Gertrude Stein named the generation that came of age during the First World War the "lost generation." The world quickly adopted the phrase as the most accurate description for the generation who died, fought, or worked during the war as they passed through the threshold of their adult lives. Before the novel opens, Hemingway quotes Stein as well as a biblical passage that contrasts the transient nature of human generations against the eternal survival of nature. The world remains and the sun continues to rise and set despite the inevitable passage of each human generation into death. The juxtaposition of the two epigraphs produces an ambivalent tone. There is hope because there will be a new generation beyond the aimless generation that populates The Sun Also Rises. There is also a bitter irony in the contrast. Every generation is lost in one sense because they will all eventually pass away. Some are perhaps more lost than others. The characters of the The Sun Also Rises are clearly emblematic of a generation of lost souls. Just as they approached the sunrise of their adult lives, a horrific war of unprecedented death and destruction shattered their world. The pre-war values of love, faith, manhood, and womanhood that previously gave meaning to their reality proved to be an inadequate answer to the unbelievable scale of violence of the war. The characters in The Sun Also Rises are a careless, aimless, pleasure-seeking crowd. They wander through an endless, drunken procession of parties, cafes, and sexual affairs in a desperate search for meaning in their lives. It is no coincidence that many of them are artists and writers. Through the work of artistic expression, they try to produce meaning in a world seemingly lost to rampant, amoral consumerism and lovelessness. They are always going somewhere, but never really arriving anywhere. The narrator, Jake Barnes, provides us with an incomplete portrait of the aimless expatriate crowd living in 1920's Europe. We must always search for what he does not say. Half of the story lies between the lines in the novel; perhaps this symbolizes the absence of meaning in the characters' lives. Although not a single shot is fired throughout the novel, The Sun Also Rises is about The Great War. We know a few scarce specific details of the characters' war experience. However, the war relentlessly haunts the characters throughout the novel. The effects of the war are evident in their alcoholism and their casual cruelty to one another. It is evident in the way they skirt the edges of their war experiences in their conversation. It is the war and its effects they are fleeing when they descend into the forgetfulness of alcohol. They flee it continually by refusing to discuss its horrors directly. They flee it by running from one cafe, one country, and one party to the next. They are prisoners of their own attempts to escape the war that maimed them physically and psychologically. They are attempting to flee their shattered selves, but as Jake Barnes says, "You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another." Confrontation is the central conflict that divides every character's consciousness. For many, this is the hardest battle of the war.

I loved the book it is great for all kids to understand! It is awesome! It really teaches kids responsibility with a humor added to jazz it up, kinda like a true life story is being told!

I used this book for the second half of my Freshman English class. We had to read Brave New World, and I didn't understand the REAL book all that well. Desperate, I went on a hunt for the Cliffs Notes to the book. I found the CN, and bought it right away. Soon, I was on my way to not only understand Huxley's crazy new world, but to also getting an A on all of the papers and tests related to the book!

Although this book doesn't have any inspiring ideas or new theories about Milton's Paradise Lost, it does help to understand what the heck happens. The Cliff Notes explains the characters, their history, and biblical references that many people don't fully know. Its a tad boring but it's much better than the actual thing! If you want to pass your test or write a B- essay on Paradise Lost you'll need this book to do it.

This piece of work really opens your eyes and shows the great talent of William Shakespeare. I think that if anyone likes his other works will love this. If your not a Shakespeare fan, this should be the book you read first.

I have found that "The Plague" was difficult to grasp since so much information was thrown out to the reader. By reading the cliff notes I was able to take my time and read all the fine print. Overall a great resource and anyone wanting to get an in depth look at "The Plague" read this now.

I recently purchased this book for a class that I am taking at a junior college. There were two internet classes offered. However before selecting a class, I review the books first to see which are the most user friendly. To me this book fit my overall requirements. Although the print is small it is easy to read and understand. Instructions appear the be clearly written and objectives are outlined at the beginning of each tutorial. I'll write another review at the end of the semester once I see how it actually plays out.

Good foundational book for Internet and e-mail knowledge. However, do not rely solely on this book for all information revolving around the Net.

This book has a Blackboard course cartridge written to accompany it. That is what makes it an excellent book.

You can read Slaughterhouse Five in a few hours. Nobody needs the Cliffs Notes to this book. Everyone knows Cliffs notes are not used for notes, so all you lazy students, just read the actual book. It's worth your time. Cliffs Notes don't deserve any stars, and in this case, don't waste your money. The book is incredibly simple, and short. Don't make it meaningless!

Don't know if it's just me, but I couldn't work this book out at all. Sure, I understood it but I couldn't really see what it was getting at. I understand this book is considered a literary classic in the USA so maybe it's because I'm a dumb English guy but, whilst I enjoyed it to a point, I couldn't really relate to it at all.

So, three stars because I'm sure some of you will like it but it wasn't my cup of tea.

You have to accept this Vonnegut-style, or you will be disappointed just by his strange ideas about time-warp, extraterrestrials and his special wit. If you fight through, you will find more than this - it's a short book about a man/child, driven into WWII although neither grown-up nor a real soldier, just to be imprisoned by the germans to work for them. Through several timeshifts he tells us about his life, youth, WWII including the horrendous bombing of Dresden, his later life as an optometrist and ... ohh no - it's short enough that you can read it for yourself. Try it, but don't beat me nor the writer for not matching your special taste in books :-)

Theres some good info here, however its all just (stuff) the authors stole from other writers. This book just has pretty pictures. Most of which i'm pretty sure were taken at the National Bison Range in western montana. That just happens to be where i spent 3 months this summer studying pronghorn with John Byers (look him up...he's in this book, and they misspelled his name at least once.). Good book for the average person that doesn't want to know specifics about pronghorn....bad book if you want more out of it than just "oh, they aren't antelope?"

Oh, and the title is dumb.....read and you'll understand why.

Pronghorn: Portrait Of The American Antelope is the result of a superb collaboration between nature writer Gary Turbak and nature photographers Alan and Sandy Carey. Readers are introduced into one of the most graceful animals of the American West with an informative history of the pronghorn antelope, its distinguishing features, preferred habitat, and life cycle behavior. Visually stunning, accurately informative, Pronghorn is a recommended addition to any personal or community library American wildlife collection!

In my opinion, this was a good novel. You are a bit confused at the beginning, but you start to understand it by maybe the third chapter. Although I don't like what happened to Phineas at the end, it was an element that really gave the book reality; every book can't end with "...and they lived happily ever after." John Knowles' A SEPARATE PEACE was a moving novel that gets you thinking. I strongly recommend this book to those who are open-minded; otherwise, you probably won't enjoy the story too much.

The book is essentially a reflection of a 30-something year old man trying to convalesce from two psychologically traumatic experiences that happened in his youth at a New England boarding school. Gene was not ready, in his teen aged years, for the experience of Phineas - a character more mythologiclly true than realistic. Although the excellently crafted subtlies of this novel could by pass the shallow reader, there is a wealth of youth, human, psychology for the keen eye and the sensitive soul. Understand this book, and it will change your view of friendship and war forever. How can anyone read that last paragraph: "All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way - if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy" and not immediately want to read the book again,... and not have her/his naivete immediately shattered.

I hate A Separate Peace. It is not only dull and utterly worthless but also kills brain cells. No stimulus whatsoever can be found in this extravagant waste of paper. The author, Mr. John Knowles, cannot write comprehensibly and deserves to be shot in the face.

I had a good laugh when reading your reviews of a Cliffs Notes. I mean....oh, man....*laughs*. The book is great and I can't believe you even bothered to pick up an abreviated version. It might be several hundred pages, but it's a page turner. So, expand your mind.

"Crime and Punishment" for a high school or college not enamored with Russian literature can be intimidating. This CliffsNotes volume helps clear up the seemingly muddy waters.

While not all CliffsNotes are worth buying, in this case, it can enhance and encourage the reading process. They explain the many characters in two sections.

The first is not unlike what introduces many playbills. For example, for Sonia, it says "Sofya's nickname." Maybe that it is common in Russia, but it would have thrown me for a loop. For Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, it says, "A poverty-stricken student who conceives a theory of the superman or extraordinary man as a justification or rationalization for his crime."

The second guide explains in a page or two the context and major concerns of only a few characters.

Because they have Russian names unfamiliar to most of us in the United States, their little guide will be handy to keep open as you read the actual book.

The chapter synopsis is also useful for teachers who are overwhelmed with responsibilities. I have used it for this reason with a private student. I had not read the work and needed to be up to speed quickly. The synopsis put the book in context, making expectation available to me as I read. This helped me know what was worth focusing on in our all-to-brief look at this classic.

Other sections explain motifs and arguments of Hegel and Nietzsche regarding the superman ideas presented. Lacking is a section on biblical references, which, for students without much biblical knowledge, will limit their appreciation of the depth of "Crime and Punishment." Judith Gunn's "Dostoyesky: Dreamer and Prophet" is a good follow-up for the student looking to understand Dostoyesky religious perspective and Russian nationalism.

I fully recommend "CliffsNotes Crime and Punishment" by James L. Roberts.

Anthony Trendl

James L. Roberts' Cliffs Notes for Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" begins with a brief look at the Life and Background of the Author, which is sufficient to allow teachers/readers of the novel to recognize some key parallels between fact and fiction. The Cast of Characters list includes a "note on pronunciation" that will be useful. Following a Plot Summary, Roberts provides a look at the general Structure of the novel, and I appreciate that he wants us to being thinking about this BEFORE reading "Crime and Punishment." He also sets up the general roles of the main characters and the result is that even if you do not read the Summary/Commentary section, Roberts gives you more than enough to think about at this point to enhance your reading of the novel.

The Summary/Commentary section breaks the novel down by chapters and Roberts uses A-B-C notations to distinguish specific lines of analysis; I consider such signposting useful to students. As always, the best way to use these commentaries is to read them after the corresponding parts of the novel, rather than doing them all at once after (or before...) doing the reading. Roberts them explores the Extraordinary Man Theories of Hegel, Nietzsche and Raskolnikov in a short essay section students will certainly find provocative. The Character Review looks as Raskolnikov, Sonia, Svidrigailov, and Petrovitch while under Motifs he examines Confession, being "All Alone," the Square Yard of Space, Suffering and Fresh Air.

This is one of the better little yellow books with the black stripes, with its major strength being that Roberts provides his best analysis outside of the Summary/Commentary section. He also takes the time to develop his case on Structure, Characters and Motifs (not all of these books do). But above all, Roberts sets up the novel so that going into "Crime and Punishment" students are well prepared to deal with the major elements.