Book Description
Hailed as a classic, Tim Winton's masterful family saga is both a paean to working-class Australians and an unflinching examination of the human heart's capacity for sorrow, joy, and endless gradations in between. An award-winning work, Cloudstreet exemplifies the brilliant ability of fiction to captivate and inspire.
Struggling to rebuild their lives after being touched by disaster, the Pickle family, who've inherited a big house called Cloudstreet in a suburb of Perth, take in the God-fearing Lambs as tenants. The Lambs have suffered their own catastrophes, and determined to survive, they open up a grocery on the ground floor. From 1944 to 1964, the shared experiences of the two overpopulated clans -- running the gamut from drunkenness, adultery, and death to resurrection, marriage, and birth -- bond them to each other and to the bustling, haunted house in ways no one could have anticipated.
Customer Reviews:
My favourite book - an all time great.......2007-07-11
I remeber David Malouf talking about good writing - about what distinguishes it - and he said it was the rhythm.
And Cloudstreet has an amazing rhythm, a cadence and tone that sucks you up and propels you forward from the first page to the last and leaves you aching for more.
It is a sweeping saga of post war Australia and through it I could see my grandparents and parents doing their best in this world.
I have probably bought about 12 copies over the years, lending them knowing the chances of return will be squat.
Read it and love it.
Cloudstreet.....or Waterland.......2007-05-29
I wish I could give my review the glowing sheen so ubiquitous in all the other reviews, but, for me, this book falls short of the mark in several areas. The most obvious is the bioluminescence of two of the characters, the ghostly aborigine, and spectral Gothic arabesques strewn throughout the book. They mark the work with a distinctly gimcrack feel, and leave one wondering what Winton is all about here.
Elizabeth Ward, reviewing the book for The Washington Post, compares this novel to Joyce's Dubliners. A bit of a stretch, this. All one has to do is to think of Joyce's stylistic masterpiece, "The Dead" to see how much of a stretch.
This is not a BAD novel. It's just not enthralling or particularly sweeping. Perhaps Winton intended the writing to mirror the hard-bitten lives of the working class Aussies depicted herein. That's the best I can really say for it.
But also, I couldn't help but be reminded, time and again, of Graham Swift's tour de force of a novel, Waterland. There are simply too many similarities between the two books for me to think that Winton wasn't influenced by it. ......So, my recommendation, read Waterland, one of the greatest stylistic masterpieces to come out of England since WWII.
I wish I hadn't read it . . . .......2007-05-19
just so I could discover it for the first time. It's generally pointless trying to capture the quality of this book and others have made a better effort of it than I might, but one has to be deeply heartened by the author's humanity and love of his characters, even those with considerable personality disorders. It's a thread that runs through all his fiction and I admire him greatly for it. Add to that a dynamic imagination, a respect for his native vernacular and a sense of hope, and we've seen the tip of the iceberg. Winton is a masterful writer.
A vast landscape with perfect details.......2006-08-18
I really can't recommend this novel more. I find family dynamics difficult and challenging; this story made me look at families in a new and generous light, one full of light. read it and open your heart.
Em, JPC, 17.......2006-06-25
i found this book easy to read and very interesting from beginning to start. i could hardly put it down!
i found that the aboriginal in the story represented the spirituality both families have turned away from and neglected since having such tragic accidents in both families( Fish's drowning and Sam's fingers being chopped off). i also found that there was the modern day issue of no one wanting to no their neighboors-represented by the wall being put up and them never talking to each other and the kids fighting in the street,even when the Quick and Rose marry the two families keep their distances then at the end they relize they are so much better off with each other rather than fighting. i also found that it represented a journey of finding yourself and who you are , a search for the meaning of life
Amazon.com
What happens when Anthony "Ant" Poole, a consummate player, meets the woman who makes fast, easy sex seem like a waste of time? In Sweet St. Louis, Omar Tyree explores the emotional differences between black men and women, and traces the rocky path to true love. 24-year-old Sharron Francis is looking for a man who'll talk with her, answer the hard questions, and stick around. She's on a mission, "not to play hard to get, but hard to forget," and she'll give that heartbreaker Ant just a few chances before she moves on. But Ant has so much to learn. At least he has a solid job as a mechanic, buoyant self-esteem, and enough experience with women to recognize that Sharron--good-looking, thoughtful, and down-to-earth--might be "the one." Ant's best friend, Tone, teases him into confessing how deep his feelings for Sharron run, while her roommate, Celena, a player in her own right, keeps warning her away from him, arguing that Ant can never change his ways. Through long conversations, the lovers challenge and provoke each other. Yet just as they feel ready to move in together, Ant calls her from jail, swearing he's innocent. Will Sharron abandon him? Can he blame her if she does? He knows she "had the heart of the old school, to love a man to her death. And the steel of the new school to ask him everything about their future together without flinching, to do away with the destructiveness of assumptions."
A journalist and lecturer, Tyree sometimes generalizes too much about the sexes. He also relies on overly long, relaxed dialogue that can sometimes read like the transcript of an excruciating blind date. But Ant and Sharron are depicted as ordinary, multi-dimensional people who are full of contradictions. They try to balance hope with experience, and eventually they find the courage to grow together. --Regina Marler
Book Description
When Anthony "Ant" Poole, a young auto mechanic with a creative approach to the mating game, tries out his latest line on Sharron Francis, he has no idea of the impact it will have. For Sharron, an ordinary girl in search of companionship and happiness, Ant's words are filled with mystery and allure. Would she really be getting an actual piece of him, or just a piece period? The more Sharron contemplates Ant's line, the more it confounds her. When she decides the only way for her to discover its meaning is to discover Ant for herself, both her life and his are turned upside down.
A seductive, insightful look at the age-old question: How do people fall in love -- and stay in love?
Customer Reviews:
Would give it no stars.......2006-08-10
This is the worse book I ever read. The only reason that I finished it was because I thought it would get better or there would be a suprise ending. Not the case. Don't waste your time. Omar Tyree has definately fallen off in the writing department. Somebody stop him!
truebeauty.......2006-03-04
I would just like to say that I would recommend anyone who loves those sweet ending books to read this lovely novel. It's so romantic and unpredictable, but I loved it, and I could not put that book down if my life depended on it.
Antwan (his real name) not Omar.......2005-06-02
I agree. This book is not as focused as the beginners the story line was weak and it just seemed as if he was occipied with something else.
The player gets tamed.......2005-05-07
I had this book sitting in my house for a few years. I was hesitant to read the book after reading one of his other novels "Just Say No" which I found very boring. I finally decided to read this book, and it was simply just okay.
The book was slow, very slow, and it did not fully grab me. Anthony (Ant) Poole is an auto mechanic, and player who fall for Sharron Francis who works at the airport who is originally from Memphis. Sharron is determined to not play hard to get, but hard to forget. Sharron wants a relationship with substance. Guess that is the case when she meets Ant. He gets Sharron's attention with this one line, "Excususe me miss wanna trade? A piece of me for a piece of you." Sharron is the type of woman that he normally does not go for, but something about her draws him to her. Sharron has a pessimistic view on relationships and love. She wants companionship not to be the next booty call. Other characters in the book include Ant's friend Anthony (Tone) Wallace, want to be playa and a criminal who wants to do right, but spends his full time trying to get over. Rounding out the characters in the book is Sharron's friend, and roommate Celena. Celena is cynical, and overprotective. Celena is the type of person who is very anti love, but always on the prowl for a man.
Sharron overanalyzed of everything. She wants to trust Ant, but not sure if she can. Sharon asked a lot of questions. Anthony feared Sharon the closer he got to her. Celene trust no one, and felt if a man really wanted to be with her, he would wait until she is ready. "Celena hated the vulnerability of being a woman."
The book at times just took too long to get to the point it was trying to convey. Tone finally gets a job and seems on the road to doing right with his life.
There was one moment in the book that was very interesting. Ant is arrested for something his stupid friend Tone does. Ant is finally able to get in touch with Sharron and asks her to bail him out of jail. Of course Sharron thinks about it and she does decide to bail him out, even though her cynical friend Celena begs her not to. When Sharron does that they both realize just how much they care about each other, and have each other's back.
The book left too many unanswered questions. What happened to Tone? Does Celena ever see the error or her ways? Do Sharron and Ant's relationship work?
There was one character that really upset me. Diane was a one night stand that Ant hooked up with. Diane had ample time to leave Ant's house. She did not leave because she did not want to. Diane and Ant need to be held responsible for what happened. Ant should have opened the door and told Dine "Good Night." Diane says to Ant, "I want what she gets." Diane tried to make herself seem like a victim in the book, but she brought the situation on herself. Diane thought that sleeping with Ant would make him like her. She tried to play the game and got burned. Her character is one I know very well, because I know women who think like she does.
The books characters did not really draw me in. I never found a character that I really liked. I decided to donate my copy to the library. I did not like the book enough to want to read again and keep in my collection. I'm hoping I will one day find one book by Omar Tyree I will actually enjoy and really like.
I guess.......2005-01-05
I loved Omar Tyree when I read Flyy Girl, For the Love of Money, A Do Right Man, and Single Mom. But he must have been on something when he wrote Sweet St Louis. I love to read and have read all of Eric Jerome Dickey's books, and I love every one of them. But Sweet St. Louis was boring, did not catch my attention at all, and I would not recommend it to anyone. I feel that Tyree has much more potential than this book and hope that his other novels are better than this one.
Book Description
The Gang War to end all Gang Wars begins! The Kingpin is in retreat - and that kind of a power vacuum won't last long. It's about to be filled by a figure of unabashed dread in the underworld: Hammerhead! Plus: the Ultimate debut of several Marvel characters, including Moon Knight! And Spidey thinks he's had trouble before... but nothing has ever made him declare "Peter Parker" no more! Collecting Ultimate Spider-Man #79-85.
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-04
A kitchen sink low-level superhero and villain brawl. Silverman, Hammerhead, Kingpin, Spider-Man, Elektra, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi and Moon Knight, plus the Enforcers.
Much bashage and breakage and defenestration. Throw in the Black Cat and her cradle snatching ways, and a dirty cop for good measure.
A fair bit of fun, in other words.
mj who? kitty pryde rules..........2007-02-02
ultimate spider-man by bendis and bagley is one of the best series out there. not as much action and non-stop bad guy fighting, but a good mix of that and a lot of peter parker being a teenager with problems (girls, bullies, being grounded, etc.) along with his spidey life.
the series is great great great. only a few minor things that could be better:
1. i don't like how nick fury comes in and tells spider-man he's going to work his whole life for him and shield. the idea of peter being...trapped in a web? haha...well it isn't too cool. superheroes need to fight the good fight because they want to, not because shield will go and take away their superpowers (as fury has threatened) if they don't comply.
2. bendis needs to cut down on the tuchas talk. seriously if parker grew up in nyc today he'd more likely speak spanglish than yanglish.
3. geldoff.
One of the better Ultimate Spider-Man TPBs.......2006-07-09
This collects issues #79-85 of the long-running Bendis/Bagley series and includes appearances from Moon Knight, Elektra and the Black Cat. With Kingpin absent, Hammerhead hopes to fill the void left in the city's organized crime structure, forcing villians to choose sides and heroes to evaluate which is the lesser of two evils.
Another great volume!.......2006-06-16
Having read the whole series up until this point, I have to say that I really enjoyed this chapter. The writing is spot on for the teen-angst pain of a reluctant superhero. The art is crisp, clean and fun. If you've enjoyed the earlier books, this continues the fun.
Another good read, although not the best of the series.......2006-04-18
This seven-issue story arc (Ultimate Spidey 79-85) tracks the carnage that ensues when The Kingpin's crime cartel comes up for grabs... The prime contender for the throne is the super-gangster Hammerhead, who in his "Ultimate" incarnation is actually one scary dude, ruthlessly violent and coldly calculating, one of the more convincing gang bosses in comicbook history. Hammerhead's gnarly new persona almost -- but not entirely -- makes up for the flat, flimsy characterizations of '70s martial arts heros Shang Chi and Iron Fist, who also appear here, along with Moon Knight, Black Cat and Elektra. It's a major slugfest, with lots of slicing and dicing at the end, a consistently entertaining read, though not quite up to the high standards set by Brian Michael Bendis earlier in the series. If you just want to read a good, fun superhero story, this volume does the job.
Customer Reviews:
Futuristic.......2007-09-08
I was not drawn into this story as much as I have been for all of W. Michael Gear's other books. It does not keep my interest and I keep putting it down and losing it.Usually I finish one of his books in one day.
Perhaps I just like looking into the past rather than a future
Deeply philosophical sci-fi.......2000-12-20
I read the book years ago, but it's still one of my all-time favorites. Interesting and thoughtful philsophy, lots of action, lots of mystery and adventure. The first book is good, and the rest of the series just gets better and better.
SPACE APACHES - COOL!.......2000-09-16
i READ THIS BOOK AS WELL AS THE OTHER TWO OF THE TRILOGY AND I THOUGHT IT GOT BETTER AND BETTER. IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT LOOK AT SPACE SCI-FI OPERA IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT THAT. THE CHARACTERS ARE FUN AND THE ACTION IS WELL WRITTEN.
A good future space yarn with some interesting philosophy........1998-03-20
In the future, out in space, six hundred years after the Directorate has taken over the care of mankind on planets and stations there is no war. One planet called World by its people who are descendants of crash-landed American Indian tribes is beyond the edge of inhabited space. They call their God Spider. And, they are warriors.
The story flows well and pulled me along. I had a gripe about some word choices but, they were only a minor distraction.
I am looking forward to the other two books.
Book Description
All bodily activity is the result of the interplay of vastly complex physiological processes, and all of these processes depend on temperature. For insects, the struggle to keep body temperature within a suitable range for activity and competition is often a matter of life and death.
A few studies of temperature regulation in butterflies can be found dating back to the late 1800s, but only recently have scientists begun to study the phenomenon in other insects. In The Thermal Warriors Bernd Heinrich explains how, when, and in general what insects regulate their body temperature and what it means to them. As he shows us, the ingenuity of the survival strategies insects have evolved in the irreducible crucible of temperature is astonishing: from shivering and basking, the construction of turrets (certain tiger beetles), and cooling with liquid feces to stilting (some desert ants and beetles), "panting" in grasshoppers and "sweating cicada," and counter- and alternating-currents of blood flow for heat retention and heat loss.
In The Thermal Warriors Heinrich distills his great reference work, The Hot-Blooded Insects, to its essence: the most significant and fascinating stories that illustrate general principles, all conveyed in the always engaging prose we have come to expect from this author.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating!!!.......2003-09-08
Really neat info on how insects keep warm/cool down and why they move in those ways - shivering, bouncing, etc. The text is really easy to read and interesting to get into - the drawings sprinkled in throughout help make understanding that much easier. I don't have a science background - just have an insatiable hunger to learn about our natural world and this book definitely filled one corner of that hunger......Ever see a dragonfly stand up like its doing a headstand? Well its not because it like the head rush (or maybe that too but the book doesn't talk to that) - the reason they do that is on p. 66 - "When the sun is directly overhead some dragonflies assume the 'oblisk' position, which minimizes surface area exposed to solar heating while maximizing the area available for convective cooling." ....all to say, it was a hot day and the dragonfly needed to cool down :) Excellent book!
Unusual topic well presented.......2002-11-27
The thermodynamics of insects, from flight and thermoregulation to "thermal wars" between predator and prey. This is fascinating hard science presented in a user-friendly format. Short and pithy.
Excellent information, easy to understand.......2000-10-18
Bernd Heinrich has brought us yet another book that appeals both to the complete layperson and the scientist and provides enough detail and entertainment to keep both happy. The Thermal Warriors provides a fascinating look into the details of insect thermodynamics. Did you know that bees and most other flying insects have to shiver their muscles to warm-up their engines before flying because their flight muscles are adapted to work best at flight temperatures? Did you know that some butterflies have to stop and rest frequently on even moderately sunny days to keep from overheating?
Heinrich has taken his in-depth experience in this field and created a summary version for those that want to know more, but don't have any interest in wading through a 600 page monolith. The book is split up into different "problems" that insects must overcome to achieve flight, be active in different environments, and utilize different body shapes and sizes. He explains the physics of the various problems encountered and adaptations to overcome the problems in an easy to read manner. He frequently uses car engine analogies to help things make more sense.
My only qualm with this book is that it was over too soon!
Average customer rating:
- I can not even exaggerate on how much I enjoyed this book!
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WARRIORS REVENGE SPIDER MAN SUPER THRILLER 8 (Spider-Man Super Thriller)
Neal Barrett
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Global War, Featuring Dr. Octopus (Spider-Man Super Thriller , No 3)
ASIN: 0671008005 |
Customer Reviews:
I can not even exaggerate on how much I enjoyed this book!.......1997-12-01
Neal Barret did an awesome job writing this book! I know the author has inspired me a great deal. I would someday like to follow in his footsteps and become an author along with a doctor! The story takes place in Manhattan, NewYork, the center of attention,for tourism around the world.Spiderman now has two problems! The hulk is on a rampage through crowded New York streets, at the same time Spidey must get the Hulk to help him destroy the Super Scrull, a rouge alien warrior with the combined powers of the Fantastic Four!
Average customer rating:
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Amazing Adventures #32 : Featuring Killraven - Warrior of the Worlds (Marvel Comics)
Don McGregor
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000PJB09G |
Average customer rating:
- Five stars are not enough.
- Don't look here for answers.
- If God went to cocktail parties...
- About the essence of life itself, its meaning, God's plan
- Attraction to Infinity--through the finite
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God at the Ritz: Attraction to Infinity. A Priest-Physicist Talks About Science, Sex, Politics and Religion
Lorence Albacete
Manufacturer: Crossroad General Interest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0824519515 |
Book Description
Based on the experience of Father Lorenzo.
Customer Reviews:
Five stars are not enough........2006-10-04
I first encountered Father Albacete in a Frontline Documentary called "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero"--a beautiful and devasting piece of work. At the time I had no idea who Albacete was or that he had written a book. I was absolutely floored by how honest and disarming he was about his own awareness of the destructive power of the passion that is religious faith---yes, the passion--a passion that he is absolutely committed to! Here, I discovered, was a man who could actually tell the truth, over and above ideology. In fact, the greatest thing about Monsignor Albacete is that he really seems to have reached beyond ideology to touch something real. Here is someone who is not going to feed us the same old cant. I wish I were so real.
This book reflects that same honesty. But what is equally welcome here is a deep humor. (I realize that we Americans are hardly likely to find humor deep.) There were times I laughed so hard I ached. Here was an awareness that human beings both aspire to an Absolute and fall all over themselves in the attempt to get there, and that this is one of the things that makes us worthy of love and compassion. Who would have thought that pratfalls and faith walked hand in hand together? But these pratfalls have, in the words of Robert Frost, "mortal stakes."
Read this book. It may change your life.
Don't look here for answers........2006-04-01
Albacete has a warm and chatty writing style, and can talk about everything from Monty Python to Ivan Karamazov. As a non-Catholic and also a spiritual person, I read this book to understand more about Catholic thinking. I found the essence of the book to be found in this quote: "If we are faithful to the sacred, the Mystery, what we call God, we will always keep searching, for we will never find it, it will always be beyond, it will always be more. Authentically religious people know that..." (pp.178-179) We will never find it? It will always be beyond? I simply cannot agree with that. I believe that it is possible to know God in this life.
Albacete entirely talks about 9/11 and sexuality but skirts what I and many others consider to be deep problems with the church: discrimination against women by barring them from the priesthood and discrimination against gay and lesbian people. (And yes, of course, sexual abuse by priests.)
Over and over again he talks about "The Mystery" and mentions that God didn't tell Job in the Bible why he allowed him to suffer- it is only for Job to submit to the Mystery of God.
If you were hoping for something more or different from this book- I can only suggest giving it a pass.
If God went to cocktail parties..........2003-11-23
While advising on a film about John Paul II, the eccentrically brilliant Monsignor Albacete stayed at the Ritz in Hollywood and was accosted by all kinds of people who asked, on location and at poolside and everywhere else, incisive questions about God, religion, evil, hope, and other matters that really matter. This little book joins their questions and his responses in a winsome apologetic that might be categorized as pre-evangelization. However categorized, it is thinking of a high order set forth with literary grace and humor, and all in the service of understanding the irrepressible human aspiration toward the infinite. This is a First THings review.
About the essence of life itself, its meaning, God's plan.......2002-12-06
God At The Ritz: Attraction To Infinity is the candid discourse by Lorenzo Albacete (a Catholic priest and physicist with a degree in Space Science and Applied Physics), about the essence of life itself, its meaning, God's plan, and a great deal more. From surveying the balance between science and faith; to addressing the eternal questioning of why such suffering and horror exist in God's world; to the "big three" contemporary issues of sex, money, and politics; God At The Ritz is a refreshing, insightful, articulate, "reader friendly", and highly recommended attempt to make sense of the great mysteries of life, and to acknowledge that there are some concepts that can only be understood by God himself.
Attraction to Infinity--through the finite.......2002-11-07
Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete has written a serious and humorous book about the human longing, desire, and attraction for the infinite, the eternal, the mysterious "beyond." Albacete is an intellectual, and his brief critiques of other thinkers testify to a brilliant mind, but his illustrations and vignettes always spring from life: a very earthy life, his life. And so the relationship between reason and human experience forms the thread that ties this book together. That thread is a kind of judgement, but his judgement is so humble, so full of humanity and understanding, because it flows not from an abstract theory, but from a life fully lived, from a mind and a man engaged with human reality in his search for the meaning of that reality, for what lies beyond it and ultimately constitutes it. Here is a book capable of speaking to any man of any time, brimming with the humanity and generosity of its author.
Books:
- Collected Short Stories: Volume 3 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
- Colossus of Maroussi
- Dragon Seed (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck.)
- Dreams Of My Russian Summers: A Novel
- Fencing the Sky: A Novel
- Field of Blood: A Novel
- Gallow's Thief
- Hadji Murad
- He Who Fears the Wolf (Inspector Sejer Mysteries)
- Heaven Lake: A Novel
Books Index
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