I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.

Heart of Darkness is a novella that really needs to be read more than just once to fully appreciate Conrad's style of writing. The story is an account of one man's simultaneous journey into the darkness of a river as well as into the shadows of a madman's mind. There is a very brilliant flow of foreshadowing that Conrad brings to his writing that provides the reader with accounts of the time period and the horrible events to come. Through Conrad's illuminating writing style we slowly see how the narrator begins to understand the madness or darkness that surrounds him.

I recommend this particular version of the novella because it contains a variety of essays, which discusses some of the main issues in the reading and historical information. Issues like racism and colonialism are discussed throughout many essays. It also contains essays on the movie inspired by the book Apocalypse Now, which is set against the background of the Vietnam War. I recommend reading Heart of Darkness and then viewing Apocalypse Now, especially in DVD format which contains an interesting directors commentary.

English majors are justly fond of Conrad, who packs his stories with subtlety, symbolism, parallels, and rich imagery. "Heart of Darkness" is a brief and strangely absorbing read. Its plot is simple enough on the surface, about a sailor who guides a steamer up the Congo in search of a vaunted ivory trader. But beneath the surface, in a palpable atmosphere of unease, lie the book's complicated themes. This isn't just a condemnation of European activity in Africa, but a glimpse at the evil within every man. In some ways this book is a precursor to "Lord of the Flies" and other twentieth century books of despair, and yet Conrad does not leave the reader without hope. In skilful, mystical passages about light and dark, black and white, tall and short, jungle and sepulchre, Conrad gives us much food for thought about the nature of humankind and the possibilities for both good and evil. I see this book more as a warning than a simple cry of despair - though it pays ample attention to "the horror" of it all.

Considered by many to be the great American novel, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the story of a boy, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the sequel to Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Where "Tom Sawyer" was more a care-free children's book, "Huck Finn" is a far darker less childlike book.

Judging from my rating you can see that I do not agree that this is in fact the great American novel. Twain seemed far too unsure of what he wanted to accomplish with this book. The pat answer is to expose the continuing racism of American society post-Civil War. By making Jim simultaneously the embodiment of white racist attitudes about blacks and a man of great heart, loyalty, and bravery, Twain presented him as being all too much of what white America at the time was unwilling to acknowledge the black man as: human.

However noble the cause though, Twain's story is disjointed, at times ridiculous, and, worst of all (for Twain anyway), unfunny. The situations that Huck and Jim find themselves in are implausible at best. Twain may not have concerned himself too much with the possibleness of his story; but, it does detract from your enjoyment of a story when you constantly disbelieve the possibility of something happening.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is an important book in that it did affect much of the American literature that followed it. However, this is another novel which is more important to read for its historical significance than for its story.

When I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain in high school, it was possibly the first book I enjoyed that was assigned by a teacher. Twain's imagery puts the reader right beside Huck while he escapes 'sivilization' and floats down the Mississippi river with his slave-gone-fugitive friend Jim. Huck's innocent outlook on the world is both humorous and adorable. Huck's respect for Jim is admirable. Even though Huck was brought up with Jim being a inferior slave, he still looks up to Jim. Also, I think that although Jim's dialect adds to the effectiveness of the book, it is very difficult to understand. I think Twain writes it a little too much how the dialect sounds. I would recommend this book to anyone. It offers plenty of excitement and surprises.

I love Mark Twain! I am currently learning English in China. It is really hard for me to learn it here because there is not an evironment. But I tried to read some books in English and it did affect me a lot! From all the books I like Mr Mark Twain's best. Because his stories are mainly all about the childlife and I am also a kid, in fact. I am 14 years old. This helped me to know what American Children thought and lear my vocabularies. I know I wasn't able to win the contest because my English is poor, but I do think Mark Twain's books are nice. I have learned lots of words from it. I have also learned some in Chinese in our Chinese Text Book. One is called " Electing the State Minister", this passage is really nice and it not only is humor but also let us know what the U.S. Society used to be. In fact, I think he is the greatest author in the States. The book "Huck Finn" however, is a continue of the book "Tom Sawyer Adventure", and it shows us what happens next and also tell us what Huck had experienced. It tell me what the 19th Century boys in America thought and helped me to understand that I should not study all the time, as the Chinese students are hard at studying and I will find time to relax. And this did help my study! May I ever thanked him for giving us such good books. May I ever remeber him for helping me to know many things.

I never took the AP microeconomics course offered at my school. I just used this book and the PR book. Overall, this book is great in that it teaches all the information needed to ace the test. However, the questions in the practice test are not reflective of those on the real test. Also, sometimes, this book delves too deeply into the subject. It provides far more information than is necessary to get a 5 on the test. It is also more boring than the Princeton Review book. Information is presented in paragraph forms rather than in bulleted form, making it more unorganized. However, knowing this book back to front will easily get the job of getting a 5 on the AP test accomplished.

I've scored a 5 on the ap microeconomics this year.
And I had the chance to glimpse through this book just before the test. Well, about this book.

The reviews are superb!!!
It's full of economics that you will need on the test day.
Also I liked the review questions in the end of every chapter.
But there was one thing I was not satisfied with...
The sample test... They are terrible.
They're nothing like the test you'll see on the AP.
Apart from that I found this book great.
and to anyone who's studying for the AP economics, I recommend this book.

I bought this book in order to review my long ago endevour into the world of economics. I found it to be enjoyable and comprehensive. I'm married to an economist and am now able to partake, and contribute, to the strange conversations she has with fellow economists (I am an engineer). Not an easy accomplishment for a single book to do that to an engineer. Excellent book!

Though thorough and accurate, it does not have any sample problems and solutions, which is part of why I purchased this book.

This book is a great source of background information and will provide a great starting point for organic chemistry. I would suggest reading it prior to taking a course, or using it as reference.

The Red Badge of Courage by stephen Crane is one of the most spectacular books that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Throughout my life I have een completely anti-war. I didn't want war, I didn't want to read about it,...nothing. Over the summer I took the time to read Red Badge which was suggested to me by a few friends. I was blown away. Never have I received such a compelling impact from a book as from that novel. (I even cried with the characters.) The imagery that Crane creates is absolutely moving. You are not only put in the middle of the Civil Wat, but you become a part of the Union Army, fighting fot the unity of your country. A belief that you would die for. You will feel the anticipation of a soldier right before a battle, as well as the terriffying moral dilema of whether or not you should run away once being fired upon. Crane's characters, although having no direct names, pull you into their lives through their strong diolouge. He who reads this novel will learn so much about themselves, and human nature through just two pages of the wounded man's speech to Henry Fleming, the main character. Who knew that the simple imagery of a wound as a "Red Badge of Courage," would be able to move so many people? the Red Badge of Courge is simply a masterpiece. A book that will forever be capable of sharing the horror's of war to generations far into the future. I strongly recommend that you open your curiosity, heart, and mind, and read the Red Badge of Courage.

The novel, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, is a book full of uncertainty. Means the reader is never sure what the main character is going to do next in the story. The reader never knows how anyone will act from one moment to the next. This gives the whole novel a certain suspense. The story is about a young enlisted soldier named Henry Fleming who goes off to war as a naive boy and returns as a man. It shows the true side of life, because Henry is acting like most young soldiers do in times of war; Henry feels guilty for running away as the battle began, but he just did what his heart told him to do. Stephan Crane wants to show the reader how bad war is, and the message he prevails is very knowledgeable. The whole story is very well written and the reader has no problem understanding what is going on. The book is rich in sensory details and poetic language. I believe, "The Red Badge", to be one of the most real accounts of Civil War I have read. I would say it is definitely one of the great pieces of American literature and I really have to give this book 5 stars for its perfection.
I just want to add that English isn't my first language and I didn't have any trouble reading this book.

Why is the Red Badge of Courage so hard to read until about the middle of the book? I think it's because Crane throws us into the world of fear in the first half - fear, cowardice, panic, the confusion and disorganization of war. We're not used to being treated like this, either by books or the real world. I can identify with Crane because the first half of my life was like that. It's OK to be afraid. You can even start reading from the middle and eventually go backwards if it's frustrating. As for life, at some point in life, if you really keep trying, fear gets tiresome and repetitive. You begin to despise yourself as a coward, and you only see images of cowardice around you. The uselessness of following the crowd and some of the fairy tales you learned hit you like a brick. You see too much destruction, whether in hot wars or cold wars, industry or the academic world. One day, when you have nothing left to lose, you try a new strategy called courage. You might feel a lot of anger when doing it, but you have to eventually learn to act out of calmness and yes, even love. You fight back because of the things and people you've lost. You become a Veteran, whether in war or in peace with illness like Crane himself. You learn that there are things more important than your own life. Then you're like Audie Murphy, Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Crane, Galileo Galilei, Saint Thomas More. And the strangest thing of all is that they're right. There are things more important than your own life. One of them is called Courage.

Barron's guide for State trooper and Highway Patrol exams is way off base. I just got done taking my California Highway Patrol test and found out that I just wasted my time using the Barron's guide. There was literally probably only 5% of the material off of Barron's guide actually on the test. Do not buy this!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is for anyone who wants to be a State Policeman. It has all of the necessary information for studying, hints for the test day and your interview, things you should and shouldn't do during the interview. It prepares you for actual test questions on the test,ie: what kind of test questions to expect. This is the study book of all study books. Highly recommended to the individual who wants to really be a police officer.

I found the story a little challenging to read , however, it struck my heart so deep that I could'nt put it down . The amount of love that was expressed was unreal.A perculiar story , Thomas Hardy has used the un touched parts of his imagination to shock the reader . The story is beautiful , and disturbing .