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by Alan Wolfe
ISBN: 0472098659
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 336 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear.
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by Jacques Lusseyran
ISBN: 0863155073
Binding/Media: Paperback - 247 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No writing, no highlighting. Light reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Moving and IIlluminating
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-02-11
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is one of the most beautiful and interesting books I've ever read. It's a story of an exuberant, sensitive and intelligent boy growing up and, incidentally, overcoming a handicap (of special interest to me was his sensory experiences -- how he felt and experienced space, colors, objects, movement, landscape, etc, after losing his sight). It is also a dramatic tale of resistance under occupied Paris, and surviving being interred in a death camp. And it is much more -- get it and have your own eyes opened.
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courage,intelligence,spiritual light radiating love of life
Rating (5)
Date: 1997-04-02
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
The autobiographical book, And There Was Light, by Jacques Lusseyran, was to me, a must read for all people! I am in awe of Jacques Lusseyran. His courage through adversity was a beam of light! The quote by him, "Light is in us, even if we have no eyes," tells of a person, only physically was blind (age of 8 in 1932). In 1939 as a teenager, he founded a student resistance, The Volunteers of Liberty.
When Dr. Lusseyran was asked, what is your reason for loving life, only then did he find the real subject to write about his life. He said, ".... since I have maintained this love of life through everything: through infirmity, the terrors of war and even in Nazi prison. Never did it fail me, not in misfortune nor in good times, which may seem much easier but is not".
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by Frank McCourt
ISBN: 000649840X
Binding/Media: Paperback - 352 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with normal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Breathtaking
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-21
What an eye opener, a page turner. Leads you right into his next book: 'Tis.
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Angela's Ashes
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-21
At first I really didn't know what to think as I began reading Angela's Ashes.Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
The author basically writes with an Irish accent. I had been looking forward to reading this book for a long time and I was kind of worried that this style of writing was not going to work for me.
I guess I was very wrong. This was a wonderful read! The stories and his style were perfect! I loved everything about this book except that it ended! It was so sad and desperate at times and funny at other times. I found myself smiling as I read of the conversations between Frankie and his Grandmother. I have met quite a few people that had come over from Ireland in my time but by just reading this book, I felt as if I knew them that much better.
Of course I will read the next book "Tis" because I need more!
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MY FAVORITE BOOK...
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-03-06
I would recommend this to anyone. Recently I did a book report on this book and loved every part of it! I would want to warn you ut had funny parts and very depressing parts =D
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One Of My Favorites Of All Time!
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-24
This is a must read! I just reread this book all in one sitting. It is such a wonderful, however tragic story. Despite the hardships throughout the book with alcoholism, poverty and premature death there were clever and hopefully moments as well leaving me with a "Hurrah" for Frankie! With Frankie's tribulations of an alcoholic father spending all his wages at the pub, too little or nothing to eat, loss of family and enduring Catholic School he seemed to remain unaffected by it all. An innocence of sorts. Frank McCourt's Memoir is a treasure to read and one which left me laughing, cheering and crying all at the same time. I highly recommend it!
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ASHES ONLY ASHES
Rating  (2)
Date: 2009-11-22
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
ASHES ONLY ASHES
REVIEW: McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: Scribner, 1996.
Angela's Ashes is the recitation of a life of poverty suffered by an Irish boy in the middle decades of the 20th century.
The book is repellant. There is no other way to describe it. No other response is possible when a reader is presented with such anguish, and repressed anguish, emotionless anguish.
I am uncertain why readers are interested in a story of such unredeeming misery. There must be a masochistic element in the readership of the book. Or, there must remain in our society many persons of repressive Catholic background who remember their miserable Catholicism while coming of age.
But then I do know the interest the story elicits. There is such guilt in our society because of our materialism and hedonism that the book performs a catharsis in its readers. (A corollary of this perception is that white folk like to hear about other white folk in extremity, as it relieves them about the misery they may be inflicting on those who are not white.) The members of this society seek to punish themselves, as evidenced elsewhere by the horrible, frightful and vulgar behavior in our entertainment media and our personal relations. The book is part of that milieu, culturally perverted, the "dumbed-down" of every value and decency. Even though the author may not have intended such an effect, once the book was published it became part of it.
The book is not a triumph of the human spirit. Rather, it is the ravings of a simple ego seeking to survive as does any dog, though a literate one in this case. It plumbs the depths of our dysfunctional society, and resonates there in our psychic malaise. I will demonstrate how the author accomplished it, whether by craft or chance and in his understated manner. Immediately at the beginning (page 11), the author writes: "It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while." Do you understand how perverted is this statement? The bad childhood is thus the standard for life and art. It casts us immediately into a hopeless existence. Then (on page 145), the author's mother tells us that she is in hell (as are all of us who read the book): "Bridey laughs. Oh, Angela, you could go to hell for that, and Mam says, aren't I there already, Bridey?" It is hell, a special hell created just for the Irish because they believe in it so fervently. It is made of the Damp, the Drink and the Dump, otherwise known as the Church. The author goes on to claim (on page 202): "It's lovely to know that the world can't interfere with the inside of your head." Oh, no, this is disingenuous. The world does nothing except interfere with the inside of your head. That's what the Damp, the Drink and the Dump do. It is the everlasting struggle for your mind, a battle you must fight tenaciously and without rest forever. The author furthers this point (on page 247) by having the young boy think: "It's a mystery. That's what the priests and the masters tell you, everything is a mystery and you have to believe what you're told." Thus life is stupidity compounded with the refusal to use the rationality that the universe endowed you with. The novel culminates with the wisdom distilled from his life that Mr. Sliney (on page 353) imparts to the young Frank: "What I want to tell you is, Never smoke another man's pipe." That's what the entire miserable life of the boy is: smoking another man's pipe.
So there you have it: miserable hopelessness, hell, messy inside of your head, life as mystery, and smoking someone else's pipe. Nothing could be more dysfunctional, and thus a reflection (writ small) of our times. The popularity of the book is the indicator of our malaise.
The book made me feel unclean and violated in mind and in emotion. The grossness of the father sucking the snot out of his infant son's nostrils unfortunately will stay with me forever. It is an ugly book despite the superficial charm of its language. The relentlessness of that language deceives its readers about its repellant nature. It is thus evil, and profoundly depressing. It is a memoir of identity with a vengeance. The book is a symbol of the catastrophe of our civilization, or even of our species. The ashes are those of Angela's poor, hopeless fire, and those dead, sour, caked and soggy ashes encrusted on another man's pipe.
I am happy the author survived his childhood, if indeed he has, and made as an artist a minor masterpiece of a major misery. And in America (on page 363) there is the statement, "...a great country altogether?" Hummmmm. (TRC 03-05-01)
(TRC Final Revision 08-17-09)
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by Frank McCourt
ISBN: 000649840X
Binding/Media: Paperback - 352 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with normal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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Breathtaking
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-21
What an eye opener, a page turner. Leads you right into his next book: 'Tis.
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Angela's Ashes
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-21
At first I really didn't know what to think as I began reading Angela's Ashes.Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
The author basically writes with an Irish accent. I had been looking forward to reading this book for a long time and I was kind of worried that this style of writing was not going to work for me.
I guess I was very wrong. This was a wonderful read! The stories and his style were perfect! I loved everything about this book except that it ended! It was so sad and desperate at times and funny at other times. I found myself smiling as I read of the conversations between Frankie and his Grandmother. I have met quite a few people that had come over from Ireland in my time but by just reading this book, I felt as if I knew them that much better.
Of course I will read the next book "Tis" because I need more!
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MY FAVORITE BOOK...
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-03-06
I would recommend this to anyone. Recently I did a book report on this book and loved every part of it! I would want to warn you ut had funny parts and very depressing parts =D
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One Of My Favorites Of All Time!
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-24
This is a must read! I just reread this book all in one sitting. It is such a wonderful, however tragic story. Despite the hardships throughout the book with alcoholism, poverty and premature death there were clever and hopefully moments as well leaving me with a "Hurrah" for Frankie! With Frankie's tribulations of an alcoholic father spending all his wages at the pub, too little or nothing to eat, loss of family and enduring Catholic School he seemed to remain unaffected by it all. An innocence of sorts. Frank McCourt's Memoir is a treasure to read and one which left me laughing, cheering and crying all at the same time. I highly recommend it!
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ASHES ONLY ASHES
Rating (2)
Date: 2009-11-22
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
ASHES ONLY ASHES
REVIEW: McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: Scribner, 1996.
Angela's Ashes is the recitation of a life of poverty suffered by an Irish boy in the middle decades of the 20th century.
The book is repellant. There is no other way to describe it. No other response is possible when a reader is presented with such anguish, and repressed anguish, emotionless anguish.
I am uncertain why readers are interested in a story of such unredeeming misery. There must be a masochistic element in the readership of the book. Or, there must remain in our society many persons of repressive Catholic background who remember their miserable Catholicism while coming of age.
But then I do know the interest the story elicits. There is such guilt in our society because of our materialism and hedonism that the book performs a catharsis in its readers. (A corollary of this perception is that white folk like to hear about other white folk in extremity, as it relieves them about the misery they may be inflicting on those who are not white.) The members of this society seek to punish themselves, as evidenced elsewhere by the horrible, frightful and vulgar behavior in our entertainment media and our personal relations. The book is part of that milieu, culturally perverted, the "dumbed-down" of every value and decency. Even though the author may not have intended such an effect, once the book was published it became part of it.
The book is not a triumph of the human spirit. Rather, it is the ravings of a simple ego seeking to survive as does any dog, though a literate one in this case. It plumbs the depths of our dysfunctional society, and resonates there in our psychic malaise. I will demonstrate how the author accomplished it, whether by craft or chance and in his understated manner. Immediately at the beginning (page 11), the author writes: "It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while." Do you understand how perverted is this statement? The bad childhood is thus the standard for life and art. It casts us immediately into a hopeless existence. Then (on page 145), the author's mother tells us that she is in hell (as are all of us who read the book): "Bridey laughs. Oh, Angela, you could go to hell for that, and Mam says, aren't I there already, Bridey?" It is hell, a special hell created just for the Irish because they believe in it so fervently. It is made of the Damp, the Drink and the Dump, otherwise known as the Church. The author goes on to claim (on page 202): "It's lovely to know that the world can't interfere with the inside of your head." Oh, no, this is disingenuous. The world does nothing except interfere with the inside of your head. That's what the Damp, the Drink and the Dump do. It is the everlasting struggle for your mind, a battle you must fight tenaciously and without rest forever. The author furthers this point (on page 247) by having the young boy think: "It's a mystery. That's what the priests and the masters tell you, everything is a mystery and you have to believe what you're told." Thus life is stupidity compounded with the refusal to use the rationality that the universe endowed you with. The novel culminates with the wisdom distilled from his life that Mr. Sliney (on page 353) imparts to the young Frank: "What I want to tell you is, Never smoke another man's pipe." That's what the entire miserable life of the boy is: smoking another man's pipe.
So there you have it: miserable hopelessness, hell, messy inside of your head, life as mystery, and smoking someone else's pipe. Nothing could be more dysfunctional, and thus a reflection (writ small) of our times. The popularity of the book is the indicator of our malaise.
The book made me feel unclean and violated in mind and in emotion. The grossness of the father sucking the snot out of his infant son's nostrils unfortunately will stay with me forever. It is an ugly book despite the superficial charm of its language. The relentlessness of that language deceives its readers about its repellant nature. It is thus evil, and profoundly depressing. It is a memoir of identity with a vengeance. The book is a symbol of the catastrophe of our civilization, or even of our species. The ashes are those of Angela's poor, hopeless fire, and those dead, sour, caked and soggy ashes encrusted on another man's pipe.
I am happy the author survived his childhood, if indeed he has, and made as an artist a minor masterpiece of a major misery. And in America (on page 363) there is the statement, "...a great country altogether?" Hummmmm. (TRC 03-05-01)
(TRC Final Revision 08-17-09)
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by Isabel Allende
ISBN: 0060175907
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 320 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
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Customer Reviews
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A marvelous, beautiful book...
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-08-14
... that works well on several different levels. Starting with the presentation. I recently reviewed another book on the evolution of the cuisine in France, and the book's "presentation" was truly dreadful, and I docked one star simply for that; there were way too many errors that were easy to correct with just a bit more time. What a startling contrast this book is. There is the quality of the paper, for a book carrying a normal paperback price. The art work, and there are 43 pictures and photographs identified in the appendix, is simply arresting. As is suitable for an author originally from Chile, there is a heavy Latin American influence in the selections. You sense that hours may have been spent on the selection of just one of the paintings. The display technique for the pictures is appealing; with a small portion of the painting on an earlier page foreshadowing what will follow (no doubt there is an obscure Latin phrase for such a technique). Almost half the book is recipes, from "dear mom," Panchita's, and no, we won't complain to her. We are thereby given meaningful instructions so that we can go to the "laboratory" and test the efficacy of various aphrodisiacs.
Like many aphrodisiacs, there is some unique trigger that connected two synapses in my brain, between Isabel Allende, and Andrea Dworkin. Surely a unique coupling. No question Dworkin had a tough life, how much was self-inflicted is beside the point. Dworkin though focused on all the unpleasantness in male and female relationships, was light-years away from any eroticism, and died early. Allende could have focused on the unpleasant aspects of her life--being the niece who the Salvador Allende, who died in the CIA coup against the democratically elected government of Chile in 1973, on September 11th even. She was forced into exile, to Venezuela initially, carrying a small bag of dirt from her garden, her homeland, that she knew she might never see again. Yet she chose to celebrate the aspects that make life worth living, good food, and love.
And it is her writing that is the ultimate strength of this book. She is playful and witty, and certainly suggestive, coquettish even, and you feel confident she would not lead you down a path unrequited. In preparation for the book, she has read broadly from the world's literature, on the nexus between food and eroticism, and has spun some marvelous vignettes. It seems inappropriate to highlight a few, at the expense of the rest, but nonetheless, I particularly liked "A Night in Egypt," "Creatures of the Sea," and "Colomba in Nature."
There are so many numerous "takeaways," as those harried will say, including her quote of Oscar Wilde, that "love is a mutual misunderstanding." And how can one ever eat almonds again without thinking about Cybele?
A rich magnum of kudos to Allende. She wrote this book when she was 50, which she said was the beginning of the reflective age. Now she is 60, or a bit more, an age that the ancient Greeks considered appropriate for putting aside the matters of the flesh, and for concentrating on the philosophical problems of life. I suspect it will be one aspect of Greek wisdom that Allende will not assimilate, and that garlic, asparagus, eggplant, and so much more will continue to pass her lips.
Thanks for a most inspirational book.
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Luscious, scrumptious and, oh yeah, comforting...
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-09-22
John Updike once said that there are three great mysteries in life: sex, art, and religion. Isabel Allende has added food to that mysterious mix in a delightful way --- food is sexy and erotic and enticing in her book and is explored in a way that reminds one of lacy lingerie, seductive but mysterious at the same time. Allende, over fifty and still recovering from the painful loss of her daughter, writes boldly and bravely of how loss and all its pain is still concurrent with life's joys.
As a writer myself who has written both a cookbook and about the erotic lives of people over fifty, I found Allende's honesty, sensuality, and joy utterly luscious and also comforting in that even as we grow older we have our senses and can celebrate them as long as we allow ourselves to. This is a beautiful book with wonderful illustrations including the sexiest peaches you will ever see. The recipes are intriguing. But more than anything it is an affirmation that our senses have the power to heal us and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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Life, Love, and Food
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-04-05
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This collection of stories reads like an erotic cookbook of sorts. There's even a recipe section!
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One of my Absolute Favorite Books
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-03-20
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book weaves a beautiful tapestry of life, love and food. The information on the aphrodisiac ingredients is not very in depth but always accurate. And the prose reads as though it is tumbling straight from Allende's mouth. Although I have not cooked from the book, I love that she added a section of recipes.
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Food for thought and laugh
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-04-07
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
I have read "Paula" and there is no doubt that Isabel Allende is a talented writer. Her passionate tone seems to just find a way to your heart.
Aphrodite is acookbook erotic-style... truly inspires fun ideas for both food and foreplay. Great historic facts on spices, a collection of rather comical stories and the recipes are to die for.
If you are a hedonist. Get this!
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by Bentley-taylor David
ISBN: 1857924711
Binding/Media: Paperback - 192 pages
Condition: New
Comments: New/New; Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear.
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Customer Reviews
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More than simply a biography
Rating  (4)
Date: 2004-05-14
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
The best thing about this biography is that it doesn't simply relay the facts about Augustine's life and leave it at that. In fact, probably less than half of the book is about what Augustine did. The rest focuses on what he believed, from his doctrine of Scripture to his soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. The reader gets a broad picture of not only who Augustine was, but also what impact he had on the church at his own time and beyond.That being said, it is unfortunate that Bentley-Taylor's semi-Pelagian leanings come through so clearly as he writes. When explaining Augustine's views, especially in the area of soteriology, he often discards or trivializes them as wrong or antiquated with no real argument or explanation. I wish an Augustinian had written this biography, or at least that Bentley-Taylor had made more of an effort to argue his position rather than simply write off Augustine's views. Despite this one complaint, this is very much a worthy read. It is inspiring and comforting to learn about such a man as Augustine, particularly of how the power of the gospel changed him so drastically. And it is a marvellously well-written biography, engaging and clear throughout. Anyone who wishes to learn more about this giant of church history, or anyone to wants to read of a great example of God's saving power would enjoy this book. 171 pages
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Augustine the Man
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-06-21
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
Good book with lots of information. Not a heavy read, but best read by serious students.
Lots of historical info about the people and times that Augustine lived in.
One example was the description of a Goth leader who threatened Africa. The Goth's ships were wrecked in a storm. The followers of this leader diverted a river's flow, buried the guy in the river bed, and then let the river run back in the original bed. Then all the people who had worked to divert the flow were killed in order to keep the site a secret.
Lots of good insight into St Augustine and his views about common place things in life.
Overall a good book. Short, only about 170 pages. A couple of drawings and maps at the back help the reader understand the geography of the Mediteranean/North Africa area.
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Helpful introduction to Augustine
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-01-05
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Bentley-Taylor's book is short [166 pages of text] and easy to read. It includes a plentiful supply of short quotations from Augustine, tells the story of his life and gives an introduction to his writings. It is written from an evangelical point of view, but the author's theological perspective is not intrusive.In the course of telling the story, he mentions lots of names of people from Augustine's times who modern readers will not be familiar with. This may be necessary, but it would be helpful if he had told us a little more about some of these people, as on occasion, the story seems to be little more than a string of names. The author is not afraid to tell us where he thinks Augustine made mistakes. He is also fairly generous with him, and explains that many of Augustine's quirky ideas [to us today] are a product of his times. I highly recommend the book as a simple introduction to one of the most important people in Christian history.
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by Nuala O'Faolain
ISBN: 0805056645
Binding/Media: Paperback - 215 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Customer Reviews
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No self-pity here...
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-06-28
What I loved about this book, despite it's ongoing fairly grim story, was that O'Faolain never descends into self-pity. Her prose is glorious, and I often stopped and reread passages just for the sheer beauty of them - and I must tell you her descriptions of Ireland make me want to move there and keep animals. The story of a disadvantaged upbringing and her subsequent success is warmed by the author's apparent gobsmackedness of having it all happen to her. She tells of meeting famous writers, of being part of world shattering events, while realizing her main focus was what her heart was doing and with whom. How many of us live our lives that way, letting the world wash over us without comment, seeing far less than we really should?
And yet, what she does see is shattering. I'll never forget this book, and I've run out to get all her other writings. She can write sadness and isolation without ever mentioning the words better than many a poet.
A good read, but you have to have lived a bit before you can appreciate it. And warning: you will want to get a pussycat or a dog.
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Boring Memoir
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-04-28
I found this book to be really boring. I initially really enjoyed the first few pages, but the author jumped around so much, I found the book confusing. She would start talking about something from her past, switch to some other point in time, and than jump back. It was only a little over 200 pages, but felt like it was 800 pages. By the end of this memoir I found the author downright irritating in her lack of self-esteem. I wanted to yell at her to get a hobby & stop whining. I realize she has been through some very very hard times in a dysfunctional family, and there are moments of clarity where I found the writing style quite fluid and beautiful. However, this book couldn't end soon enough for me.
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a never-ending train wreck
Rating  (3)
Date: 2009-06-23
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Nuala O'Faolain's book is elegantly written, but sometimes it got so depressing that I wondered if I wanted to keep reading.
Her emotional life seems to be a never-ending train wreck, as she hopelessly pursues one man after another.
I wondered if she was any better off than the mother she so pitied, neglected by her husband, looking after ten kids, and sitting at home all day reading and drinking.
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Very disappointing
Rating (2)
Date: 2009-06-02
After being completely charmed by 'Are you Somebody?" I was expecting at least a well-written decent read. Instead this book was disjointed, rambling, went into highly irrelevant personal details, and didn't seem to have much of a point.
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The New Irishwoman
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-05-14
Nuala O'Faulain writes of her life in an uncompromising, hard look at a time spent very differently from many of her countrywomen, and gives vast amounts of insight into the roles prevalent in Irish culture, and how they effect every day life. She has lived a full,wandering life and while she hasn't been endlessly happy, she has learned to value what she has and who she has become. There is much here of value for any woman to take away.
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by Daniel Stashower, Jon Lellenberg, Charles Foley
ISBN: 0143114336
Binding/Media: Paperback - 720 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Previously UNREAD copy which has been removed from our store shelves.
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Customer Reviews
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Highly Reccomended
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-02
I have to confess that I've never read a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but after I watched Sherlock Holmes (2009)the movie I was so engrossed in the whit and adventurous nature of the characters, that as soon as I got home I went on Wikipedia to read about their creator. Although there is a lot of material out there about the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, this book is a first account of his life, because it's delivered mostly from his pen, as his journey comes to light through a series of letters that a chronicled in this book.
I am off to read the Sherlock Holmes stories next, now that I feel like I know their author so closely.
Loved this book. It's optimistic and inspirational - highly recommended.
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A really good book
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-10-30
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
If you love Sherlock Holmes (I really do) you will love finding out about the creator behind the worlds greatest creation. Having read only a few pages, I am all too interested in it. This is as close as I will get to knowing, in Sir Doyles own words, about the life he had lived, since his autobiography is out of print and available through third sellers at astronomical prices.
For those interested you will be enthralled and wowed at the highly active, adventurous life this man experienced. It's no wonder he was able to keep the minds of several nations shrouded in mystery and their own personal adventures while reading his works. A wonderful literary success about the man, practically by the man.
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's family letters are a revealing insight into the life of the creator of Sherlock Holmes
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-01-29
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
Mention the name of Sherlock Holmes and the name of his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is instantly recalled. Doyle (1859-1930) was a fascinating man whose life story cries out for a biopic! Doyle was born in Edinburgh Scotland to an artist and his intellectually gifted wife Mary. Doyle's father died in an asylum suffering from alcohol and depression in 1893. His mother lived a ripe old age until 1920. It is to Mary Doyle, the mother he adored and confided in throughout his life, that over 90% of these fascinating letters are sent.Several of her own letters to favorite son Arthur are also included.
Doyle became a doctor graduating from the Edinburgh Medical School, traveled to the North Pole as a ship's physician and set up his shingle in the city of Portsmouth in the 1880s. It was during this period he began "A Study in Scarlet" which introduced Holmes and Watson to the British and American public. He also wrote several adventure stories and historical fiction works in homage to his literary idol Sir Walter Scott. His"White Company" about medieval Europe is still in print. While in Portsmouth he wed Louisa Hawkins who bore him two children Mary and Kingsley. Kingsley died from disease in World War I.
With his literary star rising, Dr. Holmes and his famiy moved to London. He there associated himself with the literary world of the day knowing such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Welles, Thomas Hardy, George Meredith. He also socialized with the aristocracy and once sat beside King Edward VII at a dinner.
Dr. Doyle was no stay at home writer. He served in the medical service during both the Boer War and World War I. Doyle enjoyed such varied sports as golf, tennis, cricket and skiing. He loved bicycling and owned a new fanagled motor car particpating in auto races. He and his famiily traveled widely across Europe. He often visited the United States. Doyle liked America and dreamed of a union between Great Britain and the United States. He caught the political bug twice running without success for a seat in Parliament representing an Edinburgh district. He was opposed to Irish Home Rule and along with his friend Winston Churchill was a strong advocate of the British Empire. He and his friend Rudyard Kipling glorified the British soldier.
The brilliant Doyle stuck his neck out by defending persons he thought had been wrongly convicted. He was an advocate for changing England's Divorce Law. He had an often rocky relationship with his five children but by all accounts was a good father. His first wife Louise died iin 1906 and after a brief time he married the lovely Jean Leckie. Jean and he had a happy marriage. They had three children: Denis, Adrian and Jean. It is uncertain whether his affair with Jean was platonic or not prior to the death of Louise.
Doyle was a very busy man who wanted to do away with Sherlock Holmes but continued writing stories of the great detective due to the public insistence for more Holmes adventures. During World War I he wrote a long history of the war which is little read. Science fiction works featuring Dr. Challenger were popular. Doyle was a friend of Baden Powell involving him in Boy Scout work. He was an Edwardian gentleman who was rich, famous and in love with his wife and family. He even delved in playwrigthing and his hero Sherlock Holmes was played on stage by William Gillette. The Holmes character was also seen on the slient movie screen.
World War I saw the death of his son, brother, brother-in law and other
relatives and friends. He increasingly became drawn to spiritualism. He broke with his friend magician Harry Houdini over the spiritualist movement. Doyle lectured widely in Britain, USA, Canada and Australia about spiritualism. He and his wife Jean both believed in seances. He was involved in several public debates concerning spiritualism writing books and articles to defend his position. Doyle was knighted in 1902 despite his objections. He died in 1930 being best remembered for those Sherlock Holmes Stories he thought were minor chapters in his literary oeuvre.
This seven hundred page compendium of the letters between Holmes, mother Mary and others has been edited by three experts on Doyle. Those experts are Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley. These editors put the letters in chronological order from the days when the Roman Catholic born Doyle was a student until 1920. The letters are connected by biographical narrative aiding the reader's understanding of what was happening in the life of Doyle and his interesting family.
The book is lavishly illustrated. If you want to learn about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle this book and the recently published "The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes" by Andrew Lycett are the two tomes you need! Elementary My Dear Watson! This book is a winner!
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Good Company
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-12-08
8 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
It took me about a week to read this volume, and it became a very comfortable companion. I felt the three editors, men with uniquely close relationships with the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, were intelligent commentators on the material that hovered outside the actual letters, and made good decisions on what the reader needs to understand the text. I have read several biographies over a lifetime of study of Dr. Doyle's most famous creation, but I never before felt a real sense of kinship with the author. All knowledge had been perceived through the filter of each biographer's particular prejudices, not to mention the inavailability of much family material including these letters. Reading this book, I felt the full strength of his personality and the familial forces that had shaped his principles and politics. What's more, his sometimes puckish, sometimes ponderous sense of humor was demonstrated clearly to me for the first time.
Everything about the book -- the photographs and drawings, the clear and handsome style of each page, the careful index -- gave further examples of the intelligent, thoughtful decisions by its editors and publishers. Let me recommend this book.
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According to Doyle
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-11-20
9 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
Three well informed editors have done outstanding work in presenting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's personal letters in a clean and understandable format.
While by its nature not a biography, this book certainly helps reveal the very robust, varied, and patriotic life led by the creator of Sherlock Holmes. It is also a touching study in letters of the lifelong love of a son for a devoted mother.
All Baker Street Irregulars, as well as students of English literature of the period, are encouraged to buy this book for their libraries.
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by Thomas Merton, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Tardiff (Editor: Mary Tardiff)
ISBN: 1570750157
Binding/Media: Paperback - 110 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No writing, no highlighting. Gently read copy in very good condition.
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by Michael O'Higgins, John Downes
ISBN: 006098404X
Binding/Media: Paperback - 304 pages
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Sold with pride. Gently read copy in like new condition.
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Customer Reviews
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Amazon Doesn't Carry It, Why Advertise it?
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-09-21
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I was researching "Dogs of the Dow", and Amazon had an advert for it. Oh, but turns out they don't carry it, they give me alternate selections.
BUNK!
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Some excellent material but not really enough for a full book
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-06-01
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
2nd edition (2000) with Johns Downes, 259 pages
O'Higgins' basic method for selecting out of favour stocks from the Dow Jones Industrial Average can be explained in a single sentence: list the ten stocks from the Dow with the highest dividend yield, and then select the five with the lowest share prices from these ten. Buy an equal weighting in each of them and after one year, sell and start again.
So you could be forgiven for wondering how he manages to fill a book. I found significant chunks to be of little interest in understanding why and how his method has worked. For example, I didn't find his introduction on why stocks are the best long term investments, or his potted history of each of the Dow constituents (which takes up just under half the book) added much. (The history of the Dow stocks also reads as if at least the updates for the 2nd edition were written in a considerable hurry.) However, if you are new to equity investing these parts may be more useful to you. Even so, I cannot understand why O'Higgins included the addresses for each of the Dow stocks in the main body of the book when his method is a mechanical one which requires that you do not do any specific stock research or have any contact with companies.
I bought this book with a particular aim in mind: to understand the background better to see how it could be applied in the UK. For example, some people try to apply it to the FTSE 100 and others to the FT 30 index and others use the lowest market capitalisation rather than the lowest share price as the second filter.
After reading the book I concluded that the FT 30 index with lower share prices (i.e. with minimum changes to O'Higgins' original method for the Dow) would be most appropriate. This is because the FT 30 index is modelled on the Dow and has greater stability than the FTSE 100. Even so, there are differences between the FT 30 index and the Dow, which might mean there is greater specific stock risk in the FT 30 (for example, FT 30 stocks are only replaced if they are taken over or fail, whereas Dow stocks can be replaced by the editors of the Wall Street Journal).
Regarding the choice of low share price or low market capitalisation for the second filter, O'Higgins specifically states that the most relevant factor is "simply the phenomenon that the less expensive a stock is, the more it is prone to greater percentage moves." O'Higgins also believes UK companies are more prone to cutting their dividends in difficult periods compared to US companies and that this may mean a mechanical method based upon dividends would work less well in the UK.
Anyway, notwithstanding my gripes above about the padding in the book, the good parts are very good and the book carries an excellent central thesis: that simplicity not only entails less work, but also often produces better results.
By the end of the book I also understood why the method is likely to continue working. Historically the method did not work every year (for example during the last few years of the dot com boom), but produced good results over the long term. As O'Higgins states: "It's the occasional off-year that allows anomalies, like the strategies we'll be discussing next, to exist." The second, critical factor is that the method automatically enforces a contrarian discipline. I like the way O'Higgins puts it:
"In an investment world addicted to complexity, it can almost be said that keeping it simple is itself a form of contrarianism. It can certainly be said that for a system like mine to become too popular to work, contrarianism would have to become conventional wisdom. That would mean turning human nature on its head."
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Great system
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-12-10
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book simply suggests listing the 30 Dow components and then buying the lowest price stocks in the group that also has the best yield (Dividend %).You skip the lowest priced because that one probably does have issues versus being a value. You can either put your $5000 in the second to lowest priced with the best yield, or the 2nd-6th stocks, or the 2nd to 11th stocks that are the lowest priced with the best yield. He shows the back tested history of this method as delivering huge gains. It is a system to think about or use it to develop your own.
The biggest thing I got out of this book was the direction to read books by Yale Hirsh. This was very profitable for me to discover the November-May stock market pattern, the presidential election cycle and the days of the week. You must read The Almanac Investor(by his son), it is VERY valuable, I made $10,000 from Sept 1st 2006 to Dec 9th 2006 due to my aggressive stance in November and December.
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intro to 1 style mechanical (ie. rigid rule based) investing
Rating (4)
Date: 2004-08-06
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
O'Higgins writes nicely... and identifies with specificity one generally agreeable style of mechanical stock investing... it doesn't particularly work well recently... but it is a useful text to introduce the idea of rule-based (non-emotional) trading decision making. assumptions of money management particularly out of phase with first tier thinking.. but i like the book.
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Not a totally bad method of choosing stocks
Rating (3)
Date: 2002-03-13
"Beating The Dow" by Michael O'Higgins offers the following simple investment strategy. You simply buy the ten highest dividend paying stocks among the Dow Industrial Averages. The Philosophy is that as the value of the stocks increase, via stock price lagging or falling below the market, the dividend yield will tend to rise. (i.e. the assumption is that dividend yield is a proxy for value. One problem is that not all Dow stocks pay out the same level of earnings, so some stocks will tend to have higher dividends.)While I tend to be skeptical of any investment strategy that is too simple, if you must use such a simple strategy, then you could do far worse selecting the highest dividend paying stocks from the Dow. Of course, the other option is just to index your money in a mutual fund that buys the entire stock market. Vanguard Funds is the leader in such index funds. But, I like dividends. The difficulty with simple investment strategies is that they tend to be arrived at via data mining. The proponent of the investment method asks "What worked in the past?" and then tries to draw up a canned investment method. Almost always, the proposed method then starts to lag behind in the present and future stock market performance. (the recent performance of this strategy is discussed in another person's great book review. See that.) This is not due to market efficiency or that the method is becoming well known. It just means that the method wasn't entirely valid as a predictive method. There is the old joke about the "X investment strategy." When a computer was asked to vigorously evaluate the stock market and look for predictors of future investment success, the computer spit back the answer, "Invest in stocks whose name begins with an 'X' and whose name ends with an 'X.' " Xerox was the top performing stock over the period. "Beating The Dow" is one of those books, if read all by itself, might mislead a new investor into an over-simplified investment strategy. Yet, you might enjoy reading it. And, as stated, you could do worse than holding the ten highest dividend-paying Dow stocks. "Beating The Dow" also mentions what Michael O'Higgins calls the "Penulatimate Profit Prospect (PPP)" which involves buying just one stock. The Stock with the second lowest price among the ten highest yielding stocks. I consider that Penidiotic. We conservative investors do love our stock dividends, and the focus on dividend yield gets "Beating The Dow" a solid honorable mention. Peter Hupalo, Author of "Becoming An Investor: Building Wealth By Investing In Stocks, Bonds, And Mutual Funds."
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