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Educators, lovers of theatre and great literature--take note! Late in the 1990s, Harper Row began to release on cassettes the Arkangel Complete Shakespeare, all of which I reviewed in one paper or another. Using some of the best of the young theatrical talent in Great Britain and some of the older established stars of stage and screen, the producers gave us readings of every single word of every single play by Shakespeare, including the seldom-performed "Two Noble Kinsmen" which is partially by Shakespeare.
Well, hold on! Audio Partners has been contracted to release the entire set on CDs. The trick is that you cannot purchase the individual sets but are required to purchase the entire package of 38 plays for $600. That is 98 CDs in all with a playing time of just over 101 hours! Libraries and school departments take note.
Hearing them as they were released on tape in batches of four or five, I was impressed mostly with the enormity of the project but found some things to quibble about. Casting Oberon and Titania with a pair whose voices were South African or Jamaican (no Henry Higgins, I) made some sense in that it emphasized their other-worldly-ness. So did assigning Malvolio in "Twelfth Night" to an actor with a distinct Scottish accent, but giving Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" to the same actor was absurd. Then too there is that sudden sound effect of a train pulling out of a station in the middle of "All's Well That Ends Well"! Granted there was a production current then that did place the play in more modern times, but when one is hearing a recording with no clue as to setting, the result was jarring and should have been omitted.
In the grander roles such as Hamlet, Othello and the like, the younger actors give modern readings which might strike some as slighting demands of the high poetry. And those who long for the grander readings can turn to the re-releases of the old Shakespeare Recording Society sets.
One great disadvantage to the cassettes is that you could locate a specific scene only with much fast forwarding. With CDs, of course, you can jump to any scene by pressing the Skip button on your player. When a scene continues onto another disc, the tracking list tells you at which line the scene picks up.
The price might be prohibitive to all but an institution--but I feel that every library should find its way to purchasing the complete set in much the same way that many purchased the complete set of BBC Shakespeare videos.
You can follow the play in text if you choose to -- they follow the readily available Complete Pelikan Shakespeare. But you don't need to -- if you aren't familiar with a play the brief four or five line summaries of each scene in the small fold-out accompanying each play are quite sufficient to know which characters are involved. It's possible to listen to these while driving, but you can't concentrate fully unless you're totally stuck in traffic. My number one recommendation is to take a Walkman and a pair of headphones to a hammock under a tree and indulge yourself. Second best is a comfy easy chair.
However you listen to these, do get them and listen to them. Or persuade your local library to get the set.
The price -- ...-- seems high until you figure that this is 38 complete plays -- less than the cost of the same play in paperback -- and there are a total of 83 disks, so you're paying just $5 per disk. Cheap! And these aren't some pop music you'll listen to once; these are a lifetime investment for yourself and your family.
Get it. Period.
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I have just finished reading this book, and it is a must for beginning and advanced players of whist. The narrative is written in clear concise words that are easy to understand.
The sample hands in the book are excellently crafted and are legitimate teaching aids that can enhance the skills of players on all levels.
There have been many times when people have asked our Bid Whist players, "How Do You Play Whist? Needless to say that is an impossible question to verbally answer. Thank goodness there is a book out there that we can now point to.
If you are at all interested in learning the game, or purchasing a gift for that whist playing friend or relative, this book will serve as a unique gift idea.
The next time I played was in a foursome in my home -- I played with a stranger and we won!!!
An Excellent book for anyone wanting to get started playing Bid Whist or for someone wishing to sharpen their skills.
I have already personally delivered copies of this book to players and would recommend it to any card playing addict.
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"You've done it again! Another winner with "Death and Texas". It was a late night until I finished but you kept me guessing until the end. I really enjoy your books. Keep it up!"
I'm now looking forward to the next book - so come on Joe get writing.
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Krutch writes of birds, the night sky, bats, saguaro cactus, ocotillo, and desert flowers. Considering them, he rediscovers the truth in ideas he has so long held as true that they've become near platitudes. Where there is plentitude in some things, for instance, there is no need for it in others. Nature cares for the species but not individuals, while human values tend toward the opposite. While every rose has its thorn, the blooming cactus shows us that the reverse is also true. A visit to the vastness and forbidding desert monuments of Cathedral Valley in south central Utah reminds him of the precariousness of human life.
The desert leads Krutch to contemplation of its paradoxes, as well. For instance, the struggle for life here where conditions for survival are more restrictive actually create an uncrowded and more serene ecosystem by comparison with the tropics. The varieties of bird life are vastly greater here than in more temperate climates. A species of toads can live unseen and unheard for 363 days of the year, emerging after a rain fall to sing and reproduce, then disappear and survive somehow in the waterless months between. Finally, there's one question he's never able to answer: why bats fly clockwise from Carlsbad cave.
You can't really know a place, he believes, until you have seen it both as novel and as familiar. A landscape is no more than a picture postcard until you have spent time there and discover yourself in the midst of it. "The Desert Year" is a wonderful account of that process and a celebration of the joy that can be found in settling down for a while in a place that gradually comes to feel like home.
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Hence, Ms. LeVine presents a deep yet subtle vision of how these dogs experience the world and interact with other dogs and with their humans. (If you have never owned an Aussie, it's possible you may not fully appreciate the genius of her photographs and her subjects.) Sometimes the "truth" shines in the dog's eyes or reveals itself in an image of a dog unabashedly having fun. I'm not sure if there are any high-minded lessons here, but something of the exuberance and intensity these dogs experience transcends the pages.
Poet Joseph Duemer contributes extraordinary, insightful phrasing that melds seamlessly with the mood of each photograph and the combination celebrates fully the Zen of dogs. He offers just enough detail and form without trying to manipulate or dictate emotions and perceptions.
Folks who do not share their lives with canines will find this book entertaining. Those who do will find it magical, and, among this group, those who have Aussies of their own will keep this well-crafted and well-designed book within easy reach.
'Ae, he mea 'ilio pono kela. These are wise dogs.
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Most of the books available for Dreamweaver have focused on how to use the basic functions of Dreamweaver, ignoring things like database connectivity with ColdFusion.
This book not only covers the basics of HTML, but it goes into some more advanced topics like CF. I would reccomend this book to anyone who is serious about web design with Dreamweaver.