Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
Book reviews for "Acomb-Walker,_Evelyn" sorted by average review score:

Over my tracks
Published in Unknown Binding by Penguin Books ()
Author: Evelyn Crawford
Amazon base price: $
Collectible price: $12.40
Average review score:

Over MY Tracks
Evelyn Crawford is an aboriginal living in western N.S.W., "Over My Tracks" is an account of her life. Her happiness when she is with her people, the Koorie's, the hardships of the land, the intolerance of most of the white's she comes in contact with. Her story was several months in the telling, during which time the author became a friend and the smoothness of the narrative says much for Chris Walsh's skill. We learn of the cruel treatment at the mission, the story of her families escape is one of the highlights of the book. This woman makes a success of her life, helps others, especially the aboriginal children in the schools of western N.S.W. She is instrumental in bringing about a better understanding of the aboriginal language and customs, so that the teachers can communicate effectively with the aboriginal students. In reading her story you will see that she places an emphasis on education as a means of overcoming prejudices, Over My Tracks' a remarkable life and a pleasure to read.


Pacific Coast (Audubon Society Nature Guides)
Published in Hardcover by Knopf (May, 1985)
Authors: Evelyn McConnaughey, National Audubon Society, Bayard Harlow McConnaughey, and Charles Elliott
Amazon base price: $19.95
Used price: $7.00
Collectible price: $9.99
Buy one from zShops for: $9.50
Average review score:

Not very comprehensive
This broad series, which includes "Western Forests" and "Deserts" are too broad. They include only the most common plants, animals and insects. Since I already know the difference between a redwood tree and douglass fir, or a red fox and groundhog, I was looking for less common things. MANY times I have come home to look up a flower, bird, or insect, only to discover that it is not in the book. What is in the book is covered well, but there's not just enough in the book. Perhaps they should further break the guides into "Invertebrates of the Pacific Coast", "Plants of the Pacific Coast", etc.


Paul Cezanne: Finished - Unfinished
Published in Hardcover by Hatje Cantz Publishers (01 April, 2000)
Authors: Paul Cezanne, Felix Baumann, Evelyn Benesch, Walter Feilchenfeldt, Klaus Albrecht Schroeder, Gottfried Boehm, Klaus Albrecht Schroder, and Feilchenfeldt
Amazon base price: $45.50
List price: $65.00 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $14.98
Buy one from zShops for: $42.99
Average review score:

A Bit Thin On Ideas
This book probably deserves 3 1/2 stars but since I've got to go with round numbers I'd say 3 is closer to the truth than 4. I may have been influenced by the fact that I have read an awful lot of stuff on Cezanne, but I don't think so. This book was put out to coincide with an exhibition that has "finished/unfinished" as its theme i.e.-when is a painting truly "complete". The idea wears a bit thin after 400 pages. The book starts off with essays by about 5-6 people that take up the first 120 pages. The last couple of essays are interesting and contain some good ideas but the first several essays pretty much say the same thing over and over (many of Cezanne's paintings that were not actually finished are "complete" from an artistic standpoint) and if a couple of these essays had been left out no harm would have been done. The same point is hammered home in too many of the "mini-essays" that accompany each painting and sometimes the contributors get a bit carried away in seeing genius and "completion" in even the works that are clearly failures not only by Cezanne's own standards but also, I think, by the standards of the intelligent layperson and probably also of many art historians. The book does get high marks, though, for many high quality color reproductions and the Cezanne lover will be sure to find his/her favorite genre well-represented. You get many portraits as well as landscapes and those luscious still-lifes (my particular favorite). One of the interesting ideas contained in the book is that the reason the still-life seems to be the category where Cezanne really excelled is that the subject was the one best suited to his temperament. He was an extremely slow worker and did not like changes in the "motif". For example, he did not like it when human sitters would move and he did not like changes in the weather and in light conditions as the changes would make him rethink what he was doing and oftimes start over or have to make corrections. With the still-life Cezanne could arrange things just the way he wanted and could use artificial flowers that would not wither as he worked, etc. Also note that the book contains many works in watercolor, which is a medium that Cezanne excelled in. If you are not familiar with his watercolors I think you will be pleasantly surprised...


Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People (1914)
Published in Paperback by Kessinger Publishing Company (31 May, 1942)
Author: Evelyn Underhill
Amazon base price: $19.00
Used price: $18.62
Buy one from zShops for: $18.62
Average review score:

distilled synthesis of mystic experience
Evelyn Underhill wrote numerous books about mysticism, an amazing number of which are still in print (click on author name to see). In this little book, published just at the start of WWI, Underhill attempted to distill a summary of the mystical pursuit in simple language.

Addressing an imaginary "practical man", Underhill attempts first to justify the validity and value of the pursuit of mystical experience; then explains the stages of the mystic's quest in several chapters. These chapters represent a synthesis of the works of dozens of mystic authors from all ages and traditions.

The writing style is lyrical: at times quite beautiful and striking, at other times crossing the line to become pretentious and old-fashioned.

Is this actually a book for the (modern) "practical man"? I think not. Underhill's instructions in how to begin meditating are quite vague and could easily mislead a beginner into fruitless paths. Also, the descriptions of the stages of mystical progress are strongly influenced by the Christian mystics of the middle ages -- Underhill clearly had studied few, if any, primary sources on Eastern traditions. That's understandable; relatively few Buddhist or Hindu documents had been translated at the time of writing. But it reduces the value of the book for modern readers.


"Pretty Good for a Woman": The Enigmas of Evelyn Scott
Published in Hardcover by W.W. Norton & Company (January, 1986)
Author: D. A. Callard
Amazon base price: $14.95
Used price: $2.42
Collectible price: $8.56
Buy one from zShops for: $3.98
Average review score:

Pretty good for a biography . . . except for some gaps
D.A. Callard's biography of American modernist writer Evelyn Scott succeeds in interesting the reader with sordid details of Scott's escapades. However, Callard doesn't present a full enough picture of the woman's life and accomplishments. At times, the book is more a study of the people Scott associated with (William Carlos Williams, Theodore Drieser, Waldo Frank) than it is a study of Scott herself. See Mary Wheeling White's _Fighting the Current: The Life and Work of Evelyn Scott_ (1998) for a more comprehensive study of the fascinating accomplishments of Ms. Scott.


Thank You, Noah
Published in Hardcover by Bay Light Publishing (January, 2000)
Authors: Charlotte Lundy, Heather Claremont, and Evelyn L. Waldrep
Amazon base price: $15.95
Used price: $13.46
Buy one from zShops for: $12.96
Average review score:

Nice Big Pictures
The book and pictures are pretty but for the price the story could have been longer and more words to it. I thought the book was over priced.


Tourist in Africa
Published in Audio Cassette by Books on Tape (November, 1992)
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Amazon base price: $30.00
Average review score:

Sailing With Evelyn Waugh
Briefly, readers keen on African travel anecdotes, and on Waugh's particularly keen social observation, will enjoy this book. It starts off stiffly, with Waugh in England, but you would do well to get beyond his haughtiness - throughout the book he continues to surprise pleasantly - at times, on senses, despite himself. This is essentially a travel piece, written in somewhat conversational style, in which Waugh both describes a voyage from the UK, through the Suez Canal, and along the East African coast to South Africa and his perspectives on the voyage and his fellow passangers. He is entertained along the way, particularly in Kenya and Zanzibar, and otherwise entertains himself - and us, his readers along for the ride. There are interesting references to the 'Happy Valley' crowd of the Kenyan Highlands, among whom Waugh played. This book is up there with other great travel narratives and naturalist perspectives: DH Lawrences' "The Sea and Sardinia", Andre Gide's "Travels in the Congo", and Graham Greene's travel work ("Journey Without Maps", and his novel "Travels With My Aunt"). Whether the book has great literary merit is for others to decide - it is entertaining, human, and describes an area (Africa) and an epoch (post-colonial) through the eyes of one of the century's most visceral - if haughty - writers. Includes insight into what it is like to travel single and long in years. I recommend "A Tourist in Africa".

ericwiberg@worldnet.att.net


Using the Bbi Combinatory Dictionary of English: A Workbook With Exercises
Published in Paperback by John Benjamins Publishing Co. (February, 1991)
Authors: Morton Benson, Evelyn Benson, Robert Ilson, and Richard Young
Amazon base price: $8.95
Average review score:

VERY USEFUL!
VERY USEFUL! ESPECIALLY TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T USE ENGLISH IN MOTHER LANGUAGE VERY HELPFUL TO SPOKEN ENGLISH.


We Are a Part of History: The Story of the Orphan Trains
Published in Hardcover by Lightning Tree Pr (September, 1990)
Authors: Michael Patrick, Evelyn Trickel, and Evelyn Sheets
Amazon base price: $25.00
Used price: $18.38
Average review score:

Interesting Read
The Story of the Orphan Trains is a carefully researched historical record of the "orphan trains" that carried thousands of homeless children from the slums of New York to new lives with families in the Midwest and South. The trains, which ran from 1854 until 1929, were primarily the work of Reverend Charles Loring Brace and the Children's Aid Society, funded by citizens and companies who were concerned about the desperate lives of the "street arabs", the children who struggled to bring themselves up and survive on the city streets.

The book gives a thoughtful, fair account of both the benefits and pitfalls of the orphan train solutions. Many children, who might have otherwise perished on the streets, were given life and hope with new, loving families. Other children never got over the trauma of being separated from siblings, or they were moved into homes where they were badly treated (although the Society agents worked hard to prevent these tragedies).

The Story of the Orphan Trains is not a gripping read, but it is not intended to be. Those who are interested in this period of history, or in solutions to the problem of homeless children, will find it fair and thought-provoking. I found the last section of the book, accounts by the orphans themselves, to be especially moving.


Where Duty Calls: The Story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Soldier and Spy in the Union Army
Published in Paperback by Branden Publishing Co (July, 1999)
Authors: Marilyn Seguin and Adolph Caso
Amazon base price: $12.95
Used price: $5.82
Buy one from zShops for: $10.93
Average review score:

Adolescent Historical Fiction
"Where Duty Calls: The Story of Sarah Emma Edmonds" is a recently published, fictionalized account of the life of Union spy Sarah Edmonds. The plot of the story itself is quite interesting, chronicling the adventures of a female who poses as a male spy during the Civil War. The book, although not noted as relevant to a certain age category, is more suitable for younger children. Although it includes excerpts from Edmond's autobiography, and does well in sticking to the facts, it reads like a young adventure novel. It is definitely a more fictionalized account of Edmonds life, and doesn't go into the more intellectual and historical issues of gender roles and Union spies. If you would like a well-written, simplistic overview of Edmonds' life; or if you know a young child who likes to read about real life spies, then "Where Duty Calls" is the book for you.


Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Reviews are from readers at Amazon.com. To add a review, follow the Amazon buy link above.