Customer Reviews:
Huck Finn in Rwanda.......2005-01-15
Sometimes, constructing an elaborate fiction-as Tierno Monénembo does here-reveals an emotional truth deeper than would be possible with any journalistic account. Mr. Monénembo has lived in exile from his native Guinea since 1969, studying in Senegal, Abidjan, and Lyon before settling in Normandy. The Oldest Orphan is his seventh novel, and second of his books to be translated to English.
The narrative is fragmented between flashback and a blur of present tense, where the protagonist Faustin's memory wanders between age 10 and age15. At age 15, Faustin exists in prison, awaiting execution, accused of killing the boy who allegedly raped his sister. Faustin faces heroic challenges with humor, resourcefulness, and remnants of an innocence that has been brutally truncated by genocidal mania. The facts are difficult, and blurred, against the backdrop of social & political upheaval.
This is an important novella concerning the Rwanda genocide of 1994, written by one of the strongest literary voices available in translation from the African continent.
Must read!.......2004-06-15
This book is beautiful! From such sadness Mr. Monenembo has wrought exquisite humanity. I could not put it down. It is Africa viewed by an African instead of Europeans or Americans. In a compelling fashion Mr. Monenembo focuses not on the politics but on the people.
Average customer rating:
- Let me try to say something nice about this book...
- Continuation lacks the luster of book one in the series
- enjoyable, but does not compare to TAGD
- Hijackers
- I never wanted it to end!
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Now Face to Face
Karleen Koen
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Dark Angels: A Novel
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Through a Glass Darkly
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The Perfect Royal Mistress: A Novel
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Forever Amber
ASIN: 0394569296
Release Date: 1996-01-13 |
Book Description
The beloved heroine from Koen's bestselling Through a Glass Darkly returns in a passionate, unforgettable, romantic tapestry. A widow at age 20, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by the death of her husband in scandalous circumstances, Barbara Devane leaves colonial Virginia for London to confront her enemies and to pursue a deeply satisfying yet dangerous clandestine love.
Customer Reviews:
Let me try to say something nice about this book..........2007-05-28
Karleen Koen's brief biography says that she was led to write Now, Face To Face and its prequel, Through a Glass Darkly through her interest in the period. I knew little about the Jacobite intrigues of the early 18th century. Ultimately, this is what drove me to finish the book, since even though these were historical events, I was ignorant of them, and I wanted to know how it all worked out. I am also drawn to big, meaty books, and at nearly 700 pages, this volume looked great for my week-long trip.
Koen's Protagonist, Barbara Montgeoffry, Countess Devane, is someone who I'm sure I couldn't stand if I met her. In the story, this would be written off as my jealousy of her physical perfection, mental superiority, high rank, excellent connections, and ability to charm any any man living. True enough, in real life such people are hard to take too. Barbara has suffered losses both personal and financial as the story opens, but luckily everything works out by the end of this lengthy story.
Karleen Koen is an author is more likely to tell rather than show, and this diminishes the effect of the events she portrays. For example, when Barbara finally gets together with Mr. Right, they have a little flirtation, he leaves her a flower, and then there's a fade until "three weeks later", when they are an established couple. What's the point of waiting 544 pages for this woman to find love after she's been wondering if it would ever come to her again and then not showing us the delightful early stages of love?
Readers who are knowledgeable about the 18th century and care about details might be frustrated by some of the anachronisms that creep in. I'm sure the historical facts are accurate, but the devil is in the details in a good historical novel (see Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series). Some of the daily details just don't ring true.
If you are a huge Barbara fan, you will probably love this book because it features the Georgian Barbie you loved in Through A Glass Darkly. Plot and character-wise, I didn't regret reading the first book, so don't let that put you off.
Continuation lacks the luster of book one in the series.......2007-05-23
In 'Through The Glass Darkly', Roger dies, leaving Barbara a widow and responsible for his enormous debt from the South Sea Bubble scandal. 'Now Face To Face' picks up where Barbara flees London and heads to her grandmother's plantation in Virginia. In the isolated wilds of the new world, Barbara learns to carve out a space for herself in spite of her nasty neighbor Bolling. She makes friends, winds out freeing her slaves, looses her personal slave Hyacinthe, and almost finds romance.
While Barbara is away, London bustles with activity. The Jacobites are the talk of the town, supporting the return of King James and the overthrowing of King George. Jane's husband Gussy finds himself knee deep in intrigues with newcomer and actor Laurence Slane, who's not who he really says he is. He's a gosling, one of James' most trusted informers. Barbara's grandmother, the Duchess of Tamworth, comes from the country to attend cousin Tony's wedding. Her mother Diana continues her liaison with Robert Walpole, the man responsible for Barbara's debt being unforgiven and a major force for King George.
The intrigue becomes, if this is possible, a little too thick, swarming over the storyline and drowning the characters in its overwhelming description. There's a lot of repetitiveness in the intrigues of James vs George and the who's who of the Jacobites. Tony went from simple to cunning, and it wasn't a good transition. No reason for it, nor any rhyme to it until later in the book when he'd already shown his feathers. It was as if a shade had drawn over his innocence in our absence and left a character that little resembled the Tony from the first book.
Also, if your expecting a little 'Gone With The Wind' action from Barbara in Virginia, you won't find it. Barbara went from a spirited, saucy personality to a rather droll and reflective one. Between books one and two, she lost much of the spunk that made her so charming. After the tightly woven 'Through A Glass Darkly', 'Now Face To Face' comes off as a thick (733 pages) "middle" book that basically goes nowhere. We're left hanging at the end waiting for the third book in the series.
Still, 'Now Face To Face' earns a solid 3.5 stars from me in spite of its obvious faults, because the characters are fleshed out, the times are interesting, and the prose is smoothly woven into a rich, though somewhat slow paced, tale. Faults and all, I still read it through in just a few sittings, finding myself absorbed in the tale. If you're a fan, purchase it, otherwise check it out from the library first. Enjoy!
enjoyable, but does not compare to TAGD.......2007-04-24
I read Now Face to Face after reading Through A Glass Darkly and Dark Angels. Of the three books, Now Face to Face is by far the weakest and least satisfying. The ending leaves room for another sequel, but as another reviewer noted, the material left by Koen may be too weak to continue. I was dissappointed at the author's portrayal of the "mature" Barbara. I loved her character in TAGD, but felt there was something missing here. Maybe it was the lack of Roger's spirit and passion, maybe it was the not entirely believable deep love for Slane that appeared out of nowhere, maybe it was the lack of spunk that Barbara showed in the other novel (and that the Duchess shows in Dark Angels) I was also deeply dissappointed in Tony's development. Why did he need to become an angry young man who, like the rest of Barbara's amours, ignored his wife and sense of self? The author should have chosen a different direction for his life to follow.
Hyacinth's story should have been fleshed out more, and I felt that many of the episodes and sub-stories could have had more drama in order to fill in some of the holes in the Jacobite/Hanoverian plot. And what happened with the smuggling issue, Diana, and Beth/Colonel Perry?
That being said, I did enjoy the book, and was overall pleased with the work Koen produced. However, I would recommend Dark Angels to a reader before Now Face to Face, and of course, I would recommend Through a Glass Darkly to ANYONE. So fantastic it should be in everyone's personal collection. (and for those who can't find a reasonably priced copy, I obtained mine right here through Amazon and it was under 20 bucks)
Hijackers .......2007-02-02
I liike Through the Glass Darkly and was looking forward to reading Now Face to Face, but obviously it is out of print. I am not so interested in reading it that I would pay the exhorbinant prices that are being charged for a used book. I understand the concept of supply and demand from my college economics class, but really, I would be ashamed and fear for my soul if I sold a used book at such prices and certainly can live without giving my hard earrned money to hijackers for a novel. Koen's Through the Glass Darkly was good, but irritating at some points, so I cannot fathom why people would actually purchase books at hijacked prices, which results in even more higher prices for everyone else. Retarded!
I never wanted it to end!.......2007-01-16
This was a wonderful follow up to Through a Glass Darkly. While it is not quite up the the perfection of TAGD, which I would have given 8 or 9 stars if I could, it's still pretty darn good. Although most of the story was wrapped up in the end, albeit too briefly there is more story to tell and I wish there was another sequel or two (PLEASE).
Most of the original characters return, Barbara, Hyacinthe, Theresa, Grandmama, Tony, Phillippe (ugh) and Diana -- plus some new ones. The first part takes Barbara to Virginia giving her time to work through her grief over Roger's death and the South Sea Bubble scandle.
The second part of the book brings a stronger Barbara back to London and to take it by storm once again, and she's caught up in the Jacobite rebellion. And throughout, we see Barbara mature and change, as we all do in real life. It was heartbreaking to see how Tony changed over his unrequited love for Barbara -- which can also happen in real life.
As in TAGD, you will laugh and cry, just as in real life, and gather a history lesson at the same time. Some reviewers complained because there was not a whole lot of romance, but this book should be classified as historical fiction, not historical romance.
Book Description
or more than two centuries, America has taken stock every decade, producing a statistical self-portrait of our population. In Who We Are Now, Sam Roberts identifies and illuminates the trends and social shifts that are changing the face of America today. The 2000 U.S. census captured an America in the middle of a fundamental transformation. The nation's complexion changed significantly over the twentieth century, creating more varied and intermingled identities; the trend was so profound that for the first time residents in 2000 could choose multiple race and ethnic categories on the census form. With the baby boomers nearing retirement and the echo generation entering college, the graying of America has been balanced, precariously, by the youth culture. And in the wake of the 1990s welfare reform, the fate of the working poor has become all the more tenuous. Roberts masterfully weaves stories of individuals from all corners of the country with the data, creating a compelling guided tour of the places, personalities, and politics that will shape twenty-first-century America.
Customer Reviews:
What We Are Becoming........2005-03-24
This research is based on the 2000 census. It shows a very profound change from the 1990 census, after which this writer presented his version of WHAT WE ARE. It was a hard decade for most of us as the world continues to change and take us with it.
In 1950, only ten percent of the population of the United States was non-white. Today, one in four Americans are black, Hispanic, or Asian. No country is home to more foreigners than the U.S. We now have people here from Ukraine, India, even the Middle East.
In the 19th century, we invented the telegraph, telephones, and electric lights. Then came radio, t.v., airplanes, automobiles, and the atom bomb. Along, came immigrants in droves. After WWII, the Japanese were given entry as we rebuilt their country. For half a century, this country absorbed immigrants from every corner of Europe.
The United States was 40% of the world's population in 2000 in every way. India has four times the population of U.S. but fewer people age 80 or older. By 2011, the number of elderly will increase dramatically as the 'baby boomers' turn 65.
By 2025, the population is projected to grow by 23%. In 2040, if no catastrophe overtakes us, Americans may outnumber western Europeans. In 2050, the proportion of old people will have doubled. By 2100, nonwhites and Hispanics are projected to make up 60% of the U.S. population.
H. G. Wells wrote, "the race between education and catastrophe is far from over." How the 21st century is determined by numbers but also by the vagaries of human nature.
Sam Roberts wrote THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ROSENBERG CASE, is host of a daily t.v. interview show in New York City, and has been reporter, journalist, and an editor of the New York Times since 1983. He includes a bibliography, multiple charts, and extensive index to show the factual material he uses.
Information overload!!!! .......2004-10-02
Imagine the daunting task of taking the raw data from the 2000 U.S. census and trying to make sense of it all? "Who We Are Now" is author Sam Roberts heroic attempt to do just that. In fact, Roberts, a veteran New York Times journalist wrote just such a book a decade ago based on the 1990 census. I did not read that one but I must warn you that I found getting through the sequel to be a bit tedious at times. There are simply too many statistics for the average reader to process. I often became confused and as a result I lost interest in the points the author was attempting to convey.
Having said that, the reader is still likely to come away from this book with a better understanding of who we are as a people and of the emerging trends in the country. You'll learn how the racial and ethnic composition of the nation is undergoing dramatic changes, where our citizens are moving to and from and what the consequences might be of our aging population. But at the end of the day I think I would prefer to read about such issues in books primarily devoted to those topics. And while I commend Sam Roberts for his attempt, in my judgement "Who We Are Now" is far more appropriate as a research volume for scholars than a book one would read from cover to cover.
Average customer rating:
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The Face of East European Jewry (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism, 35)
Arnold Zweig
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Cultural | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0520215125 |
Book Description
A landmark work in the sphere of modern German-Jewish cultural life, The Face of East European Jewry is also a window on a lost world. First published in 1920 and never before translated into English, this work brings together the impassioned writing of one of Weimar Germany's most celebrated authors, Arnold Zweig, and the equally poignant illustrations by renowned graphic artist and lithographer Hermann Struck.
As members of the German wartime press division at Ober-Ost, both Zweig and Struck spent the final years of the First World War on the eastern front, on the outskirts of the Lithuanian city of Kovno (Kaunas). There they observed the life of the so-called Ostjuden, or East European Jews. Reflecting the rise of Zionism and the experience of the war, The Face of East European Jewry offers a dramatic and moving perspective on the short-lived romance of disenchanted Western Jews with the idea of a more authentic, more meaningful lifestyle in the East.
Book Description
The Tenth Edition of "The Bear" builds on a strong and distinguished sales history, loyal users, and a well-known author. In this engaging and comprehensive text, Lefrancois explains, applies, illustrates, and investigates psychological principles and classroom practices in a way that is concise and informative as well as encouraging and entertaining. Based on the most recent research in human development as it relates to learning, teaching, and thinking, this book presents a well-rounded, thorough, and relevant discussion of psychological principles. PSYCHOLOGY FOR TEACHING motivates, engages, and inspires?overall, an excellent model for teaching.
Average customer rating:
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Faces of China: From Mao to Now
Darrell Nunn , and
Donna Russett
Manufacturer: iUniverse-Indigo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books | Beaches | Business Travel | Cruises | Essays & Travelogues | Food & Lodging | Guidebooks | Pictorial | Reference | Spas | Tips | Tourist Destinations & Museums | Travel Writing
General | China | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595444563 |
Book Description
Watch Hong Kong Harbour awake
Experience a local bus ride
Visit out-of-the-way walled cities
Experience Chinese huge material changes
Share the highs and lows of a foreign resident
Read between the lines of the English China Daily newspaper
Explore cross-cultural confusions
Product Description
Outside magazine, America's leading active lifestyle magazine, introduces Faces -- a 160-page publication celebrating today's 20 greatest adventure sports athletes. This special-edition magazine features athletes who push the envelope in the world of non-traditional sports, such as big-wave surfing, kayaking, climbing, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and freediving, as well as the daredevils who make photographing and filming the athletes an extreme sport in its own right. 10x12 format.
Customer Reviews:
Damn Fine.......2001-12-23
Great Reading very enjoyable, "DARK STAR" meets "ET".
An Imaginative & Enjoyable Texas Alien Encounter.......2000-11-20
I found this book to be quite entertaining. It is a refreshing change of pace from Foster's other works, and shows his ability to spin a good tale mixing different genres. This book is not as fast paced and exciting as some of his other great works such as the Icerigger and Flinx series, but will keep your interest throughout. It is amazing how much trouble an old texas boy can get into when he finds a dead alien in a spacesuit inside a small cave in the desert! The story is quite imaginative, and somewhat philisophical at times, but very light in content. If you like Foster's style, you will enjoy this one.
Alien encounters, Texas style........2000-05-17
I've read a lot of Alan Dean Foster's work and much of it is funny. Some is more serious, like "The Damned" books but I like his humor the best. And of his lighter writing, my hands down favorite is Jed the Dead.
It's quirky, full of pathos and has a straight man to beat them all. Even the basic idea is funny; a good ol' boy called Ross, taking a driving holiday, stumbles on the body of a dead alien. Rather than bringing in Mulder and Skully, Ross decides the alien corpse might like to see the west coast as much he does. Thus starts the mother of all driving holidays, buddy stories and fugitive chases.
You see, Ross is a laid back kind of guy and thinks nothing of having a bit of fun with an alien body. And of course, nobody would suspect the truth, not with the alien blatently riding shotgun in Ross's convertable. But the happy times can't last forever, and when Ross starts showing smarts he wasn't born with, we start to suspect Jed may not be quite as dead as we thought.
The fed's are hot on the trail, a bunch of loony UFO freaks jump on the bandwaggon, hollywood takes an interest and in his spare time Ross find a shapely friend to share his ride. All of this is well within the capabilities of your average boot wearing Texan but when extraterestrial police start making a fuss, things leave the relms of even Ross's ability. This book is laugh out loud funny so don't read it in public places but do read it. You'll thank me.
Greatly underrated.......2000-04-22
This book was GREAT! It demonstrates Foster's talent for capturing the color and depth of a character. I thought it was funny and chock full of colorful images. Who else can make a great story out of a DEAD alien..except Foster... Long Live Jed the Dead.
damn good read........1999-10-07
make sure you don't have anything to do the next day
Book Description
Essays by leading ethicists provide students with a comprehensive introduction to ethical thinking.
Customer Reviews:
Required Reading.......2005-04-05
If you are interested in the subject of ethics, especially from a Christian perspective - this is the book for you. Going through ethics, norms, moral dilemas, and more, this book taps many well known Christian scholars for their opinions and expertise. Dr Clark and Dr. Rakestraw have decades of experience on this topic and have really put together a great start on this important topic. If you like this one, also check out Volume 2 which is a great book as well.
Books:
- The One True Ocean
- The Parish Papers: Three Complete Novels in One
- The Persistence of Memory: A Novel
- The Pinball Compendium, 1930s-1960s
- The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist (Interlink World Fiction Series)
- The Shadow of Doctor Syn
- The Shark Mutiny
- The Steel Breakfast Era: The Decadent Return of the Hi-Fi Queen and Her Embryonic Reptile Infection (Eraserhead Double #3)
- The Story of Colors/La Historia de Los Colores: A Bilingual Folktale from the Jungles of Chiapas
- The Sweetheart Season: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Books Index
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