World Literature Books - Page 5

More Information Than You Require

John Hodgman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The bestselling author of The Areas of My Expertise— also known as The Daily Show’s “Resident Expert” and the PC in the iconic Mac ads—picks up exactly where his first book left off. Exactly.

Like its predecessor, MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE compiles incredibly handy made up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, frighteningly complex charts, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes such as:
THE PAST (because there is always more)
THE FUTURE (because they say there is still some left to discuss)
THE METHOD BY WHICH WE “ELECT” OUR PRESIDENTS (as this will be happening soon)
THE STRANGE OKAPI (an actual animal) GAMBLING: THE SPORT OF THE ASTHMATIC MAN (includes hermit crab racing)
HOW TO BE A FAMOUS MINOR TELEVISION PERSONALITY (hint: go on television)
PLUS: 700 MOLE-MAN NAMES (and their occupations)

Yes. HODGMAN MAY HAVE BEEN BRIEFLY ABSENT FROM YOUR LIFE, but with this volume he is ready to pick up exactly where THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE left off—specifically AT PAGE 237.

John Adams (Barnes and Noble Reader's Companion) (Barnes & Noble Reader's Companion)

David McCullough

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 788 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Book That Will Affect Future Generations 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Growing up in Massachusetts I never felt a connection with John Adams until I read this book. McCullough describes the amazing life of this founding father with a writing style and attention to detail unimaginable for many others. What struck me as spectacular was that John Adams put as much value in his farm work and his family life as he did in writing the Massachusetts state constitution or being our second President. His example as opposed to Jeffersons, was that of a responsible father, grandfather, statesman, laywer and citizen always with an eye to how his actions would affect future generations. Anyone who enjoyed the HBO series must also read the book it was based on to truly appreciate the man, his times and the author who penned it all.

Editorial Review:

In 2001, David McCullough's Pulitzer prizewinning and bestselling biography John Adams rediscovered our second president and revealed fascinating aspects of his life that few had known before. Here is additional background and historical context that can help you better understand McCullough's brilliantly written and illuminating portrait:

• Why do some consider Adams to be the first "real" U.S. president?
• How might Adams fare if he were a candidate today?
• What are Adams's greatest political legacies?

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Stephen Colbert

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Total reviews: 430 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What The Daily Show is to evening news, The Colbert Report is to personality-driven pundit shows. Colbert brings his sarcastic charm to a half-hour report, tackling the important issues of the day and telling his guests why their opinions are just plain wrong. Stephen stands for truthiness and his American right to copyright that word and claim ownership of it.

I AM AMERICA the audiobook, features an all-American cast that includes Paul Dinello, Kevin Dorff, Greg Hollimon, Evie McGee, David Pasquesi, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman, Bryan Stack, and Jon Stewart. Stephen Colbert describes his audiobook as a simple audiobook from a simple mind--Stephen Colbert. It is one man's attempt to wedge his brain between hardback covers---in this case CD jackets. In plain conversational language, not to mention the occasional grunt and/or whistle, Stephen explains his take on the most pressing concerns of our culture: Faith, Family...Hygiene.

Why now? Stephen fears America has lost its balls and he hopes to re-ballify us. Even the ladies. Ladies can have balls--lady-balls too. Stephen likes to call those "Thatchers." Stephen will show how he got his mammoth swinging sack, with tales of courage and vital documents from his own life: the Mother's Day card he made at age six, disputed credit card bills, putt-putt score cards--all the major milestones.

Oh and don't buy this if you don't have any balls! But if you do buy it, you will get them, and then you can buy another copy with a clean conscience. (2008)

People of the Book: A Novel

Geraldine Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 149 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not Good Enough for Readers of the Book 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book is a good story, full of everything I like: history and mystery, religion and bravery, and a good dose of female heroism. But the chapters read unevenly, with fast-paced and engaging passages followed by leaden and clichéd portrayals, especially the chapter devoted to the Jewish Partisans fighting under Tito and the absolutely ridiculously written chapter set in turn of the century Vienna (the dialog alone, both the interior words of the narrator and the words he exchanges with others, had me hooting in disbelief).

Not that any of Brooks' writing is entirely free of clichés or hackneyed phrasing and pacing. Her writing is suitable to the telling of a story but not for sketching a genuine moment in time or expressing an original vision of the past. She does not open anything up to her readers that is particularly new or beautifully acute and accurate. Nor is Brooks much good at character development: her figures tend to be just that, figures meant to represent a certain type of person or a certain place in time. Even her narrator is a flat and unbelievable structure (common to best sellers) and the narrator's mother and recently discovered father, even worse. Everything is in superlatives: uber-successful surgeon, famous and fabulous artist, most determined restorer of books with a PhD from Harvard (of course) willing to spend months and months learning how to make parchment (or grind berries or whatever), and yet the world's meanest mom (and youngest chair of the neurosurgery department) gives her not one damn iota of respect. Etc., etc. Subtlety is not one of Brooks' virtues: she likes to slam us over the head with her characters and the situations they find themselves in.

But Brooks is a fine historian and she gathers together a lot of good facts; she is a good story teller, capable of wrapping those acts in a drapery of fun and froth, or blood and gore. I would guess that the best chapters -- the ones most true and moving and fresh -- are based on her favorite, if not best, areas of research. She herself admits it is hard to tell again the story of Jewish persecution under the Nazis and she does not do a good job of it. In contrast, the initial chapter set in Sarajevo in 1996 was very real and alive, and I loved the chapter set in Seville in 1480 (although should not the setting have been Granada? That is were the Emir lived, and I believe Brooks is referring to the beautiful Alhambra which is in Granada and not in Seville, as the place where the slave girl is sent to paint the Emir's lover). Despite the gaff in location, that chapter was rendered with a lighter touch, and a richer emotional range (if we ignore the rape scene and the totally unbelievable lesbian interlude) than any of the other historical chapters. In addition, the heroine of that chapter actually seemed like a living and breathing person, not some Madame Tussaud wax figure.

Brooks' book has a good story. I wish she could have trusted all of us more to tell the story without telling us what we should think; I wish she could have given us more complex and real characters we could have identified with and cheered on; and I wish she had offered a fresh and meaningful observation into why we should not be burning books, but reading them. Her main characters profess to love books -- to be People of the Book -- but we never find out why.

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Editorial Review:

The “complex and moving”(The New Yorker) novel by Pulitzer Prize–winner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. Called “a tour de force”by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century S pain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)

Rick Riordan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 98 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The best yet! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I would stay awake until midnight to read this book. this is the penultimate book in the series and at that, the best.
when 14 year old percy jackson blows up another school and flees to camp,
a quest falls upon them. they must descend into the labyrinth, a gigantic maze that stretches to every single state, find the man who created the labyrinth, deadalus, and convince him to join there side and help them destroy the evil kronos. this is all I can say without giving away anything. and now I'm begging my mom to pre-order the last book. I highly recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

As an incoming freshman, Percy isn't expecting his high school orientation to be any fun.  But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.

In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends will set out on a quest through the Labyrinth-a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action, this fourth book promises to be their most thrilling adventure yet.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1695 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

if i could time travel, i'd go back and not read this book 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

First, I'll echo another reviewer and say it had useless scenes that didn't add to the story. Also, it seemed like everything was so extreme. I was fine buying into the time-travel deal. That's obvious. But, what was supposed to be realism was so fantastical. There were nothing slightly mundane, nothing NOT melodramatic. All emotions were heightened. I kind of felt like I was reading a romance novel that was dressed up as legitimate literature. It was pretty crass without it being about--I don't know--circus sleazebags. I guess...I didn't feel like the characters grew up enough. Last thing that bugged me. There's a servant/maid/cook in the Abshire home (Clare's parents) who is so ridiculously a black mammy stock character, it's kind of embarrassing to read. It's like the author hasn't much experience with non-whites. And the portrayal of the Korean nanny/friend isn't too much better.

Okay, one more thing. The friendships portrayed in this novel are so substandard. Those who are "best" friends are really...lacking in depth and trust. The friendships are shallow, empty, backstabbing, heartless, and selfish. All while being portrayed as genuine and good (enough?). Strange, really. Made wonder if the author has experienced any truly good relationships.

Now the good stuff. I loved the format. Reading both perspectives, jumping around in time, etc...that was well-done. I'm not a writer, so I don't know how difficult this was, but it was rather consistent. The rules for time travel, and the personal rules that the characters set for themselves are adhered to as far as I could tell. There were enough well-written sentences that helped me process my own thoughts and feelings, which actually made the title of this review not entirely true. I'm kind of glad I read it. But, I wouldn't recommend it highly to anyone.

Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1556 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Atlas may have shrugged, but I really cringed 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

** Spoiler Warning ***

Oh, boy, where do I start? First, let me say this: that hero of hers may have stopped the motor of the world, he certainly could not slow down Ayn Rand's FURIOUS typewriter. This edition has 1,168 pages in tiny fonts. It should have been, and easily could have been, condensed to 300-400 pages. At most.

As a literary work it is flawed. There is not much I want to add to what other reviewers have already commented: it is long, the characters are two-dimensional, the dialogs long and repetitive, etc.

The only good thing I can say about this book is that it exposes the hypocrisy of those "benevolent social planners". Read in light of our current times of government bailouts and "wealth spreading", it is eerily familiar (for this I give it more than the minimum 1 star).

But it is not a novel in the traditional sense, it is a vehicle for Ayn Rand to expound her philosophy. And expound she did, with a vengeance.

Maybe one day I will write a full review of her philosophy, which I think is also flawed (though it has some good elements). Why is it called "objectivism" anyway? It sounds more like "subjectivism" or "absolutism" to me: she views everything as black-or-white, there is no middle ground, and those who do not agree with her are branded "irrational".

Since this is a review of the book, let me focus on it now. It being a vehicle for her philosophy which presumably she wants the user to apply in real life, then the fictional world she constructs must be at least somewhat realistic. But it is not. It is populated with three types of people only: 1. the industrialists whose only goal is to maximize his or her profit; 2. hypocrites who pay lip service to the abstract concepts of "social justice", "equalization of opportunity", but whose real purpose is to restrict the freedom of the industrialists and 3. the gullible "public", waiting to be rescued by their heroes. Aside from the fact that there are more types of people in the real world, even the ones in the book are not believable. The villains are singlemindedly against the heroes, to the point of absurdity (and Ayn Rand thinks herself as the champion of reason). For example, why is Jim Taggart so against his sister's success when he is the president of the same company? He stands to profit from it! Yet he persistently tries to run his own company to the ground. All the villains are absurd caricatures in her book.

Even the "good guys" are not believable, and their relationships are just bizarre. Consider the following conversation between Rearden and Dagny, after they had sex for the first time (Keep in mind these are two main characters and heroes of the book, they went on to have a long relationship, which is fraught with contempt, despisement and violence).

Rearden: I want to you know this. What I feel for you is contempt. But it's nothing, compared to the contempt I feel for myself. I don't love you. I never loved anyone... I wanted you as one wants a whore .. You're as vile an animal as I am. .. I held it as my honor that I would never need anyone. I need you. ...
Dagny: I want you, Hank. I'm much of an animal than you think. .. You'll have me any time you wish, anywhere, on any terms. .. If I'm asked to name my proudest achievement, I will say: I have slept with Hand Rearden. I had earned it.

Yet this is supposed to be a model relationship between the good guys. Now ask yourself if you would speak like this and have a relationship on such grounds. And Dagny is supposed to be a driven, shrewd and rational businesswoman. Give me a break. With heroes like these, who needs villains?

Editorial Review:

At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback.

With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers.

Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder--and rebirth--of man's spirit.

* Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club

Angels & Demons: A Novel (Robert Langdon)

Dan Brown

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Total reviews: 2203 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code comes the explosive thriller that started it all.

An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An unthinkable target. When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to his first assignment to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.

Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

Critics have praised the exhilarating blend of relentless adventure, scholarly intrigue, and cutting wit found in Brown's remarkable thrillers featuring Robert Langdon. An explosive international suspense, Angels & Demons marks this hero's first adventure as it careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.

The Thirteenth Tale (Readers Circle (Center Point))

Diane Setterfield

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Total reviews: 599 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

Goodnight Bush: A Parody

Gan Golan, Erich Origen

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Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Bush's Legacy 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I found this book in the library so I took a quick read. I found it an amusing account of someone who has really crippled this nation. Many of the failed policies of Dick Cheney and Bush were covered; if they would have mentioned more the, the book would have been huge.

With all of the trouble that this country now faces as we approach the start of a new administration, this book is a little bit of humor to brighten your day.

Simply fabulous 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is just great. If you read through it quickly, there is something new to see each time. Otherwise, it could take hours to read, because there are so many little things to see and miss. Very clever, very funny.

Editorial Review:

A brilliant parody of the children's classic Goodnight Moon, built around the coming end of the worst presidency ever.

Goodnight Bush: An Unauthorized Parody is a hilarious and poignant visual requiem for the Bush administration. In it we see a childlike George W. Bush tucked safely away in the confines of his own room with all of the toys he's willfully destroyed, abused, or defaced. Complete with a quiet Dick Cheney whispering "hush," this bedtime story lets us finally say goodnight to the disaster that was the last eight years.