Instead of buying a Cliffs Notes version, why not save your money and get an edition of Romeo and Juliet that has good explanatory notes? That way, you get the original language as well as a modern-day translation. In reading Cliffs Notes rather than the actual play, you miss out on Shakespeare's rich use of language (puns, poetry, metaphor, detailed images, neat phrases) in this classic tragedy. I know Elizabethan English takes some getting used to, but please, do yourself a favor and read the real thing.

Romeo and Juliet was very good. No doubt about it. The book kept me reading. These notes are highly recommended to really get the point of the book. This is a romantic comedy about 2 star crossed "down to earth" lovers, whose families are enemies. But, they have a purpose to end their families fued. This book makes you think about life in general because it only takes 2 people from totaly different backgrounds to change the families views on each other. But, you must loose some to gain some. In general, these notes are very easy to understand and comprehend. Don't hesitate to get them. The commentary and notes from the acts are a big help, especially when you have a test over the acts. It cleary helps you to remember the sequence of events in each act and scene. It also gives a great character background on the main characters to see who plays which roles. Another issue of this book recommended is the regular Romeo and Juliet book, to really understand the tone of each character in the book. The tones help you see the comedy and romantic side of each part.

This book was a great one.I love the quotes that people have pulled from it. The "star-crossed lovers" theme is very neat. I never thought I would enjoy Shakespeare but I was wrong. He is a very good writer.I have read this book twice and I plan to read it again. The only thing I wish is that ROmeo and Juliet didn't have to die....but then it would not be the same. Sonevermind.

I downloaded this e-doc for my son, but I can't figure out how to give it to him. What is the name of the file, so I can copy it for him, so he can do his homework on his computer?

Assuming he can read it -- hopefully, tonight, before his test Monday -- it seems like a good product. We really need to find the name of the file, however.

Not to sound pretentious, but I had no trouble understanding "The Scarlet Letter," but I still found immense value in this companion text from Cliffs. It helped me by confirming what I myself had thought about the book and giving me interesting ideas for the term paper I was writing. Its usefulness comes from the ease of reading and the volume and quality of its contents. Of further value to the student is the rapidity with which the Cliffs Notes are read, making it indispensable for last minute paper-writing!

One closing comment: Cliffs Notes, however useful, are an aid for the reading of the full text and are no substitute for it.

Since the Bible is not taught in most schools, this Cliffsnotes is quite handy. There are so many biblical references and ideas driving the theme of Hawthorne's splendid novel, that without this guide, few teachers would understand the full context of Hawthorne's book.

Oh, students will find it helpful as well!

I fully recommend "Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (Cliffs Notes)."

Anthony Trendl

It was interesting to read "Catcher in the Rye" because somewhere in the story I found myself as Holden or it reminded me of people that were like Holden, Ackley etc. The story was well written in the sense that it kept you in suspense of what Holden's other move would be. Whether he would go to the bar to get drunk or would secretly visit his little sister. The story also reflects one's opinion about the society Holden is living in. A place where a wide range of social unrest exists that cannot be handled by a 16 year old. The main theme of the story revolves around Holden's life, which at times is carelessness, negative attitude, romance and softness. Lastly one can learn from this story as to avoid ignorance and carelessness in life, which if followed will leave to an ending similar to as Holden's.

What J.D Salinger has done is what many folks of the last few generations wish had never happened and only now jump for joy at. The Catcher in The Rye has opened the door to many a writer who may with the classes looking down on them may not have written fantastic books. A perfect example would be Stephen Chobosky and his book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". I am by no means however comparing this titles I would just like to mention that books by authors like Chobosky would not be around were it not for the vision of Salinger and his little red book. The blunt honesty of Holden Caulfield and the way that with every twist and turn of life he remains true to himself and even at times with the other characters will remain the staple of this classic and though many years have passed this book (and forgive for the next out dated pharse) like a fine wine can and will only get better.

This book was simply amazing. Unlike any other book I've read, this book uses language that a true teen of such years would use. The reader is able to be a part of the story rather than just a reader. The true emotions of the character seem to be the honest feelings of each human spirit at heart, rather we are able to admit it or not. His view of certain situations and of the world in general is a blunt realization and indenification of reality. 5 stars and 2 thumbs up!!

The Count of Monte Cristo is an amusing but pointless novel that distracts the reader using an elaborate plot while making the weakest of attempts at a themeatic statement- revenge is good. This is a novel in which the "bravest" characters are commended for their desire to commit suicide in order preserve their honor and prove their "bravery". (Unfortunately, none of these characters are required kill themselves- instead, in each instance, they are saved by a miraculous event.) This is a novel in which more than four characters assume multiple identities in order to satisfy the whims of a plot which ultimately serves an inferior theme. It is because of authors like Dumas that early novels were often regarded as such low brow entertainment and not as literary works worthy of esteem.

I started reading this book in the unabridged, not cliffnotes, version. Needless to say, the 1095 page book takes along time to read. About 500 pages into I decided to read the cliffnotes. From what i have read, this is a great book full of daring, adventure, and revenge. As you read, you see the main character outwit and manipulate everyone to his own vengeful scheme. Its a great book and I would recomend it to anyone that loves the classics.

Although Edmond Dantes was wrongfully accused and imprisoned this book is more a story about how hope is better than hatred. Through Edmond's life you will see how jealousy and revenge can ruin a life, even if it is what one thought they wanted.

this was a good book i really enjoyed it but i felt it was to dumbed down i have read public school text books with more in depth study of the soviet system the book was a fun read but it was just the same stuff you always here about the soviet union with some stuff about planes thrown in but the plane stuff was cool, some of the soviet union stuff was to and belenko is very cool lol now i'm indepth

The unfortunate thing about this book is that the title will probably attract the wrong audience, and scare away the right audience. This isn't a book about fighter pilots, fighter piloting, or even flying. It is a book about a political and social system gone very wrong. It is a book about weighing one's loyalties against one's happiness and well being. It is a book about fearing inaction more than action. It is a book that made me say aloud to many people since I read it, "I'll never again complain about life in the USA."

This true story is presented in a framed narrative, beginning with Victor's famous defection flight to Japan in a Soviet Mig-25, then flashing back to his life in the Soviet Union of the 1960s and 1970s, then finishing the suspenseful defection/landing sequence, then moving on to Belenko's bittersweet life in the USA.

Avoiding too much talk about fighter piloting, author John Barron wisely veers away from turning this account into a fighter-jock's debrief manual, and instead focuses on the factors that turned Belenko against his motherland. In doing this, he presents a very sobering portrait of life in the Soviet Union ' which stands in stark contrast to the life pilot Victor Belenko found in the USA afterwards.

I was impressed by Belenko's voluntary quest to explore the USA alone until he found proof that it couldn't possibly be this good here. He never found proof. Even after having a cab driver in San Francisco drop him off in the worst part of town, Belenko found satisfaction in a $1.50 meal. It is tidbits like that which speak volumes about what kind of a life this man had in the Soviet Union, and why it led him to risk flying about 500 miles in a fighter jet with a 560 mile range (he started with 14 tons of fuel and landed with 52 gallons ' enough for about 30 seconds of powered flight).

If you're a aviation and/or warbird enthusiast, you'll enjoy the "de-mythification" of the fabled and hugely over-rated Mig-25. You'll delight in hearing Belenko talk about why the Mig-25 posed no threat to the USA's awesome SR-71 supersonic recon jet. And you'll grin when he expressed disbelief that a 747 jumbo jet required only a 3 person crew, or amazement that a US Navy aircraft carrier could launch and land so many jets so flawlessly and fast.

But hopefully, you'll also want to re-read the parts where Barron describes Belenko's boyhood quest for more meat in his diet, or how when the CIA first took Belenko to an American suburban grocery store Belenko thought it was all a put-on for his benefit, finding it difficult to believe our country was this well supplied.

I keep the book in my aviation book collection, but it wouldn't be out of place next to more socially conscious books. Indeed, I'm sometimes inclined to put it on the same shelf as my Farley Mowat books!

I couldn't have been more than 12 when I first read Mig Pilot. This is the original Hunt for Red October. But this one's real. Belenko goes into great detail about the Soviet system and how it continually failed him after promising the stars.

From the hard times he faced as a youth, to his rise into the ranks of a fighter pilot and ultimately to his defection with Russia's most prized fighter, Belenko douses the reader with his experience.

He depicts a Soviet Union that is riddled with poverty and run by a government that promises a turn around fueled by the wonders of the communist system. Belenko has the vision to see that nothing is changing and works his way into the ranks of the military in which he is told that pilots live like kings. His hard work does pay off when he finds the means to leave the country that has done him wrong.

He takes the pride of the Soviet Air Force, the Mig 25, and makes a break for the freedom and promise of the United States. Only a small portion of the book deals with the actual escape of Sgt. Belenko. The bulk of the book is the story behind the man and how life in his country compelled him to leave as well as the differences he experienced between the two dominant cold-war powers.

If Mig-Pilot can be found, it should be bought. It's a nice little piece of the past that caused quite a stir with the Russian military and shattered a lot of fears about the new Soviet "superfighter"

I purchased this book as a "first exposure" to keeping a saltwater fish and reef tank.
It presented a bit wordy for someone unfamiliar to saltwater--and that turned me off right away. There didn't seem enough information to really get started, but too much for a beginner, if that makes sense. His other book "Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms" (while it did have a very long introduction story) was much better in this respect (it had a Step-by-Step Starter Reef section that I think would have belonged in this book instead.) While "Your First Marine Aquarium" may look like a typical beginners book that you might take home with a tank and equipment, I don't think it covers enough slowly, basically, and simply to serve in this capacity.
Let me interject here that it is full of good pictures and has some useful reference tables.
After reading both of these books, I still don't understand the exact mechanism or technique of feeding either corals or marine fish--something I think is very basic and always simply covered in freshwater literature. If I had picked it up and looked this book over in the store, I would have put it back and bought his other book "Natural Reef Aquariums..." instead.

Once I started reading this book I couldn't stop until I was done. I have fairly good experience keeping a fresh water tank but I never had a marine one, or for that matter I never read anything about it. This was my first book on the subject and I found it to have
all necessary information to get me familiar with what is required to start a marine tank and how involved is the process of maintaining it. The step-by-step guide on who to setup a mini-reef tank is also very helpful. I also liked the explanation of different filtration systems (Berlin, Smithsonian, Monaco).
The book has more text than photos so it might appear a little bit overwhelming. But that is good because the text gives good information and is well written. Not that this book doesn't have any pictures, it does have good ones, but there are some pages that are just text.
All in all I would recommend this book to anyone thinking about starting a marine aquarium. This book will tell you if that is something you can commit to or not. And if you choose to do it, this book would definitely be valuable as a reference.

Fantastic book. It keeps things very easy and helps people like me in doing the migration from freshwater to saltwater. This is the exact book to start.

Madame Bovary is a beatufully written satire on bourgeois society. Flaubert puts humor throughout the book through his characters. Each action of the characters has a hint of fakery that is very characterist of Bourgeois society. The book was not written as a guideline of how to live one's life, but a story of the real problems that the people during that time confronted. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read one of the most well written and thoughtout books.

When teaching World Literature Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" was the first thing we read in class. Unfortunately we could not read it in the original French, because it there is one novel that should be read that way it is this one; Flaubert crafted literally crafted every sentence in the novel as if it were poetry. No translation could ever truly do it justice. While James L. Roberts' Cliffs Notes on "Madame Bovary" cannot help someone who is teaching/reading this great novel in those terms, it certainly covers all the rest of the bases. After providing a brief summary along with a listing of main and secondary characters, Roberts provides a summary and comments on each chapter in the novel. I appreciate that his comments are laid out as A, B, C, etc., so that the discrete points being made clearly stand out. These Cliffs Notes then provide character analysis of Emma Bovary, Charles Bovary, Leon, Rodolphe and Homais, followed by a look at the critical problems of theme/intent, Flabuert's realism, symbolism, irony/contrast, style, narrative technique, and social commentary. A short biography of Flabuert's life and works, suggestions for further reading, and sample examination questions are provided at the end.

The strength of this particular Cliff Notes is that is focuses more on the specific chapters with more depth than you usually find. This works especially well if you read the summary and comments AFTER reading the corresponding chapter(s) in "Madame Bovary." Flabuert's novel was scandalous in its day and is certainly the first and greatest of all the novels dealing with the "fallen woman." Final Helpful Hint for Teachers: After reading "Madame Bovary" you might have students read "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, another controversial novel which has an extremely similar plot but was written by an American women. You can have some great compare/contrast discussions.

An exquisitely written book about Madame Bovary's search for love, and all of the pain and hardships as a result of that search. The book is eloquently written and wonderfully entertaining- making Madame Bovary's character human and real.

I took the highest level French class offered at my high school my junior year (not AP), and independently took the exam, using this book as a review. The practice tests are helpful, as are the dialogues, but nothing can substitute for actually taking the class, or speaking french on a daily basis. I passed the exam, but I think that this book would be much more helpful as a review after taking the AP class than a teaching tool.

I'm French, although I haven't spoken French in a while. I decided to buy this book as a quick review for the AP French Language exam. I found it to be quite helpful, and it had a lot of practice. However, it was disturbing that the book made some egregious grammatical errors, mostly on the verb fill-ins.
Nevertheless, a good prep tool. Cassettes will definately come in handy.

Many other customers have given a similar review to this one: this book teaches you French -- it reviews all the grammar and other information you need to get a great score on the AP exam, it has practice tests, and is an invaluable aid not just as an AP review book, but also as a reference. Another reviewer complained that the book didn't teach her how to "beat the test." Of course it didn't. The point of taking the exam is to show exactly what you know, not to show how well you can pretend you know something, and this book is the perfect tool to do just that.

I found this test prep book to be totally useless. WHile the reviews are ok, the questions are poorly construced, and the book often gives the wrong answer. I am appalled by the amount of incorrect answers I found and the clear lack of competant editors. This book continually contradicts itself and is inconsistent between its list of correct answers and explanation of answers. I have been using this book as a tool to tutor a student for this examination, and I just recieved a call from him after his exam. He said that the material covered in the book is not the material on the exam. In the future, I will recomend against this book and all other barron's book for test preparation.

Hey! This is a great review/study book for the CHSPE test. I passed and SO CAN YOU if you purchase this book!

This book really gives you a main idea on what the CHSPE is all about. The introduction gives you hints on where, what and how the test is; and what it expects of you.

The English sections explains everything in detail which doesn't gives you much choice than to understand it in a split-second.

The Essay section is totally amazing! It explains what the Examiners are looking for, and how you have to write the Essay. I usually don't really enjoy writing boring two-pages Essays, but this book actually gives you a taste of interest.

Mathematics Sections includes everything from A-Z, and writes it in great many details. I really hated this section, and started it first to get it over with. However, it shows you the twists and turns and tricks your mind (Teaches you Algebra without letting you know it really was the difficult, old boring subject).

It also has two pre-CHSPE tests where you can practice before taking the real exam! Although it is only about 320-pages, the book explains it to you as if it were human.

I really think this book is worth buying, and I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to pass the CHSPE! It covers ALL of the CHSPE subjects. Good luck to all of those who want to take the test!

Best Wishes,
Julianna Peterson
~A 14-year-old CHSPE Examinee~

I have enjoyed the whole series of Jane Austin mysteries. I think this one is a bit weaker than the earlier ones, but entertaining nonetheless. My main concern here is that the action in this seems a little farfetched. I know that the time of Jane Austin was much more liberal more women than the Victorian age, but I have a very difficult time imagining that Jane would actually have been able to do all the things that she does here. Rowing out to a burning prison hulk and nursing French sailers in a military prison seem unlikely, even for a character of Jane's pluck.

There is plenty of action here--the story is engaging and the characters are good. I continue to like the way this series is developing.

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House is the sixth book in Stephanie Barron's series based on discovered material supposedly written by Austen herself. This time around the action takes place in Southampton and Portsmouth and involves a naval captain who has been accused of murdering the captain of a captured French ship. What follows is a somewhat tangled plot as Jane and her brother Frank attempt to discover what really happened. The only thing missing is an appearance by the Gentleman Rogue, although this lack is somewhat made up for by the introduction of Etienne Laforge. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am eagerly anticipating the next in the series!

In 1807, novelist Jane Austen is in Southampton with her brother Frank as he attempts to secure himself a ship. When one of his friends and fellow officers in the British navy is accused of a particularly foul murder, Frank flounders, certain of his friend's innocence yet unable to determine a plan of action. Fortunately for Frank, and for Frank's friend, Jane is only too willing to take on the mystery. Before long there are suspects for a frame and dead bodies, all in the context of proper Jane Austen manners.

Author Stephanie Barron does an excellent job describing England at war with Napoleon, on the verge of the industrial age, and in the transition to the modern world. Manners, position in society, and inherited wealth still play major roles, and marrying the right man is the ultimate goal for the proper woman. Barron is obviously sympathetic with her heroine, a novelist whose personal life is far from ideal, while not attempting to give Austen unduly modern attitudes.

Mixed in with the pleasurable historical view and literary references, Barron manages to deliver an exciting mystery as well. With a prisoner of war camp, a dramatic rescue at sea, and plenty of evil and simply naughty red herrings on the scene, Austen has all she can do to keep her senses and sensibilities about her and help prevent a terrible injustice. JANE AND THE PRISONER OF WOOL HOUSE is a lot of fun.