( D ) Books

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 112 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

I occupy myself with this mystery because I want to be a man 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Anyone interested in the central question facing mankind will find `The Brothers Karamazov' an essential guide. That question--on man's capacity for responsibility and the proper role of the state and religion--is posed throughout the story in dialogue and events, and is framed neatly in a 20-page section where Ivan presents a poem titled `The Grand Inquisitor' to his brother Alyosha. The chapter that bears that title (Book V, Chapter V) is a masterpiece in itself and should be studied for its narrative technique alone. But the ideas it presents are so immense, so mind-blowing and inspirational, that literary criticism is not sufficient.

Indeed, `The Brothers Karamazov' should not be classed merely as a novel--it is a book of philosophy, theology, and sociology as well that ranks with the greatest documents in those disciplines. There is a fictitious plot, of course, and the characters in the story are some of the most unique in all of literature, so it is rightly praised as a novel. But the modern reader looking for a plot of twists and romantic intrigues is bound to disappointment. Dostoevsky does not stir up drama through the placement of unexpected developments or improbable character traits. Instead, he relies on the inherent needs and wants of all men to make vivid his story.

The amount of dialogue may be shocking (tedious) to one accustomed to the modern show-don't-tell policy in storytelling. Today, novelists and screenwriters let a character's actions speak for them--it is quicker and provides a much more convincing impression. It also limits the kind of ideas that are posed in the story to simple, prosaic ones like `she likes him' or `he wants to defeat him.' By contrast, Dostoevsky allows the characters to speak for themselves, which creates a much longer and subtler exposition, but also frees the ideas to be vast and monumental.

What is the fundamental nature of socialism? What are the uses of the church in finding purpose? In finding salvation? Why is there suffering? What is the meaning of death? Read the brothers' dialogues and contemplate.

Dostoevsky's own philosophy is seen in the protagonist, Alyosha. This is so despite the fact that the author ably covers every perspective on every topic presented in the book, and one can hardly find a positive assertion throughout. If there is one, it rests in the overall effect of the words and actions, a concept Dostoevsky articulated in a personal correspondence--it is that "Man is a mystery; if you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out, then do not say that you have wasted your time."

A word about the translations: The title of Book IV has been translated differently in every version I have seen (other chapter titles are also inconsistent, but Book IV is seemingly the most difficult to agree on). The original Russian is `Nadryvy,' which literally translates to `Ruptures,' though no translations I have seen use `Ruptures.' The word is used throughout the book to convey the motif of `pressures' or `strained conditions about to break.' The various options I have seen for this title are `Lacerations' (Garnett), `Strains' (Pevear & Volkhonsky), `Torment' (MacAndrew), `Crises' (Avsey), and `Crack-Ups' (McDuff). Given this is a central theme, the potential reader might look into which translation he prefers before buying. Apropos, the Princess Alexandra Kropotkin print version bears the Garnett translation, as does the Frederick Davidson audio recording.

Editorial Review:

The award-winning translation of Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)

Alexandre Dumas père

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The perfect tale of revenge & redemption 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the thickest books I've ever read, and it was worth every page. Don't be daunted by the size, the complete, unabridged Count of Monte Cristo is not just one of the best adventure stories ever written, but one of the best stories period. The simplicity of the story conceals everything the story has to say about life; the expectations, disappointments, despairs, hatreds, loves, joys and bittersweetness that everyone experiences. This book is timeless and unforgettable.

Very good 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Very good quality, very good book. This is my favorite book, and it's the second time I read it,the best classic you can find.

Count of Monte Cristo 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed the movie, but the book has so much more story background. A person really should check out this book, for more of the count's machinations. Very Clever!

The Count of Monte Cristo 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I've ordered books in the past where the seller said it was "good" as a comment to condition and appearence and was always pleased, except with this recent exception. I must admit I was disappointed with it's outward appearence when received, and found it necessary to rebuy the book at "Barn & Noble", since this was to be part of a Birthday gift. I will be more careful in the future when I see the word "good" as it is subjective from one seller to the other.

Editorial Review:

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Gorgeous illustrations! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I think we have yet to experience the definitive film version of "A Christmas Carol", but we now have the definitive book version! Masterful illustrations complement the unedited text. Oh, and EVERYONE who purchases this book, PLEASE take off the dust cover and let this one age without it! WONDERFUL cover, perfect!

Editorial Review:

The celebrated P.J. Lynch captures the spirit of Dickens's beloved tale in a richly illustrated unabridged edition.

The story of Ebenezer Scrooge opens on a Christmas Eve as cold as Scrooge's own heart. That night, he receives three ghostly visitors: the terrifying spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each takes him on a heart-stopping journey, yielding glimpses of Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit, the horrifying spectres of Want and Ignorance, even Scrooge's painfully hopeful younger self. Will Scrooge's heart be opened? Can he reverse the miserable future he is forced to see? Now in an unabridged edition gloriously illustrated by the award-winning P.J. Lynch, this story's message of love and goodwill, mercy and self-redemption resonates as keenly as ever.

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Even the Blind Mans Dog avoided Scrooge! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is the most heartwarming story EVER written about Yuletide, the story is truly magical. It captures the very essence of what Christmas is all about.
I like to start reading it every December, just to get into that "Christmassy" mood, it's a lot more effective then "Bottled" Christmas spirits.
But let us not forget as the author is at pains to point out;
Marley was dead,.... to begin with.
~~~~
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"Long Past?" inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarsfish stature.
"No. Your past."
(One of many simple but great lines, that stay with you when you've finished.)

Reading this story certainly changed my life, and saved me the need for three visits!
"God bless us everyone".

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Has any story been copied more times than A Christmas Carol? It seems almost every year there is a new movie version. And how many sitcom characters have been visited by the ghosts of Christmas? It all starts to get a little tiring at times, but the original never does. This story is beautiful. No matter how many clumsy knockoffs try to capitalize on the idea and no matter how many dance numbers it inspires, the integrity of this classic will endure. Read it again, and introduce it to your children, too.

Editorial Review:

This is a beautiful new edition of Charles Dickens' most beloved story, "A Christmas Carol." Large format (6"x9"), printed on high quality paper.

The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 505 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointing 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have read most of Didion's books and so bought this at a used bookstore without knowing what it was about. Like many of the reviewers before me, the first few chapters describing her husband's death kept me reading, but by the middle of the book I found it a chore to pick up. The content became very repetitive and, as I moved through the pages, utterly hopeless in its tone. Having experienced grief myself and knowing the grasping for some truth that would tell me 'hold on, you will get through this,' I found no such message here and would not recommend this book to anyone grieving the loss of a loved one.

The other issue Didion dealt with at the same time as John's death was their daughter's mysterious illness. Unfortunately this issue gets lost in Didion's grief and there is no real outcome provided in the book. We know that Quintana got out of the hospital but nothing beyond that. The topic is simply dropped with no real emotion expressed by the author.

I feel that for a piece to be worthy of public consumption there ought to be something of value that readers can walk away with. Perhaps as a study of grief, Didion's book could rightfully find its way onto a handful of bookshelves, but as a general reader it is sorely lacking the author's trademark writing charm and expertise. In fact, it is poorly written. There is nothing magical here, except that someone gave the book a wonderful title that belies the meaning the author intended, that she suffered through a year of denial and as of the last page had not recovered from it. Now, almost 4 years after her husband's death, I hope Ms. Didion has found some of the peace she was obviously lacking when she wrote this book.

Editorial Review:

From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage--and a life, in good times and bad--that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

The Whistling Season

Ivan Doig

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Read this Book! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Ivan Doig must be the Midwest's answer to Stegner...well written, engaging, great characters that reveal just enough (unlike our People Mag oriented society). One of those books I am so glad to have read and will recommend. Also enjoyed the historical perspective of the United States at that time of one room school houses, etc.

Editorial Review:

"Can’t cook but doesn’t bite." So begins the ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper" that draws the attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so also begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee, Montana. When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education"—none of them of the textbook variety—Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region’s one-room schoolhouse.



A paean to a vanished way of life and the eccentric individuals and idiosyncratic institutions that made it fertile, The Whistling Season is Ivan Doig at his evocative best.

101 Great American Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, T S. Eliot, Marianne Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Quite a Bang for Your Buck!.......... 4 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

............this small book of poetry contains the work of nearly forty of the best known American poets. From Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman to Edgar Allan Poe to Robert Frost, there are poems in this collection that are sure to appeal to everyone! Also represented in this collection are ten women poets and eight African Americans including Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Phyllis Wheatley. There's even a poem by Abraham Lincoln that reveals his thoughts about his childhood experiences.

This collection is a simple, inexpensive way to introduce oneself to the wonderful world of American poetry. Each poet is introduced with a short biography followed by his or her most memorable work. Great buy!

Editorial Review:

Rich treasury of verse from the 19th and 20th centuries, selected for popularity and literary quality, includes Poe's "The Raven," Whitman's "I Hear America Singing," as well as poems by Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, many other notables.

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits

Les Standiford

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As uplifting as the tale of Scrooge itself, this is the story of how one writer and one book revived the signal holiday of the Western world.

Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist.

The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.

With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.

Rebecca

Daphne Du Maurier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 492 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great suspense novel 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Warning: spoiler

A fantastic novel, that deserves a place next to "Wuthering Hights", "Great Expectations" or "Jane Eyre". Daphne Dumaurier's beautiful and rich writing style and amazing storytelling skills make this novel great fun to read. She handles the character development wonderfully well, in particular the overly sensitive and devoted heroine, the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, the despicable playboy Favell, and the gloomy and jaded Max de Winter.

The novel works on many levels. There are some elements of the old fairy-tales Cinderella (servant-girl marries nobleman) and Bluebeard (forbidden room, murderous husband), but with a different, surprising twist. It's also a story of growing-up, as the nameless heroine matures from a timid girl into a strong-willed woman during her various trials. The author brilliantly disguises the characters' motivations, so that the true causes of things remain a mystery until about two-thirds into the novel when the main crisis unfolds. We then realise that the heroine, who sees things through the lens of her own feelings of inferiority completely misses the truth, which is to her a shock and relief at the same time.

Not least, the lush, rich descriptions of the house and the surrounding Cornwell country-side, and linking of the natural elements with the mood of the story makes this novel a truly satisfying reading experience. You may not want to read another novel for a long time.

Also of interest to readers would be Alfred Hitchcock's film Rebecca, which faithfully recreates the novel, with an outstanding cast.

Editorial Review:

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. . . With these words the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room in the immense, foreboding estate were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten -- a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. And with an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife -- the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

Great Expectations (Penguin Classics)

Charles Dickens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Must Read Victorian Novel 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a Dickens novel but not sure where to start. I moved around to so many different high schools that I never was "forced" to read any Dickens and somehow also missed this in college. I just finished this book and I have to admit I did not "breeze through it" but I did take a week to read it in small increments and felt it was worth the effort. Some of the terms are no longer in use or would be rarely used in today's world; the use of the language has changed and the reading can be tedious if you are tired. I had to stretch my imagination to wrap my mind around mid-19th century London and its environs for I have not been there (nor have I been to the middle of the 19th century, thankee). I savored the prose and tried to recreate the intended accents in my head (not out loud, as that would have been dreadful). I did laugh out loud a couple of times while reading this...not my expectation. I was thrilled by the descriptions of Miss Havisham...what a mind Dickens had. You should read this but be patient with yourself (I was rather embarrassed that my husband plowed through four contemporary novels while I slowly worked through this one). Do read this.

Editorial Review:

A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens' haunting late novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers thetrue nature of his 'great expectations'.