Book Description
Sir Owen Morgan Edwards (1858-1920) was a Welsh historian, an educationalist and a prolific writer, starting and editing the periodical Cymru in 1892 and Cymru'r Plant for children in 1894, intended to arouse interest among the people of Wales in their own language and history. He wrote a number of books on Welsh history.Download Description
The Romans allowed the Welsh families and tribes to remain as before, and to be ruled by their own kings and chiefs. But they kept the defence of the country--the manning of the great wall in the north of Roman Britain, the garrisoning of the legion towns, and the holding of the western sea--in their own hand. ... Read more

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The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World; Or, The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian, Or New Persian Empire. With Maps and Illustrations ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Delightful and Amusing!
Prior to reading this, A Rogue's Life, I had only read the most obvious and popular works by Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White and The Moonstone.Of course, I loved those books - so when I saw A Rogue's Life at my local bookstore, I picked it up.I was attracted by the description on the inside cover of the narrator, who has failed at a variety of pursuits and become 'disenchanted with life.'Perhaps I, at times, think of myself as a bit of a rogue, so upon reading the description I immediately purchased the book.

This book is delightful.Wilkie Collins is all about sensation and entertainment - and his is a great writer to boot!However, the book description got it wrong.The narrator is never 'disenchanted with life.'Despite his many setbacks, he always approaches life with optimism.In fact, in the foreword, Collins mentions the tone of 'boisterious gaiety' that pervades the work, attributing it to the grand life he was leading at the time in Paris.As a result, this short novel is filled with humor and adventure, and surfs along on a tide of good cheer.Add in the fact that it was serialized, and you get those wonderful cliffhanger chapter endings that just keep you reading!

Ahead of it's time.
Since it was written in 1856 it's far ahead of it's time. It's a simple, humurous, tale of the misadventures of one man. He carries on like he could be a distant relative of Don Quixote. It keeps you entertained and if nothing else, when all is said and done, will bring a smile to your face.

An entertaining story of personal transformation
Frank Softly is introduced to a range of professions by a father hoping he'll make a fortune - but Frank finds work a challenge and by age 25 he has many failed careers to his name. He's lost and wandering - until he meets one Alicia and her rich father. An entertaining story of personal transformation emerges in a pick especially recommended for college-level literary holdings already containing his better-known novels, who want to add depth to their treatment of Wilkie Collins.

Wilkie Collins scores with Softly tale
I just laughed and rejoiced in this short tale of intrigue of the protagonist Frank Softly.And what a rogue he is, indeed, and ever more likely to gain a place in a confidence game of the worst sort, confeiting, no less.What fun to venture across England and into Wales and Scotland with this upper middle class scoundrel and hear his adventures "in his own words".Sort of made me think of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones character, and some the the delicious characters of Dickens' own creations as well.I am currently immersed in catching up on my Wilkie Collins' reads and highly recommend that other readers do the same. ... Read more

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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, Brahmo Samaj philosopher, visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A cultural icon of Bengal and India, he became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. A Pirali Bengali Brahmin from Calcutta, Tagore first wrote poems at age eight. He published his first substantial poetry under the pseudonym Bhanushingho (Sun Lion). Tagore's works included numerous novels, short-stories, collection of songs, dance-drama, political and personal essays. Some prominent examples are Gora (Fair-Faced) (1910), Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) (1919). His verse, short stories, and novels-many defined by rhythmic lyricism, colloquial language, meditative naturalism, and philosophical contemplation-received worldwide acclaim. His other works include The King of the Dark Chamber (1914), The Gardener (1915), Songs of Kabir (1915), Fruit-Gathering (1916), Stray Birds (1916), The Hungry Stones and Other Stories (1916) and Glimpses of Bengal (1920).Download Description
You walked by the riverside path with the full pitcher upon your hip. Why did you swiftly turn your face and peep at me through your fluttering veil? That gleaming look from the dark came upon me like a breeze that sends a shiver through the rippling water and sweeps away to the shadowy shore. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

the gardener
excellent collection of indian poetry.found it accidently while browsing in a huge 6 story library.quite a lucky find.

Visiting a flower garden in a magic ancient kingdom
"Please, make me the gardener of your flower garden", a lover asks his beloved. He calls himself a servant and his beloved the queen. He dreamsto serve her idle days. He wants to keep fresh the grassy path where she walks in the morning; he wants her feet to be greeted with praise at every step by the flowers.

And what he wants for his reward? He asks to be allowed to hold her little fists like tender lotus-buds and slip flower chains over her wrists; to tinge the soles of her feet with the red juice of flower petals and kiss away the speck of dust that may chance to linger there.

This is the way Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest Indian poet of all times, introduce us to this enchanted collection of poems, poems that touch the most profound strings of our hearts. His poems tell us about love and life - and they are rich with the description of nature and beauty. Anybody that loves or has loved cannot remain indifferent to his poems. Some readers "have smiles, sweet and simple, and some a sly twinkle in their eyes. Some have tears that well up in the daylight, and others tears that are hidden in the gloom." But we all have need for him, the poet, who is "ever as young or as old as the youngest and the oldest of the village".

His poems tell us of impossible love - like the love of the free bird and the cage bird: "Their love is intense with longing, but they never can fly wing to wing. Through the bars of the cage they look, and vain is their wish to know each other. They flutter their wings in yearning, and sing, 'Come closer, my love!' The free bird cries, 'It cannot be, I fear the closed doors of the cage.' The cage bird whispers, 'Alas, my wings are powerless and dead.' "

His poems tell us of secret love: "The young traveler came along the road in the rosy mist of the morning. He stopped before my door and asked me with an eager cry, 'Where is she?' For very shame I could not say, 'She is I, young traveler, she is I.' "

His poems tell us of lovers' emotion: "When my love comes and sits by my side, when my body trembles and my eyelids droop, the night darkens, the wind blows out the lamp, and the clouds draw veils over the stars. It is the jewel at my own breast that shines and gives light. I do not know how to hide it."

His poems tell us of the need for love confidence: "Do not keep to yourself the secret of your heart, my friend! Say it to me, only to me, in secret. You who smile so gently, softly whisper, my heart will hear it, not my ears."

His poems tell us of a love story: "Hands cling to hands and eyes linger on eyes: thus begins the record of our hearts. It is the moonlit night of March; the sweet smell of henna is in the air; my flute lies on the earth neglected and your garland of flowers is unfinished. This love between you and me is simple as a song."

His poems tell us of lovers departing: "An unbelieving smile flits on your eyes when I come to you to take my leave. I have done it so often that you think I will soon return. To tell you the truth I have the same doubt in my mind. For the spring days come again time after time; the full moon takes leave and comes on another visit, the flowers come again and blush upon their branches year after year, and it is likely that I take my leave only to come to you again. But keep the illusion awhile; do not send it away with ungentle haste.When I say I leave you for all time, accept it as true, and let a mist of tears for one moment deepen the dark rim of your eyes. Then smile as archly as you like when I come again."

Reading those poems I felt like visiting a flower garden full of scents and beauty in a magic ancient kingdom. ... Read more

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By Charles Austin Beard and his wife Mary Ritter Beard. Charles Austin Beard was one of the most influential American historians of the early twentieth century. He published hundreds of monographs, textbooks and interpretive studies in both history and political science. He graduated from DePauw University in 1898, where he met and eventually married one of the founders of the first Greek-letter societies for women, Kappa Alpha Theta, Mary Ritter Beard. She was a United States historian and campaigner for woman's suffrage, and an influential historian. She was also renowned for her social activism. Full of illustrations, maps, portraits, paintings and photographs. ... Read more

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Plato (428/427 BC-348/347 BC), whose original name was Aristocles, was an ancient Greek philosopher, the second of the great trio of ancient Greeks - succeeding Socrates and preceding Aristotle - who between them laid the philosophical foundations of Western culture. Plato was also a mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world. Plato is widely believed to have been a student of Socrates and to have been deeply influenced by his teacher's unjust death. Plato's brilliance as a writer and thinker can be witnessed by reading his Socratic dialogues. Some of the dialogues, letters, and other works that are ascribed to him are considered spurious. Plato is thought to have lectured at the Academy, although the pedagogical function of his dialogues, if any, is not known with certainty. They have historically been used to teach philosophy, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, and other subjects about which he wrote.Download Description
Some dialogues of Plato are of so various a character that their relation to the other dialogues cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. The Theaetetus, like the Parmenides, has points of similarity both with his earlier and his later writings.The perfection of style, the humour, the dramatic interest, the complexity of structure, the fertility of illustration, the shifting of the points of view, are characteristic of his best period of authorship. ... Read more

Book Description
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and detective fiction. Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox. " He wrote in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. He is one of the few Christian thinkers who are equally admired and quoted by both liberal and conservative Christians, and indeed by many non-Christians. And in his own words he cast aspersions on the labels saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. " Chesterton wrote many books among which are: All Things Considered (1908), Alarms and Discursions (1910), The Ballad of the White Horse (1911), The Appetite of Tyranny (1915), The Everlasting Man (1925), The Secret of Father Brown (1927) and The Scandal of Father Brown (1935). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond
An endearing if imperfect collection of mysteries from G. K. Chesterton.This was the last work of fiction he ever wrote.Certainly all of his trademarks are still here: clever plot twists, seemingly impossible paradoxes, philosophical discussion mixed in with the story, and endearing comedy mixed in with the philosophy.But with that said, this particular set of stories is a mixed bag.

At the top of the heap (and the top of the order) is "The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse".This tale takes us to Poland, where a headstrong German general fails because he has two loyal Prussian servants.If he'd had only one, he would have succeeded.How can this be?Mr. Pond narrates out of the apparent contradiction in fine fashion, complete with unforgettable characters, creepy setting, and a titanic clash of wills.

On the other hand, other stories in the collection are definitely lacking some real Chestertonian zing.Some of them are frankly predictable, others seem arbitrarily constructed just to build up to a clever punch line.One hesitates to suggest that Chesterton's talents were failing at the end of his life.After all, he wrote some of his best books in the 1930's, including his towering autobiography.Nevertheless, he certainly let some substandard material slip through here.

Even so, "The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond" is well worth reading for anyone who appreciates a good mystery or just a little fun.Further, all the stories are still packed with the unflagging spirit that is G. K. Chesterton.Even when his literally skills slipped a notch, he remained committed to principles, and determined to fit important statements into all his works.In particular, both the first and last story in this collection contain echoes of the horrors of the Nazi regime.With the Holocaust beginning in earnest shortly after this book was written, it's worth considering how much a seemingly innocent collection of tales could tell us about the human condition.Perhaps we should pay a bit more attention to the messages in our popular writings today.

Still waters run deep
"Paradox has been defined as 'Truth standing on her head to attract attention.' Paradox has been defended; on the ground that so many fashionable fallacies still stand firmly on their feet, because they have no heads to stand on."
- "When Doctors Agree"

As Chesterton's fellow members of the Detection Club, Sayers and Christie, could tell you, his chief tool in the gentle art of misdirection - getting the reader running the wrong way - was the paradox. The Pond stories are only a few of the many examples of Chesterton's tricks in that line. Several have opening statements about paradoxes in general that are worth reading, over and above the cleverness of the mysteries or Chesterton's lyrical touch with language. (Like Lord Dunsany, Chesterton likes to illuminate the romance and poetry of quite ordinary settings and prosaic-seeming people.)

Mr. Pond is a bureaucrat who, wanting to cut his stories short, often produces odd paradoxical statements, which defeat the purpose as everyone then badgers him into telling the whole story. His closest friends are a pair of extremes. Sir Hubert Wotton, a colleague in Pond's nameless department, has no nonsense about him. Gahagan, on the other hand, has a robust '18th century' turn of phrase, and plays up to the image of a colorful Irish wit as definitely Wotton plays to that of English stolidity.

"The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse" The Prussian marshal had both feet firmly on the ground, espousing the principle that the world is affected not by what people believe or say, but by what is *done*. Observing the practical effect of a great poet and musician upon the conquered citizenry, the Marshal paid his greatest compliment to the arts in sending a courier with a sentence of death. His plan might have worked just fine, if he hadn't had not one, but *two* soldiers who obeyed orders.

"The Crime of Captain Gahagan" Gahagan is popularly supposed in love with Joan Varney, but he's been spending an awful lot of time hanging around Olivia Malone Feversham, the actress. Her husband is 'something worse than an unsuccessful actor; he was one who had been successful'. In sort, Feversham doesn't bother with his career anymore, but only cares about suing people in the law courts for spoiling his chances. Not a good man to cross - and someone fatally stabbed him in his own garden. What looks worst for Gahagan is that 3 young ladies - among them the Varney sisters - have reported 3 different stories he told them of where he was bound that night.

"When Doctors Agree" Talking shop - international politics - with his friends, after Gahagan chaffs Wotton, saying he thinks everyone who isn't English is as alike as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Pond steps in, saying that how lucky it is that people generally go on disagreeing, and how he once knew two men who came to agree so completely that one murdered the other.

"Pond the Pantaloon" The background of this story is very cool: a conspiracy aiming at a coup d'etat, which was so widespread that Pond and company had to smuggle important documents from a northern port to a government department in London, while on the surface life was just as usual. In an unusual turn, Gahagan, after becoming entangled in Pond's talk of red pencils leaving black marks, goes to Wotton for the story. Pond, in charge of seeing that the documents arrived safely, said he shouldn't show any particular care in this case.

"The Unmentionable Man" Mr. Pond recollects a visit to one of those little monarchies that, when it became a republic, didn't magically solve all its problems. In fact, they acquired a lot of Marxist revolutionary types that the government tried to suppress, including some almost professional agitators. One of the government's most troubling problems was that they couldn't deport a desirable alien. 'You mean an *un*desirable alien.' Here we go again...

"Ring of Lovers" Gahagan tells of an incident at a stag party he attended the previous night, where the distinguished guests appeared to have nothing in common, involving the disappearance a valuable ring bearing a romantic inscription. The incident would be enough for a story, but here it is wielded beautifully to make Gahagan realize that he's taken a wrong turning in his life. (He doesn't lose his sense of humor, thank God.)

"The Terrible Troubadour" This, the third time Gahagan is mixed up in a mess, shows Chesterton's talent for dealing with continuing characters: talk is beginning to spread about Gahagan's suspicious previous history. :) The incident happened some years back, when Gahagan was on leave from the Great War - a holiday from hell, as he puts it - and flamboyantly competing with a rival to impress a vicar's daughter, climbing balconies and so on. The rival disappeared...

The biologist Paul Green, an expert on natural selection, is a recurring type in Chesterton's stories - G.K., speaking through Pond, disagreed with the science on religious principles.

"A Tall Story" This begins with an echo of the oncoming Holocaust; the story itself is set in a major seaport, like Brighton, during the WWI rather than WWII. Mr. Pond had an office there, and kept track of secret plans and possible spies. The paradoxes here are that a man too tall to be seen murdered one of Pond's colleagues, and that a tiresome woman, seeing spies under every bed, provides the key clue. The German governess in the story is contrasted with a certain type of Latin; the other half of the comparison can be found in the beautiful young Italian actress in "The Actor and the Alibi", in _The Secret of Father Brown_.

Another Enjoyable Mystery Collection by Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton, a contemporary of Sir Conan Doyle, is known today for his delightful short stories, especially those involving Father Brown, a priest with a penchant for solving crimes.

Like myself, most readers of Father Brown stories are less aware of Chesterton's other collections of mystery tales. Following the advice of previous reviewers, I recently introduced myself to Mr. Pond and his friends, Captain Gahagan and Sir Hubert Wotton, in "The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond".

Once again Chesterton pleasantly surprised me. Mr. Pond, a quiet, mild mannered, obscure English bureaucrat relates an odd mix of adventures. All stories are initiated by some paradoxical comment that he unwittingly utters. After some confusion, Mr. Pond is persuaded to explain himself. The tales are usually a little convoluted, but in the end we have a solution that is logically possible, but not necessarily probable. (Many Sherlock Holmes cases share this characteristic.)

In "The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse" Mr. Pond mentions that a Prussian Marshall Van Grock failed his mission "because the discipline was too good". His plan failed "because his soldiers obeyed him. Of course, if only one of his soldiers had obeyed him, it wouldn't have been so bad." Failure couldn't be avoided "when two of his soldiers obeyed him".

Mr. Pond's statements were equally incongruous in "When Doctors Agree". "Funny things agreements. Fortunately people generally go on disagreeing, till they die peacefully in their beds. Men very seldom do fully and finally agree. I did know two men who came to agree so completely that one of them naturally had to murder the other."

Chesterton's stories move at a more leisurely pace than many readers are now accustom, often involve improbable events and unusual characters, and occasionally digress to consider a moral issue.

If you are already an admirer of Chesterton, definitely acquire this inexpensive Dover edition. If you are new to Chesterton, consider also acquiring Chesterton's famed Father Brown detective stories.

A must for all Chesterton fans
Each story in this collection is the gradual and entertaining explanation of some paradox stated by Mr. Pond, such as this one from "When Doctors Agree:" 'I once knew two men who came to agree with each otherso completely that one of them, naturally, murdered the other, but as ageneral rule...." The story that follows is convoluted, thanks toPond's digressions on society hostesses and what he calls 'the sanctity ofreally futile conversation,' but more than lives up to the high promise ofthat opening paradox. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" isnearly as good and just as clever; the rest of the stories are good andclever, and would shine in nearly any other collection, but those two areso outstanding that they make the merely good look ordinary. Buy it! Readit! Read parts of it out loud to your helpless friends and convert them!

As good as the best Father Brown's
It should be quoted more often among the greatest Chesterton's books. Mr. Pond is no less likable as a character than Father Brown (most other characters are charming as well). Each short story revolves around aparadox stated in earnest by Mr. Pond, such as "naturally, he was sotall that no one saw him" and things like that. (All is wonderfullyexplained later). Great crime stories (with no serious crimes involved) forthose who consider "whodunits" too gory. ... Read more

Book Description
Joseph Conrad, born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, (1857-1924) was a Polish-born novelist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He is regarded as one of the greatest English novelists, which is even more notable because he did not learn to speak English well until he was in his 20s. He is recognized as a master prose stylist. Some of his works have a strain of romanticism, but more importantly he is recognized as an important forerunner of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many writers, including Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence and Graham Greene. Writing during the apogee of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the British Merchant Navy to create novels and short stories that reflected aspects of a world-wide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul. Amongst his best known works are Heart of Darkness (1899), Lord Jim (1900), Under Western Eyes (1911), Victory (1915) and The Rescue (1920).Download Description
And the best of it was that the danger was all over already. There was no danger any more. The supposed nephew's appearance had a purpose. He had come, full, full to trembling--with the bigness of his news. There must have been rumours already as to the shaky position of the de Barral's concerns; but only amongst those in the very inmost know. No rumour or echo of rumour had reached the profane in the West-End. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Conrad's Strangest Triumph
So well-crafted, so engaging, so powerfully written - it's hard believing "Chance" was written by Joseph Conrad. Not that Conrad didn't write great books, just that nothing in "Lord Jim," "Heart Of Darkness," or the rest of his tough, unsettling oeuvre prepares you for the wry warmth and hidden sunlight of "Chance."

Well, you do have Marlow again. The narrator of "Jim" and "Darkness" is back here telling another story about people he doesn't actually know first-hand. This time the central character is young Flora de Barral, set adrift in England by her father's scandal-plagued financiering. Haunted and helpless, her wide blue eyes giving her the look of "a forsaken elf," Flora takes what comes in life, seemingly unable to function for herself. Can she find her own way? Will she become ruthless if she tries?

All this may sound precious and twee, very much in the style of period romances more suited to Henry James than what you expect from the shamelessly macho Conrad, with his damned souls sailing heedless into typhoons. Yet Conrad makes this odd Merchant-Ivory production work by making you care for Flora in a way that draws you in more deeply than even the classic "Lord Jim" ever did. "Jim" was a philosophical novel; "Chance" is a uniquely intuitive one, more about feelings than ideas, yet quite brilliant in its concept all the same.

Published in 1913, one year before World War I would change forever the genteel world it so painstakingly describes, "Chance" was the one book by Conrad that clicked with readers in his own lifetime. It's been disregarded since, as modern readers embrace more dour Conrad fare like "The Secret Agent" and "Nostromo."

It's our generation's loss. Missing "Chance" is missing the other side of Conrad, the bleak nihilist discovering for once "the precise workmanship of chance, fate, providence, call it what you will." Other Conrad books feature broken-up narratives and odd framing devices, but the structural convolutions in "Chance" actually propel the story rather than hold it back.

Marlow's narration is a marvel of storytelling economy, carrying you across windswept moors and the high seas, not to mention a source of much dry wit as the rather mysterious misogynist fires many shots across the bow of womankind. "Mainly I resent that pretence of winding us around their dear little fingers, as of right," he snorts.

Is Flora exhibit A in this case against? Certainly she winds the helplessly infatuated Captain Anthony around her finger, despite her apparent total lack of reciprocal devotion. Flora does love, only it is in a flawed way, for her crabbed, corrupt father who believes the two of them too good for the rest of the world. Yet love can be a form of redemption despite itself.

Women, Conrad writes, can be fiendish and dumb, yet they are "never dense." "There is in woman always, somewhere, a spring." Realizing that spring here is at the heart of "Chance," and makes for Conrad's strangest triumph, the one book of his that not only makes you feel smarter for reading it, but happy to be alive.

An obscure gem from one of history's greatest writers
My first Conrad read was Victory, and I have been hooked ever since.I chose Chance because it was Conrad's first commercial success, and I was curious to see what the public liked better than so many other great novels such as Lord Jim.As other reviewers have suggested, the ending must have been the difference.There is far more sweet than bitter, and it's usually the other way around in his books, especially the love stories.I suspect we may learn more from sad stories than from happy ones, but in any event, Chance is not without pain and suffering.As the capable narrator Marlowe repeatedly emphasizes, the novel's heroine, Flora, leads a difficult life. Her father is one of the great villans in literature.He really steals show from Marlowe--well, almost.
What I like most about Conrad's use of the narrator, particularly in Chance, is his role as an interpreter.In most novels, the reader must examine the story itself for the life lessons Conrad so uniquely presents.Marlowe enables Conrad to speak more directly to the reader, and I found him doing so more in Chance than in Lord Jim.There are a few arguably gratutious digressions--one about the differences between men and women comes to mind--but that's Marlowe.
The bottom line: if in reading Lord Jim, you really enjoyed Marlowe's character, you will love the extra depth and insight Chance provides.If you love Conrad, then I expect you will find this to be one his most enjoyable books.And, if you have never read Conrad, but are curious, this is an excellent novel to start with, for it cannot be sterotyped as a South Seas adventure novel full of Pacific atmosphere and nautical terms.

A sublime piece of work
From the author famous for seminal works like The Heart of Darkness, The Secret Agent and Nostromo this novel is often left unmentioned within his repertoire of books.This is unfair.I would say Chance is Conrad's most beautiful story, the construction of the plot masterly from start to conclusion, and probably the only novel of his which genuinely leaves a good feeling and makes the reader smile.His handling of the material from Marlow the teller of the tale, the way the novels flits from present to the past and back again flawlessly, surprises one how so far ahead Conrad was compared to the standard straight-line story telling that dominated writing of that era.But bottomline is despite the technical perfection, a story would only succeed its telling if it has heart.Here Conrad never faltered and one feels for the heroine in the story, and it would be hard not to let out a whoop of bemused joy once the final page is turned.Simply sublime.

Marlow does it again
Chance is a wonderful Conrad novel that no one really pays attention to nowadays. True, it does not have the same magic as Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness, but it is brilliant in that Conradian way. It features the return of Marlow, so it is an especially interesting read for Conrad fans who have been with Marlow through other novels and stories. His role in this book is less hands-on. He does not have a very strong tie to the two characters he most discusses. He does, however, have a more active role in the actual narration. His audience this time is not passive, but questions his analyses and puts in their own ideas. A hilarious example:
"You are the expert in the psychological wilderness. This is like one of those Redskin stories where the noble savages carry off a girl and the honest backwoodsman with his incomparable knowledge follows the track and reads the signs of her fate in a footprint here, a broken twig there, a trinklet dropped by the way."

For those unfamiliar with Marlow, the commentator is refering to his capacity for putting together pieces of information to create a sketch of a person, and we have to filter through some of Marlow's pretensions to get a real view of what is going on in his story. At one point, he compares women to electricity. Both have been captured, "but what sort of conquest would you call it? (Man) knows nothing of it. And the greater the demand he makes on it in the exultation of his pride the more likely it is to turn on him and burn him to a cinder." Ah, Marlow, you rambling fool.

This is the novel that brought Conrad popular success, rather late in his career. It is one of his only female characters with a dominant role, but don't expect a strong feminist type. Flora de Barral is naive, at the mercy of others and their wills. I didn't feel quite as close to the characters, and Conrad tries a little too hard to philosophize on the role of chance and circumstance in our lives. Still, very enjoyable, witty, pure Conrad that you shouldn't miss.

Excellent
This book is just perfect.It's very well written.Conrad shows an understanding of the predicament of women of his time.Conrad advances the plot though the voice of the characters, who tell a story, which involves another character telling a story, etc.At one point the tale is six levels deep; but such is the skill of Conrad that you do not notice and are never lost.One of Conrad's two or three best.A book I was sad to end because I was enjoying it so much. ... Read more

Book Description
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE (1881-1975) was a comic writer who has enjoyed enormous popular success for more than seventy years. Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career. Wodehouse was admired both by contemporaries like Rudyard Kipling as well as by modern writers like Terry Pratchett. Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes. His other works include: A Prefect's Uncle (1903), Tales of St. Austin's (1903), The Gold Bat (1904), The Head of Kay's (1905), Love Among the Chickens (1906), The White Feather (1907), Mike (1909), Psmith, Journalist (1909), Psmith in the City (1910), The Little Nugget (1913), Something New (1915), The Man with Two Left Feet, and Other Stories (1917), Piccadilly Jim (1917), A Damsel in Distress (1919), Indiscretions of Archie (1921) and The Clicking of Cuthbert (1922).Download Description
It did not occur to Sheen immediately that his boat had actually gone. The full beauty of the situation was some moments in coming home to him. At first he merely thought that somebody had moved it to another part of the bank, as the authorities at the inn had done once or twice in the past, to make room for the boats of fresh visitors. Walking along the lawn in search of it, he came upon the stake to which Dunstable's submerged craft was attached. He gave the rope a tentative pull, and was surprised to find that there was a heavy drag on the end of it. ... Read more

Book Description
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and detective fiction. Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox. " He wrote in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. He is one of the few Christian thinkers who are equally admired and quoted by both liberal and conservative Christians, and indeed by many non-Christians. And in his own words he cast aspersions on the labels saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. " Chesterton wrote many books among which are: All Things Considered (1908), Alarms and Discursions (1910), The Ballad of the White Horse (1911), The Appetite of Tyranny (1915), The Everlasting Man (1925), The Secret of Father Brown (1927) and The Scandal of Father Brown (1935). ... Read more

Book Description
Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (1856-1925) was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations. After failing his army entrance exam he was sent to a private 'crammer' in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office, for which he never sat. Haggard's father sent him to Africa in an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Lieutenant-Governor of Natal Sir Henry Bulwer. Heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers he met in Colonial Africa, the great mineral wealth discovered in Africa, and the ruins of ancient lost civilizations in Africa such as Great Zimbabwe, Haggard created his Allan Quatermain adventures. Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social issues reform, in part inspired by his experiences in Africa, but also based on what he saw in Europe. Haggard is most famous as the author of the best-selling novel King Solomon's Mines (1885). Amongst his other works are She (1887), Allan Quatermain (1888), Eric Brighteyes (1891) and Ayesha (1895).Download Description
Make place, my father, said Gudruda, "for Eric bleeds." And she loosed the kerchief from her neck and bound it about his wounded brow, and, taking the rich cloak from her body, threw it on his shoulders, and no man said her nay. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Tolkien liked it!
See the anecdote, recorded in Douglas Anderson's TALES BEFORE TOLKIEN, that states that Tolkien praised this.

A wonderful viking adventure!
The author of numerous romance-adventures in the 19th century tradition,Haggard turned his hand, at least once, to the older saga tradition of thenorthern peoples. The result may well have been his best work. Skillfullycrafted, this tale proceeds at breakneck pace to unfold the saga-likeadventures of the stout Icelandic yeoman, Eric Thorgrimurs' son (surnamed'Brighteyes' for his most notable trait), as he struggles to win the handof his beloved, Gudruda the Fair, despite the vigorous opposition of herhalf-sister, Swanhild the Fatherless (who seeks Eric for her own). Caughtbetween these two beautiful women and faced with the need to overcome theopposition of Gudruda's father, Asmund the Priest (not the Christian sort)and his son, the greedy Bjorn (who would prefer to marry his sister off toa wealthy chieftain in lieu of a liaison with the farmer's son Eric), ourhero must prove himself worthy of his destined bride while dodging thesnares of those who would unman him. Conspiring with her mysterious mother,Groa the witchwife, Swanhild arranges to have Ospakar Blacktooth, anorthern chieftain from Swinefells, pay Asmund's household a visit in orderto see and woo Gudruda for himself. This Ospakar and Eric become immediatefoes for Ospakar is as ugly and vile as Eric is handsome and honorable. Andthe tale only accelerates from here. From death-defying feats of derring-doto duels between deadly foemen to treachery and mayhem in blindingblizzards and on the high seas, this is an adventure which, once havinggrabbed you, will not let you go. Written in an archaic prose, mirroringthe old nineteenth century translations of the original Icelandic sagas,and intended to simulate the voice of the old sagas themselves, the powerof this narrative is compelling and unrelenting. And yet it is lessexhausting than exhilirating as it unfolds the tale of Eric and the twowomen who loved him -- no matter what the cost. If the tale has a flaw atall it is that the characters are not real in any sense of that word butonly larger-than-life actors who strut about upon the stage which Haggardhas drawn for us here. At the same time the sensibility offered is one ofpure and unmitigated adventure. But it's great fun and marvelous escapistfare. A must for lovers of Norse and viking times.

SWM
The King of Vinland's Saga

Rousing derring-do and romance in Icelandic Saga style
A must for all Haggard fans, "Eric Brighteyes" is strongly recommended to anyone who enjoys a great tale of heroic endeavour. Perhaps the fastest-paced of all Haggard's many novels, it races from one highspotto another with manly verve and vivid scene-setting. The stalwart Eric andhis "thrall" Skallagrim fight back to back against a horde offoes, while two beautiful women vie for Eric's love.The eerie battle atsea isan exciting read in itself, to say nothing of all the rest. Eric isone of the most virile of Haggard's heroes and, like so many of them, issusceptible to earthly temptations and ambitions---unlike Haggard's toooften impossibly spiritual females. The reader familiar with Haggard'sfavourite "archetypes"will recognize in Eric, Skallagrim,Gudruda the Fair, and the wicked Swanhilde the traits of a cast ofcharacters immortalized under other names, in other times and places, inother titles of his famous canon."Eric Brighteyes" is alsodistinguished by an interesting author's preface that furnishes someinsight intoHaggard's imaginative overlay of "high romance" andoccult themes on what, in a writer of less lively invention, might havebeen just a simple adventure story.Both heroes and villains come onstrong with splendid confrontational dialogue before coming to blows. Afeast for escapists of all ages! Long may it remain in print.

A magnificent melding of saga and old style "romance".
The author of numerous romance-adventures in the 19th century tradition, Haggard turned his hand, at least once, to the older saga tradition of the northern peoples. The result may well have been his best work. Skillfully crafted, this tale proceeds at breakneck pace to unfold the saga-like adventures of the stout Icelandic yeoman, Eric Thorgrimurs' son (surnamed "Brighteyes" for his most notable trait), as he struggles to win the hand of his beloved, Gudruda the Fair, despite the vigorous opposition of her half-sister, Swanhild the Fatherless (who seeks Eric for her own). Caught between these two beautiful women and faced with the need to overcome the opposition of Gudruda's father, Asmund the Priest (not the Christian sort) and his son, the greedy Bjorn (who would prefer to marry his sister off to a wealthy chieftain in lieu of a liaison with the farmer's son Eric), our hero must prove himself worthy of his destined bride while dodging the snares of those who would unman him. Conspiring with her mysterious mother, Groa the witchwife, Swanhild arranges to have Ospakar Blacktooth, a northern chieftain from Swinefells, pay Asmund's household a visit in order to see and woo Gudruda for himself. This Ospakar and Eric become immediate foes for Ospakar is as ugly and vile as Eric is handsome and honorable. In an intial conflict between them, Eric outwrestles Ospakar, winning his magic sword from him, despite the evil workings of Groa to bring about Eric's defeat. In this manner, Eric at last wins over the reluctant Asmund, who now promises him his daughter. But in the process Eric incurs the jealousy of Bjorn who resents his successes as much as he does the possibility that this bright but impoverished hero will win his sister's hand. The lost sword proves a sore point for Ospakar as well who tries to regain it via a dastardly ambush, but Eric and his new found companion, Skallagrim Lambstail, a former berserker and thief who has himself been the victim of Ospakar's ill-doings, overcome the larger force arrayed against them, wounding Ospakar and killing some others to boot. As a result, Eric must go into exile as an outlaw for three years, after which he is to be free to return and marry Gudruda. But Swanhild, in a pique at how things have turned out, contrives to kill Gudruda. Discovered in this perfidy, she is married off against her will to a visiting Orkney Earl, Atli the Good, who is well on in years and sent off with him to the Orkneys. Eric again reveals his warlike talents in another ambush by Ospakar's minions, this time at sea, but is finally taken captive with Skallagrim due to the dastardliness of Eric's own first mate. Yet Eric is able to free himself when warned of the impending treachery of his captors by the sorcerous intervention of Swanhild who has continued to monitor his progress from her unhappy abode in Atli's hall. Eric goes on to a distinguished career in the service of the English King Edmund but refuses all of that king's urgings to remain with him at the royal court once his three year outlawry is up. Turning his back on the royal largesse (including a lovely royal bride), Eric takes ship to Iceland on a road which must take them past the Orkney Islands. Now Swanhild the witchwife of Atli, perceiving Eric's return raises a storm to overthrow his ship, beaching him on the very island where Atli has his hall. Atli is delighted at the arrival of such a heroic guest but Swanhild contrives to have Eric to herself while Atli and his men are away and she soon tempts and seduces this paragon among vikings, using a love draught of her own concoction. In the end, Eric is distraught to realize that he has betrayed his beloved Gudruda and flees from Swanhild's embrace -- but too late, for she has betrayed him to Atli in revenge for his desertion of her. And she has taken a clipping of Eric's fine golden hair to send to her half-sister, together with a token that only Eric could have had. Gudruda, on receiving this and on hearing the lying tale Swanhild has concocted to go with it, angrily vows to break her engagement to Eric and agrees to wed Ospakar instead. Eric thereafter arrives in Iceland, a scorned man (for having betrayed and finally killed Atli his host in the aftermath of his indiscretion with Swanhild) only to learn of Gudruda's plans to wed Ospakar. He makes his way to Asmund's hall (though that viking worthy has also now passed on to his reward) on the eve of the much heralded wedding and, in a fierce confrontation, reveals the truth of their betrayal to Gudruda. The result is more bloodshed including the death of the miscreant groom Ospakar and of Bjorn Asmundsson. But Swanhild is also present and with Ospakar's son Gizur she contrives to deny Eric and Gudruda their final happiness, even now. Gudruda dreams a dream of Odin the All-Father and in it he grants her one night of pleasure with her beloved before taking this hero for his own. Thereafter and with the momentary cessation of the killing, Eric and Gudruda wed. But in the morning they are attacked while still asleep, for Swanhild secretly guides Gizur into their bedchamber and directs his hand to the killing of Eric. But it is to Gudruda's fair head she guides the sword which Gizur holds and not to Eric's so that when Eric wakes he finds his beloved dead in his arms. Beside himself with grief, Eric buries his new bride and now Gizur leads his followers and the men whom Swanhild has brought with her from the Orkneys against Eric and Skallagrim. To make their final stand, these two flee together to the nearby heights. And there they turn to face their foes in a bloody scene worthy of the gotterdammerung itself. Here Eric and Skallagrim cut down their enemies in one last orgy of killing and vengeful recriminations and, in his own last dying moments, Eric seizes Gizur and plunges with him over the cliff to their common doom. In the end only Swanhild is left to supervise the funeral arrangements on board the viking ship she has selected for this purpose and to sing the death song, as she and the bodies of Eric and his faithful servant Skallagrim burn on a pyre of those men they have slain between them. Haggard wrote his tale with the romanticist's flair, making an artist's use of Shakespeare's English to evoke the antique flavor of these events, and giving full rein to his love for the occult -- though such rein is rarely encountered in the real sagas themselves. Nor are the sagas usually so tightly drawn as this, while they are frequently a great deal more realistic in their portrayal of people and the motives which drive them. If there is criticism to be levied here it's that the tale, itself, is much too pat and the characters, though sharply drawn, are not real folk in any normal sense of that word -- they are players only who never breathe the breath of real life, or even briefly fool us that they do, albeit they are larger than life actors with parts to play in a whopping good tale. By Stuart W. Mirsky (mirsky@ix.netcom.com). ... Read more

Book Description
(Helen) Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) was an English author and illustrator, botanist, and conservationist, born in Kensington, London best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit. Educated at home by a succession of governesses, she had little opportunity to mix with other children. Potter had frogs and newts, and even a pet bat. The basis of her many projects and stories were the small animals that she smuggled into the house or observed during family holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. She was encouraged to publish her story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), but she struggled to find a publisher until it was accepted when she was 36, by Frederick Warne & Co. The small book and her following works were extremely well received and she gained an independent income from the sales. Potter eventually wrote 23 books. These were published in a small format, easy for a child to hold and read. Her writing efforts abated around 1920 due to poor eyesight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
This is a wonderful book for early readers about Two mice and their adventures into the unknown.Timmy, the country mouse goes into the town by accident and gets a big surprise at the very different lifestyles etc. This book really relates to real life situations and how people get reallysurprised and scared in a new place. I would reccommend this story tochildren who are in the process of moving or have a new friend in town. Itwill help them realize how everywhere is different. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Eccentric Harvard philosophy professor Homer Kelly and his sharp wife Mary are like a literary Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man fame. Jane Langston has put the frumpy professor through a series of whimsical mysteries for 30 years now, but this is the most original and fanciful. Combining hard-edged crime suspense with philosophical meanderings, a meditation on Darwinism, intellectual curiousity, Alice in Wonderland-styled zaniness, and a playful prose style, Dead as Dodo is joyful reading.Book Description
* Viking will publish Jane Langton's 13th Homer Kelly mystery, The Face on The Wall, in January 1998 What is Homer Kelly doing in Oxford, England? In addition to working as a visiting lecturer, he's playing part-time detective, trying to solve the great questions of life and, along the way, the death of a young priest who has left a cryptic note saying simply, The answer is no.As he sets off on his search for answers to this most real and inauspicious death, Homer also begins a philosophical journey far more challenging than any begun in a classroom, and discovers a crime much more sinister and troubling: God himself seems dead as a dodo. Who committed murder sublime? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Do do read it!
This story really grew on me, taking me longer to read and ponder than I had expected. It is a leisurely story told in crisply short chapters. It begins as a rather fusty sabbatical visit to Oxford, England, by Harvard professors Homer and Mary Kelly (Langton's series characters), and turns into an enthusiastical meld of Alice in Wonderland and Darwinian evolution, especially in a climactic dream sequence! There are hidden depths to the situations and academic theories juxtaposed here. The eventual murders are almost beside the point. The joy in intellectual disputation herein made me not really worried for anyone. For a professor of English, Homer is quite a scientist, an experimenter, and not in the least PC and post-modern like his ilk. While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Langton definitely has an amusingly light touch and a bit of satire. The book is illustrated with the author's jaunty sketches of Oxford places. I suspect that any knowledge of Lewis Carroll, Darwin, and Oxford will increase the pleasure of the reader still further.

An erudite mystery in the British Tradition
As if to take on the style of the British mysteries, Ms. Langton paces the plot fairly slowly, picking up speed toward the middle of the book. Less formulaic than Agatha Christie, Ms. Langton's book is more along the lines of P.D. James.Her references to Darwinian fact and fiction are formidable, and makes several pages more than simply "light reading."However, the scientific references and theological postulations never become tedious and in fact provide a lovely intellectual backdrop for a somewhat boring set of murders.

For those who enjoy something more than plot, this mystery is highly recommended.Anyone who has been to Oxford will most definitely enjoy Ms. Langton's thorough and fanciful descriptions.

Homer Kelly is as eccentric as he is brilliant, making for an excellent protagonist.However, some of the other characters are lacking in development which leads to a miniscule disappointment in reading the book.Otherwise, a delightfully well-written work. ... Read more

Product Description
Sales expert, Lee B. Salz, found a disturbing trend in business, the chasm that exists between salespeople and their sales managers. This gap is caused by the belief that great salespeople can be hired and will be successful without any company-provided support systems or structure.At the other end of the spectrum, these same companies promote salespeople to sales managers and provide little to no training for this new role. Most sales managers are not equipped to build a successful, scalable sales organization thus creating this sales chasm.

Businesses lose millions of dollars in unrecognized revenue resulting from this flawed approach. Companies have left salespeople to their own devices to figure outsuccess.However, salespeople must have support systems provided by the company in order to meet their true potential, but most sales managers are not equipped or trained to provide this critical framework. As a result, most sales people under-perform, get frustrated, and leave their employer creating high turnover costs and lost revenue.

Salz s newly released book, Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager, tackles this issue head-on. After fifteen years of helping companies bridge the gap as a sales management executive, Lee desired to share his success secrets for all business to benefit. He bridges the gap between salespeople and their managers. This book provides sales people with both an energy boost and tool kit. It empowers salespeople and provides structure, guidance and support for them so they can create their own sales system which he refers to as Sales Architecture®. Told in a mentoring style, the book provides focus to an entire sales organization, helping them become self-sufficient and enabling them to perform at levels they never thought possible. To complete the bridge, the sales managers are provided with a system they can easily reinforce with their teams.

Thedodoreference is to the bird that became extinct due to its inability to adapt to its environment. Without bridging this gap, salespeople and sales managers run the same risk of extinction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

This Book Nails It!
Lee Salz in his book Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager hits the selling nail right on the head! With a clear writing style that speaks directly, and expertly, to the reader, and plenty of graphics and visual aids to augment his points, Lee details in no uncertain terms what today's sale professionals need to know: how to win at this lonely, challenging profession even when your boss does little or nothing to help you, or even keeps getting in your way. This book will help you sell!

How To Survive Despite Your Sales Manager
All of us who have been in sales can appreciate this book. My sales career started at 15 when I sold Fuller Brush door to door and I progressed through the years to work in telemarketing and sell life insurance. I think the Peter Principle, that you rise until you reach your level of incompetence, is proven out in sales. Great sales people don't always make great sales managers. Anyone who has seen the TV show The Office can appreciate that. I used to have a manager who used to say "just sell, sell sell." Or another who said "just keep telling your story to anyone who will listen." What I like about this book is that Lee Salz promotes a system. You have a methodology to follow. I believe if you want to be successful then you should model successful people. That is what I teach my clients who are professionals and consultants who can't find enough clients.This is a great sales read.This is proven stuff that really works.-- Henry DeVries, author of Client Seduction and the upcoming Pain Killer Marketing and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute

Pain Killer Marketing: How to Turn Customer Pain into Market Gain

3 Dodo Thoughts...
Dodo notes on how this book is both painfully true and insightful;

1) Too many (dodo) sales managers and (dodo) companies give reps neither the training nor the individual coaching they need to succeed.

2) Too many reps blame their lack of success on these dodo managers.

3) Reps develop dodo brains when they won't accept responsibility for their own success and get the skills and brainpower they need to make more money.

Lee Salz's book is meant to keep you from selling extinction. While most of us could use some serious sales training, if you'll just make the initial investment in this book, it'd be a great way to improve performance - in spite of the dodo managers flocking around your career.

When will you realize that you have to adjust to the corporate lack of support for your success?

Your first adjustment is to read, act on the advice of this book, then take flight over the heads of dead and dying dodo reps and managers who are ground bound by their weak, extinct thinking.

Get going, get growing, now.

I Should Have Read This Book Years Ago!
"I've read dozens and dozens of books on effective selling.I've attended numerous sales training programs.What Lee Salz has done is take the best ideas related to effective selling, combined them with new and creative techniques, and using his own extensive experience, crafted an exceptional book that is a must read for anyone in sales.Sales Dodo will have you looking at the selling process in a new way, whether you are a salesperson or someone who manages salespeople. My only question is...Lee, where were you 20 years ago when I started my career? If I had read your book then, I would have eliminated a ton of mistakes and my income would have been a lot higher!"

Sam Richter
President
James J. Hill Reference Library
Author
Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling

Take Control of Your Career
I wish this book wasn't necessary, but it is. Too many sales managers are incapable of giving you the guidance and direction you need to be successful in your sales career.

So, as Lee Salz so vividly points out in his book, you have to take personal responsibility for your own success. The author provides you with an excellent framework on which to build your own sales process which includes:

* Crafting a clear picture of your ideal client.
* Understanding how decision makers buy.
* What it takes to stand out from the crowd.
* How to navigate through a complex decision process.
* What to do if you get stuck.

If your dodo sales manager isn't giving you the help you need, check out this book. Salz fills in the gap and gets you back in control of your career.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies ... Read more

Book Description
Thornton Waldo Burgess (1874-1965) was a conservationist and author of children's stories featuring the wildlife of his native state. He was born in Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His first book was Old Mother West Wind (1910). Following its success, he wrote a syndicated daily newspaper column, Bedtime Stories (illustrated by Harrison Cady), which appeared without interruption from 1912 to 1960. His output comprises over 15,000 stories collected in over 170 books. Among his works are: Mother West Wind's Children (1911), The Adventures of Reddy Fox (1913), The Adventures of Johnny Chuck (1913), The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat (1914), The Adventures of Mr. Mocker (1914), The Adventures of Grandfather Frog (1915), Mother West Wind "Why" Stories (1915), The Adventures of Prickly Porky (1916), The Adventures of Paddy Beaver (1917), Mother West Wind "Where" Stories (1918), The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk (1918), Happy Jack (1918), Mrs. Peter Rabbit (1919), The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad (1920), Bowser the Hound (1920), and Blacky the Crow (1922). ... Read more

Book Description
Edith Wharton (1862-1937), born Edith Newbold Jones, was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humourous and incisive novels and short stories. Wharton was well-acquainted with many of her era's literary and public figures, including Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt. Besides her writing, she was a highly regarded landscape architect, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several influential books, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), her first published work, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904). The Age of Innocence (1920), perhaps her best known work, won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making her the first woman to win the award. Her other works include: The Greater Inclination (1899), The Touchstone (1900), Sanctuary (1903), The Descent of Man, and Other Stories (1904), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame De Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907), The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and Other Stories (1908), Ethan Frome (1912), In Morocco (1921), and The Glimpses of the Moon (1921). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not your average Wharton novel, but well worth reading!
I'm not sure why two positive reviews, including one that appears to be a piece of advertising for something called "Republica Publishing," show up with no stars.At any rate, this is one of Wharton's most interesting novels, although it doesn't have the symmetrical structure of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. If you're interested in a different work by Edith Wharton, one that involves industrialism, professions for women, euthanasia, divorce, and a host of interesting events, try THE FRUIT OF THE TREE.

Laacoon.
"The Fruit of The Tree",Edith Wharton's third novel,remains the most misunderstood of all her writings.It has usually been criticized,even by those who admire it,as "brokenbacked" in structure and unsatisfying with its inclusion of the seemingly contoversial subjects of labor reform and euthanasia in a work that examines marriage and satirizes the idle class.This is primarily the reason "The Fruit of The Tree" has not been published in ninety years;hopefully,readers will rediscover a memorable book with its fascinating portrait of turn of the century America with themes which are still timely.It tells the story of a young nurse,whose intelligence and maturity attracts a brilliant young doctor working to reform deplorable labor conditions for the poor.Despite the nurse's admiration for the doctor's progressivism and her growing love for the doctor's person,he becomes infatuated with the gentle elegance of a beautiful and rich society girl-the nurse's best friend.The society girl supports the doctor's work financially to the great animus of her friends and advisers and eventually becomes smitten with him.They marry,only to discover their incompatibility when the doctor's new schemes for reform are baulked by his wife's love of comfort and security.The doctor by this time realizes that the nurse loves him and that he reciprocates.He argues with his wife and they seperate;the wife left alone breaks her spine in a riding accident and being attended by her friend,the nurse,begs her to kill her.The nurse seeing that her case is desperate(this is a century ago,remember)and influenced by the doctor's support of euthanasia-does so.The nurse falls under suspicion with the public and even the doctor suspects her of killing his wife because of her love for him.They marry,but she is haunted by the fact that despite her protestations of innocence,her husband tacitly believes her culpable."The Fruit of The Tree",subtly depicts the price one pays for following conscience and being ahead of one's time.The novel is not "about" labor reform or euthanasia but uses these to show how today's controversial ideas are usually tomorrow's accepted facts;that the progress of our civilization,accepted as a matter of course, is at the cost of the toil and suffering of others.Bitter is the fruit,indeed.I cannot rate,"The Fruit of The Tree" among Edith Wharton's greatest works,however.The style of the book while good,never reaches the sustained brilliance which she achieves in "The House of Mirth","The Custom of The Country" and "The Age of Innocence",works of which the prose is unrivalled in English fiction. Nevertheless it is a fine novel,and deserves recognition for its well integrated artistry. END ... Read more

Book Description
Edith Wharton (1862-1937), born Edith Newbold Jones, was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humourous and incisive novels and short stories. Wharton was well-acquainted with many of her era's literary and public figures, including Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt. Besides her writing, she was a highly regarded landscape architect, interior designer, and taste-maker of her time. She wrote several influential books, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), her first published work, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904). The Age of Innocence (1920), perhaps her best known work, won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making her the first woman to win the award. Her other works include: The Greater Inclination (1899), The Touchstone (1900), Sanctuary (1903), The Descent of Man, and Other Stories (1904), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame De Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907), The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and Other Stories (1908), Ethan Frome (1912), In Morocco (1921), and The Glimpses of the Moon (1921).Download Description
It was to serve, on this occasion, as the scene of a tea designed, as Kate Peyton was vividly aware, to introduce a certain young lady to the scene of her son's labours. Mrs. Peyton had been hearing a great deal lately about Clemence Verney. Dick was naturally expansive, and his close intimacy with his mother--an intimacy fostered by his father's early death--if it had suffered some natural impairment in his school and college days, had of late been revived by four years of comradeship in Paris, where Mrs. Peyton, in a tiny apartment of the Rue de Varennes, had kept house for him during his course of studies at the Beaux Arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Sacrifice and secrets
Edith Wharton's writing wallows in moral struggles and societal pressures, usually about adultery and social-climbing. But she tries a different approach for the novella "Sanctuary," a story that is thought-provoking and well-written, but feels more like the outline to a full-length novel than a story in its own right.

Kate Orme is wrapped up in her idyllic engagement to Denis, when a woman claiming to be his dissolute brother's wife kills herself and her child. To Kate's shock, Denis confesses that the woman was, but to avoid having a low-class person in the family, he suppressed evidence and lied. Even worse, he feels no guilt because he considers it worth the sacrifice.

Kate breaks off the engagement, but to protect any child of Denis' from his hypocrisies, she marries him. Many years later, Denis is dead, and their young son Dick is a blossoming architect about to enter a prestigious contest. But then a friend of his dies tragically, and leaves Dick his brilliant architectural plans... to enter in the contest as his own. Now Kate must see if her careful upbringing will make Dick do the right thing, or if he will follow in his father's footsteps.

Most of Wharton's books are wrapped up in ethical dilemmas or one kind or another, but "Sanctuary" tackles a very different kind of problem. And Wharton does a good job spinning out a sense of suspense, all about a young man who could tip either way, and inspiring disgust and outrage at Denis' weak, whiny defense of his crimes.

Sadly, the second half reads like Wharton was sketching out an enlarged outline for a novel, but got bored and just published it as-is. Details are sketchy, as is the society that these people live in, and more than two decades are skipped over instantly. Little of the storyline is fleshed out except for Kate's (seemingly endless) angst, which trickles on throughout way too many of the few pages.

Kate herself isn't easy to relate to -- she marries wussy Denis for a kid that might or might not be born, and spends most of the book torturing herself over Dick's future choices. She comes across as naive at best, manic at worst. Dick himself is a far more interesting character, since he exists in the grey area that most human beings inhabit -- he's a partying, slightly slackerish guy, but essentially good at heart.

"Sanctuary" tackles the grey areas and hypocrises of many "upright" people, but the second half drizzles off into a lot of bad angst and extreme reactions. Interesting, but it feels half-written.