The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is an inspiring tale of knightly honor and chivalry. Though famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in writing The White Company, produced an extremely vivid account of the horrors of medieval warfare, while mixing in moments of humor to create an inspirational and highly enjoyable tale.
The protagonist, Alleyne Edricson, is a young man come fresh from the monastery to explore the world and all it has to offer, as his father had wished. Soon after leaving the monastery, Alleyne meets a beautiful young lady and her father, Sir Nigel Loring. Alleyne then becomes squire to Sir Nigel, a humorous and highly respected knight, and the adventure begins. While fighting abroad, Alleyne proves himself to be a worthy suitor for the lovely Lady Maude, Sir Nigel's daughter, and returns from the war as a courageous and honored knight to marry her.
Though the characters are at times two-dimensional, Doyle does a superb job of endearing them to the reader and enabling the reader to feel as if he or she really knows the characters. The White Company, an escape fiction novel, is an excellent example of formula fiction. The characters are mostly stock, and the ending is a happy one. The worthy hero rescues the damsel in distress, loses her for a while, but returns to win back her love. Even though the novel contains some flat characters and stereotypes, a dose of reality is present in the horror of war portrayed by Doyle.
This account of knights, war, and fair ladies is permeated with the theme of honor. The code of chivalry for medieval knights is a well-developed theme presented by Doyle. This valuable theme mixed with an enjoyable and funny story makes this novel unique. The White Company is a well-written, interesting book and I recommend reading it.

This book is a companion to Sir Nigel. The The White Company was written before Sir Nigel; however, Sir Nigel (Nigel Loring) is set earlier and should be read first. Although famous for Sherlock Homes, Doyle was knighted for his historical novels of which these are two. Both books are excellent for young people forming their characters.

This books is definitely the stuff of childhood dreams and imagination. Who among you can say they have never imagined themselves playing the part of the intrepid knight battling injustice or the damsel awaiting the return of his true love? The book follows the progress of an adventurous monk that has left the cloister and hitched his wagon to Sir Nigel's White Company, a group of English mercenaries seeking fight and fortune in France and Spain. Those young at heart will especially enjoy this tale. It is gripping without being brutal but with the endearing quality of a bed time or fireside tale.

I read 'The City And The Stars' at the tender age of eleven or twelve. Nearly thirty years and many thousands of books later it still ranks as perhaps the greatest science-fiction book of all time.

The story opens with a wonderful description of what could be a possible future for humanity. After spending long millenia trying to explore the solar system, the Universe, and infinately greater intellegences reach the earth, and man is forced to look at his role in the Universe, and closely at himself. having risen to this challenge, mankind perfects both himself and machines, then reaches out to the stars once more, not merely joining the races with whom he once could barely understand, but leading them to the accomplishemnt of the ultimate goal.

The city of the title is the last vestigal remnant of humanity in the solar system, so long-lived and safety concious that they no longer wish to explore the universe, or indeed, even their own small planet.

The story is that of Alvin, the first child born on Earth for many thousands of years, who finds he does not share the fears of his fellow humans and vows to explore the world. His story unfolds in beautiful detail, and leads to an exciting and unexpected conclusion.

Along the way Clarke invents such radical concepts as computers with 'eternity circuits' which are immortal and can render immortal anything in their care, Gestalt entities composed of millions of unicellular polyps, which each individually live and die, but which collectively challenge eternity with undying intellegence, and a mind completely independent of matter.

The book is an ultimate work of art from the master himself. Read and enjoy!

I have read everyones review of this book on Amazon, and its good to see I'm not the only one who thinks this is the best science fiction novel of all time (and it ranks up there with any other fiction as well). Clarke is famous for his Odyessey series and the Rama series, but this is his master work. He captures the vastness of space and time perfectly (better than any other book I have read) with this novel, and that is why even though I have read it over ten times already I still don't get tired of it.

Despite the poor second chapter and an ending that is a collection of loose ends, the book surpasses 2001 Space Odyssey in the reach of its ideas. This is vintage Science Fiction coming from an age when SF was more about intriguing ideas than the polished story telling genre it now is.The prologue transports the reader to a time a billion years hence, to Diaspar the city that was built to be perfect -- forever.

A recapitulation of Schopenhauer's key ideas, such as the vanity of earthly existence and the suffering in the world, along with some engrossing sections on suicide, religion and psychology. The notorious essay on women, I must say, contains some hilarious views which some may now find backward but - (and I dare say this!) - I found myself perfectly in agreement with Schopenhauer with regards to the character of the weaker sex. Otherwise the wit, the erudition, the breadth of scope, are all the marks of a truly great mind and an undisputed master of prose style. I wouldn't recommend this abridged version, though, since it grubbily truncates the essays and the final effect is altogether diluted. However, if one can't get hold of the unabridged one, this edition is an entertaining enough read and deserves a glance.

arthur schopenhauer is, without a doubt, one of the most important, poetic, talented, brilliant, and also humorously misanthropic thinkers to ever live. his writing is so brilliant that i have trouble understanding that why his greatest admirer friedrich nietzsche is so much more well known and constantly discussed than he is. i would say that they are both on the same par, ingenious equals who are indispensable in terms of philosophical greatness and force of personality. these essays and aphorisms are so vivid and beautifully written that not only is the attentive reader riveted by his thoughts and theories, but even temporarily convinced by his extreme cynicism and pessimism? i am one of those who see schopenhauer's dark view of life and the world as less temperamental and more grounded in reality than many scholars and biographers of the man like to admit. schopenhauer is perhaps, along with nietzsche and other monumental evolutionary thinkers like bergson and stirner, one of the most prophetic and simply gigantic men to ever live. he is, as the back of this particular edition of his aphorisms and essay says, "aware that everything might not be all for best." no false optimism or transcendentalism here, and no sugary coating on the disturbing truths of man's isolation and confusion in a universe that seems to be purposeless, indifferent, and entirely ephemeral. he rails bitterly against the majority of human beings with the hatred and resentment of one who, as a result of his brilliance and intellectual genius, been ostracized and at times actively abused by the more mediocre and less passionate masses all through his life. schopenhauer's greatest and most vital characteristic is his uncompromising intellectual integrity and his refusal to ignore the very real and in fact almost immobilizing fact of horrendous evil and senseless, unjustified human suffering. his philosophy of renunciation and asceticism, which he in no way actually lived or practiced personally, is the only flaw or inconsistency i can find in his work, and like nietzsche i would say that it is the result of weakness and lack of courage rather than logical thinking or supposed 'objectivity'. also unique is schopenhauer's stubborn belief and recognition that only the present actually exists, and that 'the future' is an illusory projection we create to make up for the inevitable and inescapable dissatisfaction and perpetual disillusion with the here and now. he doesn't offer any fictitious solutions or illusions of salvation which cannot be verified empirically, and he exhorts the individual to stand apart from the crowd of people and realize their potential while understanding that he or she will never attain to what the majority of people pursue frantically, perfect happiness. "in this existence, in which no perfect state exists and satisfaction can only be relative and minimal, we must aim less for the delusion of positive pleasure and more for the securing of our safety and the careful avoidance of suffering or impoverishment." truer words have never been spoken. it is, as with all legendary artists and thinkers, as if arthur schopenhauer is sitting in your room and talking to you himself--such is the power of his incredibly accurate and poignant commentary on our existence and it's ultimate meaninglessness and emptiness.

Why don't they teach this stuff in school? I'd have lived a better life. Btw, Hollingdale is superb as always - notes are plentiful and helpful, and introduction is very informative, yet concise, it doesn't rival the book itself as far as the volume (a very rare event.) I hear that it's abridged, well, that's probably good as a beginning for those not trained in philosophy. I'm moving on to the world as will etc.

This book has strong word-of-mouth press, as well as a glowing review from the First Aid book. Its thickness is intimidating, especially for the BRS series, but the pages aren't too dense, so that it can be covered in its entirety in four days or less. Without having compared it to its competitors, I can still say that it does cover just about everything necessary to study pathology. Sometimes the book is a little skimpy on details that, in my own case, were filled in by previous overlapping study through other subjects.

A more substantive complaint is that the book is in dire need of an update: it was published in 1993. For example, the sections on lymphoma classifications and HIV treatment are hopelessly outdated. Along the same lines, the questions at the end of each section and the comprehensive exam at the end don't reflect the current USMLE testing style. For one thing, about 70% of the questions in this book are phrased negatively, as in "all of the following are true, EXCEPT...". For another, many of the questions are quite a bit pickier than my experience with the USMLE step 1 (three days ago).

The book also contains far too few photomicrographs, and those are all black and white, but this can be remedied easily with supplemental materials.

Pathology is one of the hardest and longest subjects in medical school, and when finally you are on the other side thinking you wouldn't dare to take the course again, USMLE comes...... but fortunately, the Lord has inspired this people to write this excellent book. With key essentials, friendly text, excellent organization, handy review questions and a comprehensive exam, I just wish I had this book during my course of pathology. If you don't want to get admitted in a mental institution when reviewing pathology for the USMLE step 1, well....then what are you waiting for buying this book.

This book provides a good outline of pathology by organ systems. Useful as an overview of pathology for medical school classes, and tremendously helpful for Step 1 of the USMLE.

Wittgenstein's first published work. Should be as famous for Russell's misunderstanding of it, made obvious in his introduction, as for it's effect on the positivists and modern philosophical logic. Absolutely essential reading for studying Wittgenstein's later work. The Investigations can be read as a refutation of the Tractatus, and thereby, as a refutation of much of contemporary philosophy of language. While Wittgenstein doesn't help his readers with either references or explanatory preamble, the effort of reading this book will be well rewarded to anybody studying contemporary issues in philosophical logic, philosophy of language or philosophy of science. Whatismore, Wittgenstein's poetic style is a joy to read and many of his aphorisms will come back to you in other studies.

Those not familiar with the proprositional calculus may not like the symbolic logic involved, but it is worth understanding because it is quite simple and makes the rest of the text very easily understandable. Wittgenstein's most important terms like 'elementary proposition' come essentially from viewing natural languages as an imperfect version of the propositional calculus. This idea is quite wrong, in fact even Wittgenstein himself was struck by his own naivety in believing that all language did was put forward propositions capable of truth or falsity. His later view that to understand language you must look at it, seems blindingly obvious, but he was just reacting to the general view of the logical positivist who only saw meaning in propositions capable of truth or falsity, which does not in any way match up with how we actually use language in everyday life. The idea of "pictoral form", a mysterious connection between the object relations of the real world, and the grammatical structure of the sentence is a beautiful and impressive idea, but lacks any real grounding in fact.

Many would disagree, but I say ignore the numbered paragraphs and just read it through, Wittgenstein was just using a technique he learnt from engineering textbooks, and the structure doesn't help understanding. Many people will be frustrated by the lack of argument, and its almost biblical tone, but trust me, anyone familiar with Wittgenstein's life will know that he thought over these problems for a long time.

Philosophical Investigations is a more important work, but shares nearly all the concerns of the Tractacus. Read the section in the Investigations on broomsticks and logical atomism, it will show the bankruptcy and arbitraryness of atomism in linguistic practise.

Wittgenstein is the all-time father of logical philosophy, save Bertrand Russell. Read Russell, Whitehead and Frege if you want to get into complex mathematical formulas and neverending inquiries, but read Wittgenstein for better understanding. Wittgenstein showed his genius of analytical and logical philosophy in TLP. (As well as his genius of analyzing linguistic philosophy. C'est parfait!

I didn't like to read any books before, but after I have read this book , I become more and more interested in reading. I started to have motivation to read as many books as in my life.
" A Study in Scarlet " ( written by Conan Doyle ) is the first full-length novel appearance of Sherlock Holmes. And I know Sherlock Holmes is very famous detective in fiction. Therefore, I choose this book.I like Holmes's deduction the most. He has great power in observation and understanding in all types of crime. He is full of knowledge that can help him to solve the problem and he likes violin and opera. If his brain contains anything apart from these , he must try to forget them all as quick as possible.

I am quite interested in mystery. If you don't know which book is good to read , try to read the story about Sherlock Holmes . You must like it .

A Study in Scarlet is a good detective story, but certainly not Doyle's greatest. But it bears the distinction of being the novel which introduced the world to the legendary Sherlock Holmes. First appearing in 1887, it was not to be the greatest story about Sherlock Holmes, but it was the first. Doyle first introduces us to John H. Watson, a medical doctor recovering from duty in Afghanistan. Watson needs a room-mate, and a mutual acquaintance introduces both him and us to Holmes. So we come to know both Holmes, Watson, and the memorable 221B Baker Street.

Watson's first impressions of Holmes are merely that he is a man enshrouded in mystery and eccentricity, and Watson politely restrains his curiosity by avoiding asking too many intrusive questions, despite the parade of strange individuals that come to their apartment to consult Holmes, and despite his bemusement at Holmes' passion for playing the violin and his egotism. Watson's perplexation at Holmes' character and profession is slowly unravelled in the second chapter which Doyle appropriately titles 'The Science of Deduction'. Watson observes that 'his zeal for certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me 'His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing ' That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.'(p11). Holmes apparently is brilliant at identifying a stain on your trousers, but completely ignorant about the most elementary contemporary political events.

Ironically, Watson's inability to deduce Holmes' profession proves that he lacks the very ability that he is seeking to uncover in Holmes: deduction. For Holmes doesn't just excel in specialized knowledge, but especially in the science of deduction and logic. By utilizing the skills of observation and analysis Holmes asserts that logic could solve all virtually all problems. In his words: 'From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it. Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches on where to look and what to look for. By a mans' finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirtcuffs ' by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable.' (p14-15). Watson calls this science of deduction 'ineffable twaddle', but as we know, this is the vintage Holmes we love and the very core of his being. Not only does he prove it to Watson by remarkably deducing that Watson had served duty in Afghanistan, but by collaring the criminal in a murder case.

The story itself consists in two parts: the first part introduces us to Holmes and Watson, and describes the murder of Enoch Drebber and his secretary Joseph Stangerson, and several failed attempts of Scotland Yard detectives to solve it, concluding with Holmes unmasking the real perpetrator, to the complete astonishment of all present. The second part is a flashback, explaining the background and motives for the murder, as finally Holmes relates the observations and deductions that led him to solving it. In short, 'the crime was the result of an old-standing and romantic feud, in which love and Mormonism bore a part.' (p103)

But what is fascinating about 'A Study in Scarlet' is not so much the mystery, but the man: Holmes himself. Doyle would later learn to eliminate some of the excess baggage present in this story (such as the extended flashback) and focus on Holmes and his deductions. The characterization of Holmes as an eccentric man driven by logic is wonderfully created for the first time in this novel. Already here is the foundation of the Sherlock Holmes that would become so successful in all of Doyle's later stories. A few quotes illustrate how the tone of the deductive Holmes is set: 'In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much.' (p99-100) 'There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.' (p100) 'You see, the whole thing is a chain of logical sequences without a break or flaw.' (p102)

Here the successful formula is already established: Scotland Yard is baffled, so is his foil the bumbling doctor Watson, and so are we the readers. Holmes has long solved the mystery before we have even begun identifying red herrings, and it is when he sits by the fire and explains to Watson the process of deduction that we curl up in delight. The partnership between the super-sleuth Holmes and his beloved side-kick Watson all starts here, and if you love Sherlock Holmes, you won't want to miss it!

Dr. John Watson, invalided out of the army because of wounds sustained in Afghanistan, is looking for a roommate. He finds one in the person of Sherlock Holmes, a rather odd individual who displays astounding depth of knowledge in some areas and abysmal ignorance in others. Despite (or perhaps because of) his uneven education, Holmes displays acute powers of observation and deduction. Watson also finds Holmes to be a talented boxer, fencer, and violinist who conducts noxious chemistry experiments and entertains strange guests. Watson is mystified, but being too polite to ask blunt questions, he unsuccessfully tries to deduce what the devil his new friend is up to.

All becomes clear when Watson is called on to assist Holmes as he solves a murder mystery which completely baffles Scotland Yard. The story moves quickly to the inevitable capture of the "bad guy," and then through a lengthy flashback sequence we discover the "bad guy's" motive. Next we return to the "present," where the story draws to its satisfying conclusion.

Thus begins a crimefighting partnership that Conan Doyle took through four novels and fifty six short stories. And long after Conan Doyle put down his pen forever, the parternship continues to thrive in countless theatrical performances, radio plays, movies, and literary pastiches.

I was looking for a nice diary book to read with a story or character that I could easily follow. I was quite disappointed to find that stories were out of order (due to changes by people other than the author, after the book went into 'publication'). There are also so many footnotes, that are all listed at that back of the book, so there is lots of flipping back and forth. In addition, the footnotes take up 120 pages, not including the additional 40 odd pages of maps or other additional information.

This body of the text is very poetic, and you can feel a strong sense of character from the author. There is also a wealth of information and knowledge that is in the text pertaining to the time frame of heian times in japan.

But unless you are studying japanese culture, or history, this would not be my top recommendation for a memoir sort of read.

I do like pieces of the material alot, but just find that above forementioned things take away from enjoying the body of work, as it was written.

I would like to disagree with the last reviewer and stress that Sei Shonagon was certainly not a highly intelligent statue and she was not particularly zen either. Shonagon was a lively wit and intellect, known for her erudition and scholarship. The thing that I found most wonderful about the Pillow Book was not its serene contemplation of nature, which was often a literary conceit in Heian times, but rather her robust enjoyment of life. In the Tale of Genji, the Gossamer Diary, and the Sarashina Diary, you find disappointed women, unhappy with the way their lives turned out and often betrayed by their men. Although several lovers are hinted at in the Pillow Book, Shonagon never lets anything get her down. The time she describes was probably not a happy time, her patron, the Empress was suffering due to lack of political support, and Shonagon's own future must have looked bleak. However, she never falls into self pity and rather treats us to a delightful look through the eyes of an extremely intelligent and realistic woman. Her description of the worst lover ever is hilarious today. I've read it to friends of mine who have never read any other Heian literature and it made them laugh. Shonagon's keen observations and ready wit shine through after a thousand years and a translation. It stands as a testament to the fact that somethings, love, laughter, friendship, and the relations between men and women never change.

I have just completed a reading of Ivan Morris' translation of the Sei Shonagon Pillow Book and I cannot reccoment it enough. What is striking about the literature of Heian era Japan is not only that the great majority of it was produced by brilliant women, but that the parallels between the ancient human condition and that of the modern are amazing. Reading about the joys and annoyances in the life the brilliant and quick witted Sei Shonagon are comfortingly familiar. In comparison to other literature of the time it is also an extremely candid look at a fascinating civilization. What sets Shonagon apart from her contermporaries is her ability to express uncensored opinions that are both hillarious, beautiful, and heartbreaking. She does not show the aversion to boldness that some of her (though equally brilliant) sisters of the ancient courts demonstrate. All the writing of this era is fascinating and becoming unfortunately harder to find (eg - the out of print status of the beautiful Izumi Shikibu Diary - Nikki) If anything, purchase this book to keep the brilliant voices of women past alive in our hearts, minds and presses today!

To update my previous comments, though I still haven't gotten this book in the series, I did obtain #1 (Terror Castle) and #6 (Skeleton Island), and I was pleasantly surprised that my boys, aged 10 and 8, both love these books as well as Animorphs! This was a consistently exciting and entertaining series. Mr. Spock-like genius Jupiter Jones, research specialist Bob, and athletic but nervous Pete were the original ghostbusters, in sneakers, hired by the famous English scary-movie director Hector Sebastian (read as "Alfred Hitchcock," who played this role in the series' original run) to investigate various haunted locales and mysterious phantasms to appear in his films. The stories are well-written and age-appropriate for juveniles. The characterizations are strong (as opposed to the Hardy's, who I couldn't tell apart), the dialogue is witty, and almost every chapter ends with a breath-taking cliffhanger. Quite simply, if you know a young man aged 8--12 who reads a little bit, I can almost guarantee you'll make him an avid reader with one of these wonderful books. One warning--be prepared to be bugged by the young man to buy more books in the series!

I was in fourth grade when I first read this book. It spurred my interest in reading. Three high-school age boys use an abandoned trailor, in a salvage yard owned by one of the boy's Uncle, as the headquarters for their private investigating firm. Think Hardy Boys meets Scooby Doo, without the slapstick of a talking dog. The boys always find a creepy mystery to solve. It appealed to the part of me that liked Saturday afternoon horror movies and adventure stories. There is nothing too gruesom here for a young reader. And the mysterious adventures would appeal to any young boy with a taste for ghost stories and monster mysteries. This is the seventies worthy pre-cursor to the Goosebumps series. This book is the first in a series of over 20 books. And the titles by Robert Arthur, the original author, are the best. It is a shame these books are out of print. They are perfect for any boy age 9 to 14.

While I did not find this story quite as satisfying as the previous three books in the Three Investigators series, it featured some of the most compelling scenes thus far. The chapters describing the boys' dangerous flight through a maze of old mines and caves had me squirming in my seat. Being a claustrophobic-type person, I found Arthur's descriptions of the tight squeezes through spaces barely large enough for a youngster to be quite harrowing and intense. That part of the story really "made" this book for me. While the mystery of the green ghost is fascinating and interesting, I just did not find the conclusion to be 100% believable, although it is certainly adequate and in step with the details of the case. The plot itself basically has two story lines converging into one; while there was some danger of the two story lines not intersecting properly at times, Arthur managed to overcome these potential pitfalls and keep the plot on an even keel. It may be that a youngster reading this book (or having it read to him/her) might get a little confused as the story begins wrapping up, but I don't think such confusion would detract from his/her enjoyment of the book. As I said, the description of the mines was just intense and should produce some pretty wide-opened eyes in youngsters (and adults) following the action. Any parent reading this book to a child should certainly anticipate some "just one more chapter" and "can you leave the light on?" remarks around bedtime.

While Original Story By does contain a number of interesting anecdotes and some fascinating backstage information on a number of the shows and movies he was involved with, it remains ultimately inaccessible. Arthur Laurents writes in a very stream of conciousness style, which makes following the exact timeline of events and productions difficult. Also, because he is effectively covering his life more than his work, some of your specific questions about his work may be glossed over or ignored altogether. If you have interest in Arthur Laurents, you may want to skim this book for interesting information, but don't count on finding everything you're looking for.

I wish I could say this is a good book, because I truly like and admire Arthur Laurents-- his work, his intelligence, his integrity. But "Original Story By" is unevenly written. Some paragraphs are so poorly put together they require rereading and even then the author's meaning remains obscure. The book is full of interesting gossip-- almost too much... however rather little is revealed about the author himself. What I liked best was the description of how stage productions and motion pictures are creatively formed-- how they can be so easily sabotaged by an unsympathetic director, self-centered actors, profit motivated changes and cuts. Under these circumstances, it's truly amazing and rare when everything can come together and result in great theatre and film.

Arthur Laurents' professional life has taken him from obscurity to the highs of Hollywood to the highs of Broadway. And personally, he obviously always felt that a lover was more important than a hit. Laurents pulls no punches. He takes the reader on a journey like none other I've read about: having worked with almost every big (and little) name in the theatre and film, he lets us in on backstage drama and trauma. And he tells how he survived. As to his personal life, it is ALMOST as heady as his writing career. His story is informative and exciting and romantic and funny and moving. This is a MUST READ. 400 pages goes by in a flash.

I love The Tale of Genji, but this edition has its flaws.

The hardcover is easily stained, and the black center easily rubs off and gets everywhere, not to mention it makes the book look incredibly beat up. (if you think the paperback is a solution, don't. A paperback of this size shouldn't even be touched.) I've only had mine for a year and it already looks like I've owned it for twenty. It isn't like I trashed it either - I always take very good care of my books.

I'm rather ambivalent about the quality of the translation. On the one hand, having read Waley's translation, Seidenstickers seems to be the one that is truer to Murasaki's original - he adds no extra language to what she was trying to say - however I have come across a few sentences that are obviously faulted, as they make absolutely no sense. Being very few in number, it hardly presents a problem, but never the less, it can cause some minor confusion.

Now, the story itself. The Tale of Genji is over 1000 years old. I must say it is simply fascinating just to own a copy of a piece of history. The Tale of Genji is incredibly captivating and haunting, beautiful and at times difficult to follow - but that makes it all the more enjoyable. You almost have to study it if you wish to fully understand it - and I'm a scholarly type, so I at least find that enjoyable.

All I would really say in warning is that you should have at least a bit of an understanding of Japanese and ancient Japanese culture - because the behavior of the characters, particularly the men, might rub the average westerner the wrong way.

The poor durability of the cover and the few sentence flawes forced me to take off a star. At least the sentences don't make any real difference, or it would be horrid. I myself plan to own all the translations of the Tale of Genji, so this is a must. And even if you are not, it is not a bad buy at all. Just make sure you take extra, extra care of it. :)

A longtime admirer of Murasaki Shikibu's exceptional work, I fell in love with Genji first through Arthur Waley's translation, which made this admittedly exotic novel accessible to non-Japanese readers. Curious to know more about the Heian period and culture, I acquired Ivan Morris's tremendously helpful and readable "The World of the Shining Prince." Then I discovered Edward Seidensticker's superb rendering of "The Tale of Genji," and have read and re-read that version with deepening understanding and enjoyment. Seidensticker, while presumably adhering closer to the language of the original (which even modern Japanese find difficult to read), gave us a translation which is perfumed by the sensuous beauty of what must have been a truly refined and special time and place (albeit a very limited one).

Now comes Royall Tyler's superb effort, which comes with myriad and very helpful details: each chapter starts with an explanation of the chapter title, how the section relates to previous chapters and the cast of characters. There are also generous appendices including a chronology of events in the novel and a glossary. Line drawings throughout the two volumes (also present in Seidensticker) provide helpful visual clues as to dress and architecture. Tyler's effort seems even closer to the original language, and thereby lies the problem.

This version unnecessarily burdens the reader with ever-changing nomenclature. Since in the original characters are known by their rank-names, and Tyler (mostly) adheres to this usage, the reader is challenged to keep up with the changes. Put the book down for a day or two and you will feel quite lost for several minutes when you restart. As an aide, the translator does provide footnotes to clue you in, but this just makes things more awkward and tedious. For example, at the start of Chapter 43, "Red Plum Blossom" in Tyler's version: "There was in those days a gentleman known as the Inspector Grand Counselor, the late Chancellor's second son, hence the younger brother of the Intendant of the Watch (1)" This same sentence in Seidensticker reads: "Kobai, the oldest surviving son of the late To no Chujo, was now Lord Inspector." How much more to the point!

To conclude, while Tyler's translation is awesome in its scholarship and abundant detail (including sources of the poetry), it is also much less readable. To my mind, the scholarship gets in the way of the story telling. I found myself longing for my Seidensticker at many turns as I went dutifully through the Tyler. Aside from providing a more continuous flow to the story, I also found that Seidensticker's translation of the many poems in the tale more comprehensible and lyrical.

If you are new to this literary masterpiece, you will find the Waley translation the most accessible. If you get hooked on the work, you will probably want the other two. If you must have only one version, however, go with Seidensticker.

If you are reading this it is probably because you have enjoyed Liza Dalby's "Tale of Murasaki" and are wondering if you can handle something of this size. Or perhaps you are already familiar with the scintillating Waley or Seidensticker translations (also worth acquiring and reading) and curious as to why Tyler has even bothered to produce another one. In fact, even in Japan there have been several recent attempts to render the obscure language of the Heian Court into modern Japanese. Junichiro Tanizaki, for example, managed the feat twice. With such a precedent Tyler therefore, perhaps, needs no justification. Anyway, what you need to know is that the new translation surpasses Seidensticker's in being faithful to the poetic economy of Murasaki's prose (though "economy" here still leaves room for some marvellously glutinous, clause-laden sentences) and even succeeds in maintaining the shifting identities of the characters (which change when they receive promotion within the court) without leaving the reader lost. There are also some wonderful and irreverent moments, such as when Tyler has the libidinous Genji complain "I'm not out for hanky panky; all I want to do is sit for a while on her creaky veranda." But the main thing is that this translation is utterly absorbing, wonderfully readable, and as difficult to put down as many a bestselling novel I have come across. It will guarantee around two months of enjoyment to those who like a good psychological story and therefore represents excellent value, even in hardback. For me personally it is simply the best novel I have read and I recommend this translation without any reservations.