Book Description
Like so many Soviet writers, Andrei Platonov saw his work suppressed in his lifetime. Since then, however, it has established itself, both at home and abroad, as an extraordinary and haunting achievement of twentieth-century literature. For Nadezhda Mandelstam and Joseph Brodsky, Platonov was the writer who most profoundly registered the spiritual ravages of Soviet life. For a new generation of experimental Russian writers he figures as a remarkable linguistic innovator, the master of what has been called "alternative realism." Lyrical, strange, yet sharply concrete, Platonov's fiction is that of a wanderer in an all-too-real Utopia, a devastated world that is both terrifying and sublime.
This collection of Platonov's short fiction brings together seven works drawn from the whole of his career. It includes the harrowing, and long-unavailable, novella Dzahn, in which a young man returns to his Asian birthplace to find his people deprived not only of food and dwelling, but of memory and speech, and "The Potudan River," Platonov's most celebrated story.
Customer Reviews:
An extraordinary must-read book.......2004-07-09
This is a stunning, terrifying, monumental book that will forever change the way you read, write, think, and live.
I highly recommended this book!.......2003-10-21
Except Anton Chekhov, I have never read any book so subtlely investigating the human nature from the well-tailored short stories. The best one among them is "The Third Son", which was highly praised by Hemingway, exposed a highly dramatic scene and shaken my heart in its lowest and humblest sound. Platonov is among the best short stories writers almost as great as Chekhov. This is my bias that he was even better than James Joyce and Guy Maupassant because he never use too cynical, satirical or poignant attitude to his subject (even to the ugliest side of the human nature). He accept the "most" good and the "most" bad one too. Unlike Chekhov, he showed us the straightness and rustlessness of the Russians, his nation-people and the influence of Soviet Union on Russian culture. So he could deal with the essential problem of human beings in his era, under its own cultural atmosphere.
MORE HISTORY.......2002-08-31
If you really want to know how it all happened, you have to read this book. But don't just read it, try to place yourself there and at the time. And you will understand it.
A disappointing volume of the work of a great writer.......2000-06-25
Platonov is the finest Russian prose-writer of the last century, but this republication of a volume first published around 1970 is a disappointment. Firstly, the translation is mediocre; secondly, the short novel "Dzhan", the longest and greatest work in this volume, was translated from a heavily censored Soviet text. Many of the most striking, most unusual or most subversive passages of the original have been cut out.
Average customer rating:
- A cool, fun read
- Ludicrous
- Confusing magic, overpopulated fun
- Great action, ok believable magic system. Special read.
- A Placeholder
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The Dark Remains (The Last Rune, Book 3)
Mark Anthony
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Anthony, Mark | ( A ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
( A ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books | Anthony, Piers | Asprin, Robert | Asprin, Robert Lynn
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Blood of Mystery (The Last Rune, Book 4)
-
The Keep of Fire (The Last Rune, Book 2)
-
The Gates of Winter (The Last Rune, Book 5)
-
The First Stone: Book Six of The Last Rune
-
Beyond the Pale (The Last Rune, Book 1)
ASIN: 0553579355
Release Date: 2001-10-02 |
Book Description
From a brilliant fantasy master comes a tale of astounding magic, unrelenting evil, and redemptive courage.
Travis Wilder and Grace Beckett have returned to modern Earth to get medical help for Beltan, a knight from the otherworld of Eldh. But as Beltan lies unconscious in the ICU of a Denver hospital, a shadowy organization plots to kidnap him, and sinister forces of dark magic cross the boundary from Eldh in a murderous search for Travis and Grace.
Meanwhile, in Eldh, a young baroness, her witch companion, and their mortal and immortal friends journey to a dying city, there to confront a nameless evil that has begun to annihilate the very gods.
Somehow Travis and Grace must save Beltan and themselves, then make their way back to Eldh. For only there can they hope to defeat a demonic enemy that can shatter time, devour space, and turn existence into nothingness.
Customer Reviews:
A cool, fun read.......2007-08-24
All the right wingers with complaints about politics and sexuality in The Dark Remains need to take a chill pill. This book is simply fun and entertaining. All the new history, interesting characters, plot twists and magic add to the party Mark Anthony has going on in The Last Rune series. This story read well, had no untied loose ends at the end, and a neat cliffhanger that had me grabbing book 4 the next day. Five stars!
Ludicrous.......2004-12-05
The first two books in the Last Rune were really quite good. I nearly burned Dark Remains after finishing it. Mark Anthony introduces numerous new elements to the story that don't make any sense. Including the simply absurdity of having multiple romances where only one happens to be hetrosexual, the rest suddenly discover the joys of being gay. Including the confusing character of Sister Marjome, a psychic in Denver, she gives advice to our characters, she was a very likable character. Until we find out the good Sister is male, named Martin and became a transexual when his aunt died. We learn this in a chapter written from his point of view. Oh, and by the way, like about three other people in this book, Marjome falls instantly in love with Travis. Mark Anthony introduces a disturbing new system of magic, blood sacrifice and demon worship. Great, we have two new main characters who consort with demons, one loves Travis of course, and the other falls in love with Lirith at first sight. This book is the most horrible piece of trash I have ever read, it makes no sense. It sounds like Mark Anthony recieved a death threat from a gay advocacy group and decided to appease him. As just about nothing worth anyones time happens in this book, you should just read the editorial reviews to learn what happens and then skip along to the next book in the series. This book is a hideous waste of paper.
Confusing magic, overpopulated fun.......2004-02-27
I cannot understand the magic in The Last Rune series, with the blood, and runes and gates and Weirding. I was completely confused by the gate magic in this book. But you get the feeling that it's all going to come together in the end. It is quite depressing to have a likable character imprisoned in a lab, and being experimented on, but you have to admit, this makes a fairly routine fantasy a little different. There are far too many subplots, and the core group of characters--Travis, Grace, Beltan, Durge and Arya--needs to come together soon. The book uses too much of one my least favorite fantasy-epic devices: Having different characters doing things in different locations. How are these events related? It's all going to come together, in the end, but Mr. Anthony best not drag this series out, the way Bob Jordan did with the monstrous Wheel of Time. He needs to refocus, in the next book.
Great action, ok believable magic system. Special read........2004-02-17
It has been a while since I read this book.
I've read the whole Rune series except for the
last one. I quite enjoyed the plot and the sense
of action in DRs. Maybe I haven't read enough fantasy
books but I didn't find the magic trite.
As for the reviewer complaining about the boy gets
boy scenario she may be right "the majority of readers
would be more likely to relate to a hero who's after the princess instead of the knight."
So considering that there are zounds of other
fantasy books with boy gets *girl* scenarios- that
those *are* the majority, than sci fi fan should read
those instead and leave great books such as these to
those who wish to read them as they are a special
rarity.
A Placeholder.......2002-06-20
This book took me a while to get into. It had been a while since I read the other two books in the series, so I had to re-figure out all the characters. I like the variety of characters in the book. Each new character adds something to the mix. However, some characters are ignored after the first section, which is odd--because they could figure into the rest of the book.
Some of the very enjoyable characters in this book are Marji, Mitchell & Davis (the cowboys), Ellie (the chimp), Glinda, and the fairy. The usual characters are still interesting, but I felt like the whole "who does he really love" thing was getting old after a while.
All the characters come to face their greatest fears. Grace finds out who her parents really are (now THAT'S a plot twist I didn't see coming). Travis still has to figure out where he belongs, but at least he is not as wimpy in this book as in others. Aryn has many things to figure out in this book, and it isn't quite known if she does figure them out.
This book is about defeating evil, in its many forms. Duratek and the Seekers play prominently in this book. Some interesting clues are given throughout the book to lead readers to other things. I call this book a placeholder because while it does advance the series, it still seems that there is something larger on the horizon, and this is just a prelude.
I would recommend this book.
Average customer rating:
- A for effort, and five stars for research!
- Why Are So Many People Happy on EBAY?
- NEWSPAPER WRITER STEVE PEREZ COAUTHORED BOOK
- George Bush Supporter Reviewed Book -Ignored Evidence
- Difficult to follow
|
1,000 Points of Light: The Public Remains in the Dark (Oswald's Closest Friend: The George De Mohrenschildt Story, Volume 1)
Bruce Campbell Adamson ,
Knight. D , and
Dennis McDonough
Manufacturer: Bruce Campbell Adamson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Kennedy, John F. | ( K ) | People, A-Z | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
History | Large Print | Formats | Books
Biographies & Memoirs | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 189250104X |
Customer Reviews:
A for effort, and five stars for research!.......2002-03-22
Although this book could be a bit of a headache for anyone who's grown accustomed to an easy pulp-fiction read, it is nevertheless impeccably researched. The material presented, everything from court documents to official correspondence to casual correspondence, presents a startling factual picture of "the ties that bind", and manages to avoid the Usenet-style conspiratorial bent that shows up in most other books documenting the strange Dulles-Kennedy-Bush triangle. American history at its strangest!
Five stars for tracking down and formatting the immense volume of material in this book, and five stars for having the couage to print it. A bargain at any price- in fact I'll trade my copy for a nice Texas gusher, if anyone's interested...
Why Are So Many People Happy on EBAY?.......2001-02-07
I find this volume well researched and extremly incriminating. Why are so many people happy with this volume on Ebay. Adamson has many positive reviews on Ebay. Everyone who has purchased the volume has left a positive review, it seems on EBAY at user I.D. at ciajfk.com. If it is so hard to follow, why are they happpy? C.W.
NEWSPAPER WRITER STEVE PEREZ COAUTHORED BOOK.......2000-01-16
In response to negative review, Steve Perez worked at the Santa Cruz Sentinel for about 10 years. Perez wrote on the homicides in Santa Cruz County. The Sentinel is owned by a division of Dow Jones Inc, and one of the largest stockholder is Mary Bancroft's daughter under the Jane Bancroft trust. Mary Bancroft was a CIA agent and she was the lover of CIA Director, Warren Commissioner Allen Dulles and CIA assest Henry Luce. If you had read first half of the book and gave up you would have read Perez's work. There may be a couple of type'os possibly because when using Quark Express I had to take manuscript to Kinko's and another high grade printer. When I load program it reformatted the text for the entire volume. I went through to clean them up. Have had few complaints since 1996. Many in the JFK assassination community have praised the volume for it's damning evidence against on George de Mohrenschildt's ties to Prescott and George Bush Sr. Bruce Campbell Adamson
George Bush Supporter Reviewed Book -Ignored Evidence.......2000-01-13
What other publisher will publish the truth? Reviewer must have a political This evidence contains evidence that proves George Bush Sr. was involved in JFK's demise no other news agency will touch it.
Difficult to follow.......2000-01-06
I found this book VERY difficult to follow. It contained many typographical errors, misspellings, and inappropriate word choices and phraseology. The content was poorly organized. I had expected a cogent articulation of the situation, the facts, conclusions, and recommendations for further reseach or review. This book contained none of these. I struggled through at least one-half of the book and then gave up. I scanned the rest of the book and decided it was not worth my time. If I could return it for a refund I would do so. Having said all of this, the readers of this review need to know I am not a casual reader of books about the topic. Over the years I have read over 20 to 25 books about the assassination of JFK. I was hoping to learn something more, new, or different. I was disappointed because the author probably had something very worthwhile to say but his message was lost in his very poor presentation. My recommendation would be for him to give whatever information he collected to someone else to write.
Average customer rating:
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A guide to the Dark Age remains in Britain
Lloyd Robert Laing
Manufacturer: Constable
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Ancient | General | London | Medieval | Norman | Tudor & Stuart
General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0094622302 |
Average customer rating:
|
The Sensational Spider-Man #2 : Remains of the Day (The Return of Kaine - Marvel Comics)
Dan Jurgens
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Marvel | Publishers | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Spider-Man | Characters | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Antiquarian & Rare Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Batman | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Star Trek | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000T6BLGW |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skeptical Inquirer, published by Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal on March 1, 2005. The length of the article is 4200 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Moonshine: why the peppered moth remains an icon of evolution: the peppered moth evolved a dark form in response to soot covering its habitat during the industrial revolution. Or did it? There has been speculation that the data were faked or manipulated. An investigation shows that this criticism is without foundation.(Cover Story)
Author: Matt Young
Publication:
Skeptical Inquirer (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2005
Publisher: Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
Volume: 29
Issue: 2
Page: 23(6)
Article Type: Cover Story
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
fluff.......2005-09-20
The "Skeptical Inquirer" needs to be a little more skeptical.
Poorly written and poorly referenced.
If this is the current state of "science" today we are real trouble.
Average customer rating:
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Regulations ensure nighttime skies remain dark.(trends): An article from: California Planning & Development Report
Stephen Svete
Manufacturer: California Planning & Development Report
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Nonfiction | Subjects | Books | Automotive | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Crime & Criminals | Current Events | Economics | Education | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Government | Holidays | Law | Philosophy | Politics | Social Sciences | Transportation | True Accounts | Urban Planning & Development | Women's Studies
General | Nonfiction | HTML | Formats | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B0008DZIAG
Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from California Planning & Development Report, published by California Planning & Development Report on August 1, 2003. The length of the article is 761 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Regulations ensure nighttime skies remain dark.(trends)
Author: Stephen Svete
Publication:
California Planning & Development Report (Newsletter)
Date: August 1, 2003
Publisher: California Planning & Development Report
Volume: 18
Issue: 8
Page: 14(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Amazon.com
This is another installment in Fred Saberhagen's ongoing saga of war between humanity and the almost-sentient death machines known as Berserkers. For long years the war has been at a stalemate, with humanity managing to fend off the bulk of Berserker attacks and even strike back from time to time. But on a remote planet called Hyperborea, things are about to change. The Berserkers have developed a new tactical computer that has proven unbeatable, and it could spell the death of all living things in the galaxy. A last-ditch effort to destroy the machine, code-named Shiva, has failed, and now the only thing that stands between Shiva and certain victory is a handful of humans that circumstance has thrown together on Hyperborea. In this Berserker book, Saberhagen returns to all of the things that have made his series such a mainstay in science fiction. His heartless enemy machines are as treacherous as ever, and the fragile humans who most stop them may not be perfect, but they are resourceful. --Craig E. Engler
Book Description
One Berserker computer has suddenly developed a tactical strategy unlike anything the human opposition has ever seen. Shiva, like the Hindu god of destruction after which it was named, annihilates entire colonies with the help of its fiendish subordinates. It's up to Commander Claire Normandy to prepare for Shiva's attacks, with the help of Pilot Harry Silver. When the Berserkers approach, a decision is made to destroy the destroyer, whatever the cost. But will Normandy and Silver be ready to discover that something wholly unexpected yet eerily familiar lies gnarled within the steel?
Customer Reviews:
A half-finished novel . . . ........2005-03-16
In the last couple of months I reviewed two other Saberhagen novels on Amazon: Berserker Star and Rogue Berserker. Both showed more craftsmanship than Shiva in Steel.
The other reviews printed here carry the main idea. The book seems carelessly or hastily done.
For example-- the first two-thirds of the book are focused toward preparing and arming a sortie against the berserkers. The ships are prepared, the crews are trained, the strategy is planned. Then we find out, there's going to be no expedition. A kind of ad hoc battle flares up as the berserkers somehow locate the Solarian base. A reader has the feeling that Saberhagen started out to write a big novel, say 500 pages, and then for whatever reason needed to bring it to a very rapid close.
As for the characters . . . again, a work half finished. Harry's great love, Becky, shows up in the novel. Given the build-up to her appearance, we are expecting some engagement between Harry and the girl. However, she is little more than a cardboard cutout. There's no characterization, really, and the total exchange between Harry and Becky amounts to just a few paragraphs.
Several times, Harry begins to develop sub-plots. Marut is a commander with whom Harry has lots of conflict. He's a pretty central figure in the first half of the book. Then he just disappears. We finally get a sentence or two at the very end informing us that his ship was lost in the battle. Other characters are brought on stage, given some scenes, and assume some reality in the story, to include the Emperor Julius and Christopher Havot. Both of them peter out. It is as though Saberhagen decided to write them into the story, then loses track of them.
I formerly had given Saberhagen's Rogue Berserker a very strong rating. I thought it was really well done. This novel is really a patched-together mess. I wonder if the publishers were pressuring him and he was over-deadline. He had a rough draft . . . well, "it would just have to do!"
Not for me it didn't. Didn't do, I mean. And one of the other reviewer's comments, that we never find out what happens to the title villain Shiva . . . that's ridiculous. You have a title villain, and you somehow lose track of him?
This is a problem with today's equivalent of the pulp market. Novels are pumped out fast, sometimes one or more a year. Publishers keep badgering their few authors who have something of a name for more and more productivity. If the book is ready it comes out. If it is half-finished and desperately needs work, it comes out anyway. At least some of this criticism should go to the editor at the publishing house.
Saberhagen has other much better novels in print. Buy those.
Padded, clumsy and slow. Worst Saberhagen I've read........2004-01-18
__________________________________
I made it through Saberhagen's new Berserker novel, but just barely
-- the opening moves like rush-hour traffic in L.A.: S - L - O - W.
Once it gets moving [around p. 160(!)] it's not too bad. Inside the
padding is a pretty decent novellette struggling to get out. Maybe. The
characters are so flat, cardboard looks well-rounded. Plot-threads
dangle, and logical holes gape. Saberhagen clearly lost interest at the
first draft, and his editor didn't send it back for a badly-needed rewrite
(bad Tor!). Is he in poor health?
Shiva in Steel somehow got a good review in Locus, which is why I
bought it (besides having liked previous Berserker stories). So I
suppose YMMV, but I doubt it. Trust me -- you don't want to read
this one. Reread an old Berserker book instead. It's bad enough, I feel
guilty recycling it to the used bookstore.
Happy reading (something else) --
Peter D. Tillman
Rather Disappointing.......2001-01-14
First, let me say that in general I like the way Fred Saberhagen writes, and his stories and plots are exceptional. I got hooked on the berserker series after reading "Berserker Base", and went to my local half price bookstore and bought every book in the series I could find. This book, Shiva in Steel, has proved to be the worst. The hype over the big bad Shiva is never resolved! Did it die? Is it hiding in our hero's ship as he makes his get away? We never know. Mr. Saberhagen repeats himself a lot, and his prose isn't very smooth in this novel for some odd reason. He's done fine in the past, but this one was sloppy. New editor? No editor? The plot wasn't bad, but the execution was poor. This should have been a draft rather than the final product. If this is your first Berserker book, don't give up on the series. This was the worst of the bunch; the others are pretty good.
Started mediocre and got weaker........2000-06-15
I'd swear I read this beserker story before. First, I thought this was a poor expansion of a previous short story. I've loved a lot of Saberhagen's work including a lot of the Beserker stuff. I'd suggest he put away this milieu until gets some real new inspiration.
weak..........2000-02-19
This is really quite weak compared to Saberhagen's earlier writings. Not terribly engrossing. if you're new to the Berserker series, start with a much earlier book. Only read this if you liked the Berserker series as a whole and are willing to spend time on the weakest member of the series.
Average customer rating:
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Finding Your Maximum Happiness
Wilbur Glenn Williams
Manufacturer: Wesleyan Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Devotionals
| Spirituality
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Devotionals
| Worship & Devotion
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Ethics
| Theology
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0898272068 |
Book Description
Tem simple little rules. But through disciplined obedience of the Ten Commandments, the happiness, contentment andsuccess that God desires for you are maximized. Williams draws on hisextensive knowledge of the Old Testament and of human nature toexplore the ways we hurt ourselves when we ignore God's guide tohappiness. He also shows how obedience leads to a continual practiceof intimacy with God in everyday life. Adults of any age will enjoyand be challenged by this unique study of the familiar TenCommandments, whether in small groups, Sunday school classes, orpersonal study.
Books:
- The Four Wise Men
- The Garden Planner and Record Book (Record Books)
- The Lesser Blessed: A Novel
- The Marriage at Antibes
- The Most Amazing Thing
- The Never Ending Pigeon Saga
- The Red Heifer: A Novel (New York City History & Culture)
- The Service of Clouds
- The Transformers: Infiltration (Transformers)
- The Walled City (Library of Modern Jewish Literature)
Books Index
Books Home
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- Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before
- Mentally Tough: The Principles of Winning at Sports Applied to Winning in Business
- How to Suceed in Busniess by Giving Away Millions
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The Foundation Pit (European Classics)
Envy (New York Review Books Classics)
Life and Fate (New York Review Books Classics)
The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin (European Classics)
Moscow to the End of the Line
