Customer Reviews:
Master Work! Unbelievably Good Storyteller.......2007-03-08
I bought this work mainly for the 'Royal Game' story because chess fiction is dear to my heart and I collect these kinds of books. I must admit that I loved this story, but I figured since the other stories were there I should give them a fair chance at a read as well. I was really stunned to find out how well Zweig wrote! Now mind you these books are translated - I can only imagine how well the original works must be! Zweig can take regular events and suck you right into the reading and it's really amazing how hard it is to put the book down. A pure genius of the 20th century is all I can say. Please do, enjoy this master's work! Zweig's stories are intended for mature audiences. If you like chess fiction - other books you may want to look at are 'The Queen's Gambit' by Tevis, 'The Luneberg Defense' by Maurensig, 'Alekhine's Anguish' by Yaff, or 'The Chess Team' by Sawaski
Short novels about the human mind.......2006-11-10
The Royal Game is a very striking reflection on intelligence and torture, written by an Austrian exile early during Wolrd War II. It is highly original and moving. The other stories are "lighter," being set in everyday life and dealing with self-induced frustrations, and his apparent obsession with adulterous women is odd after a while (unless of course it is an obsession of the editor who selected the stories for this collection). Nevertheless, each story is different and engaging, with depth, respect and loving interest for his characters. It reads a little like a fiction version of Freud's essays (a bit like I believe Camus wrote complementary essays and novels), and the two men were close.
His best short stories........2006-06-21
If you are new to Zweig then this is for you. All the stories are very engaging and represent the style of writing of that era. I wish I could find more writers like Zweig, alas...
Beware of Pity is also very good. He is probably my favorite writer next to Witkiewicz. Do yourself a favor and get this book.
The world of Zweig.......2005-06-16
This collection of short stories includes some of Zweig's best fiction ever! The author writes in a beautiful, alluring way that pulls the reader into the story. The intensity of the subjects provoke suspenseful emotions in the reader while entertaining and educating about human conditions. His descriptions of emotions are realistic while at the same time heavily weighted by difficult situations that few people encounter. His imagination is incredible!
I have read this book numerous times and it's one of the few books that I dislike lending to others because my attachment to the stories.
JILL SUTCLIFFE VS EDEN & CEDAR PAUL.......2005-01-20
I love this book, & I carried it wherever I go. Stefan Zweig is the greatest writer I ever known. His stories are so intriguing it's hard to put it down. His writing skills are so lively that even though his books are translated, they are still extraordinary works. But I must point out that in the case of "letter from an unknown woman:, Jill Sutcliffe translated & brought Stefan's work to life so much better than E & C Paul. I have the 2 translations & I have to say Jill is a much better translater in Stefan's work. I love all the stories in this book, & I hope Jill will translate more of his work. His books should be the must read books in class.
Average customer rating:
- the narrative is as smooth as fine wine
- Rollercoaster romance that will leave you satisfied and still wanting more
- Incredible Comeback...
- Exciting adventure/romance novel
- Disappointed
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Threads of Destiny
J.P. Mercer
Manufacturer: P.D. Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Lesbian | Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books
Lesbian | Romance | Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0975436678
Release Date: 2005-10-10 |
Book Description
Threads of Destiny embraces the coastal paradise of Santa Barbara, California, and the beautiful, romantic scenery of its virgin wine country. It's the story of the powerful Cara Vittore Cipriano and Jacquelyn Lee Biscayne. Cara is a lawyer and Padrone of the prestigious Cipriano Vineyards and Jake, an FBI forensic pathologist, is undercover with the Monsoon Rain Task Force, which is closing in on the Mexican/Colombian cocaine pipeline. Twisted threads had torn their lives asunder, leaving each to follow their own path toward an undeniable, inevitable fate. Destined to cross paths again, their lives will entwine amidst a world of intrigue, cocaine, murder and the relentless search for a ruthless killer.
Customer Reviews:
the narrative is as smooth as fine wine.......2007-06-06
I have not read the earlier work so for me, this was a standalone adventure rather than a sequel. As a standalone piece, there is an awkwardness to the first 30 pages -- the pace is way too fast with way too many memories of earlier times. When overused like this, flasbacks lose their magic.
This approach of telling the story, rather than letting the story unfold, continues to be a challenge for the author for most of the book.
Although I found the storyline intriguing, and the characters potentially likable, both lacked real depth -- the kind of depth that pulls you into the story and makes certain scenes linger in your mind weeks after you've finished reading the book.
The biggest challenge for me was the continuous feeling that the author was on a mission to get from point A to point B with the focus being on the end result rather than the adventure of getting there. The story could have easily held another 50+ pages, allowing the reader to savour the moment or "feel" the tension. Instead, it felt as if the tension was being thrust upon me, the reader.
Despite all these concerns, I will continue to read more of this author's works, in hopes that she will learn to control her pace in a way that enables the story to unfold with a more natural feel. For when the author is not rushing the pace, the narrative is as smooth as fine wine.
Rollercoaster romance that will leave you satisfied and still wanting more.......2005-11-11
This is the sequel to the terrific 'Incommunicado', however there is enough back story included that it is not required to read it first - but I highly recommend you do as that too is a great story.
Your heart just breaks for the terrible things that have occurred in the lives of Cara and Jake. So many twists and turns occur that I didn't know how the book would end. Would Cara and Jake reunite? Would they be able to overcome all the miscommunication? Would Cara isolate herself forever. Would Cara find love with her former love Maggie. Would Jake find happiness with someone new?
Among all this angst there is corruption and illegal drugs and attempted murder set against a back drop of a gorgeous winery.
Incredible Comeback..........2005-09-06
I was a little disappointed in 'Incommunicado' by Nancy Hill and J.P. Mercer, and was leery of the sequel. However, I had already bought both and decided to plow ahead. You'll never know how glad I am that I did. I'm not sure why, but this sequel is many times better than the original. As far as I could see, it would also be enjoyable on its own (i.e, not necessary to read 'Incommunicado.')
The premise of this book follows the first in that it centers around the investigation of drug running and murder across the US/Mexico border, but that's where it ends. Cara has left Jake because of medical issues related to her rape, but Jake doesn't even know about the rape. Jake is devestated by the loss of her lover, especially since she doesn't know why things ended.
After leaving Jake, Cara returns to her family's vineyard and takes over operations there. She finds herself facing her first love, Maggie, Maggie's daughter, and her dispicable brothers. On top of it all, she finds cocaine and discrepancies in the vineyard's books. Cara contacts the authorities to get help. In the meantime, the heartbroken Jake runs into McKenzie -- one of Cara's former lovers -- and reluctantly begins at least a physical relationship with the woman. Jake is called in for an undercover assignment, only to find out she will once again see Cara.
The investigation is a minor part of this book and the love story is much more out front than in 'Incommunicado.' The characters have feelings and depth. This reader could imagine sitting along the wall during the party and participating in the winery tour. 'Destiny' is many times better than 'Incommunicado' and comes highly recommended. Curl up in your favorite chair with a nice glass of wine and enjoy. You won't be sorry.
Exciting adventure/romance novel.......2005-03-31
Threads of Destiny is set in the southwestern US and is the story of Jake Biscayne and Cara Ciprano. They are former lovers who were separated by tragic circumstances that Jake has never understood. Jake, who works for the FBI, is sent to work on a case involving drugs being smuggled through a prominent vineyard. What she doesn't know is that Cara is the head of the vineyard. As they are brought back together, different plots interact with each other - Cara wants to try and solve her differences with Jake and give them a second chance, the drug runners have to be stopped, other lovers would like to separate Jake and Cara permanently and there is an evil presence still influencing the course of their lives. The book is fast paced, well written and exciting in the climax. This book is highly recommended.
Disappointed.......2005-02-07
I was actually quite disappointed in this sequel. Inncomunicato was full of life & intrigue. This fell short of that same quality. The writing lacks what I expected & is not on the same level as the first book. The story line, which is very cliche, lacks imagination & simply borrows situations & ideas from other works. I've read it all before & much better written.
Customer Reviews:
A Nice Week-end Read.......2005-12-04
I get so annoyed when people seek to impose Twenty-First Century sensibilities and political correctness on Eighteenth Century Conduct. I want my authors to be true to the era they are writing about. One of my reasons for reading these historical romances/erotica is so as to learn about the practices and everyday living experiences of days gone by. I don't want it tidied up and sanitized. So yes, homosexuality was frowned upon and taboo and not to be openly accepted and that was how it was up until quite recently. Tell it like it is!!!
I loved the romance between Myles and Suisan... and thought Ms. Lamb must have been attempting to write about a Saint rather than a hero because Myles could not be more perfect. Again, in today's world, he would be charged with sexual harrassment with the way he went after some-one in his employ but that was how it was back in the day. Masters took what they wanted when they wanted. If it had to be done, Myles way of doing it was so sweet and arousing. He treated her as a person and not just a body.
I like the way Ms. Lamb tied up all the loose ends. There was no question left unanswered. If I have to quibble about anything it would that it gets quite tiresome when it takes forever for the characters to see what is the truth staring them in the face. The way Suisan kept desperately hanging on to her preconceived idea of who and what Myles was did get on my nerves a bit, which resulted in my skipping some paragraphs as I just didn't want to hear it anymore. Also, Ms Lamb has the most annoying habit - shared with most of these writers - of being sloppy about the after-effect of lovemaking. Please don't tell me about their heavy bout of sex - all the minute details before and during - and then tell me that she then pulled her dress down and went about her business. I just read a book by Lisa Kleypas and I shouted "Finally some-one gets it!" It added to the story rather than detracted from it in telling us that both participants understand that some cleaning up is required after. And too, while Suisan was concerned about getting pregnant she did nothing to try to protect herself whilst Myles seemed not to be aware that that pregnancy could be a more than likely outcome.
Learnt a lot about history from the Scottish point of few. All in all I am giving this 4 1/2 stars! Nice, relaxing read.
The Traditional Values Coalition seal of approval?.......2004-09-12
I was shocked, and eventually creeped out, by the amount of gay-bashing in this book -- especially by characters who are supposed to be heroes. There was no solid plot reason for the bad guy to be gay, so I have to suppose Arnette Lamb simply doesn't like homosexuals very much. Other reviewers have mentioned the infuriating thick-headedness of the heroine, the squickiness of the brother-sister romance, and the woodenness of the dialogue, so I won't bother repeating those complaints. I would normally expect better -- and a little more sympathy for the underdog -- from a best-selling author.
A great Scottish romance.......2003-05-29
This book kept me interested throughout - it is my first of this authors and I will definitely look to read more of hers.
Great plot and history to go with the romance.
Not a book that I enjoyed as much as I should have..........2000-11-30
I am very much a fan of Arnette Lamb, but I was a bit dissapointed reading this. Alright, a lot dissapointed. Especially since the beginning is gorgeous, beautiful and romantically perfect with the promise of being a five-star book.
However, the plot wavered a bit, was strong in some places but weak in others. Suisan's determination and and goals morph dramatically, on top of the Big Misunderstanding, all caused by the evil Robert who's motives were completely unbelievable. There were a lot of things that I didn't believe.
I didn't believe the dialogue--it was flat, boring, unsensational, and scripted. I didn't believe anyone's motives, and the plot was pervasively "blah" in parts. That's not to say the book didn't have it's merits, however. The idea of Suisan masquerading as a maid was original and had incredible potential. But the characters were continually arguing and mistrusting, that I didn't really enjoy it.
Based on other reviews, I can see that it was rather well-liked, so whether or not I would reccomend this is based entirely on how nit-picky you get over plots and realness. :)
U can't ask for ne Better.......2000-07-15
Suisan and Myles are like perfectly made for each other. Their romance is just SOOoo sweet and original. My favourite parts was when Myles getz jealous and possessive of 'Maura' itz soo cute, the bit how he came naked 2 the kitchen and Cookson coming down the stairs and lastly the part where he getz depressed becoz Maura's left him, like he was heart broken but won't admit it itz just soo charming and sweet. Oh and also the bit where Myles winz the Mackenzie at arm wrestling and telling him about the bluddy sheets and thingz it wuz very funny. Myles and Suisan glow,like a burning fire in the middle of winter. Threads of Destiny is just a book that you won't be able to put down once u pick it up. And afterwards, one can not help but re-read and re-read it again and again, u'd neva get fed up wiff it. This book is definitely worth buying and waiting for, and also for somefin just as enchanting as Thread of Destiny, Border Bride also one of the few books Arnette Lamb has cast a spell, u would never get fed up wiff it!
Average customer rating:
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Threads of Destiny: A Surgeon's Odyssey
Charles Marks
Manufacturer: Tate Publishing & Enterprises
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Physicians | Physician & Patient | Medicine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1602473501 |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Average customer rating:
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Character and Destiny: Authentic Threads in Life
James Hilman
Manufacturer: Oral Tradition Archives
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
General | Religion & Spirituality | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1880155168 |
Average customer rating:
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The thread of destiny,: A comedy-drama in three acts, (ALTA)
Lindsey Barbee
Manufacturer: T.S. Denison & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
ASIN: B0008A38P6 |
Amazon.com
A career-spanning collection of science fiction from one of the field's most highly regarded writers, The Collected Stories contains all of Vinge's published short fiction with the exception of two stories--almost 40 years of work including his first professional sale and his most recent novella (published here for the first time). It's a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable review of his career, made richer by the addition of forewords and afterwords to the individual stories in which he discusses everything from the ideas that drove the story to insights on his own writing process.
Vinge's writing is characterized by a clear love of science and an empathy for human needs and feelings. He's intensely curious about what happens when people and science collide. His stories explore the legacies of racism and xenophobia, the pros and cons of anarchy, alien contact, and the sometimes even more difficult contact between humans. He's a master of big ideas, epic settings, and stories well told. --Roz Genessee
Book Description
The short works of the two-time Hugo Award winner, including his big new novella, Fast Times at Fairmont HighVernor Vinge may be the most brilliant science fiction writer of the past 20 years, most recently earning two Hugo Awards for his novels A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) and A Deepness in the Sky (1999). His earlier groundbreaking works, such as True Names (1981) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), won him a wide readership. Now Vinge presents a feast of great SF sure to delight. From his earliest stories in the mid-1960s, to his longer works of the 1970s and 80s, these pieces display Vinges sense of wonder. Those who love his novels will find his short fiction even more impressive.In such classics as The Ungoverned and The Blabber, Vinge shows the form that has garnered him numerous Hugo and Nebula Award nominations. And in this chronologically arranged showcase, theres a final treatan original novella found only in this collection.
Book Description
How much energy do you expend tying to be "good enough?" What would your life be like if you suddenly knew you were already perfect? This remarkable book helps you direct the energy of the Universe to create abundance in happiness, health, wisdom, and wealth, and remember who you really are - a spiritual being experiencing the physical world, perfectly.
Customer Reviews:
A not so obvious book.......2003-05-09
I read this book more than once and noticed that the second time I read it, it was much different. After doing the exercizes for a while, not only my impressions of what I was reading changed, but my whole life changed. I am deeply indebted for the awareness this book has brought to me and I recommend it to everyone.
Better and Better.......2003-01-07
I've read this book now three times and I'm going to read it again. Every time I read it, it speaks to me in a different way -- seemingly reading my mind as to what I need each time.
Very Powerful.......2002-06-02
Relax, You're Already Perfect really opened my eyes to the fact that I can do whatever I want and be whatever I want. The techniques were very powerful and easy to do, and they really work! I've recreated my life and am continuing to grow each day.
Easy to read, clear and informative.......2002-02-25
I've read tons of books on spiritual awareness and am amazed that even though some of these messages were not new to me, they were expressed in a most powerful, enjoyable, practical and enlightening way.
I truly believe this book will be remembered as a guide book that helped raise the consciousness of many, many people.
Perfect! Yes!.......2001-03-20
What I loved about this book is that it actually works as a primer for everything that is at the heart of the healing message I share! As an energy therapy practitioner on the look-out for books to support my work, I was happy to find that in this one book Bruce Schneider gets to the core issues and questions that those on the awakening path are facing. He did it in clear digestible language and NOT TOO MANY words, not veiled in goopy new age tired euphemisms. From the title throught the last page, I found clarity, comfort, empowerment and joy! YEA!
Books:
- The Solitaire Mystery: a novel about family and destiny
- The Summer Before the Dark
- The Tarnished Eye: A Novel of Suspense (Guest, Judith)
- The Ticket That Exploded (Burroughs, William S.)
- The Time of the Doves (La Plaza del Diamante)
- The Time of the Uprooted: A Novel
- The Torment of Others: A Novel
- The Vagina Monologues: The V-Day Edition
- The Vision of Emma Blau : A Novel
- The Wasp Eater
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything
- Problems of Religious Diversity
- In the Shape of a Boar
- History: Fiction or Science
- Mafalda 2
- Numerical Methods for Engineers: With Software and Programming Applications
- Saving the Planet With Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High-Yield Farming
- Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, 1751
- Landlording as a Second Income: The Survival Handbook
- The Web Conferencing Book: Understanding the Technology, Choose the Right Vendors, Software, and Equ
Beware of Pity (New York Review Books Classics)
World of Yesterday
Chess Story (New York Review Books Classics)
The Queen's Gambit: A Novel
Fantastic Night and Other Stories
