Absolutely the best of the bunch with regards to the Schoolgirl murders. Alan Cairns and Scott Burnside cooperate to publish a fact filled, no holds barred, yet objective account of the murders and trial which held the Canadian nation in suspense much the way the OJ trial fascinated the crime reading public in the United States.

It does get quite intense and you will certainly find yourself cringing as you read accounts of the many ways Paul Bernardo abused and controlled Karla Homolka. Kudos also go out to the authors for getting input from many of the friends of the main players, getting actual verbatim accounts the way neither Lethal Marriage or Invisible Darkness manage to do.

For fans of True Crime, this book will keep you enthralled from page one to the finish. An absolute must read.

I couldn't stop reading this book once I started, and then I couldn't sleep anymore after I was halfway through it. I knew the story of the "Ken & Barbie murders", and this book gives great insight and background to the lives of the murderers. The authors go into almost excruciating detail of Paul and Karla's childhood lives and upbringing, and give the reader a detailed account of their sick & twisted relationship through the eyes of their friends. The authors do not address the actual crimes, the murders of Tammy, Leslie and Kristen, until the very end of the book when the trial is covered. If you want more coverage of the actual crimes, and less coverage of murderers who committed them, read "Lethal Marriage" by Nick Pron; his book gives the reader actual conversations from the videotapes made by Paul & Karla and their victims during the horrendous sex and murder spree.

Read this book and you will find it difficult to put down as I did. Two great looking teenagers with looks to die for and a mean streak they shared.......or did they? Karla Homolka says she was a battered wife???? ( oh really??) Paul Bernado great looking guy with an urge to humiliate, rape and dominate killed three innocent young teenagers in the most dreadful way - his girlfriened ( Karla) sat by and watched! He then raped her kid sister while she watched and she held her down while he raped her. She also happened to help drug the young sister. Karla then married her sisters killer a few weeks later. Bizarre! disgusting! unbelievable but very very addictive. There are 3 books on this famous case this is the first and one of the best but the story is gruesome and impossible to believe. If you like true crime this book is amazing many of my friends have read it and agree it is one of the most incredible cases of modern day murder. Read and be amazed! shocked or even disgusted but you will be unable to put the book down.

A boy nicknamed loch and his sister zaidee are involuntarily going on an expedition to a Vermont lake to look for modern plesiosaurs with their father, Dr. Sam. Dr. Sam is a marine biologist, and he works for a despicable man named Mr. Cavenger. Loch doesn't think they will find anything, but then, loch discovers a baby Plesiosaur and the knowledge that Cavenger doesn't want to just find the creatures, but kill them. Zindel does a good job in telling an epic adventure with movie-like detail! Loch does have many horror elements to it such as the plesiosaur killing some people and some chilling descriptions of peoples remains being found after one of the dinosaurs were done killing them, but its more of an adventure to save the prehistoric creatures with the main characters, Loch and Zaidee. This is another one of Paul Zindels best works; it is everything that I read a book for. It seems to me that a book that is about sea horror is a lot better than any other book. I would give it 41/2 stars out of 5.

The best book I have ever read was Loch, by Paul Zindel. There are many reasons why, too. One of the best things about the book is all of the Loch Ness monsters. It is about this boy who sees the Loch Ness monster, and no one believes him, so they call him Loch. Loch is a sixteen-year-old kid that lives near Lake Champlain. His dad works for this really mean guy named Mr. Cavenger. When there is supposedly a sighting of anything that not many people have seen, he then goes and looks for it, and tries to catch it. Anyway, there was a sighting of something in the lake that connects to Lake Champlain. Cavenger gets all of his employees, including Loch's dad, to search for anything in the lake. They find one Loch Ness monster, and then some more until finally they find a whole family of them. Another reason this is a great book is because Loch finds a baby Loch Ness monster. Loch went to the other side of the lake where all of the monsters were. While scuba diving, he sees some signs that a Loch Ness monster has been there. He is following its tracks when he sees that the tracks turn a different direction. It was because it was pulled by an undertow, and so was the boy. It pulled him into some underwater caverns, and then over a waterfall into a large pond. There he found a baby Loch Ness monster. The final reason I like this book is the end. The end was really fantastic. I am not going to it to you though because I want you to read it and find out yourself. Those are some of the reasons why Loch is my favorite book.

Ryan Anderson

The best book I have ever read was Loch, by Paul Zindel. There are many reasons why, too. One of the best things about the book is all of the Loch Ness monsters. It is about this boy who sees the Loch Ness monster, and no one believes him, so they call him Loch. Loch is a sixteen-year-old kid that lives near Lake Champlain. His dad works for this really mean guy named Mr. Cavenger. When there is supposedly a sighting of anything that not many people have seen, he then goes and looks for it, and tries to catch it. Anyway, there was a sighting of something in the lake that connects to Lake Champlain. Cavenger gets all of his employees, including Loch's dad, to search for anything in the lake. They find one Loch Ness monster, and then some more until finally they find a whole family of them. Another reason this is a great book is because Loch finds a baby Loch Ness monster. Loch went to the other side of the lake where all of the monsters were. While scuba diving, he sees some signs that a Loch Ness monster has been there. He is following its tracks when he sees that the tracks turn a different direction. It was because it was pulled by an undertow, and so was the boy. It pulled him into some underwater caverns, and then over a waterfall into a large pond. There he found a baby Loch Ness monster. The final reason I like this book is the end. The end was really fantastic. I am not going to it to you though because I want you to read it and find out yourself. Those are some of the reasons why Loch is my favorite book.

My love affair with Paul Reiser's prose started with his debut, "Couplehood". I've recited his "What's for dinner, honey" bit from that gem at countless seminars. My colleagues love it! Well lucky for us Paul Reiser freaks, the laughs don't stop in the Large Print Edition of Babyhood. Once again, Paul Reiser delivers the comedic, heartfelt goods. Brutally honest, full of magical moments, and with a fine bold print that's not afraid to say "Look at me, I'm LARGE PRINT and proud of it." Paul, if you're reading this, thank you for once again dipping in to the beautiful well that is your mind and producing this wonderful, sweet book. And also for not forgetting us folks who enjoy LARGE PRINT.

My sister gave me this book about 2 months after I give birth to my first baby... I was dying for something good to read, spending so many long hours sitting around at home. THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT I COULD HAVE PICKED UP! I couldn't stop laughing, as I turned the pages. Everything is sooooo true, but that's what makes it all so funny! I love Paul Reiser's frank writing style. I read the book in two short days, and it's the kind of book that you can pick up and finish at any time.

I would recommend giving this to anyone who has just had a baby! It will be the best thing that they'll receive! :-)

Paul Reiser encapsulates the experience of having your first child perfectly. My wife and I had a little boy 4 months ago and are going through, or have gone through, everything that Reiser describes in hilarious detail. I consider this to be one of the funniest books I have ever read. Reiser is particularily adept at pointing out the funny things that a new parent thinks about and is traumatized by. I laughed out loud until my stomach hurt when he described what the baby is thinking and would be saying if they could talk...mainly because I had the same ideas!! I think that is the essence of why this book is such a great read. It speaks to the everyday, normal person and their experiences. If you have, or about to have, or know someone who has, or is about to have their first child...you must read this book!!!!

Pay VERY close attention: There are two versions of the book that look almost exactly the same on the outside but their contents are very different:
#1) "Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz, M.D.,F.I.C.S [1960 ISBN 0671700758]
#2) "Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz FOUNDATION & Bobbe Sommer [1993 ISBN 156731306X].

Make sure you get the original 1960 written by Maxwell himself. The 1993 "update" is so painful to read because the new author, Bobbe Sommer literally QUOTES Maxwell Maltz repeatedly while trying to add her own insightful messages. For example, on page 3 of her "update", she states:

"Whether we realize it or not," Maltz wrote, "each of us carries..."

Well, if you just read the original 1960's book, your eyeballs don't waste time on the "Maltz wrote" phrase altogether... duh!...because Maxwell was the one who wrote it!

The only reasons to endure Bobbe Sommer's endless "Maltz said....; Maltz learned that...; Maltz studied...; Maltz wrote...; Maltz realized..." is if she added some totally mindblowing ideas OR contradicted his work. In my opinion she didn't.

BTW, I was not prejudiced by reading the original first and then reading the 1993 update to see if it was any better; I actually (and unfortunately) read the 1993 book first. I thought the 1960 original was out of print but I accidentally stumbled on the original copy at Border's Books. I read a chapter and realized his true words were so much more inspirational. Not dry and academic like Bobbe Sommer's version. I think the publisher of the new book was deliberately trying to confuse the public by making the cover look the same as the old one. I think it's borderline unethical...buyer beware!

Apparently, Amazon's algorithm to link up user reviews with books is heavily based on the book's title. Most of the time, this works great when there's a paperback and a hardcopy version of the same book. But in this case, the 1960's book and the 1993 are completely different and should not point to the same user reviews! All the glowing reviews listed below? They are the same for both titles. You really don't know which book the reviewers were praising. I'm going to guess it's the 1960's version. See for yourself, plug in either ISBN #s and you'll get the identical list of user reviews.

BTW, this Amazon loophole gives me a great idea: I can write a new book about how to become a master at appraising and certifying jewelry like wedding bands and title it "Lord of the Rings"--and shazam--Amazon's engine will give my book the 5 stars and all the wonderful reviews of Tolkien's classic.

I give 5 stars for Maltz's 1960 original. I give 2 stars for Bobbe Sommer's update. Again, if the ISBN is 0671700758 click "add to cart". If it says ISBN 156731306X, try again.

Maxwell Maltz is gone, but he left a legacy for each of us. I first read this book upon graduating from college, the time most of us are wondering what to do with our lives. The thoughts, ideas and exercises in the book helped me to direct my life toward some seemingly "high" goals. That was almost twenty years ago. During the last year, I realized that most (if not all), of those goals had been realized and I was floating again (much like the stage after college). I re-read the book. Everything Maltz writes is as valid today as it was then. This is one book you keep, and re-read during times when you are wondering what to do next. It's not really a self-help book, it's a "How To" book for life.

There's something out there that causes you to act the way you do. I couldn't figure out what that was until I stumbled upon this book about 4 years ago and I'm still reccomending it to everyone. Filed under the self-help category, I would rather find this book in the "Insights into why I act the way I do" section.

This book covers human behavior, making us realize that we act exactly as we think we are. Dr. Maltz, as a plastic surgeon, demonstrated that with his magic wand, he transformed people's lives by making them "look better" in their own eyes which are the only eyes that matter.

This book has definately made a huge impact on me as I read it just before attending college. I'm sure you remember those years where you had everything figured out.

This book doesn't fill you up with empty promises. It simply tells you what you've already known for a long time, but maybe you were too busy to take time to develop what kind of person you want to be.

Plato's Republic is unquestionably the origin of philosophical lines of thought which are still undoubtedly relevant today. Written in dialogue form (i.e. like a discussion between many characters), the main exponent of the argument is Socrates, Plato's friend and mentor who was executed by the Athenian government - an event which led Plato to effectively denounce democracy as an impractical system. The Republic is the result of this denouncement: beginning with the philosophical question 'What is justice?', it proceeds to lay out the nature of the ideal state. Along the way, we are given Plato's legandary Theory of Forms, including the fantastically simple Simile of the Cave - a brilliant philosophical exposition of the difference between this world and the 'proper', 'real' world of which Earth is only a shadow. Desmond Lee's translation makes the very best of a particularly tricky task, and compromises on several key passages with effective authority. The main problem for the modern layman is in getting used to the Socratic form of argument in textual form - seeing Glaucon and Adeimantus answering with "Yes", "I agree" and "That's quite right" for 350-odd pages will drive anybody a little crazy after a while! That (very minor) nitpick aside, there are two excellent appendices regarding the philosophical passages in the text, plus a detailed bibliography for those who wish to follow up on the book. And it's worth it, believe you me.

Plato's Republic is unparalleled in its coverage of all areas of life. While Plato addresses metaphysical issues, he does so with language and analogies that most people can grasp with studious reading. But Plato talks about much more than metaphysics. Marriage, music, war, kings, procreation and more are all topics of discussion for Plato's dialog. In addition to the teachings about life, this book also offers a great introduction to philosophy. The famous "cave story" illustrates not only the purpose of philosophy, but also the inherent difficulties. While this book is absolutely necessary for students of philosophy and religion, I think there are golden truths for all people no matter what they do.

So, why this particular translation of the work? This translation offers the best ease in reading while mainting a tight grasp of the original Greek meanings of Plato's text. Besides, it isn't that expensive.

This book is clearly a timeless classic, and if you can't read classical Greek, this translation is probably the best you will get.

I've used this text for some time in my undergraduate courses, with great success. Waterfield's translation is accurate and scholarly, and the introduction and notes make this edition a perfect introduction to Plato's philosophy.

As for the value of the text itself, little needs to be said. Plato's Republic is one of the most important works in the history of philosophy, and every well-educated person ought to have read it at least once. There is some controversy among scholars over whether the work is primarily one of political philosophy or of moral psychology, but Plato perhaps did not draw these distinctions the way we do: one can certainly learn a great deal about both areas from reading this one work.

This book is one of a number of Professor Challenger adventures of Sir A. C. Doyle. A noted zoologist (Challenger) has come across evidence that there is a plateau in South America that can be reached from deep in the Amazon rain forest in which prehistoric animals still exist. An expedition of four (Challenger, a sceptical zoologist named Summerlee, a noted hunter (Lord John Roxton), and Edward Malone, a journalist) sets out to verify this report. The arguing and interactions between the academics is interesting in that little seems to have changed in the last 87 years! It should be noted that Doyle isolates the plateau so that there is minimal interaction with the rest of the rain forest (thus, the dinosaurs can't escape). But, why couldn't the ptereodactyls spread out? This story was one of the earliest "Lost World" tales and has been made into a film a number of times. Other stories in this sub-genre owe much to Doyle and Challenger.

Professor Challenger, a protagonist as unique and eccentric as Sherlock Holmes, "challenges" the London Zoological Society to send a team of impartial judges to verify his claims that dinosaurs live on a plateau in the Brazilian rain forest. Professor Summerlee, a staunch foe of Challenger, accepts the challenge. Lord John Roxton, a soldier and big game hunter, agrees to go along, and Edward Malone, a star rugby player and journalist, goes as their scribe.

The world they find is every bit as captivating as Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, and the danger is every bit as exhilarating. The characters are more engaging, and the story contains a good deal of humor as the four strong personalities clash a number of times on a number of levels.

There are no velociraptors to menace the adventurers, who have become hopelessly marooned, but a tribe of ape men serves quite well to provide the danger. It is a pleasure to have the English language used so well in describing the adventures of the four.

"The Lost World" is obviously the inspiration for Crichton's "Jurassic Park." Crichton may have modernized the story, but he certainly didn't improve it. Unfortunately, "The Lost World" reflects the ethnic insensitivity and "classism" of the Victorian Era, but if you can overlook that flaw, you will thoroughly enjoy the story.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a classic dinosaur adventure story when he wrote The Lost World in 1912. The tale's narrator, Ned Malone is a newspaper reporter who joins an expedition to the wilds of the Amazon to impress his girlfriend. However, he scarcely anticipates the dangers he will confront when the expedition's leader, zoology professor George Challenger takes them to a plateau filled with dinosaurs and ape men.
Doyle's human characters are described much more richly than Michael Crichton's minimally interesting protagonists in Jurassic Park (1990), so the story hinges as much on Challenger's eccentricities as it does on dinosaur attacks or Ned Malone's quest for validation of his masculine bravado. A weakness is the lack of female characters worthy of more than passing note. Ned's fickle and heartless girlfriend makes only brief and displeasing appearances at the beginning and end of the tale. Crichton does no better with females.
Hopp's Dinosaur Wars, published in 2000, does a much better take on genders, giving equal weight to a young male/female pair who brave the dangers of dinosaurs loose in modern-day Montana. It seems that even dinosaur fiction has evolved over the years.

Leviathan is a fascinating book, and it clips along at a very quick pace - I read it over the course of a couple of study halls. It cannot, however, hold a candle to a book such as The New York Trilogy (my favorite Auster novel, and the standard to which all others are compared). Leviathan is complex, but ends up feeling rushed, particularly the second half. The characters are well crafted, but are too frequently cast aside as the plot rushes forward. Auster needed to trim the book down, or expand upon it.

Despite the hurried feeling, Levithan is nonetheless a very interesting novel, and does a wonderful job of bringing up questions about America and the American citizen's identity within America. It is fitting that the book is dedicated to Don DeLillo, a writer who frequently confronts this sort of question in his work.

All in all, an excellent read. Despite the adrenaline rush, Leviathan is steeped in a sense of philosophical melancholy. Whether or not there is hope for America, Paul Auster proves there is hope for American literature.

Paul Auster is a blatantly theoretical novelist. He dissects and deconstructs literary genres and trends with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. But some accuse him of abandoning the delight of a story for a view from the ivory tower. I tend to disagree, for the most part, but offer up "Leviathan" as an example of an Auster book that's both a page-turner and a think-piece.

For po-mo lit-lovers, Auster is in fine form. His modus operandi of casting himself as the literary quasi-detective is in full effect here. Narrator Peter Aaron (check those initials) is married to lovely Iris (Auster is married to novelist *Siri* Hustvedt). He is a writer by trade. "My books are published... people read them, and I don't have any idea who they are... as long as they have my book in their hands, my words are the only reality that exists for them," he says, defensively.

The book he is currently writing -- and the book "you" are currently holding -- is an examination of his recently deceased friend, Benjamin Sachs ("Six days ago, a man blew himself up by the side of the road in Northern Wisconsin," reads the novel's enticing opening line). Sachs has enough vaguely roguish qualities to make "Leviathan" a fascinating picaresque. But he's also an idealist, and fiercely intelligent. He's a writer manque, whose first novel blew the critics away but was a failure with readers. Sachs is a character who exists mostly in absentia, periodically jumping back into Aaron's life to offer up enough details to tantalize his friend, and keep the reader off-balance. "Even though Sachs confided a great deal to me over the years of our friendship," Aaron says. "I don't claim to have more than a partial understanding of who he was. I can't dismiss the possibility that... the truth is quite different from what I imagine it to be." This is Auster playing with the concept of the unreliable narrator, only here the narrator is aware that he's unreliable. An interesting concept, that.

But "Leviathan" is not just conceptual. It's loaded with intriguing personalities, and a lot of implicit suspense. And Auster's habit of digressing from the story to discuss an interesting tangent yields at least one fascinating sequence. Sachs' novel, entitled "The New Colossus", is summarized by Aaron. Auster spares no expense, creating an appealing advertisement for a historical page-turner that doesn't exist. But within that summary he also explicates some of his own novel's grander themes.

The main one, and it's all over the place here, is America as a place of infinite possibilities for freedom but a failure in terms of realizing those possibilities. "America has lost its way," Aaron writes, when talking about the message of Sachs' book. "Thoreau was the one man who could read the compass for us, and now that he is gone, we have no hope of finding ourselves again." Further examination reveals that the Statue of Liberty, as an icon or just a concept, is "Leviathan's" dominant motif. It appears in Sachs' book and in a poignant memory from his childhood. The occasion of her hundredth birthday forms the background for the novel's great turning point. And if not for the Lady's presence, the climax of the book would be hokey and overwrought. As it is, she lends it dignity and class, amplifying its intensity and greatness.

Using spare but consequential prose, Auster has written another novel that straddles the line between pulp and intricate fiction. It never panders to the unintellectual audience, but also never dumbs itself down. And it reaches that fine balance with seemingly relative ease, a trademark of Auster's other works. Try this one first before jumping to "The New York Trilogy" or "The Music of Chance". I dare say you won't be disappointed.

Leviathan is the story of Benjamin Sachs, a writer and an ideologist, as told by his long time friend and fellow writer, Peter Aaron. As is revealed in the first few pages of the book, the story follows Sachs from the peak of his success, through a long decline and to his eventual untimely death. Like most of Paul Auster's other novels, "Leviathan" tells an intricate, convoluted and incredibly addictive story.

Paul Auster is a master writer. The book is both entertaining and thought provoking. The characters are deep, complex and well crafted. Auster is able to maintain a credible plot even while introducing some tenuous twists into it. Like many of Auster's other novels, "Leviathan" explores the impact of chance and of seemingly random events on the course of human life. Auster's recurring themes: doubt, desperation and the frailty of the human condition are a central topic of this book.

This is yet another masterpiece from one of the greatest writers of our time.

I believe that this book encompasses the time period with both dignity and deference. The brilliant writings of the character's feelings and their actions. This novel, for all those who love history and the Cold War, is an excellent read.

"Snow Wolf" is a novel by Glenn Meade about the assassination of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. I picked up this book a number of years ago when it was first out in paperback, and immediately the book ranked among my favorites. I read it again and again, enjoying it every time! The depth of historical detail and graphic picture of life in Stalinist Russia is amazing and very, very interesting. As a Russophile and amateur Russian-language student for many years, I found this book absolutely amazing! It definitely is historically accurate and I have no doubt it will rank among the best books you have ever read. Please pick up this book TODAY!!!!!

This has to be the best thriller of all time. Simply wonderful. The characters and the story live with you long after you'ver finished the book. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I have also just finished reading The Sands of Sakkara. It has a lot in common with Snow Wolf, I think--and it's another terrific read. Thank you, Mr Meade. You're better than anyone around in the thriller writing business. And far better than Clancy or Forsythe ( Frederick, not Bruce) Keep them coming!

As a play, "Othello" encompasses many things but more than anything else it is a study of pure evil. Although Othello is an accomplished professional soldier and a hero of sorts, he is also a minority and an outcast in many ways. As a Black man and a Moor (which means he's a Moslem), Othello has at least two qualities, which make him stand out in the Elizabethan world. He is also married to a Caucasian woman named Desdemona, which creates an undercurrent of hostility as evidenced by the derogatory remark "the ram hath topped the ewe".

Othello's problems begin when he promotes one of his soldiers, Michael Cassio as his lieutenant. This arouses the jealousy and hatred of one of his other soldiers, Iago who hatches a plot to destroy Othello and Michael Cassio. When Cassio injures an opponent in a fight he is rebuked, punished, and subsequently ignored by Othello who must discipline him and teach him a lesson. Iago convinces Desdemona to intervene on Cassio's behalf and then begins to convince Othello that Desdemona is in love with Cassio.

This is actually one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to watch because the audience sees the plot begin to unfold and is tormented by Othello's gradual decent into Iago's trap. As with other Shakespeare plays, the critical components of this one are revealed by language. When Othello is eventually convinced of Cassio's treachery, he condemns him and promotes Iago in his place. When Othello tells Iago that he has made him his lieutenant, Iago responds with the chilling line, "I am thine forever". To Othello this is a simple affirmation of loyalty, but to the audience, this phrase contains a double meaning. With these words, Iago indicates that the promotion does not provide him with sufficient satisfaction and that he will continue to torment and destroy Othello. It is his murderous intentions, not his loyal service that will be with Othello forever.

Iago's promotion provides him with closer proximity to Othello and provides him with more of his victim's trust. From here Iago is easily able to persuade Othello of Desdemona's purported infidelity. Soon Othello begins to confront Desdemona who naturally protests her innocence. In another revealing statement, Othello demands that Desdemona give him "the ocular proof". Like Iago's earlier statement, this one contains a double meaning that is not apparent to the recipient but that is very clear to the audience who understands the true origin of Othello's jealousy. Othello's jealousy is an invisible enemy and it is also based on events that never took place. How can Desdemona give Othello visual evidence of her innocence if her guilt is predicated on accusations that have no true shape or form? She can't. Othello is asking Desdemona to do the impossible, which means that her subsequent murder is only a matter of course.

I know that to a lot of young people this play must seem dreadfully boring and meaningless. One thing you can keep in mind is that the audience in Shakespeare's time did not have the benefit of cool things such as movies, and videos. The downside of this is that Shakespeare's plays are not visually stimulating to an audience accustomed to today's entertainment media. But the upside is that since Shakespeare had to tell a complex story with simple tools, he relied heavily on an imaginative use of language and symbols. Think of what it meant to an all White audience in a very prejudiced time to have a Black man at the center of a play. That character really stood out-almost like an island. He was vulnerable and exposed to attitudes that he could not perceive directly but which he must have sensed in some way.

Shakespeare set this play in two locations, Italy and Cypress. To an Elizabethan audience, Italy represented an exotic place that was the crossroads of many different civilizations. It was the one place where a Black man could conceivably hold a position of authority. Remember that Othello is a mercenary leader. He doesn't command a standing army and doesn't belong to any country. He is referred to as "the Moor" which means he could be from any part of the Arab world from Southern Spain to Indonesia. He has no institutional or national identity but is almost referred to as a phenomenon. (For all the criticism he has received in this department, Shakespeare was extrordinarlily attuned to racism and in this sense he was well ahead of his time.) Othello's subsequent commission as the Military Governor of Cypress dispatches him to an even more remote and isolated location. The man who stands out like an island is sent to an island. His exposure and vulnerability are doubled just as a jealous and murderous psychopath decides to destroy him.

Iago is probably the only one of Shakespeare's villains who is evil in a clinical sense rather than a human one. In Kind Lear, Edmund the bastard hatches a murderous plot out of jealousy that is similar to Iago's. But unlike Iago, he expresses remorse and attempts some form of restitution at the end of the play. In the Histories, characters like Richard III behave in a murderous fashion, but within the extreme, political environment in which they operate, we can understand their motives even if we don't agree with them. Iago, however, is a different animal. His motives are understandable up to the point in which he destroys Michael Cassio but then they spin off into an inexplicable orbit of their own. Some have suggested that Iago is sexually attracted to Othello, which (if its true) adds another meaning to the phrase "I am thine forever". But even if we buy the argument that Iago is a murderous homosexual, this still doesn't explain why he must destroy Othello. Oscar Wilde once wrote very beautifully of the destructive impact a person can willfully or unwittingly have on a lover ("for each man kills the things he loves") but this is not born out in the play. Instead, Shakespeare introduces us to a new literary character-a person motivated by inexplicable evil that is an entity in itself. One of the great ironies of this play is that Othello is a character of tragically visible proportions while Iago is one with lethally invisible ones.

Jealousy is perhaps the ugliest of emotions, an acid that corrodes the heart, a poison with which man harms his fellow man. Fortunately for us, Shakespeare specializes in ugly emotions, writing plays that exhibit man at his most shameful so we can elevate ourselves above the depths of human folly and watch the carnage with pleasure and awe.

In "Othello," the "green-eyed monster" has afflicted Iago, a Venetian military officer, and the grand irony of the play is that he intentionally infects his commanding general, Othello, with it precisely by warning him against it (Act 3, Scene 3). Iago has two grievances against Othello: He was passed over for promotion to lieutenant in favor of the inexperienced Cassio, and he can't understand why the Senator's lily-white daughter Desdemona would fall for the black Moor. Not one to roll with the punches, he decides to take revenge, using his obsequious sidekick Roderigo and his ingenuous wife Emilia as gears in his transmission of hatred.

The scheme Iago develops is clever in its design to destroy Othello and Cassio and cruel in its inclusion of the innocent Desdemona. He arranges (the normally temperate) Cassio to be caught by Othello in a drunken brawl and discharged from his office, and using a handkerchief that Othello had given Desdemona as a gift, he creates the incriminating illusion that she and Cassio are having an affair. Othello falls for it all, and the tragedy of the play is not that he acts on his jealous impulses but that he discovers his error after it's too late.

It is a characteristic of Shakespeare that his villains are much more interesting and entertaining than his heroes; Iago is proof of this. He's the only character in the play who does any real thinking; the others are practically his puppets, responding unknowingly but obediently to his every little pull of a string. In this respect, this is Iago's play, but Othello claims the title because he -- his nobility -- is the target.

Othello relects the true meaning of a tragedy both in its content and its structure.Tragedy is 'a story of exceptional calamity produced by human actions, leading to the death of a man in high estate.'The downfall of Othello is caused by his own actions, rather than by his character, or rather the two work in unison to create the stage for his downfall.
This is what captured my attention when I read this play.It is very profound to realize the fact that Shakespeare uses Iago to set this stage on which Othello is a mere player.
I love the character of Iago. His total confidence, the superiority that he feels when psychoanalysing human nature, his rational thinking and intellectualism sways the reader to think: 'Wow, this is a compelling and sophisticated man we're dealing with here!'
However, my admiration of Iago does not in anyway undermine my love of Othello. His poetic and calm demeanor makes the reader feel the pity and terror for him when he falls from grace (catharsis). Yet, we are made to understand that the reason why he is made to appear a gullible and ignorant fool to some readers is that he does not have any knowledge of a delicate, domesticated life. Venetian women were foreign to him. This tragic flaw in Othello added to the circumstances used by Iago to destroy him.
The meaning, and hence the tragedy of the play is conveyed through the use of Shakespeare's language, style, literary devices and imagery. Without these dramatic effects, readers would never be able to enjoy the play as much, although the dialogue is at times difficult to decipher.
I thoroughly enjoyed Othello and it is my hope that more people find it enticing as I have. I would be delighted to contribute more of my reviews to that effect.