Useful info, but not useful contacts

This book is full of great advice about getting published, but not so great on accurate submission details. Most of the publishers listed won't accept unsolicited mss, and of the ones which say they do accept them, I found on looking at the publisher's websites that most clearly state they don't accept unsolicited mss after all. Some say they used to but now don't, so even though it's the 2008 edition, it's not really that up to date! <br />It's quite disheartening how many publishers will only look at stuff from an agent and does make you wonder why you've spent all that money on the book just to discover that most of the publisher info is fairly worthless.

Direct, honest and passionate

This CD gives you a direct insight to the beat generation and the radicalism of the 1950s underground. It takes no prisoners and covers issues such as sexuality,drugs, music and spirituality directly and without apology. Even by today's standards its shocking. Ginsberg is lyrical and passionate. His poetry is honest and direct. None of that"wandering lonely as a cloud" crap

better than thought

I hadn't read anything like this before but had to read this for the Open University course An Introduction to the Humanities. I liked it and found it a well written book. It helped me get a great mark in my assignment too which is an added bonus.

Excellent

This book is ideal for revision at A level, although make sure you actually read The Handmaids Tale. I found it very useful, and it made interesting points.

Nations Favorite Poems

I bought this after participating in an acting course where one of the criteria was to bring along a poem. I hated poems at school and certainly had no interest in them after leaving. However, after purchasing this book and finding a new appreciation for poems I was surprised to find myself dipping in to the book when a quite moment arose and to find that I knew some of the poems such as"If" and"Chocolate Cake". It also kept the in-laws (whom were already into poetry) busy for a while, when they came over to visit. This is a great book for all degrees of appreciation.

Lingers on...

The story comes full cycle with the death of Beowulf and the homage paid to him by his people. On a grim note, the story-teller who has been reciting the saga of Beowulf also forsees the end of Beowulf's people - the Geats. The Geats were people who supposedly occupied the lower half of Sweden and were either killed or driven from their homeland by the Swedes. Many claim that the Wuffing dynasty of Denmark was set up by fleeing Geats, but nothing is known for sure.<br /><br />Heaney is able to make us aware of the fickle nature of life using the stories of the rise and fall of even great, mythical warriors. He evokes wonder and pity for the same character by judicious use of imagery that will stay with us long after we have put down the book.<br /><br />

amazing

Won't give away anything here but I loved the entire series of this manga (and the anime) and this last volume keeps you gripped all the way through its so awesome. You really don't until the end who's going to win, and it really depends who's side you're on as to whether you'll like the end or not. <br />Anyway who hasn't got into to Death Note yet should, I've never read a manga that's affected me so much (it's been three days since I finished and I'm still thinking about the ending!.

Sad, pleading and silly: why do they do it?

To describe this book as casuistry would be to dignify the intellectual dishonesty and shuffling of facts with a respect the authors do not deserve. Only the most deluded of believers will be taken in by this. A pointless piece of failed spin which does damage to the cause they seek to promote. Sad that adults spend their time on writing this.

Good & beautifully written but in some ways Maya's not a role model

Loved reading this book - very poetic & completely devoid of self-pity despite Maya's obviously deprived background & her having been the victim of extensive racial prejudice. <br /><br />My only issue with it is how Maya who seems to be an extremely intelligent woman, doesn't ask herself whether it is a good thing that she had a baby resulting from an apparent one-night stand @ 16 - it seems that casual sex was almost expected & her Mum almost wanted her to be sleeping with strangers. She does seem to have come from the type of background placing her at risk of teenage pregnancy but maybe should have put a 'health warning' on young readers warning them not to indulge in risky sexual behaviours as getting pregnant at 16 is (despite what Maya seems to think) hardly something to be proud of.

Light's plans bear fruit

This seventh volume of the truly excellent Death Note manga is something of a book of two halves. The first half of the volume sees the conclusion of Light's rather complicated plots and it looks like he is well on his way to creating his perfect world. The second half of the volume sets things up for the second half of the series with new opponents arising to challenge Kira and events take a turn that he does not expect.<br /><br />This series continues to impress me and some of the twists in the plot of the story, although seeming somewhat contrived in places, are nonetheless fascinating and do enough to keep you reading. I will definitely be interested to see where the story goes on from here.

The taskforce closes in on Kira III

Although still a marvellous read the previous volume of Death Note had something of a filler feel to it but thankfully this sixth volume sees this excellent manga series back on top form. Having identified that the new Kira is among seven individuals working for Yotsuba Light, L and the rest of the taskforce must find a way to get the evidence of how Kira kills his victims before the move in on the seven. When Misa is sent to get close to the seven the Shinigami Rem complicates things by revealing itself to her and Misa comes up with a plan of her own.<br /><br />This volume is probably one of my favourite to date with some great action and some nice plot twists. It is also good seeing the Shinigami again after there brief hiatus in the last volume, and we also learn some more about the Gods of Death themselves. Although not really much of a cliff-hanger, the ending of this volume leaves the story in an interesting place and it will be interesting to see where Death Note goes from here but with the story only at the halfway point I am worried that it could be starched out too much in the later volumes.

Beckett exposes an aspect of human nature in a ruthless and harrowing way

It is perfectly true to say there are very few characters in this play. Vladimir and Estragon, two tramps, are the main characters of the play. The only other characters are Pozzo, Lucky and a boy. There are no changes of scenery or setting. Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot. The audience never learns who Godot is or his significance for Vladimir and Estragon. The play in two acts is simply about the tramps waiting for Godot.<br /><br />You may be thinking, this sounds exactly like a waste of paper and ink. In my opinion, Waiting for Godot is a great play, though not exactly an example of what I usually read.<br /><br />Consider this: utter boredom. Isn't life in itself boring? After a certain age as we progress into adulthood, we become bored with life. Quoting Solomon, 'there is nothing new under the sun' (Ecc 1:9). Too many of us fall into a routine - life becomes a tiresome routine. Many of us, right up to when we're forty years old, are waiting for our lives to begin. If we take a moment to step back and view how we've conformed to our repetitive patterns of life, it's as frightening as two tramps having nothing to do, nothing to talk about, simply waiting.<br /><br />How many of us find it difficult to find topics to talk about with acquaintances? We've all subconsciously wondered what it would be like to have absolutely nothing to talk about or do, desperately looking for something to pass the time, but Beckett dares to expose this in a stark and unapologetic way.<br /><br />I found this play has a lot of relevance to modern society. So, fantastic play but prepare to be depressed by truths of life. All in all, a great book for the open-minded.<br /><br />I have found that only way to get true meaning and hope in life is through Jesus.

Easy does it

Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy) places English beside English for those that need a translation from English to English. If this is read or acted out loud the translation would be superfluous. There is nothing wrong with a starting place but reading is not the way. <br />------------------------------------------------------- <br />This really is"The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark" and not only the Prince but his family. Not only his family but his friends. Not only his friends but all though that came before him and is told to those that came after him. <br />You can slow down and pick apart many underlying themes and may of the phrases that now challenge Bible sayings in today's sound bites. But the real fun is in just reading the story and you will find that it is not as foreign as you may have thought. <br />A quick synopsis is that Old Hamlet conquered Old Fortinbras seizing his land. Now that Old Hamlet is dead, Young Fortinbras wants his land back and is willing to take it by force. Meanwhile back in Dänemark Young Hamlet who is excessively grieving for the loss of his father, gets a now insight from his fathers ghost. Looks like he was a victim of a"murder most foul"; it looks like his mother and uncle were in cahoots on the murder. <br />The story is about what each person felt and acted or did not act upon the situation. <br />You will find many movies and perverted imitations of the story but nothing will replace the original that was intended to be watched but reads well.<br /><br />

Lacking in detail

The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

How to appreciate the simple things

Reading anything by de Botton I feel a serenity descend upon me. His writing seems to have a soothing effect and this book was no different.<br /><br />In"How Proust can change your life" he takes the wisdom to be found in the novels of Proust and shows how they can help us to live better lives. Or perhaps to make us aware that we live better lives than we think.<br /><br />There are sections on how to love life, read for yourself, take your time, suffer succesfully, express your emotions, be a good friend, open your eyes, be happy in love and put books down.<br /><br />I loved this book and it has made me feel I can read Proust and appreciate it properly. Swann's Way is next for me and I am looking forward to it with anticipation. But whether you intend to read Proust or not this book is well worth reading.

A stunning venture into the world of the Dark Tower

Stephen King's The Dark Tower is a seven book epic following the journey of gunslinger Roland Deschian on his quest to the Dark Tower. In book 4, Wizard and Glass, Roland tells of his youth and the time he became a true gunslinger. It is this story that we follow in The Gunslinger Born, a comic adaption of The Dark Tower overseen by Stephen King, drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, adapted by Robin Furth and scripted by Peter David. The Gunslinger Born collects all seven of the comics that were released individually in one stunning hardback.<br /><br />We join a fourteen year old Roland as he discovers his mother's adultery with Marten, his reaction to this is anger and he challenges Cort, the one that trains the young gunslingers. If he fails he must leave Gilead in shame. Should he win, he will be the youngest gunslinger, pushing his father into second place by two years. Roland triumphs and becomes a gunslinger, although not yet able to take on the sandalwood grip guns of his father, he has his own first set.<br /><br />His father returns to Gilead, aware of his wife's affair and disappointed in Roland for reacting the way he did. To protect Roland, his father send him and his two closest friends, Alain and Cuthbert, to Mejis in order to gather information on the activities there and to see if Farson, the one leading an attack on Gilead and its surroundings, has influenced the inhabitants and using resources that are needed for the alliance. It is in Mejis that Roland meets Susan, and in doing so changes his destiny forever.<br /><br />The graphical style of the comics are truly impressive, with both artists doing a superb job on them. For myself, a long time fan of The Dark Tower books, the collection is a great new experince on some of my favourite stories from them. Even for a first time reader, this is a great introduction to Roland's world. As I said before, as it is basically a shortened version of the events we are told in Wizard and Glass, but it is still an amazing story and Robin Furth and Peter David have done a great job in adapting and scripting the events to suit comic book format.<br /><br />All I can add is that I hope further comic books are done on Roland's life, and if we could get some new stories that between the time of these events and those in The Gunslinger (the first Dark Tower book) it would be even better. Whatever happens, I'll buy more of these if they are ever made and thoroughly enjoyed my first venture into Gilead and Mejis in this form.

The heirs to L fight back

Although Light is close to creating his perfect world, he has started to encounter some unexpected problems. Near and Mello, the two genius youngsters who have taken over from L, are competing with each other to try to solve the case first, Near working with the FBI and Mello with the Mafia. Having kidnapped Light's sister Sayu, Mello appears to have the upper hand as he blackmails the NPA for the Death Note but Light is soon making plans to retake the initiative.<br /><br />Death Note continues to be nothing less than involving in this eighth volume of this fascinating manga and the plot seems to be getting thicker and more convoluted as time goes on. If there is a downside of the story so far it is that the two replacements for L, Near and Mello, don't seem to be as interesting or likeable as their predecessor but I suppose there could be more characterisation of the two in future volumes. Death Note remains to be nothing less than a compulsive read and I cannot wait to discover how the story turns out.

McGough does it again!

I have used the poems from this book with children aged from 7 to 11 years. The collection of poems is interesting and focus on the five senses individually and then finally a section focuses on the senses together. Some of the poems provide welcome inspiration for children to write their own poems.

Brilliant!

This study guide weas invaluable to me when I was Doing Othello for my A.S levels as my techer was rubbish. thanks to this book though, it really clarified every aspect of the play for me. I definately would have been lost without it. So if you find Shakespeare a bit difficult to understand, getting this study guide (and those of the other plays) would deffinately be a great help to you.