Authors, A-Z Books - Page 3

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 708 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of the best 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. If you have a room temperature IQ it may be a confusing novel, but other wise it is a true master piece.

Fun, Subtle War Bashing 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I found it to be an interesting story of a man mentally escaping to a fantasy world in order to deal with the unshakable hypocrisy, severity, and useless tragedy of war that he had to participate in at such a young age. While I never served in Iraq or Afghanistan, being a military member at a young age, I could identify with being so young and naive, having to make some very mature and profound choices. I did not find Vonnegut very funny, however; if you are trying to make a profound anti-war statement, soldiers taking a crap in a latrine as comic relief seems a little sophmoric and out of place. I did find the irony of Billy Pilgrim's appearance in the prisoner camp funny, however. It is very suiting. Overall, I found it a cool, modern look at the impact of the ethics (or lacktherof) of warfare, and the morality and mental fragility of its soldiers then and now.

Editorial Review:

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of  the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the  infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey  of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning  in what we are afraid to know.

Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis, Michael York

List Price: $15.99 By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $4.10

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 446 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beautiful and Mentally Satisfying 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Reading this book I gained a logical confirmation of the natural beliefs of the heart, which in modern times are increasingly condemned as illogical. The best scholarly defense of religion/morality in general and Christianity in particular I've read! To make the most out of it, read "The Everlasting Man" by G.K. Chesterton, a book which greatly influenced Lewis and played a major role in converting him to theism: The Everlasting Man. These books go hand in hand. Read them both!!

Recommend the writer to everyone 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Book was in okay shape but the material inside is a must for
anyone seeking truth.

Astounding 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an amazing read. The english is perfect and the logic is beautiful. Go ahead I dare you.

'Oxford Retard' yet to receive a coherent rebuttal... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I agree with the 1 star reviewers. This was no scholarly work. It wasn't nearly enough pages long. He didn't even use long words. If he was really an intellectual don't you think he would have used longer words?

Editorial Review:

This 20th century masterpiece of Christian apologetics, read by acclaimed actor Michael York, is one of C.S. Lewis' best-loved works. In this audio edition of Mere Christianity, believers and non-believers are provided an unequaled opportunity to hear a powerful and rational case for the Christian faith.

The Fountainhead (Centennial Edition Hardcover)

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 968 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

More traditionally novelistic, tells the backstory of Atlas Shrugged 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This novel predates Atlas Shrugged, and sometimes reads like a prequel telling the backstory of John Galt's life before he went on strike in Atlas. In its focus on individual characters, it sharpens the picture of pain and painful consequences to significant choices that drive the character's in Rand's objectivist world, so in some ways is more interesting and readable than Atlas Shrugged. It is more traditionally novelistic and less explicitly philosophical.

Editorial Review:

A special edition hardcover in celebration of Ayn Rand’s centennial.

When it was first published in 1943, The Fountainhead--containing Ayn Rand’s daringly original literary vision with the seeds of her groundbreaking philosophy, Objectivism—won immediate worldwide acclaim. This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This centennial edition of The Fountainhead, celebrating the controversial and eduring legacy of its author, features an afterword by Rand’s literary executor, Leonard Peikoff, offering some of Ayn Rand’s personal notes on the development of her masterwork.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald)

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Amazon Price: $65.60 List Price: $82.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cambridge University Press Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $23.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1120 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's account of the American dream gone awry, has established itself as one of the most popular and widely read novels in the English language. Until now, however, no edition has printed the novel exactly as Fitzgerald intended. The first edition was marred by errors resulting from Fitzgerald's extensive rewriting in proof and the conditions under which the book was produced; moreover, the subsequent transmission of the text introduced proliferating departures from the author's words. This critical edition draws on the manuscript and surviving proofs of the novel, together with Fitzgerald's subsequent revisions to key passages, to provide the first authoritative text of The Great Gatsby. This volume also includes a detailed account of the genesis, composition, and publication of the novel; a full textual apparatus; crucial early draft material; helpful glosses on the peculiar geography and chronology of the book; and explanatory notes on topical allusions and historical references that contemporary readers might otherwise miss. Fitzgerald's masterpiece is thus brought closer to a cross-section of readers, more accessibly and more authentically than ever before. Matthew J. Bruccoli has published widely. He is the author of Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1980) and editor of New Essays on The Great Gatsby (CUP, 1985).

The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.)

Michael Chabon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 293 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.

Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Volume II: Pride and Prejudice (Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen)

Jane Austen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 904 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth paying for on the Kindle 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Kindle owners hopefully are aware of the wealth of free editions of the classics which are available through Feedbooks and other sources.

I obtained a copy of P&P from feedbooks originally and while it was easy to get and the price was right, the overall quality of the text is not great. I've found several typos, presumably the result of OCR errors and it's somewhat distracting.

Since P&P is one of my wife's favorite books, I was delighted to see
Penguin had released an electronic edition for $0.50 complete with the usual footnotes, essays and maps that one's used to
finding in textbook editions of the classics.

The table of contents is pretty minimal. The headings include the editor's material, and the three volume headings.

Editorial Review:

This is the first of the novels published in 'The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen' series, illustrated with early nineteenth-century plates. From its famous opening sentence, the story of the Bennet family and of the novel's two protagonists, Elizabeth and Darcy, told with a wit that its author feared might prove 'rather too light and bright, and sparkling, ' delights its most familiar readers as thoroughly as it does those who encounter it for the first time. And while she entertains us, Jane Austen teaches us the wisdom of balance, the folly of 'pride' and 'prejudice.'

Revolutionary Road (Modern American Fiction)

Richard Yates

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 103 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not sure how I feel about this book 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

After reading this, I felt the same as I did after watching Ordinary People. It's depressing, the characters are for the most part unlikable, at times it seems to drag, but I wanted to know how it ends. Richard Yates is a great writer and I like his style, but I don't think this is the type of book that you just LOVE.

I am always fascinated by novels with similar themes of disillusionment, etc. What I found most interesting about this book is the fact that the 1950s is the modern era in which the characters yearn for yesteryear. For me growing up, the 50s were always pointed to as the good old days, and it wasn't until the mid 60s that things started to change. I liked the descriptions of the kids zoning out in front of the TV and Frank describing how the men on TV are always portrayed as bumbling idiots while the wives have it all together. It's just funny to see that the same observations and complaints have been made for decades. People complained about the cookie-cutter houses then just as they do now about the McMansions.....

Anyway, it's not a classic, and if you're pressed for time, I don't know that I would spend what time I did have reading this particular book. Try Fitzgerald instead.

Editorial Review:

The story of Frank and April Wheeler, a bright, beautiful and talented couple who have lived on the assumption that greatness is just around the corner. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how they mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying themselves and each other.

Catch-22: A Novel (Simon & Schuster Classics)

Joseph Heller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 832 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Catch-22 is one of this century's greatest works of American literature. First published m 1961, Joseph Heller's profound and compelling novel has appeared on nearly every list of must read fiction. It is a classic in every sense of the word.

Catch-22 took the war novel genre to a new level, shocking us with its clever and disturbing style. Set in a World War II American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of John Yossarian, who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. Yossarian is also trying to decode the meaning of Catch-22, a mysterious regulation that proves that insane people are really the sanest, while the supposedly sensible people are the true madmen. And this novel is full of madmen -- Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly m order to finish their tour; Milo Minderbinder, a dedicated entrepreneur who bombs his own airfield when the Germans offer him an extra 6 percent; Major Major Major, whose tragedy in life is that he resembles Henry Fonda; and Major -- de Coverley, whose face is so forbidding no one has dared ask his name.

No novel before or since has matched Catch-22's intensity and brilliance in depicting the brutal insanity of war. Heller satirizes military bureaucracy with bitter, stinging humor, all the while telling the darkly comic story of Yossarian, a bombardier who refuses to die.

Nearly forty years later, Yossarian lives.

Emma

Jane Austen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 311 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Simply adorable 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Gwyneth Paltrow takes on the Austenian role with all the elegance anyone could possibly bring. She and the rest of the cast are all perfect in a true romantic comedy with all of the Jane Austen-ness for which anyone could possibly ask. It's absolutely darling.

Emma - timeless 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I own this movie and it's one of those that I put on my dvd once a year. I've never grown tired of this classic story. Gwyneth is terrific in this. It's about finding love in the oddest of places. It's about judging people and making false character analysis. It's about making things right with good friends. And it's sweet and fun all wrapped up. I loved this movie and anyone who loves Jane Austen will like it.

Good 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

you'll like this version. totally worth checking out. and then watch CLUELESS right after. you'll enjoy the mirror image better.

Cute! 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you are fond of this kind of film you should like it. It's a cute little romance. Not serious but very light hearted and somewhat comical. I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars if the cinematography and directing had been better. I also think the casting was a little blah, with the exception of Gwyneth Paltrow and Alan Cumming.
Paltrow nailed it! I'm not a huge fan of hers but she played the complicated Emma perfectly. Well meaning but trouble making, sweet but spoiled, generous but snobbish. She really made the character charming and believable. Alan Cumming was great to, but when is he not?
I defiantly recommend you give it a shot. It's not a movie you could watch over and over again, but at least once.

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1843 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Life of Pi 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book was very well written. Not my type of book. It was selected as a book for my book club. I thought it would be more spiritual. A bit too much agony and strife to take in for a pleasure read.

So-so book 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I ventured out of my usual kind of reads for this book because of all the hype. It sounded kinda interesting. When I read the blurbs on it, I was expecting some kind of big epiphany from it. I'm disappointed in it, it was just a weird story that dragged on, and the back and forth in time thing was confusing. I've read other books with that technique that flowed well and were easy to follow. I am giving it three stars because Mr. Martel can obviously write, no shortage of talent there. There is also a decent amount of creativity in his book. The third star is me admitting that I bought this book because of the hype, so I won't punish it because it's not my usual taste. Honestly, the story is not that interesting, a lot of the scenes seemed pointless, and the big message of the book comes across weak and contrived. Like someone shoved it in hoping it would leave you in awe. It doesn't. I really don't get the big hoopla here. Wasn't time well-spent for me.

Editorial Review:

WINNER OF THE 2002 BOOKER PRIZE After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi -- a 16-year-old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years.