Book Description
This book is a furthering of the story of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice through the Napoleonic Wars. It is written in Jane Austen style, historically accurate, but sexy and somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
Customer Reviews:
Elisabeth???.......2005-10-07
Without a doubt, this book is something Jane Austen would never have written. While an effort was made to copy her style of writing, it still comes out as modern erotica. The sex was excessive, abundant, everywhere. Get the picture! With that said, I actually found several parts of this story interesting and amusing. I liked the gradual change from country lass to lady of the manor in the new Mrs. Darcy. Growing more confident in her new status as wife to the richest man in England, we still find our dear Lizzy to be the same lively, delightful heroine of the original novel. She may be richer, she may mingle among the cream of society, she may yield more power and control, but she is still kind, charming, generous, and forgiving to family and friends.
As stated in the story, she is every inch a "Lady!"
So why the low rating? Several reason which I will list. (Warning, Spoilers ahead!)
First, the name changes. There are several of them and I found the change to be uneccesary and ridiculous.
What possible reason could there be to make
Elizabeth - EliSabeth.
Mr. William Collins - Mr. Thaddeus Collins.
Lady Anne Darcy - Lady Eleanor Darcy.
I'm certain there were a few more, but to the point, did Ms. Berdoll just forget the original names, or was this a careless typo or bad editing? Whatever the reason, it just didn't make sense.
Next was the constant suggestion of infidelity among several male characters, namely Darcy, Bingley, the late Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bennett. It was bad enough to have Bingley and the late Mr. Darcy be unfaithful and sire illegitimate children, but to also suggest that Darcy and Mr. Bennett as being unfaithful also was too much. I couldn't stomach the fact that this Bingley cheated on his wife and had an illegitimate son. This new "Bingley" is certainly not Austen's Bingley because he wouldn't have done that to Jane. Even having the late Mr. Darcy's character tarnished by revealing he constantly cheated on his wife until her death was unrealistic. He ceases to become the kind, gentle father of Austen's novel and is nothing more than a scoundrel of trashy romance stories. Badly done indeed.
Then there are the numerous tragedies that befall Darcy and Lizzy. It's hard enough for Lizzy to acquaint herself to her new life but she has to suffer a beating and abduction, an attempted rape, a miscarriage, the death of a baby at childbirth, news her husband maybe unfaithful, separation from her husband for several month while pregnant, a second attempted rape by Wickham, the death of her father and having to meet up with her husband's former bed companion while heavily pregnant to find information on his whereabouts, just to name a few. I'm surprised she didn't lose a limb by the end of the story.
Darcy doesn't get by unscathed either. He ends up losing most of his hearing because of Mr.Collins incompetence as a marksman, he also finds a new. unwelcome relative.
I can take one misfortune to happen, maybe two, but the number rained down upon our favorite couple was ridiculous. You would think they were cursed or something.
The sections regarding Mr. Darcy's former bed companion "Juliet" and the whole "Georgiana running off to France escapade" was out of context with the story. I couldn't care less about the Juliet character and pretty much skipped her parts when I would re-read the book. Even Georgiana's character took a 360' turn and went from quiet, shy, meek, and gentle, to a strong-willed, iron hard woman who could nurse badly injured soldiers and enjoy marital relations before marriage. Sweet, young Georgiana is no more in this story. Well, I guess she had to grow up sometime.
I liked a lot of things about this sequel and also hated a lot of things. I missed Uncle and Aunt Gardener, who do not make an appearance at all in this story. Strange considering how close Lizzy was to her Aunt. Some characters become caricatures of themselves. Lydia still retains the title as the most vain, ignorant, silly girl in the family. But you can add merciless too and uncaring. She basically pops out one child after another, most of which are Wickham's though one is not and still obviously cares more about clothes. Even, Wickham, who we know is very bad, reaches new heights of evilness here. The amount of damage he does is monstrous and you could only hope for the day his maker takes him away. But like all things evil, it will be a long while before he gets his just punishment.
I found the story overall to be okay. Not great, but not so bad either. The characters get down and dirty in this sequel.
Not Austen, but a great read.......2005-04-21
It should be noted at the outset that anyone expecting any other novelist to equal Jane Austen is seriously misguided and destined for disappointment. I recommend taking this book for what it is: a modern attempt to fill in factual gaps in P&P (Jane seldom wrote about that which she did not know -- like private conversations between men and, of course, sex) as well as continue the story. This book necessarily is written as though Austen were writing today, with the freedom to write about the intimate details of a marriage (although it is still relatively tame as romance novels go). Georgiana's growth into a strong woman is more consistent with our day and age, but is satisfying nonetheless because female readers can identify with her as comfortably as we have with Elizabeth.
I agree that this book is more of a follow up to the A&E movie than to Austen's book, but I have no quarrel with that. Indeed, Colin Firth's expression during the music room scene left me wondering about the passion that lurked beneath Darcy's controlled demeanor. The bottom line is that this is an enjoyable book about familiar, beloved characters, that begins as an intimate study of manners and family relationships, but grows into a novel of more epic proportions that goes well beyond Austen's experience.
I recommend this book to all Austen fans because, regardless of whether you love or hate the story or the style, Charlotte's letter to Elizabeth describing Mr. Collins's encounter with the bees is worth the price of the book many times over. Jane would have loved that part.
A few misteps, but definitely a frolicking good time.......2005-04-13
I agree with the positive responses to this book. Parts of the writing were rough at times, whether regarding content or simple typos and word omissions. But on the whole, I found it a delightful read. In fact, I could not put this book down, and having read several of Jane Austen's works, I feel inclined to say that this book bridges the gap between the worlds she created and the realm of our own experiences. True, Elizabeth is rather fascinated by Darcy's "nether regions" at times, but the charm from this book comes not from its attempts at being stoically set in the era, but bringing that era to contemporary readers today who want to not only understand Austen's world a little more intimately (in more ways than one), but also experience the fairy tale ending all P&P readers/viewers imagine. It's not supposed to be Austen-esque writing with a little plot thrown in there. It's a story first and foremost, whose setting is enough Austen-esque to make us feel fulfilled in the continuation of Elizabeth's life and romance. Austen is the means, not the end goal.
Not worth the read.......2004-09-06
I went into this book with relatively low expectations. I understand a modern author is unable to capture the same elegance and feeling as Austen, but this was beyond bad. The auther seemed to feel that putting "Pray" in front of a sentence would be enough of a language change. She didn't even seem to try to really duplicate the language of the other Austen books. She did things with the characters that Austen would NEVER have approved of. Her treatment of Bingley alone ruins the book. I was amazed that she could so badly interpret the personalities and characters of the original. The sex was rather explicit and graphic. I bought this book with the intent of sending it to my mother and sisters when I was done, but I refuse to send it to them and have told all of them never to read it. It's not worth the time.
This sure ain't Jane Austen !!!.......2004-07-11
On the back cover of the book you'll find the most telling statement of all: "Hang on to your bonnets, this isn't Jane Austen...". No, this story is definetly more sensational than anything Jane Austen would ever think of writing.
First the bad stuff:
The author has a habit of using nonsensical language. Beyond the fact that the characters often quote Latin, which the author does not bother to translate for us non-Latin speakers, she also uses words which I'm sure are just products of her imagination instead of the common vernacular at that time. I leave it up to you to figure out what body parts she is speaking of when she uses the words: collywobble, whinneymegs, (and my personal favorite) larrydoodle.
As you can probably tell from above I doubt the author spent very much time researching her material before writing this book. From the way it is written it appears that the author didn't even bother to read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and probably got the basic storyline from watching the BBC movie. The most obvious example of this is in her description of Mr. Collins. First off she makes his first name Thaddeus, which if you are an adept P&P fan you will realize is a big mistake, because Jane Austen says his first name is William. Her descriptions of Mr. Collins and his behavior you can tell she got straight out of the movie and at times they are contradictory to Austen's descriptions of him. The most notable one being that Berdoll describes Mr. Collins as being rather short while Austen writes that he is tall.
Now for the good stuff:
Berdoll was able to do something that Jane Austen would have never been able to do during her lifetime--be able to explore the intimate side of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship (i.e. SEX). Jane Austen probably didn't write a P&P 2 because she knew that without the sex the book would be quite boring. Berdoll makes the relationship mature in ways that would be quite scandalous in Austen's time. She also talks about issues, which we know occured during that time, but which women of that day weren't allowed to discuss (at least openly) such as infidelity, infertility, illegitimate children, etc. I think adding these elements helps one to understand each character's persona a bit more.
While the book is a bit lengthy, I will admit that it is an ok read. When you get bored you can easily skip to the juicy parts--and boy are they juicy !!! However, if you are a die-hard Austen fan or think you will be offended by the intense sexual relationships between characters then I will say this book is not for you !!!
Customer Reviews:
very unusual regency but well worth reading.......2004-12-02
The only way I can think to describe this one is "Mary Stewart writes a regency." If you're looking for a very well written regency suspense in which for the first 3/4 of the book (which covers 3 years) the h/h are together for a total of about 1 week, this is your book.
Captain Richard Falk is a widowed Army officer who places his two children in the care of Emily Foster before he rushes back to the war in the Peninsula. Emily is baffled as to why he doesn't take them to his relations until she finds out that his dead wife was Spanish and that he is a [...] with no English relations of his own.
At least this is what she believes until Richard's half sister shows up on day inquiring about her niece and nephew. Upon writing to Richard's friend and to-be guardian in case anything happens to him, she learns that Richard is the [...] son of not the Duke of Newsham, but his Duchess. And that Richard has real reason to fear that his half brother, now Duke, will take up where his father left off and try to kill not only him but also his two children. The old Duke never repudiated Richard and the Duchess has never acknowledged in public the scandal that titillated the ton, leaving Richard with the opportunity to claim a share of the rich estate.
But along with dodging the sinister plans of his half brother, Richard has to try to stay alive throughout the rest of the Peninsular Campaign, part of the War of 1812, then Waterloo. Plus he writes to his daughter and Emily's son serial accounts of Dona Inez, an incorrigible Spanish senorita and her duenna Dona Barbara, plus he writes hack novels to try to supplement his meager officer pay.
Once the very real threat to him and his children is uncovered, his sister and her husband take an active part in trying to spike the current Duke's plans and also bring Emily and Richard, whom Emily has fallen in love with over the course of their correspondence.
This is definitely not your typical regency and in fact is more like a regency historical as far as the suspense part of the plot. Richard is a man who has faced bastardy and its stigma all his life and who has learned to be wary of all but the closest friends. Emily is a very no-nonsense woman who rises to the challenge of providing a home for and coming to love and try to protect not only Richard's children but Richard as well. Lady Sarah, Richard's sister, and her husband, Sir Robert are wonderful secondary characters. The book is well written and researched and flew by as I read it. A definite B+
Average customer rating:
- timeless, but of a different time!
- Bar sinister
- The Best Book Around for good reading entertainment
- This book is a good mood suit.
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The Bar Sinister
Davis Richard Harding
Manufacturer: Book Jungle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| United States
| World Literature
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ASIN: 1594623155 |
Book Description
When this story first appeared, the writer received letters of two kinds, one asking a question and the other making a statement. The question was, whether there was any foundation of truth in the story; the statement challenged him to say that there was. The letters seemed to show that a large proportion of readers prefer their dose of fiction with a sweetening of fact, This is written to furnish that condiment, and to answer the question and the statement...
Download Description
But no sooner than Jimmy would leave me the St. Bernards would take to howling again, insulting mother and insulting me. And when I tore at my chain, they, seeing they were safe, would howl the more. It was never the same after that; the laughs and the jeers cut into my heart, and the chain bore heavy on my spirit. I was so sad that sometimes I wished I was back in the gutter again, where no one was better than me, and some nights I wished I was dead. If it hadn't been for the Master being so kind, and that it would have looked like I was blaming mother, I would have twisted my leash and hanged myself.
Customer Reviews:
timeless, but of a different time!.......2001-12-22
This story leaves you grinning from ear-to-ear. A great "rags to riches" tale that definitely appeals to children. I had a copy as a child and recently read it to my 7-year-old son. He then re-read it directly after I finished. Although quite short, the story stays with you a long time. . .
Also, I suspect the Winston Churchill is the Popular turn-of-the last century author of "Richard Carvel". His popularity was such that Sir Winston always used his middle initial to distinguish himself from the other (i.e. - Winston S. Churchill).
Bar sinister.......2001-05-23
here is wonderful book which outlines the very character of the Anglo-Saxon people. It is great and Churchill really adds a name to this not to mention the great newspaper reporter Richard davis
The Best Book Around for good reading entertainment.......1999-06-10
This book is a very good book and entertaining althought very few people know of it. It is very worth anyones wild to track it down and enjoy reading. I would love to get a copy for my collection
This book is a good mood suit........1997-11-17
This book harbors the happiest ending ever written. You love the main character from the start. I read this book everytime I'm in a bad mood and it never fails to revive my soul. Read this book and you've just had a dose of the most powerful happy drug on the planet. No matter how many times you've read it, it has the same potency.
Average customer rating:
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BAR SINISTER
Manufacturer: Doubleday/Crime Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000DILKKS |
Average customer rating:
- The Bar Sinister (aka "It's a Dog's Life.")
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The Bar Sinister
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CC9EO4 |
Customer Reviews:
The Bar Sinister (aka "It's a Dog's Life.").......2006-08-10
Alright, I admit it. I am a SUCKER for a good dog story and that's just what this is - a darn good dog story. I first ran across this very hard to find book while working in a used bookstore many years ago. "Bar Sinister" was shelved with the rare books but I was able to sneak it out during lunchtimes to read it. The lump in my throat was not caused by my sandwich but by this book.
It is written in the voice of the main character, a rugged Bull Terrier, during the early 1900s. The dog is eloquent and touching, giving a revealing look at the world of humans as seen through the eyes of man's best friend. Born in the gutter and separated from his mother, this is the story of his struggle to become a champion.
Be warned - the hero starts out as a warrior in barroom dog fights. After suffering under the abuse of his lowlife, dogfighting master, he is rescued by a gentle stableman and put on the path to dog show aristocracy.
The illustrations are charming and add to the period feel of the book. (It was made into a movie in 1955 called "It's a Dog's Life." The movie, starring Edmund Gwenn, Dean Jagger and Jeff Richards, is not on dvd and is a very hard find. It is faithful to the book and worth watching.)
Although I am a malamute person, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this Boston Bull Terrier.
Average customer rating:
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Bar Sinister
Richard H. Davis
Manufacturer: CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WS8SFE |
Book Description
A value-priced collection of more than 500 black-and-white pages of classic comic stories featuring everyone's favorite team of sidekicks the Teen Titans!Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Aqualad unite without their adult mentors for adventures only a teen team could handle.Featuring appearances by Speedy, Beast Boy and the Russian teen hero Starfire, this jam-packed volume also includes classic battles against the Mad Mod, Mister Twister and the Ant, as well as the creation of the first Titans Lair.
Customer Reviews:
Teen Titans desde el inicio.......2007-01-03
El Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol 1 es un excelente e indispensable titulo en esta serie de clasicos DC. Abarca desde la primera aventura "no- titanes" hasta la etapa inmediatamente anterior a la magnifica epoca de los 80s de Wolfman y Perez supongo que va para el vol 2). La impresion en blanco & negro es de alta calidad; y las historias tienen todo el sabor- e inocencia- de la epoca.Recomendado principalmente para los fanaticos de TT y aquellos que crecieron leyendo tales historias.
Silver Age Teen Titans blow all the revival versions out of the water.......2006-06-29
Kid Flash! Robin! Wonder Girl! Speedy! Aqualad! How much better can comics get? Unlike the modern revival versions that are based on the premise that life is all about suffering and being grim and gritty, the Silver Age Teen Titans enjoyed themselves despite the occasional problem or downturn in their fortunes. They don't make comics like this anymore. More's the pity.
Crazy DC teen adventure with just the right amount of silver-age satire and camp!.......2006-05-08
As a kid I grew up with the Teen Titans, but that was a later incarnation than the one in this Showcase Presents volume. "My" Titans were the NEW Teen Titans created by Wolfman and Perez, but even that version built upon the history laid down herein. Plus, I've been a longtime silver age DC fan, even though I hadn't ever really got into the sixties Titans before. This volume was my chance to correct my omission. I'm glad I finally read these classic stories!
Let me tell you, the first panel of the first story hooked me. "The Brave and the Bold" # 54 was actually a team-up of Kid-Flash, Aqualad and Robin, and the story's success led to the creation of the Titans a few months later. In that panel I mentioned earlier, the adults of "Hatton Corners" are having a town meeting to decide how to handle their teen-age problems! Right away, I knew that (1) the stories were fundamentally in the classic DC silver age mode, (2) there was more than a little satire going on and (3) things were a bit surreal in the same way the best silver-age DC stories are surreal.
Bruno Premiani did a masterful job in that first story, and the Titans would have undoubtedly prospered equally as well had he remained the artist, but it was Nick Cardy who became known as "the" Titans artist. His run started with the second story in the volume, the first actually bearing the Titans logo and including Wonder Girl. Bob Haney writes throughout, other than a tale at the end written by two very raw newcomers named Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. Of course, both became stars in the seventies. Wein co-created both Swamp Thing for DC and Wolverine for Marvel. Wolfman wrote everything from Dracula to Spider-Man at Marvel before returning to DC to write the New Teen Titans in the eighties, with Len Wein as his editor! So that final story is really a sign of things to come, many years later!
The stories are both endearing and absolutely cool, despite having teen characters who are ultimately a grown-up's comic-book version of teen-agers. But then, the whole silver age was about idealized versions of real life. The difference between kids in Titans stories and in real life is the same as the difference between the Daily Planet and real newspapers, or between Bruce Wayne and real rich playboys. In the silver age, everything shined through a prism of quaintness, especially at DC but also at Marvel if you look past the initial angst of characters like Spider-Man. That is ultimately what makes the silver-age so timeless. These Titans stories would be horribly dated if they had actually reflected the lives of real teen-agers in the sixties, but instead, they preserve an idealized vision of what adults want teen-agers to be, and probably what teen-agers would secretly want to be, too. There's a lot of social depth in these simple stories, if you look for it!
Recommended!
Book Description
For decades, astronomers have sought to discover the ultimate fate of the univers. Will the cosmos continue forever in its expansion, which began billions of years ago with the big bang? Or will gravity someday reverse the process, producing a "big crunch?" Within the past few years, two rival groups of astronomers have announced a discovery that seems to resolve the issue: Instead of slowing down, the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. This finding has shaken the science of cosmology to its very foundation.
This is the story of the astronomers who have stood the world of cosmology on its ear--and of their competitive race to discover the future of the cosmos. It is also an investigation into whether their remarkable findings will stand the test of time. If the new results are verified in the coming years, we will eventually find ourselves in a "runaway universe," in which every bit of matter is extremely far from its closest neighbor. Then the cosmological constant, which Einstein once rued as his "greatest blunder," will turn out to be one of his finest insights into the nature of space itself.
A vivid picture of an unexpected turn of events, The Runaway Universe presents the startling new discovery that is revolutionizing our view of the cosmos.
Customer Reviews:
the future of the universe meets the now.......2007-03-21
stardate: now
The cosmos is about to experience a transformation so vast in scope it is nearly beyond the vision of the highly developed 21st century human mind.
What is about to happen is akin to an explosion into dimensionality itself, as though the current form of the cosmos was to become suddenly too small for the ever expanding and ever complexifying screen of human understanding.
The existential tension is real, so real that a human psychology is going berserk into the fog of denial. Fueled by a psychology of cowardice [simply a scientific definition, no degrading is intended, nor should any be inferred], fear dominates the landscape.
From the standpoint of chaotic world media-dense societies, something is seemingly spinning out of control, evidenced in the magnitude of explosions of mediaform, mediacontent, and mediadelivery. It is like the starship enterprise suddenly encountering an energy-mined space field.
While civil societies engage in wars of words and men, everything from voodoo on up the scale is being wildly championed as the new thing, and the human anxiety level is about to go into the red zone.
Meanwhile, those who live in this time at the heart of the human home -- Africa -- remain for the most part left behind by the advance of money rich societies.
Between those two opposites, an entire spectrum sprays its light across a cosmos of human endeavor, and the dance of energy through all of humanity is deep and intense.
"It" is all about to change, and it will not be through a war of men, by men or through men. It is a function of the universe itself, physical and nonphysical, a morphing so instantaneous that it will redefine not the reality but what in reality "we" are.
And we are about to encounter the birth into exponentially expanded dimensionality. All we have created, and all we would attempt to hold on to, is about to be merged into a new reality.
While scientists look backward, and religions look forward from the past, technology pretends to be an answer. It has only one achievement: communication.
These are the days of the last wonders of the world. and it has already started. see it now or see it later.
The key cosmic parameters - what we see is what we know........2001-12-07
Supernova stars observations in the end of 1990s suggest a nonzero Constant capable of accelerating universal expansion and validate inflationary model.
How true are determinations indicating the fifth significant break through in modern cosmology?
This work is a pure scientific report revolving essentially around two equations containing only two unknown parameters.
First equation is a sum: Density (of all types of matter in the Universe) + Constant (called Einstein's cosmological constant).
Second equation is just a difference between these two.
Density and Constant provide us with the view of our Universe and its current behavior. I enjoyed this book. It describes all-important practical ways used by scientists and astronomers to look into depth of our sky. Then it shows how the valuable information is extracted from observations. Knowing sum and a difference of Density and Constant allow us to calculate value of each single parameter separately. Simple isn't it?
But how accurate are the observations and what obstacles have to be overcome?
Read about it and you will know about history of modern observational cosmology and mysteries of our cosmos.
Certain sections of this book are more difficult and require extra focusing power to get by (for example: dependence of peak luminosity on light curve- for supernova observation or: how the curvature of space determines the angular size on which we now see the largest "surfaces of last scattering"-for cosmic background radiation study).
Do not get discouraged however, just glide through these parts and author will eventually clarify most of it later, leaving you with the good idea what has been tried to accomplish.
I am, and I have always been impressed by careers of top world-class astronomers, their knowledge, ability to design observational methods and skills for processing obtained spectra. Goldsmith gives many stories of dedication and determination, stories about geniuses contributing to total understanding of what Universe was and what will become.
You will find very little in this book about extra dimensions, falling into black holes, traveling in time, strings, TOE and other mumbo-jumbo theories existing only on paper. What we learn here is only about what we perceive and deduce from it.
"The Runaway Universe" is a great update on astronomy and astrophysics, compact and easy to read. Do not miss it if you like to be in space from time to time.
Complete, understandable, but not Goldsmith's best.......2001-11-16
Goldsmith did an excellent job in this book, as a popularizer of an exceedingly complex subject, but not as a writer. The subject is, of course, the recent discovery of the non-zero "cosmological constant", that accelerates the expansion of our universe exponentially.
In order to guide the reader through the theories, Goldsmith starts with the historical facts, starting with Einstein's view of the Universe, deciphering the results of the "type Ia Supernovae" research groups, and explaining the COBE satellite data and the gravitationnal lensing effect. Each concept is explained, each theory gradually introduced, and, as the reader understands more and more of it, Goldsmith even manages to expand the book with the alternative explanations that might be revealed with the futures set of instruments (MAP and Planck).
So, on the science side, Goldsmith did a great job, complete and objective, similar in quality to his other book "The Hunt for Life on Mars".
However, several paragraphs (and even one or two chapters), that deal more with the scientists involved, are too long, not very well written, breaking the rythm of the book. Also, he sometimes try to explain some formulas without even writing them once, which makes everything more confusing than necessary.
Anyway, this book is worth reading, and is probably the most complete introduction you can get on this topic. And now that MAP is flying, you can expect more results to be published in the next few years, and you will understand what it's all about.
Can we know the future of the cosmos in the near future?.......2000-12-29
From observation of supernovae, i.e., large exploding stars, two rival teams of astronomers recently found that the expansion of the universe was very possibly accelerating. The astronomer and science writer Donald Goldsmith tells laypersons the story centered on this discovery in this book. To explain the accelerating expansion, astronomers have revived Albert Einstein's "cosmological constant," which he called his greatest blunder. It is interesting that the same author published a book entitled "Einstein's Greatest Blunder?" just a little before the announcement of the above discovery.
Before going into the main topic of the finding of the accelerating expansion, Goldsmith gives an introductory chapters on the discovery of galaxies, the expansion of the universe, the inflationary theory of the cosmos, and the existence of dark matter in the universe. These chapters might be somewhat tedious for those who already learned about them. When the story comes to the central theme, however, almost all readers would be fascinated by the author's clear explanation of painstaking research into cosmic riddles. Without using equations but effectively using some photographs and diagrams, Goldsmith succeeds in telling what has happened and is going to happen at the forefront of cosmology. The last chapter deals with pleasant prospects of astronomical observations in the nearest future, which will use new satellites and other powerful instruments to resolve many of the mysterious issues of cosmology including the fate of the universe.
Gets the adrenaline running.......2000-04-21
"The Runaway Universe" is the latest news on the cosmological constant, reincarnated (after Einstein called it his worst blunder) because of evidence recently discovered that the rate the universe is expanding is actually increasing. This is a fascinating book that doesn't back away from informing us about just how tentative these latest findings are. The book also is good at describing the almost frightening consequences of these findings, if they are true: the universe will basically evaporate away much faster than we'd ever dreamed of before (but it will still take billions of years, so don't worry about it at the personal level). This is one of many popular books that appear each year on cosmology. Generally I judge them by how many times I feel satisfied that I am understanding for the first time something I've run across many times before in my readings but it never sunk in. The chapter on the various types of supernova struck me this way: absolutely outstanding and clear, and worth the price of the book alone, in my opinion.
Book Description
If you're ready for your life to change, read this book. If you are a serious reader who is prepared to go to the frontiers of consciousness read this book. It contains eight essays on the causes and effects of unhappiness and the spiritual process of dying for life a way of practical self-knowledge which ultimately brings freedom from fear and liberation from the perpetual discontent of humanity. Barry Long challenges every bit of resistance in you if you're willing to give it up and acknowledge your real freedom-where there is no resistance.
Customer Reviews:
Mind blowing.......2007-09-19
This is probably one of the best books by Barry Long I have read, it makes you start thinking about the nature of you, and how much we are programmed by soceity. Maybe think is not a good word to use because barry long thinks that thinking is a psychological disease. So read this book, start to meditate and stop to think, that the way to penetrate into your own being.
Enjoy the journey
No compromise in Truth.......2005-09-07
I haven't finished this book yet but am blown away by Barry's directness, integrity and the deep resonance of Truth in his words. This truly is Wisdom for the Western mind. No gurus, no mantras, no spiritual baggage - just the Truth, straight and simple. How the world needs this now....
But Barry's message is only for those who are ready to hear it. I imagine his uncompromising directness and 'zero tolerance' spirituality will deter those who are not prepared for it. Not many people seem ready to hear that they've no right to be unhappy, or that they're entirely responsible for their unhappiness.
A brilliant book. Thank you so much Barry Long.
Stunningly original insights into the cause of unhappiness.......2002-03-20
Barry Long's words have got a quality that penetrated me deeply. i found that even when i had finished this book, I kept going over what he had said and saw that it was all the truth. I've never heard anyone talk about the personality like this before, at first i was intrigued. After a while it actually gets a little uncomfortable, it made me look at myself so deeply, more deeply than i ever have before. It gave me insight to how my emotions really work and after reading this I no longer feel as though there is some force beyond me that controls my life and makes me unhappy. This book changed me! d I'm amazed by how much freer i am, it really works! Who doesn't want to be happier? Everyone should read this book, it's absolutely brilliant. Barry must be either totally enlightened or a genius.
Barry Long's Darkness will show you the light........2000-04-04
Barry Long relentlessly hammers you with Truth. When I read this book, I periodically flipped as he pointed out the obvious to the oblivious with deadly accuracy. From guiding us not to tell our sad story, through the crazed media minefields, to the slithering souls waiting to incarnate, Master Long will do something to you. It is up to you to find out what....
Books:
- The Best American Erotica 2002 (Best American Erotica)
- The Big Book of Little: A Classic Illustrated Edition
- The Commissariat of Enlightenment: A Novel
- The Dargonesti (Dragonlance Lost Histories, Vol. 3)
- The Face of the Assassin
- The Faithful Narrative of a Pastor's Disappearance: A Novel
- The Family Vault
- The Folded Leaf
- The Frequency of Souls: A Novel
- The Gates of the Alamo
Books Index
Books Home
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- Uniqueness Is a Red Striped Zebra
Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley (Pride & Prejudice Continues)
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues
These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Mrs Darcy's Dilemma: A sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
