...Which pave the road to mediocrity, a writer's hell. Though it isn't terrible, "Democracy" is little more than a could-have-been in all respects. It has interesting ideas and competent writing, so the potential was there. The problem, as is so often the case, is in the novel's execution.

The idea that power corrupts is an old one, and it is obviously the main point of Henry Adams' novel. His intention seems to be to portray the lengths to which those in power will go to acquire more power, and how the lust for power is certain to deaden one's sense of morality. Unfortunately, Adams would have done better to write an essay on the subject rather than attempt to weave it into a fictional novel, for the author waxes too moralistic on his theme, rather than stepping back and allowing the characters to make his point for him. This does more harm than simply annoying the reader with value judgments; the story itself becomes so transparent and predictable, that it seems a mere vehicle for what soon becomes a tiresome refrain.

Perhaps this is why the characters are so lamentably flat. The descriptions Adams writes for each character seem to foreshadow complexity and development, but this soon is proven to be a false impression. Interesting as the characters might have been from their descriptions, when push comes to shove and the story continues, they remain utterly devoid of personality. Ironically, the main characters, Madeleine and Ratcliffe, are probably the most thinly developed of the entire bunch; the supporting cast is slightly more interesting, but not by much.

Another annoyance is the implausible thinking and actions of so many of the characters; for Madeleine to contemplate marrying Ratcliffe for her sister's sake is simply ridiculous. The fact that she considers her life at an end at age thirty is equally implausible, as is Sybil's attitude of careless youth at age twenty-five: in the nineteenth century, any woman of that age who was yet unmarried would have been considered an old maid, yet that is never even hinted at.

Perhaps the worst of it all was the pacing: this 300+ page book could have EASILY been half its size. It drags along without character development and without even any plot development. Worse yet, the book is centered entirely around politics, yet Adams seems hazy as to the details of those politics. Perhaps Madeleine learned a lot about American politics from her stay in Washington, but very little of this is shared with the reader. As such, the book does not even have an interesting setting to recommend itself.

In the end, it is obvious what Adams was trying to say, but by making Madeleine so careless with regard to Ratcliffe, the author fails utterly. With no temptation, there can be no sacrifice. It is unclear why the reader is expected to admire Madeleine, yet this expectation is clear enough.

To sum up...for a book about government corruption, look elsewhere. There must be something out there better than this. Anything.

"Democracy" is what "Primary Colors" would have been if the latter had been well-written. Like Joe Klein, Adams published his book anonymously and skewered a number of contemporary politicians (including President Rutherford B. Hayes). But Adams goes two steps further: his novel is a scathing commentary more on the American political system in general than on one administration in particular, and his characters are iconic and recognizable in any era.

In "Democracy," the nation's capital "swarms with simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep over." But Adams is not hesitant about being cruel in his portrayal of Washington's residents, and he saves his weeping for the true victims in his novel: the American people. The typical American senator combines "the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable government." (Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!)

The story concerns Madeleine Lee, an intelligent and well-meaning (if somewhat naive) New York widow, who, bored with her cosmopolitan lifestyle, travels to Washington to learn what makes the nation tick. She and her sister are quickly surrounded by a diverse group of politicians, lobbyists, and foreign diplomats, and she finds herself courted by Silas Ratcliffe, a senator with presidential aspirations whose talent "consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of principle." During one heated (and humorous) argument about George Washington's merits, Ratcliffe sums up his view of politics: "If virtue won't answer our purpose, then we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office."

Adams's prose is almost Jamesian in its measured pacing (and this may simply bore some readers); the initial chapters are unhurried as he weaves the web of the plot and sketches his all-too-believable characters. Along the way he tosses barbed zingers at every target. The climactic passages are among the most comically riveting, emotionally intense, and morally satisfying finales I've read in a satire: as you might expect, nobody gets exactly what they want, but everyone gets what they deserve.

To act with entire honesty and self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the atmosphere of politics is impure. -Senator Silas Ratcliffe, Democracy

In his own lifetime, Henry Adams was famous first for being the grandson of John Quincy Adams, thus the great grandson of John Adams; second for his epic History of the United States During the Jefferson and Madison Administrations. It was only upon his death, in 1918, that his third person autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, was published and that his publisher revealed that Adams had written the previously anonymous novel Democracy. It is The Education which has sustained his reputation, having been named the number one book on the Modern Library list of the Top 100 Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century, but Democracy is still considered one of the better novels of American politics, though surprisingly it is currently out of print.

The novel is both a fairly typical 19th Century comedy of manners--with the widow Madeleine Lee decamping from New York to Washington DC, where she instantly becomes one of the Capital's most desirable catches--and a more serious meditation on the nature and pursuit of power in the American democracy. The widow Lee is specifically interested in Washington because it is the seat of power :

...she was bent upon getting to the heart of the great American mystery of democracy and government.

. . .

What she wished to see, she thought, was the clash of interests, the interests of forty millions of people and a whole continent, centering at Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, or unrestrained and uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the tremendous forces of government, and the machinery of society at work. What she wanted was POWER.

Mrs. Lee's most likely pursuer is Senator Silas Ratcliffe of Illinois, widely considered a likely future President : he sees her as a perfect First Lady and she sees him as her path to power. Through an elaborate courtship ritual and several set piece scenes (in the Senate, at the White House, at Mount Vernon, at Arlington Cemetery and at a dress ball) Adams puts his characters through their paces and affords the reader an intimate look at the rather tawdry political milieu of the 1870's. The theme that runs throughout the story is that access to power comes only through compromising one's principles, but Adams is sufficiently ambivalent about the point that we're uncertain whether he's more contemptuous of those who make the necessary deals or those who, by staying "pure," sacrifice the opportunity to influence affairs of state. Suffice it to say that the novel ends with Mrs. Lee, assumed by most critics to represent Adams himself, fleeing to Egypt, telling her sister : "Democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces."

Like his presidential forebears, Henry Adams had a realistic and therefore jaundiced view of politics, even as practiced in a democracy. The Adams's did not subscribe to the starry eyed idealism of the Jeffersonians. But they were all drawn to politics, even realizing that it was a moral quagmire. This is the fundamental dilemma of the conservative democrat, we recognize that we have to govern ourselves because we know we can't trust unelected rulers, but we also understand that our elected representatives are unlikely to be any more honest than the tyrants we threw out. This attitude is famously captured in Winston Churchill's (alleged) aphorism : "Democracy: the worst of all possible systems, but there is no other which would be better." And the unfortunate corollary is that unless relatively honorable men like the Adamses and the Churchills pursue careers in politics, the field will be left to the real scoundrels. Henry Adams doesn't offer any solutions to the dilemma, but he offers an amusing take on it.

GRADE : B

Although this book is filled with helpful information, for example, "recommended tours if you have 1 day, 3 days, or 5 days", or "Top 10 Japanese experiences", the (rich, culturally inept) woman who wrote this book intended this for a very specific demographic. This causes a whole plethora of problems when trying to use the book, particularly if you are young, can speak some Japanese, or would like a Real Japanese Experience. Why?

1. Reviews for restaurants and hotels seem to focus on restaurants that serve Western food and speak English (how dare they speak Japanese in Japan!) and Western style hotels that have beds, rather than Japanese styled tatami mat rooms and futons. The humbling experience of entering a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant and pointing at other people's dishes or the pictures on the menu and eating foods you've never seen or heard of-or staying at a fairly inexpensive hotel sleeping on the floor in a futon-is top notch! I felt this book really neglected to mention a lot of these opportunities for cultural experiences, and I found that frustrating when looking for ideas.

2."And what good is a book with no pictures?" Alice wondered...Many of the best ways to get excited about a place is to first see pictures. There are very few, if any pictures in this book.

3. She refers to the Japanese language as "symbols".

4. In addition, rather than giving the Japanese characters for the cities, towns, restaurants and hotels she recommends you visit on that same page (this is very helpful because English translations are not always written, but you can easily make sure you're in the right place simply by comparing the book with the sign), she puts them all in an appendix at the back for inconvenient referencing. Including both the Japanese character and Japanese pronounciation of each location is extremely helpful.

Overall, the book will assist you in having a wonderful English tour of Japan, but I think you may miss out on some great Japanese experiences that do not require a lot of money (which many of her suggestions do require). Of course, this will involve a little bit of work and discomfort on the part of the tourist (although by no means Japanese fluency). Nothing compares to the satisfaction of having successfully ordered yakisoba in broken Japanese!

Bottom Line: This book is better used as supplemental reading to another book, although the beneficial descriptions of must-sees in Japan that are the most helpful in this book can really be found in just about every other guide book.

Very useful guidebook--I used it on a trip to Japan in 2001 and I will use it again this year. Much information, about relatively small cities, even, if they would be of interest to Westerners.

A few faults. First, more maps are needed. Yes, I know Japanese don't always name their streets, but they could be based on landmarks. If you choose to visit one of the smaller cities covered, say, Takayama, you will do so without a Fodor's map (get one at the Tourist office, usually by the train station). But even some large cities, which are extensively covered, like Kobe, do not have maps in the book.

Second, more hotels should be reviewed, and they might want to concentrate on the sort of hotel you'd book online.

Third, there's a certain incompleteness about the text. For example, they list the three top gardens in Japan. You will find that only two of the cities are listed in the index. For the third, look in vain.

Still, I recommend it.

If you are going to Japan for a week or two on vacation, this is the one book you will need. Some go into much greater depth, but Frommer's provided me with plenty of options at all price catagories, all of which were excellent. By the end of the trip I didn't use my Lonely Planet guide any longer as I trusted the Frommer's guide. The size is easy to carry and the orgination makes it easy to quickly reference on the street. The only thing missing is better maps, but I traveled with one in addition to the guide to round out my trip. Well done.

Read Barber & Pykitt's book, JOURNEY TO AVALON, and read their criticisms of this one. And read it because those two have done a bit more work (i.e., a hell of a lot more work) than this fantasy.

Remember: Geoffrey of Monmouth might have been making it all up! There is NO WAY we can know!

Nennius' compilation or "heap" is regarded by most historians as UNRELIABLE, as are the Welsh annals (Annales Cambriae)!

Where does that leave us? With a few lines of pseudohistory from which the entire body of work regarding the "historical" Arthur emanates.

We should all be reading the works of FICTION, literature, regarding Arthur, which are more beautifully written beyond comparison to this book, the so-called "truth".

This book is utter nonsense!

Mostly flawed exploration, based on documents that they treat far more seriously than they should. It is a success, as an introductory work for new readers in this genre. It covers all the main points of the main legends. But as history? My favourite chapter, was the one on Vortigern, though it didn't reveal anything new. I always like to see this historical character gaining wider exposure in these pop-paperback pseudo-histories: the popular culture has never embraced him, as much as Arthur, Merlin, etc. This book, at least, goes someways to addressing that. Otherwise, the highpoints of the book are the maps, photos, and some great black and white drawings (page 196!). The chronology at the back of the book was useful. Some dates however, seem to differ, from author to author, on some events. But, its strength lies in following the times the events may have happened, through cultural changes, until the times they became popularized by now famous authors. If by chance, I seem harsh at all with this book, it is perhaps because I have all the books in their bibliography already.

Myths and legends span around the life of King Arthur and what the truth really is is hard to tell. Phillips and Keatman did a marvelous job compiling the scarce information available and let the reader participate in how the data was compiled and put in order.

Of all the books I read on the historical King Arthur this is by far the best. If there are errors in their reasoning it might attribute to the fact that not many reliable sources on the subject are out there but so far this is the most convincing attempt at getting the most out of it.

This is a wonderful Bedside book, to keep on-hand for those nights when you just can't fall-asleep. This book has been a great Sleep Aid for me, many nights. A Prescription for lack of sleep: this predicament can usually be cured with only one or two chapters.

My wife uses Crowley's more boring works to put her to sleep, but "Transcendental Magic" works for me. Occasionally, Waite's snippety footnotes will perk you up, but Levi's laborious ramblings will send you off to nodding, immediately thereafter.

I can understand why Crowley believed he was Eliphas Levi (and numerous other famous occultists/people).... Crowley has a similar rambling--(get to the point, for The God's Sake)--style, which he may have subconsciously adopted from reading Levi.

Regardless, aside from the occasional glimmerings of Occult Knowledge and little revelations, this book is mostly out-dated, boring and irrelevant (but the picture of Baphomet is quite nice). I honestly believe that the only reason this book is still being published is due to the fact that it is on several occult organization's "Recommended Reading Lists."

This is a nice book to have on-hand to polish-off the Occult collection and use for reference material, occasionally, but the read itself is quite boring (and I have been known to read through books of Masonic Rituals).

I assume this book was impressive a century-ago, but today it is pretty-much irrelevant, boring and only somewhat useful. However, due to the fact that I did make some interesting connections about the Kabalah, etc. while reading it, and it did help me fall-asleep many times, I am giving it three stars.

This book is an excellent read for any level of initiate, though I would not necessarily recommend it to a candidate. The level of confusion that can ensue to beginners of the path of the Great Work is an ounce of help and a pound of trouble. But to any intitiate his doctine and ritual is enlightenment.

A word of warning, however. Everything within should be taken with a grain of salt, and this includes the translators footnotes. When Waite quotes, he is directly to the point. But his incessant need to nit-pick and analyze every key note within is unnerving and extraneous. As if Arthur Edward Waite had nothing better to do than to translate the adepts and tear their doctrines apart, he seems to miss the point entirely. Acting as Levi's own interpretation of Oedipus, Waite gives the answer of MAN! to the sphinx, thus crumbling an agenda and his own kingdom. Holding far too fast to the form and forgetting the force, he manages to critique to death far too many avenues, almost making the reader wonder why he/she should even bother. As an example, in the very first chapter of Doctrine (or Dogma, depending on the interpreter), with a blatant display of ignorance, Waite refuses to accept the attribution of the "Emerald Table" to Hermes Trismegistus - and a more irrelevant point could make for none the worse. Noted scholars have already addressed the issue, time and again, of Eliphas' insistence upon his oath of non-revealing to the point of encoding this work for the adept, and the adept alone, as Levi himself hints at several times within the first introduction.

The footnotes aside, the manuscript is an invaluable key for meditation on the Qabalah, the Tarot and any other system of initiation in any style. Read, think and act upon this book with fervor.

Perhaps one of the most elusive books on the occult market is Eliphas Levi's "Transcendental Magic: It's Doctrine and Ritual". Originally written in French with the title "Dogme et Ritual de la Haute Magie" (1855-1856, published in two volumes), translated literally as "The Dogma and Ritual of High Magic", revised to the current title by translator and commentator, the questionable Arthur Edward Waite.

"Transcendental Magic" is broken into two books, appropriately "Doctrine" and "Ritual". Both books are divided up into 22 chapters. While it seems evident to any occult student that they equate to the tarot deck and Hebrew letter/number system, A. E. Waite immediately rejects this as only coincidence by stating "that which emerges, however, is its utter confusion." Waite apparently had difficulty relating the first chapter, "The Candidate" to the Juggler (Waite was part of the Golden Dawn which alters various symbols from the O.T.O, A.'.A.'., and other occult schools). Furthermore, the second book begins with "Preparations", which Waite believes makes no correspondence to "The Candidate" or The Juggler. Waite who translated the book to a very readable and exciting version is too hung up on historical accuracy, which accounts for most of his confusion. Waite is trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Eliphas Levi, a priest of the Catholic Church, although wrote about occultism, still maintained faith in the Church. As one reads his other works, such as "The Great Secret" or "The Mysteries of the Qabalah", you will see his faith in Christianity is still evident from his exposition on the Christian and Jewish myths. "Transcendental Magic", however, still stands as his most impressive and complete work, which, as well has touches of Christianity within its pages. Any honest occultist will recognize the value of Christian and Jewish mythology as the foundation of modern occult practice. As expounded by Levi a number of times, any good Church-going Christian will know what "The Seven Seals of St. John" is referring.

It may be evident immediately that a once read will not suffice in capturing the meaning of Levi's words. I found immensely valuable a dictionary of etymology and a Greek, Hebrew and Latin dictionary (Oxford I prefer for all). Levi employs many strange words that one will need to know on a continual basis to grasp entirely. These words are paradoxical in practical work: they serve to further understanding by decoding various names and they serve as symbols unto themselves that one uses to activate various states. The beginning of each of the chapters in the book of the Doctrine lists the title, a Roman numeral, a Hebrew character, and a few words in other languages outside of English. It is prudent for the student to study those words in relation to all that precedes and follows it. They don't make sentences, but they will make sense.

While at first I read it from front to back, but as I was studying it, I found it more effective to read the first chapter from the Doctrine and then the first chapter from the Ritual. Essentially what you are reading is the "philosophical attitude" one must take, and then a means in which to maintain or carry that attitude through. The most confusing aspect for modern occultists is the Tarot attributions. There are many people who buy this in hopes for a book on Tarot, but they will certainly be disappointed. In most decks, it is common to give The Fool the numerical attribution of "0", the world egg, the inner and outer, evolution and involution. What Levi does is attribute 21 to the Fool, "Dentes Furca Amens" - the serpent tongue, the forked tooth (ala Shin), or liar in our modern nomenclature. Levi, however, is not alluding only to lying, but also "slips of the tongue" as in a Freudian nature and also speaking without restraint of thought. This chapter is headed with "Divination", where a diviner does not listen to their thoughts or prejudge a situation. They let the words roll off the tongue. This perhaps confuses anyone studying Crowley or Waite's deck or any popular run-of-the-mill tarot (save the Hall/Knapp and Taviglione decks).

To think of this book purely as a guide to the Tarot is to misunderstand the work entirely. As Levi says in the first chapter, "The man who loves his own opinions and fears to part with them, who suspects new truths, who is unprepared to doubt everything rather than admit anything on chance, should close this book: for him it is useless and dangerous."

To the student who is persistent in challenge, willing to discredit his own knowledge will find this book to his advantage. It may also be useful to check up on some of Aleister Crowley's works as he was highly influenced by Levi, and his perspective may lighten things up. Specifically Magic Book 4 and Book of Thoth which discuss some of Levi's works.

I never really cared for any of the books I read by Jane Yolen (there are a few exceptions, such as Commander Toad), and I include this book as one of them. The plot seemed to lack something, and I finished the book with a vaugely dissatisfied feeling. I would've given it two-and-a-half stars if I could've

An ancient dragon teaches young Arthur some valuable lessons. I have enjoyed Yolen's other fantasy and dragon books better.

My son and I raced through this book (on separate but concurrent tracks). While he enjoyed it thoroughly, he was disappointed at the turn at the end. I must admit that I was a bit let down, too. The advantage of reading the book together, tho, is talking about it. In the discussion following our reads, we both made peace with the story. It is really a lovely story about truth, friendship, and courage--as well as a fun spin on the Arthur legend. I would not recommend it for kids who love knight/dragon/adventure books, unless they were thoughtful readers or have a thoughtful guide.

Having read extensively about Arthur and his legendary exploits, Holmes presentation examines the British history of the period against comparisons with the old western Roman empire, and the results are well worth effort. I found his conclusions believable, his theories refreshing and very interesting. He has approached this presentation in the same manner as would be done in making an intelligence assessment using all the known facts, grading levels of confidence, and speculating about a reasonable outcome. He does this very well and I am impressed with his efforts. Worth reading again. It surpasses any other material I have read so far.

In this fascinating book, author Michael Holmes takes the historical references to fifth and sixth century Britain, and attempts to construct a chronology that fills in the details of this "Dark Age." Combining the information from a number of sources, often interpreted in new ways, he produces a thought-provoking history that helps to explain the different courses taken by Post-Roman Celtic Gaul (later France) and Post-Roman Celtic Britain (later England). Along the way, he finds that the legends passed on by the bards and storytellers ring true: that there was a great military leader named Arthur.

This is a fascinating book that I have already read twice. The author presents his argument in such a gripping manner, that reading it seems to pull the reader right into the story. It must be admitted that a good deal of what is presented in this book is deduction and assumption, but the author makes an excellent case for accepting his interpretation of the available (limited) data. If you are interested in the historic King Arthur, then I highly recommend that you get this book.

It is fascinating to read how Michael Holmes gathered evidence from many sources, minus the legendary stuff, to create a marvelous synthesis of the story of King Arthur and his military exploits. Holmes' study of history, archeology and British geography surely points out a plausible account of how Arthur influenced the future history of Britain in contrast to neighboring Gaul (France). After my reading the separate but conflicting histories, and my recent tour of Britain, I am persuaded by Holmes' account that his is most plausible. Any student of military history would also be intrigued and educated by the strategies utilized by Celts, Romans, and Anglo-Saxons in their military campaigns of the late Roman Empire and Dark Ages.

I am a fan of noir, but it looks like I was focusing on the A Movie Variety. So I picked up this book to see what the B-side had to offer.

Overall, it was an okay read in that it introduced me to some noir titles I was not familiar with. However, it lacked the depth that I am used to in reading film anthologies. The author chose to drop as many titles as possible in the book without more than a generalized plot summary in the filmography section. I would have preferred a good discussion about a few notable titles. To that point, the placement of the summary of films also perplexed me. I did not even realize there was an epilogue until this morning when I decided I had my fill of the book and flipped through the remaining pages.

These criticisms aside, I am glad I read the book since now I have a starting point to explore this side of noir further. In the end, maybe that was the point of the book?

P.S. It was fascinating to discover that Hugh Beaumont (aka Ward Cleaver) played the hard-boiled type in some B movies.

This book wisely steers clear of the usual suspects (the classic films noir that everyone has written about) and stakes out new territory. I discovered a lot of promising B films to pursue. If you want something different to read about film noir, and something not overblown with pretension, don't miss this book. Excellent.

Ever heard of the films Bad Blonde, The Come-On and The Mysterious Mr. Valentine? No...? Well then get into the car Punchy, we're going for a ride into dark and dank world of film noir. Thanks to Arthur Lyons' book 'Death On The Cheap', obsure film noir is back!

William Hjortsberg's "Nevermore" brings together Harry Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a serial killer emulating Edgar Allan Poe's stories, and a host of real characters from the 1920s. Sherlock Holmes's creator is in the United States delivering a series of lectures on spiritism, and Houdini is playing his usual role as a skeptic. The two inevitably run into each other time and time again, and they form a friendship, one that is tried to some degree by their different philosophies. While they are going about their businesses, a killer is dispatching victims in ways that are taken from Poe tales. And at the same time, a woman calling herself Isis is performing supernatural feats that Houdini cannot explain away.

If the story sounds busy, that's because it is. The various threads seem to coexist without mingling for quite some time. In fact, the serial killer all but disappears for a substantial portion of the second half of the novel. With the standard suspense aspect thusly diminished, the novel becomes more of a combination of a period piece and an exploration into the two men's obsession with supernatural phenomena. The historical aspect of the mystery often works well, though Hjortsberg does seem to revel a bit much in the minutiae of the period, from cigarette brands to characters. The supernatural aspect does not work, as Houdini is clearly the loser; there is never really any doubt but that spirits exist and influence the world. Also, it should be noted that Houdini's character, while heroic, is also decidedly unflattering, especially in his dealings with Isis.

"Nevermore" begins with a great deal of promise but ultimately fails to fulfill that promise as the threads never mesh entirely satisfactorily. While Hjortsberg writes well for the most part, he never truly unites the several threads, and a few of them are left dangling.

I'd recently read a history of Houdini that described his friendship with Arthur Conan Doyle. The book literally takes the real facts of that friendship and moves them into a fiction--a mystery that entwines fictional and metaphysical situations to create a Sherlockian, theosophian enterprise in the spirit of other books that try to continue the Holmesian tradition, but this time with its author cast as the main detective.

The book takes awhile to pull all its threads together, so patience is required. But, the prose when not presenting dialogue offers a nice change from the usual mimicry of this time period and adds a new touch here and there. Certainly moments when Victorian discretion is not a bother!

As I post this, there are other personal reviews, pro and con, plus a published review that mentions a flat ending. I definitely had to go find my 'complete Poe' to get the last allusion to his work, which wasn't a problem with the other situations in the story that referred to his stories. Somehow, I don't think the image chosen was really thought through beyond its utility to link one used in a Poe story with the real-life situation of Houdini's watery death. But this death isn't part of the story (still a future event). How Doyle's gesture might help, much less what the last warnings of Poe's ghost meant, present confusion.

Perhaps this was an attempt to end this novel like Poe's writings--after everything is explicated, the introduction of a surrealistic image that leaves the reader smack back in the unknown and now left to his/her own devices for figuring how to get out of it. Or...it just could be a case of an author who is also a movie writer, forgetting that he needs a more complete ending, since it's not likely there's going to be a "sequel."

The story went very slow at first and it's really for us busy readers to hold on as it's really hard to get the story line at first. That's why the first half of the story is so boring. But then if you go on reading it, the first half isn't wasted at all and they are all well-planned. Well, but it goes so slow..

I'm curious that many of the negative reviews were written before this was published?!?! (were they based on a 1st edition?)

As a first time vistor to New Zealand, I found this book to be extremely helpful. It provided an informative overview of the country, and the various recommendations for accommodations and travel services were, for me, very reliable. I used it constantly both before and during the trip.

This guide is an excellent introduction to New Zealand for the first-time traveler. The organization is helpful and the area details are of great value in planning self-guided itineraries.

We were able to focus our two weeks in the country on areas of particular interest because of this guidance.

If you look at the cover, it shows the current Arthur. INSIDE the book is the, I am guessing, first generation arthur that really looks like an aardvark. The crude pictures inside are confusing to the child. Avoid this arthur book and move on the the next one.

Overall we thought that this book was a good book for children. It was aimed for children at about the kindergarten to first grade level. A good aspect of this book is it is directed at boys and girls, something that would work well in a classroom. The moral of Arthur's Eyes is good for children because it will help them get over a fear of needing glasses at a young age. This is shown through ways that children can relate to such as doing well on a quiz, being able to see in class, and making baskets in a basketball game. This book also included humor that young children could relate to such as the incident when Arthur walked into the girl's bathroom and Francine was in there. This is something that children at this age would find hilarious.
The only thing in this book that we found to be unappealing to anyone is that Arthur looks nothing like he does in the well-known cartoon. Besides none of the characters looking like they should, all of the illustrations were terrible. Without knowing that this is supposed to be an Arthur story, children wouldn't recognize the characters by looking at the pictures and this could confuse a young mind.

Arthur's Eyes is a tale about a Arthur getting his first pair of glasses, and
learning to be proud to wear them. Arthur is teased by his fellow
classmates and is embarrassed of having to wear glasses. He soon
learns that wearing glasses improves his school performance, and
eventually leads to his acceptance by his classmates. Arthur's Eyes
captured our attention with the colorful artwork, although at times the drawings were of low quality. The cover picture of Arthur is not the same picture portrayed in the actual book, and this maybe disappointing for children who are used to the PBS television show. However, the message the pictures convey are appropiate for the intended age group. The story is short enough for a young child to read in one sitting, which would be good for a bedtime story. Young children who read this book will learn to be proud of their personal image if they get eyeglasses. They will also learn to accept other children who wear glasses. We would recommend this book for classroom reading and as leisure reading.