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ISBN: 1888429070
Binding/Media: Paperback - 144 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Book in good condition with moderate reading wear. EX LIBRARY copy. Library markings present but no further markings or imperfections.
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by Minoru Toyoda
ISBN: 0345482638
Binding/Media: Paperback - 208 pages
Condition: New
Comments: 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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WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT EACH OTHER?
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-04-13
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Hoshino and Negishi have been together for a while now, but what do they really know about each other's lives? I mean, for instance, this volume includes the first time that Negishi actually visits Hoshino at home and meets any of his family. She meets his sister, Rei, whose name also conjures up images of Japanese WWII Zero fighter planes, and she can't really tell if the meeting went well or not. While Hoshino still has a love that maybe borders on the creepy or at least too idealistic, he decides to get a part time job at a restaurant in order to expand his outlook on people. It doesn't help when he's honest with his do-nothing co-worker, flatout telling the loser that he doesn't like him. This isn't good because the lazy bum is actually the owner's son! This second volume also hits on some school manga mainstays such as a "haunted school" story and the school festival in which Negishi and Hoshino star in a play whose plot and characters sometimes mirror their real lives too closely.
Love Roma has an elusive charm that you can't quite put your finger on. The art is pretty simplistic and reminds me more of Western style comics than manga. While slightly tapping on more mature issues, it firmly falls into the category of appealing to a high school audience and the young at heart. These are not flesh and blood characters but romantic stereotypes pushed into a comedy, and that's what makes it funny. The romantic, wooing lover a la Pepe Le Pew pursuing his reluctant but ultimately willing object of devotion. Don't expect a real love story here. But if you like a cartoony kind of love, have at it.
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by Minoru Toyoda
ISBN: 0345482646
Binding/Media: Paperback - 208 pages
Condition: New
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear.
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THE NEXT LEVEL
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-10-08
Hoshino is ready to take his and Negishi's relationship to a whole 'nother level as they start their second year in high school. What this elevation in commitment really entails is Hoshino asking to touch Negishi's boob! Negishi also finally gets to meet her boyfriend's parents and she can see especially in his mother where he gets his "eccentricities" from. Also, Yoko, the girl with the sucker constantly in her mouth, and Tsukahara, begin their first clumsy fumblings at going out, even though neither of them are the best communicators in the world. The whole gang goes on a trip to O Island, where Yoshitsune's uncle runs a bed and breakfast beach resort. When they arrive they are disgusted to find out they're going to have to work to pay for their rooms! Goodbye beach! Goodbye vacation!
Love Roma continues its charming love story even though Hoshino is starting to creep me out a bit with his strange desires and slightly aslant view of the relationship. The book is still funny, and I especially enjoyed the chapter that focused on Yoko and Tsukahara, two characters that shine in their unaccustomed starring roles. The episodic content works for now but I could see how it could get old after multiple volumes. That won't be a problem if you can just chill out and have a few laughs with these wacky characters and not worry about plot advancement or character evolution.
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by Kosuke Fujishima
by Kosuke Fujishima
ISBN: 159307400X
Binding/Media: Paperback - 176 pages
Condition: New
Comments: 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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Great Item.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2009-09-11
Loved it. Shipping was fast and prompt and was sent securely for no damage. The decription was correct on the condition of the item
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Love this series
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-02-28
I've actually been in the Ah My Goddess series since they first started putting it out. I love the series, this part of the story does more to further Urd, who is usually just a mischeivous sometimes annoying house guest at Keiichi's place. You find out more about her mom, and what Urd is and isn't willing to give up. I love the series!
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Good, but far from the best
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-02-13
Volume 22 of the Oh! My Goddess (Ah! Megami-sama) manga series is a long step down from most of the preceeding 21 books. While it is pleasant enough reading, this installment lacks the spontaneity and charming surprises that endear its predecessors to so many.
Structured around Hild's promise to help return Peorth to normal size in return for an unnamed favor from Urd, the book delivers on what it promises. There is a sharp if not heated confrontation between mother (Hild) and daughter (Urd) and a rather charming resolution of the problem.
Overall, however, Volume 22 is lifeless and predictable, particularly when compared to other volumes in the series. It is certainly worth having if only to maintain the continuity of the storyline. At Amazon.com's asking price, it is also a decent value in today's entertainment market.
Hopefully, this is just a hiccup in a very enjoyable road. There is still far too much to learn about the Goddess saga for the series to be running out of steam.
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by Hitoshi Okuda
ISBN: 1569313393
Binding/Media: Paperback - 176 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Book in good condition with minimal reading wear. EX LIBRARY copy. Library markings present but no further markings or imperfections.
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Customer Reviews
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Tenchi and the Gang Travel Through Space...
Rating (5)
Date: 2001-10-03
3 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This graphic novel is one word... superb. The animation is great and comical, especially the kawaii faces that always pop up on the interesting characters. The theme plays nicely and it does always pick up the pace that makes Tenchi Muyo! so popular. Personally, I chose the book because of its cover that includes Washu chan. A note, on the first pages, for parents, there's a somewhat slight nude shot of Ryoko, in case you're worried.
The storyline is basic and adventurous. The gang is trying to help an old friend of Aeka and Sasami's. Her name is Asahi and her father is captured by a rival sculptor named Lord Tatetsuki. Asahi is part of the Takebe family and her father is a sculptor of Jurai's royal ships. When Takebe is able to succeed a great master, Lord Tatetsuki is jealous and throws him in a cell. Now it's up to them to travel to Ryuten, where he is held captive. On the way, they encounter Ryoko's twin, Minagi, a somewhat clueless space pirate and a monk with a might metamorphosis. The plot flows with their favorite television samurai opera series. Now you know where they got the title? (^.^)
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a great book
Rating (5)
Date: 2001-08-18
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Tenchi and gang accompany Princess Asahi with Minagi and Hinase also into outer space to rescue her father, a master sculptor, from the clutches of evil villians who would steal his prestige and creative powers. On the way there the gang finds out that Asahi is allergic to men because of a lie that her father told her and crash-lands on a planet,because of Mihoshi,where washu is fixing Mimasaka,Asahi's ship,with Asahi along with her, Ryoko and Tenchi have to work at a mine where they meet a monk named Gohgei, and Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi who keep Lord Osha, a villian, company. This is a great book and a must buy!!!
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in space again
Rating (4)
Date: 2000-07-02
6 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Ryoko's twin Minagi (met in book #1) and her ship Hinase (another cabbot) run into Asahi, a childhood friend of Ayeka & Sasami. Turns out her father (The Royal woodworker for the House of Jurai) has been captured and her planet is in danger. Naturally its Ryoko, Ryo-oh-ki, Minagi, Hinase, Ayeka, Sasami, Washu, Mihoshi, and of course Tenchi off to the rescue. The storyline spans 3 books - ending in book 6-Dream a little Scheme. This book...Our friends, having chosen to play characters from Ryoko's favorite TV Show, accompany Asahi into space to rescue her father. En route Asahi's allergy to males flares up, thier space ship, having been drinking with Mihoshi, crash-lands on a planet where Tenchi& Ryoko get sent to the mines and the girls end up in a Harem.
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A facinating combination of Tenchi and Manga
Rating (5)
Date: 1999-04-16
2 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
Cool book! This has alot of action and comedy! Two thumbs up! :-
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ooooh! it's so cute.
Rating (5)
Date: 1999-03-27
2 out of 11 customers found this reveiw helpful
i love it, i love it, i love it. It's such a good boo
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by Jeff VanderMeer
ISBN: 0809556529
Binding/Media: Paperback - 284 pages
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. No publisher marks, no shelf wear, no writing.
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Customer Reviews
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To be missed
Rating  (2)
Date: 2010-02-17
As the vast majority of the stories that are presented in 'Secret Life' are not associated with Vandermeer's fictional city, Ambergris, I had hoped that my enjoyment of them would have been significantly higher than that I experienced while reading 'City of Saints and Madmen.'
Sadly, this was not the case.
Don't get me wrong; Vandermeer is a very good writer; however, he often appears to get so caught up in the telling of a story - making sure that the descriptions are unique and that everything ties together - that the story often doesn't actually GO anywhere.
I tend to read right before I go to bed, and it's never a good sign for a book when I find myself falling asleep and having to reread the same passages over and over, trying to get some semblance of why I should care.
Vandermeer's efforts as an editor seem to far surpass his efforts at his own fiction.
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Each story a horror and delight
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-04-09
SF/F is often thrown off to the side when it comes to talking about "real" literature since it requires readers to swallow a greater chunk of BS with their fiction. But in this collection of short stories Jeff VanderMeer shows the power a small pinch of the fantastic can bring to otherwise mundane existence. Several of these stories lay a mythological sheen over corporate office life; the title story explains, in a clinical, haphazard fashion, how a ravenous vine slowly destroys an eerie office building. "Learning To Leave the Flesh," a more dream-like story, tells the story of young man's office job and his strange transformation. As in "City of Saints and Madmen," his earlier collection of Ambergris tales, VanderMeer finds both delight and horror by transforming everyday life into something strange yet still familiar. Each of these stories is a joy -- one never knows where the story is headed, but the destination is guaranteed to be all at once horrible, inventive, and full of wonder.
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NEW TRADE PAPERBACK OF SECRET LIFE
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-11-20
5 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
I'm using 4 stars so as to preserve the average.
This is the quickest way to let readers know that the new, paperback version of Secret Life is subtitled the Select Fire Remix. It contains two new short-short stories, several illustrations, more extensive story notes (including drafts of two incomplete Veniss stories), and a meta-story on what are traditionally blank pages in a book. It also plays around with the idea of author blurbs, other books list, back cover text, etc. Five stories have been deleted because I felt they really didn't work after all (although I've included the ghosts of those stories).
Anyway, this is a revamped version of the book.
Jeff VanderMeer
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Think about this when you go to the office tomorrow...
Rating (4)
Date: 2005-11-06
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
'Secret Life' is a great collection if you want a background on Jeff VanderMeer's writing career, and the few stories that are really good in it really shine bright. It is because of these few stories that my rating squishes between three and four stars, in the end being four and giving VanderMeer the benefit of the doubt.
Too many of the tales included in 'Secret Life' are obviously college efforts, mediocre at best, boring at worst. But the good stories are very, very good. Perhaps a slimmer volume would have been more appropriate, dividing the college work away from the meaty stories.
Shining out like diamonds in coal are the shorts 'Secret Life', the book's namesake. You will never look at your office building, or your co-workers, quite the same again. 'Secret Life' gives new meaning to corporate competitiveness.
'Flight Is For Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over' is a beautifully done piece about a prison guard in Mexico, and a political prisoner who touches his life. 'The Bone Carver's Tale' has to be one of my favorites, a poignant tale of talent and love and misconceptions. 'Balzac's War' and 'A Heart For Lucretia' are ethereal tales of strangeness and undying love. 'The Mansions Of The Moon' is great, showing VanderMeer's amazing ability to create strange worlds that live and breathe with odd life.
Overall, 'Secret Life' seems to me to be best left to fans of VanderMeer, anyone starting out with him should first read 'Cities Of Saints And Madmen' and 'Veniss Underground', which display his writing talent at its very best. Enjoy!
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A wonderful collection with uniquely splendid Notes
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-10-28
8 out of 8 customers found this reveiw helpful
Secret Life is the most engaging collection of short stories by a living author that I have read in years. VanderMeer did himself a disservice, in one way, by his Notes after each story, in which he tells the story behind what we've just read. They give away something that I am sure if he hadn't told, would not be known to anyone who doesn't peruse the copyright details--and that is that some of these stories were written when he was just a sprout, not that he is a greybeard now. The Publishers Weekly reviewer was possibly influenced by this, giving the impression that some are really stories on training wheels. Perish the thought! While the range is vast here, in tone and subject, the collection is wholly absorbing. Even a comparative toddler's work, 'The Sea, Mendeho, and Moonlight' reads more beautifully and meaningfully than many a famous one's whole oeuvre, including a preciously pointless piece by an international name that I read in a Harpers the night before opening 'Secret Life'. Older stories here, anyway, have been revised for this collection, so though their earlier form might have been lacking, they do not drag down the whole at all now--a collection that stimulates the mind and heart. The Notes alone--part-autobiography/part lit-crit, self-deprecating, critically objective, funny and touching--are worth the price of the book. If this guy doesn't get too famous and jaded, his autobiography in 30 years will be a ripper of a classic.
Sometimes his self-criticism made me want to say, 'Hey, avert your hindsight and better judgement. I liked that story, and still do! And its faults were its strengths!' But back to the collection as a whole. Here is a singularly fresh writer who doesn't sound like he's gone through the writing-school mill, doesn't fit easily into any genre, who creates stories and worlds that are morally, emotionally, and plot-wise, complex. There is a love of language and a mastery of it that is unsurpassed today, and that many a riffing writer would do well to examine, as here there is no sloppy diarrhoea of weird-wordiness, no self-indulgence, but some simply soaring prose, always in the service of the story. But most enjoyable for this reader was to see the development of a wonderful, gentle sense of humour, evident throughout the Notes and in full flower with the masterpiece of faux reporting, 'The Festival of the Freshwater Squid'.
Stories I particularly liked were mixed in age and subject, but the title story still captivates me, and 'Mahout' still chokes me deep in my chest, just thinking of it. Then there are the 'worlds' stories, and he is a master there. 'The Mansions of the Moon' is VanderMeerian to the nth. Other favourites: 'The General', the surreal postscript to 'Learning to Leave the Flesh', 'Greensleeves' (another charming story enhanced enormously by the Notes). So for anyone who loves what good reads have always been -- something to get lost in, both the stories in Secret Life, and the opened life of the author himself in his Notes, make a wholly rewarding experience. I needed tissues in a few places in the book, laughed aloud at many others, and often found myself re-reading a passage for the sheer sensual pleasure of it.
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by Jeff Parker
ISBN: 0972555307
Binding/Media: Paperback - 128 pages
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Sold with pride and shipped with confirmation for US addresses. Book in good condition with minimal reading wear. EX LIBRARY copy. Library markings present but no further markings or imperfections.
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Customer Reviews
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James Bond take note
Rating (4)
Date: 2005-01-06
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
There were two things about The Interman that scared me, first it was a non-superhero comic story and second, that it was a single artist/writer creation. I love non-superhero books when they work, but often they become bogged down by too much dialogue. They also tend to take themselves a little to seriously. As for the writter/aritist combination, usually you get good art or a good story but not so much both.
I'm happy to say however that "The Interman" eliminated those fears and gave me a well designed, enjoyable read. There were parts that were a little too dialogue heavy and this did slow down the momentum some but the overall story of a genetically enhanced cold warrior, now a CIA loose end, on the run for his life is a compelling one (even if it does tend to resemble the "Bourne Identity"). Jeff Parker's layouts and art are smart and get to the point. He maintains a good balance between word and design. The dialogue is not perfect, but like the art Parker tries to keep it simple and clear.
If you prefer super hero books, stick to super hero books. If you're looking for something different, give "The Interman" a try.
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Mediocre Solo Debut
Rating (3)
Date: 2004-08-13
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Comics vet Parker makes his personal indie debut with this mediocre adventure. The hero is the offspring of a top-secret Western attempt in the 1960s to create a super-soldier to fight the Soviets during the Cold War. When the Pentagon shut down the program in the Vietnam era due to worries about public opinion should word leak out (since the PR implications of genetic fiddling would have been pretty bad no matter what else was going on, this doesn't seem like a particularly plausible reason to shut down such a project), they never bothered to keep track of the one "interman" produced (an even more unlikely scenario!). Now, the awkwardly named Van Meach roams the world as a kind of adventuring problem-solver. He's good at this because he's the ultimate adapter: throw him in water and he grows gills and cartilage shifts to help swimming, put him in hot sun or driving snow and his internal temperature doesn't change, plus he's got a heightened danger sense. On the other hand, he's handicapped by a somewhat amusing naivetÈ.
Anyway... the CIA unearths the Interman project archives and for some reason totally panics. Worried that this ultra-adapter is operating as some kind of ultra-dangerous rouge agent, they scramble top hitmen from across the world to kill him. You would think they'd try and find out if he actually WAS an ultra-dangerous rouge agent first, but since the plot demands that they don't, the hitmen are scrambled. Oddly enough, our hero seems to have no clue as to why random people are trying to kill him. Hmmm... maybe it's because a you're a MUTANT?!?! Finally, it occurs to him to check out his origins (wouldn't he have done this a long time ago?) in order to figure out who's behind the hitmen.
The book then turns into a globe-trotting quest for who he is, with intermittent hitman dodging. Despite the total derivativeness of this framework, the hitmen characters are actually pretty interesting. There's a old-fashioned romantic with a sassy mustache, a female martial artist with an interesting personal code, a nifty gang of four, and an enigmatic German who keeps showing up and not killing the hero! And finally, emerging from the mists is Van's secret sister! Who is... wait for it....evil! Because... wait for it... the KGB raised her! Anyway, virtually none of this is particularly original material, and it leads to a predictable ending.
Artistically, the best thing is the cover. The style is pretty clunky and there's not nearly enough detail to bring the characters to life in the way they deserve. The book is word-heavy, which tends to create very cluttered panels. And it doesn't help the lettering is extremely murkyóthis is one of hardest to read graphic novels I've come across. The concept of the adaptive hero is interesting, but if Parker is continue this series, let's hope he can at least come up with a more original storyline and some cleaner lettering.
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WOW!!!
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-04-17
Absolutely one of the best graphic novels of the past 5 years. Mr. Parker has crafted a unique story centering on character rather than flash. But not without plenty of excitement, mystery, and action. It's Jonny Quest meets James Bond with a nod to the pulps. A must have.
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PULP FICTION AT IT'S BEST!
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-07-20
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Mr. Parker has assembled one of the most engaging and exciting espionage thrillers that I've read in some time. With clean, tight visuals and sharp writing, the Interman is the book that most genre fans have been waiting for whether they know it or not. Memorable and unforgettable, the Interman has arrived. You won't be disappointed.
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by A. Manette Ansay
ISBN: 0380730138
Binding/Media: Paperback - 256 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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Sad Characters
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-06-22
Ellen and her husband James used to have a decent marriage and a happy life with their two young children. But when James loses his job, he makes the decision that their family should go back to live with his parents in his childhood home.
James' parents are abusive and hate each other. His mother also hates Ellen and is mean to their two children. While living there, James consistently sides with his parents against his wife and children.
Ellen is left feeling alone and abandoned. She works full-time as a teacher but is also expected to do all of the housework and cooking at home. James travels for his new job and is more often away than home. Even when he is home, he doesn't seem to know how to relate to his children, and he has no interest in his wife.
Ellen is living in desperation but can't think of how to escape from her life, especially with her very religious family telling her that she can't possibly leave her husband.
I found it difficult to read a book in which every character was so deeply damaged. Nobody was happy or took any sort of comfort or joy in their lives. The two marriages in this book were both agreed on because of circumstances other than love, and the partners ended up detesting each other. I couldn't connect to any of these characters. I felt sorry for them, but at the same time I felt that James and Ellen, especially, should have been able to snap out of it and get their lives together. It was maddening to read about them remaining at James' parents house, despite their misery there.
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In the end, one woman rises up; overcomes her odds
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-15
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Now why can't all fiction be written in this manner? The tightness of the narrative as of an ice dancer pulling her arms in neatly; wrapping; preparing for the turn, as of a tucked in bed sheet folded in sincere corners. Corners that do not unmake themselves from their horrific knife pleat folds. Folds that turn into themselves pleated with the suffering and ache of want to get away. Characters are hand sewn dolls each with their own funny face, Ellen's eyebrows raised in surprise and real horror at what has happened and placing a protective hand upon her children or possibly handing each one of them a sword and shield in defiance. James the hapless, the fearful, the spineless, distancing himself from his wife crouching in safety position away from his children as they come towards him for a sweet kiss their canines bared in rabid reverie. Fritz, a pig's head - - two clenched fists for hands, cloven hooves and a bull's roar searching the plowed fields for more. Mary-May with her blue hair in tight curls with arthritic hands searching through pages of years to find the right song that disappeared from her memory so long ago. The timing of scenes is pitch perfect. These farm stories so vivid in their re-creation spring to life and run off with the kittens toward the shed. There is no harmonious melody here to be certain. Only Barb's insistence that Ellen learn to drive the stick shift is the beginning hope to shine it's spotlight into Ellen's damaged life. Such mastery of language over manipulating the senses! Each scene handcrafted oftentimes a sound of haunting poetry spoken in hushed whispers as of telling ghosts to get back in their hiding places. The weather like a solemn child handed a piece of cake on a saucer and hand at the back pushed out of the kitchen told to go sit in front of the TV, "the adults aren't finished talking." Amy buries her dolls and dares to write the real, the innocent truth in her journal, the scene of being found out, a hectic car crash in the middle of the school day on an icy road and poor Amy no where near being close to the scene of disrespecting God is so wrongly accused by Father Bork on page 117. Not many writers can write scenes like this and make them all fit together so neatly like latticework placed hand over hand. The discussion about the Pope on page 137 is glorious and magnificent. There are passages in A. Manette Ansay's book that scream out, Pulitzer! - And in retreating one wishes, to have read this book years ago, when it was new and fresh with publication; dripping with the fresh tulip cut; but the story is timeless and does not retreat from the wake of morning as of A. Manette Ansay's clock; unblinking and daring Ellen to brace for a sea change. Which she executes marvelously, and nails the landing. A perfect 10.
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Not an uplifting read, but a profoundly moving one
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-01-14
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a book I couldn't put down, as it follows the life of a woman inching toward a new sense of her own identity, and coming to head with her husband, family, religion and culture. It takes place within a deeply conservative community, and examines with grace and care the roots, meaning and impact of such a world on its members. Though the outer conflicts (the "drama") in the story are muted, the depth of the inner struggles and fears are so carefully protrayed that it makes for a highly dramatic story. Six months after reading it, it still haunts my thoughts, expands my understanding, and populates my mind with strong images.
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Threat
Rating (3)
Date: 2009-06-23
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Ellen's husband James is laid off when the lilacs bloom. There are two children Herbert and Amy. When James refuses to look for work and the family's savings run out, James and Ellen and children move to Wisconsin to live with James's parents.
Unfortunately something is wrong in that house. Ellen realizes she and her mother-in-law share similar fates, but the older woman is resentful, bristling with hostility. James seems to be willing to sacrifice his new family in order to be a good son to his mother. One reason for returning to Wisconsin it to tend his brother's grave.
The book certainly portrays family malaise perfectly. The naturalism is both sympathetic and gripping. Patriarchal attitudes have caused havoc for several generations, but it is difficult to discern this. The story is one where the heroine understands gradually the necessity for change. The book is a job well done.
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Mixed Feelings
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-03-26
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I picked this book out of our Community Library and read the first sentence to see if I might be interested. The first part of the book felt depressing. The main character and her children interested me, however, and I kept on reading to the end. It was a disturbing book in so far as some of the characters were not like anyone I have ever encountered. But perhaps there really are people so disturbed as these characters. I finished the book with a good feeling. That is to say the ending while not solving all the problems of the people, nevertheless had a satisfactory ending.
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by A. Manette Ansay
ISBN: 0380730138
Binding/Media: Paperback - 256 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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Sad Characters
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-06-22
Ellen and her husband James used to have a decent marriage and a happy life with their two young children. But when James loses his job, he makes the decision that their family should go back to live with his parents in his childhood home.
James' parents are abusive and hate each other. His mother also hates Ellen and is mean to their two children. While living there, James consistently sides with his parents against his wife and children.
Ellen is left feeling alone and abandoned. She works full-time as a teacher but is also expected to do all of the housework and cooking at home. James travels for his new job and is more often away than home. Even when he is home, he doesn't seem to know how to relate to his children, and he has no interest in his wife.
Ellen is living in desperation but can't think of how to escape from her life, especially with her very religious family telling her that she can't possibly leave her husband.
I found it difficult to read a book in which every character was so deeply damaged. Nobody was happy or took any sort of comfort or joy in their lives. The two marriages in this book were both agreed on because of circumstances other than love, and the partners ended up detesting each other. I couldn't connect to any of these characters. I felt sorry for them, but at the same time I felt that James and Ellen, especially, should have been able to snap out of it and get their lives together. It was maddening to read about them remaining at James' parents house, despite their misery there.
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In the end, one woman rises up; overcomes her odds
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-15
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Now why can't all fiction be written in this manner? The tightness of the narrative as of an ice dancer pulling her arms in neatly; wrapping; preparing for the turn, as of a tucked in bed sheet folded in sincere corners. Corners that do not unmake themselves from their horrific knife pleat folds. Folds that turn into themselves pleated with the suffering and ache of want to get away. Characters are hand sewn dolls each with their own funny face, Ellen's eyebrows raised in surprise and real horror at what has happened and placing a protective hand upon her children or possibly handing each one of them a sword and shield in defiance. James the hapless, the fearful, the spineless, distancing himself from his wife crouching in safety position away from his children as they come towards him for a sweet kiss their canines bared in rabid reverie. Fritz, a pig's head - - two clenched fists for hands, cloven hooves and a bull's roar searching the plowed fields for more. Mary-May with her blue hair in tight curls with arthritic hands searching through pages of years to find the right song that disappeared from her memory so long ago. The timing of scenes is pitch perfect. These farm stories so vivid in their re-creation spring to life and run off with the kittens toward the shed. There is no harmonious melody here to be certain. Only Barb's insistence that Ellen learn to drive the stick shift is the beginning hope to shine it's spotlight into Ellen's damaged life. Such mastery of language over manipulating the senses! Each scene handcrafted oftentimes a sound of haunting poetry spoken in hushed whispers as of telling ghosts to get back in their hiding places. The weather like a solemn child handed a piece of cake on a saucer and hand at the back pushed out of the kitchen told to go sit in front of the TV, "the adults aren't finished talking." Amy buries her dolls and dares to write the real, the innocent truth in her journal, the scene of being found out, a hectic car crash in the middle of the school day on an icy road and poor Amy no where near being close to the scene of disrespecting God is so wrongly accused by Father Bork on page 117. Not many writers can write scenes like this and make them all fit together so neatly like latticework placed hand over hand. The discussion about the Pope on page 137 is glorious and magnificent. There are passages in A. Manette Ansay's book that scream out, Pulitzer! - And in retreating one wishes, to have read this book years ago, when it was new and fresh with publication; dripping with the fresh tulip cut; but the story is timeless and does not retreat from the wake of morning as of A. Manette Ansay's clock; unblinking and daring Ellen to brace for a sea change. Which she executes marvelously, and nails the landing. A perfect 10.
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Not an uplifting read, but a profoundly moving one
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-01-14
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a book I couldn't put down, as it follows the life of a woman inching toward a new sense of her own identity, and coming to head with her husband, family, religion and culture. It takes place within a deeply conservative community, and examines with grace and care the roots, meaning and impact of such a world on its members. Though the outer conflicts (the "drama") in the story are muted, the depth of the inner struggles and fears are so carefully protrayed that it makes for a highly dramatic story. Six months after reading it, it still haunts my thoughts, expands my understanding, and populates my mind with strong images.
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Threat
Rating (3)
Date: 2009-06-23
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Ellen's husband James is laid off when the lilacs bloom. There are two children Herbert and Amy. When James refuses to look for work and the family's savings run out, James and Ellen and children move to Wisconsin to live with James's parents.
Unfortunately something is wrong in that house. Ellen realizes she and her mother-in-law share similar fates, but the older woman is resentful, bristling with hostility. James seems to be willing to sacrifice his new family in order to be a good son to his mother. One reason for returning to Wisconsin it to tend his brother's grave.
The book certainly portrays family malaise perfectly. The naturalism is both sympathetic and gripping. Patriarchal attitudes have caused havoc for several generations, but it is difficult to discern this. The story is one where the heroine understands gradually the necessity for change. The book is a job well done.
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Mixed Feelings
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-03-26
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I picked this book out of our Community Library and read the first sentence to see if I might be interested. The first part of the book felt depressing. The main character and her children interested me, however, and I kept on reading to the end. It was a disturbing book in so far as some of the characters were not like anyone I have ever encountered. But perhaps there really are people so disturbed as these characters. I finished the book with a good feeling. That is to say the ending while not solving all the problems of the people, nevertheless had a satisfactory ending.
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