but he doesn't describe any everyday events. For example, Pip goes to study law, but thats all we know. In my opinion, it gives the characters this higher than life importance, and less real. But, if you take this book slowely, maybe a chapter a night (instead of the five I had to do), you will definately enjoy this book.