Classic Must have

Having read most 3 star chefs books and tried to understand where they are coming from i found myself reading this book and what can i say its truly eye opening.<br />it gives an insight into this world class chef and his cusine and anyone who loves food and i mean LOVES food this should be on there to read list.

Tricky, Tongue-Twisting Traipses through Thorough Thoughts,

This is simply (actually, not so simply) the best beginning book ever for reading aloud!

Children learn to read by first hearing adults read aloud to them. The funnier and more memorable the story, the faster the child learns. In this outstanding book, Dr. Seuss has created delightfully convoluted tongue-twisters to engage enormous laughter, combined with lots of learning. You'll have a ball reading this book out loud, and hearing your child read it with you. Such experiences are great bases for building emotional support and comfort for your child, and establishing a lifelong closeness with your child.

What is absolutely brilliant about the book is that it creates forgiveness for any errors that occur. Mr. Knox, the person who cannot easily say the tongue-twisters, is the hero of the story. This, too, encourages learning. We are expected to mis-say these sentences. Reprieved by Dr. Seuss from the sentence of perfection, we go ahead with more confidence into our laughter.

Here's you first warning about reading aloud:"The first time you read it, don't go fast! This Fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble." Notice, that since only your tongue can get into trouble, you as a person are safe. What a wonderful, loving way to encourage your child!

Your tongue also gets sympathy at the end wondering how numb your tongue is from reading aloud.

Everybody can handle the first page but it soon goes to maximum difficulty.

Mr. Fox is good at coming up with challenges. Mr. Knox is quickly overwhelmed, and Mr. Fox comes up with a harder one each time despite agreeing to come up with an easier one.

But Mr. Knox comes out on top in the end.

After memorization is quite far along, you can have races and time how long it takes to read the book. Children love to be timed doing things and take great pleasure in their progress. I suggest that you not race yourself, for that might discourage a child who goes more slowly than you do.

You can also use these sentences to point out how word order affects meaning. There are many advanced grammar lessons in this material, that will help you child write better.

In typical Dr. Seuss fashion, though, the drawings are the best part. You will see more complex, amalgamated images than you can possibly imagine, and each one visually reinforces the importance of word sequencing.

Having been challenged by this convoluted cove of cavernous cacophony, it will eventually occur to your child that reading such siblilant spoutings of stirruped stentorian sounds . . . is most easily done silently. So the learning to read process will naturally progress from the book's content. Yet, the silent reading will be predictably punctuated with great gales of laughter, built from the experience of reading the book aloud with you. You'll smile when you hear the familiar laughs.

As you can see, this is not so simply a brilliant book. It will provide your family with endless fun and learning.

After you have finished mastering this book aloud, I suggest that you and your child write your own version. You'll have even more fun with that one.

Best of his lot

While some of his later books struggle to marry the chirpy narrative style with the weight of ideas, this one does it perfectly. de Botton's finest hour. it will make you want to read Proust. And that is no mean feat. gloriously, it will allow you to sound as though you have read it all without ever having opened a page of the impenetrable texts!

Just how clever is Clive James!!

The great thing about Clive James is that as you read his essays you get a really positive feeling that he is sharing not just his opinions but his experiences and influences. He is one of those cultural attrators that will set you off on a complete tangent and open up new vistas in your reading life. I've read North Face of Soho and this book back to back and can't wait to dip into some of the many recommendations offered.

A truly gripping novel, focusing on the psychological anguish of existential/ethical nihilism.

I don't usually read novels and was worried that"Notes from Underground" would be one of those"books that get recommended because they are difficult to understand and make you sound intelligent". Not at all. This is the best novel I have ever read in my life: a thorough, lucid analysis of what it means to be existentially and ethically nihilistic. Being philosophically-minded (though not educated), I found it very easy to read and literally couldn't put it down.<br /><br />The nameless anti-hero ("Underground Man") despises the way that humans want to flaunt their arrogance, put on a performance for others, and judge others based on their performances rather than their intellect alone.<br /><br />The more intelligent you are, the more you realise the deterministic and relativistic nature of life and ethics and the lack of objective knowledge... and the less capable you are of being resolute and certain, or even blaming anyone for their actions. Intellect does not allow you to rise above evolution or"the anthill" of society; it merely constrains you to a life of inaction and inner torment, and the realisation of the limitations of being human.<br /><br />Human nature is, in many ways, quite despicably egocentric. But, in a deterministic world, revenge and justice are meaningless concepts. Underground Man struggles with this (and the realisation that he is as egocentrically abhorrent as anyone else), and tries to demonstrate his freedom by acting irrationally: to seek a form of personal justice not for its own sake, but purely in order to gain comfort from the humiliation of others. He craves understanding and recognition of his anguish about the futility of life, yet realises that in getting it he will drag others down to his level of despair, rather than pull himself out.<br /><br />The book (which I borrowed) was so good that I immediately wanted to buy a copy to re-read, and I have had a (very brief) look at some of the various translations available. I have to admit to being disappointed with many of them, and would very strongly recommend Jessie Coulson's translation. Her words just flow naturally and sound like a fluent non-native speaker, rather than trying to use common English phrases at the cost of punchy clarity. I've seen another review that recommends the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. I have not come across this, but will certainly hunt this down to see how it compares.<br /><br />Dostoyevsky was clearly a genius. I have not read any of his other books, and I have my doubts as to whether they can possibly be as good as Notes from Underground, but there's only one way to find out...

Essential reading

The core of the book is the presentation of the ideal state, in which government is conducted by a specially trained and bred class of philosophers/judges/warriors, but he diverges onto various other topics as well, in particular what the nature of their education should be.<br /><br />Plato's insistence that education in philosophy (which for him includes all the sciences) would automatically produce gifted rulers must surely have seemed a bit naive even in his own day. And yet, of course, you have large parts of society constructed around this: Oxbridge classicists going into the City; the énarques in France; the Ivy League in the US. On the other hand, I observe that really intelligent people often make poor politicians; few of the skills of political leadership are intellectual. Plato would chide me that this is a problem with democracies and tyrannies, which I admit are the only polities I have particularly engaged with, and he explains why this is so in his chapters examining the problems of democracy and tyranny. I am not completely convinced though.<br /><br />Striking that Plato insists on the equality of men and women, at least within his ruling classs; striking also that this is combined with a vehement advocacy of infanticide on eugenic grounds, and on the abolition of marriage in favour of a planned breeding programme. I wonder if any sf novelist has ever tried writing a society constructed along Plato's lines. There are echoes of it in a lot of places, but I can't think of any explicit example.<br /><br />Of course, anyone who did try and construct a society along Plato's lines would run into the problems of the flaws and inconsistencies of the text. In particular, Plato's thoughts on the theory of forms are implicit in a lot of the text, but he is (apparently) rather unclear in his vocabulary so one is never completely sure what he is trying to get at, and the more specific he gets on basic philosophical contexts, the more adrift I felt.

A hero for all times

I read Beowulf for the first time over 25 years ago (in a different translation obviously) as a first year student of English Literature. It overwhelmed me then, and still does. Not only is the story in itself gripping, but there's a special feeling about reading a text knowing that more than a thousand years ago people were listening to that very same story.<br /><br />This epic poem conveys in a masterly way a past civilization and its values (courage, honour, steadfastness), which have their relevance in our times too. A classic, and deservedly so!

Everything I hoped for from the title

The author has treated a very difficult subject with such sensitivity and clarity of thought, taking the reader through the various dimensions and aspects of intimate space. As a professional geographer, I would have called it intimate 'place' not 'space', but place has a particular meaning in the English language that is hard to translate into French (the same is true in reverse). I think this might have worked to the advantage of the author in that it forced him to be very clear about what he means. I'd recommend the book to anyone interested in the meaning of home. Super read deserving 6 stars

My favourite novel.

Howard's End is a story of relationships, and the differences between people in the late victorian age.

The book's heroines are the two Schlegel sisters, Helen and Margaret - well-to-do women of independent means and philanthropic natures as they find their way through life in the comfort that comes with a steady annual income.

The introduction of the Wilcox family illustrates the vast differences in outlook and behaviour that people of the same class could encapsulate. Whereas the Schlegels hold 'Literature and Art' in the highest of esteem, the Wilcoxes live in a world of 'panic and emptiness' and 'telegrams and anger'.

The novel also shows Forster's views on a changing world - the distasteful motor cutting up the roads, creating dust and killing cats is the Wilcoxes pride and joy, preempting the prevalence of the car in later years and its effect on the world. The phenomenon of urban sprawl is also dealt with in the book, as Forster describes London creeping its way into the countryside. The characters who suffer from hayfever are those who belong to the city and the new order - they have discarded the old way of life in the country and have moved to the city, where money and cars and 'telegrams and anger' prevail.

The idea of the home is also very important in the novel. The Wilcoxes have a disregard for a 'home', seeing each as a device for living in. The Schlegels, and Mrs. Wilcox (who acts as a bridge between the two families) see a house as much more and apply sentimental value to houses and gardens.

Class is also dealt with in the case of Leonard Bast, a lowly clerk whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of these two wealthy families. He is a pathetic and pitiable character, who strives to better himself through literature and art but cannot climb his way out of the depths of his social standing, hampered by a disastrous marriage.

This is (no hyperbole) my favourite book. It has passages and turns of phrase that you will want to remember, and deals with issues in a natural and thought-provoking manner. If you haven't read it already, why not!

Buy it for Howl, enjoy it for the others...

To be completely honest, I don't find Howl as interesting as I find Ginsberg's other poems. While Howl does reach the soul, I find that Ginsberg's poems America, Sunflower Sutra, and A Supermarket in California are much more effective this and a lot less annoying to read. I found myself plugging away through Howl because it got redundant and boring. The other poems are fresh and more personal than Howl. Howl is a great poem and it is easy to see how it receives so much acclaim, but as a fan of Ginsberg's work, I find that Howl pales in comparison to Ginsberg's America. By all means, purchase this book, but don't buy it with the expectation that Howl is the best poem in there, because it isn't.

An odd little book

I managed to finish reading this the second time I picked it up. It was a case of putting it to rest, or else, sometime in the future I'd feel compelled to try again - and then, maybe I'd have to start from scratch. And I haven't got the energy to do that again.<br /><br />While I enjoyed the honeyed recollections of 'Cider with Rosie', 'As I walked..." is by far a more difficult read. For a start it's oddly balanced. Why - I wonder - bother with the time spent travelling to and staying in London, when the pertinent focus of the book is his time spent in Spain? The end is a terrible cliff-hanger, which I suppose would encourage the interested reader to pick up the next installment 'A Moment of War'. Not me, I'm afraid. <br /><br />In comparison with the rosy recollections of his childhood in Slad, Lee's vision of Spain is on a par with Dante's Hell. Everywhere is in a state of physical decay and moral decline. Throughout his journey he accepts the generosity of impoverished folks across the country, but shows little gratitude or appreciation on the printed page for this quality in the Spanish people. He appears quite dispassionate about what he sees. I find the claim that he mastered a fluency in Spanish after only a short time into his year-long journey, little short of a miracle. I understand there is a controversial idea that Lee did not, in fact, do all that he said he did, which includes his alleged later involvement in fighting Fascists in the Civil War. The growing presence of the impending Civil War arrives too late in the book to save me from boredom. I personally found this book a pompous, self-satisfying bore.

Fab

If you only show your children one poem, make sure it's this one. The touching and powerful Arthurian legend is brought to life miraculously in this rendition by Simon Armitage, which (unlike previous translations) will never leave you scratching your head and saying"What does that mean?" Despite retaining the strange and lovely alliterative verse of the original, the poem is lucid, accessible, fresh and modern. Here is a poem for ordinary people, not just Medievalists and English students.<br /><br />Armitage adds a nice introduction, suggesting how we can find a contemporary resonance in the poem. Gawain's story is not merely an exploration of Christian morality, but also, through vivid imagery of the natural world, aims to remind us of our own relationship with our nature and with nature as we find it all around us. The Green Knight is green for a reason (he thinks).

AS Level Functionality; second to none!

In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!

Enjoyable and easy to read

I am new to the classical works of Greece and Rome, however I've recently challenged myself to become more well acquainted with the works that have shaped story telling.

The fairly recent (mid nineties) Penguin translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey were where I began, and both books artfully represented the behemoths that these particular stories are in the world of literature. It was then with some trepidation that I picked up this volume, clear that this Roman book would not come up to scratch. I am glad to say I was completely wrong. West's translation is rich and readable. I even managed to read this on a busy bus on the way to work!

The accessibility of this work is its strength and I would recommend this story, and in particular this artful translation, to anyone who has no real specialist knowledge, but enjoys a good story and revels in the ancient greatness such tales can evoke.

Recommended

Arden Shakespeare

In some respects I think it'd be rather presumptuous of me to attempt to review Shakespeare. Someone so well known and influential wouldn't benefit from my opinions on their work, plus there are more scholarly and concise reviews out there. But I can comment on these Arden versions. Of all the Shakespeare I've read I've always found the Arden copies to be well laid out and to have excellent commentary and notes on the text. They really add to your understanding of Shakespeares outstanding plays and introduce you to the depth in his work. They have superb paper quality and are bound well, withstanding repeated readings and intensive study. For your collection of Shakespeare you can't do much better than Arden publications, some are quite hard to get hold of but it's worth the effort.

York Notes on Shakespeare's"Othello"

A Level English Literiture isn't quite the walkover expected, and although it was plain sailing through the modern texts such as"The Handmaids Tale" and"The Worlds Wife", I came to abrupt block when I was given any texts featuring words such as"thee","thy""thence" and"how now"... otherwise known as pre-20th Century texts.
And so when Shakespeare landed on my desk last September, I cannot be blamed for breaking out into a cold sweat and feeling a big ball of dread in my gut and we opened up the play to Act 1, Scene 1.
But there was a light at the end of this dark tunnel. York Notes. I don't rate revision guides much, but York Notes saved me from failer for this module. It's clear and conscice, which is an immediate improvement on my Lit Teacher, and it is also organised into clear sections so you know what you are learning. The scene synopsis' were essential for me in learning to understand the play, and the analysis of LSF in later chapters was the perfect accompanyment to successful revsion.
What I also found a blessing was the guide highlighted key quotes, which made my revision ten-times simpler, and it also pre-analysed my quotes for me, so I didn't have to do the gruling task myself, all I had to do is memorize them!
And the Notes helped, I failed my mocks for this exam, and then after some good hard work on revision, I walked away from my exam with a happy A!
YORK NOTES ARE ESSENTIAL READING FOR LITERITURE STUDENTS!
10/10 - and york notes are avalible to accompany most books at GCSE and As/A2 Level, so have a bit of a search for other titles, they are not always simple to find on here, so try going to Waterstones where they sit together on the shelf!