This is one of the most original books of criticism ever to focus on William Faulkner. Baker interprets Faulkner's work in a completely fresh and untraditional way by paralleling the author's intentions and accomplishments with such other "traditional" post-colonial writers as Chinua Achebe, Sean O'Casey, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Salman Rushdie. While this work will prove useful for those academics looking to "read" and "teach" Faulkner from a new perspective, it will also prove useful to those readers located outside of academe since Baker provides a cogent overview of the dominant issues and themes of post-colonial theory.

This is a much needed book that shows Wordsworth's influence on Victorian writers and other artists both before and after his death. Gill has painstakingly researched his subject and shows that the later Victorians looked to WW for inspiration and guidance but did not revere him as a god. Their assessment of Wordsworth helped to propel interest in the poet in the 20thC. This book has been long in the making and is a fabulous contribution to Victorian studies and Wordsworth studies.

Why should one bother to review an out of print book? Because it is one very funny book. The plot is too convoluted to describe but involves a writer of bodice rippers, a blonde beauty and her Western novel writer buddy, a French gangster who gets shot with a crossbow... Order it and wait for it or search used bookstores for it

If you are looking to get overall information about how to use databases with Visual Basic 6, go for it. If you already have experience on working with VB for n-tier applications and knows ADO pretty well, look elsewhere.

This book covers a great deal of material, thus going over some details of them. This book is good for beginners to intermediate people that wants to have quick solutions.

For the others, for example, if you are looking for a better implementation of n-tier or to pass data between components; you will have some information in this book but I would suggest the Visual Basic 6 Business Objects and VB6 Distributed Objects, both from Wrox, to get a full coverage on the subject.

Overall, this book is good for VB/Data starters.

Excellent Single Source For SQL Server 7.0 Programming

I've been a programmer long enough to know that no one book could "have it all." First the plusses. The book is well organized and very readable. The section on normalization is most understandable that I have encountered. I've done three-tier applications the hard way - UNIX, and I've never tackled a WEB project before. Now I am confident that I can tackle an "n-tiered" application with the Microsoft DNA without embarrassing myself. This book has armed with me the "Hello, world!"'s that are necessary to get some real work done.

The minuses are not show stoppers. Wrox doesn't have a CD so you have to download and unzip the source code. There are some typos in the samples. And, I hate to get picky on semantics, "Professional" programmers avoid data controls. Most text books use data controls, but a rookie should know that they are never acceptable in a production program. At best, we use them for "proof of concepts" and, sometimes, to build cut-and-paste code. Finally, if you're looking for help using VB 6's Data Access Tools with Oracle, this book will be of minimum value. For Oracle, the best book - the only book, as far as I know, is "Oracle Programming With Visual Basic" by Snowdon. It's VB 5 oriented, but it is useful.

I have read both this book and its series "predecessor" by John Connell, starting with Connell. While there is considerable overlap between the two, as other reviewers here have remarked, I'd choose this one if I were only to buy one book. Not that Connell is not a good book; it's just that I found this one more readable where it covered the same material. The "Professional" appellation should not frighten off beginning to intermediate readers, nor convince them that they must start with the "Beginning" title first.

After reading the introductory, "basics" chapters of this book I came away with a much better understanding of such things as connection strings, ADO objects, and basic SQL syntax than after reading the Connell book. My major gripe about many programming books--and I have been devouring them in bulk over the last two years--is that they often launch into code examples without adequately and systematically explaining the various methodologies involved.

For instance, I don't think I have ever read elsewhere a better overview of the ADO Object Model (Chapter 7)--it's well done because it's covered in an organized and systematic fashion that is appropriate for this book's target audience (the intermediate programmer who might be new to some of the technologies presented here but who is not to programming per se) rather than as a chaotic catalog of example after example--though there are plenty of those as well where appropriate.

Great content aside, another niggling gripe I have with this and other programming books, perhaps more often with Wrox (maybe it's just a sample error because I read more of them,) is the presence of annoying grammatical errors. If only someone could teach the editors (are they awake out there?) how to use semicolons, because sentences smash into each other like minivans at the supermarket with irritating regularity. The copy editors, who are supposed to fix typos, also must be asleep at the switch. We are entitled to expect better from a forty-dollar book. But just grit your teeth and focus on the content.

In short, if you already know something about SQL, database design, and VB, but need help making them all work together, I think this one is the ONE you should buy if you can only buy one.

Mutiny on the Bounty is a stunning work of historical fiction that is a pleasure to read.

The novel chronicles the events of the HMS Bounty as seen through the eyes of Roger Byam, a midshipman on the infamous Bounty. Through his eyes, the reader sees the terrible events unfold aboard the ship--the cruelty of Capt. Bligh that ultimately leads Fletcher Christian and much of the crew to mutiny against the captain. With Bligh left at sea, the crew returns to the South Pacific, seeking to make a new life for themselves and hoping to avoid capture and court martial by the British authorities. The conclusion of the novel is heart-wrenching and simply superb (and will be left as a surprise).

This novel relies a good deal on historical fact, though the authors clearly fill in the gaps with literary license. The characters are superbly developed and the story is riveting throughout. There is much nautical vocabulary, but this shouldn't distract readers as it can be glossed over without losing any significant content. I am not a historian and can make no statements about the veracity of the portrayals in this book. I do know that readers will find this novel difficult to put down. It is simply a classic story.

This book is interesting. It gives a great and detailed history of the ship Bounty. With her tyrant captain (William Bligh) and the admirable Fletcher Christian the ship sails from England to the south sea island of Tahiti. The whole crew recieves either physical or verbal abuse by Captain Bligh. Finally Christian becomes sick of it and gets most of the crew to rise in mutiny... You will have to read the book to find out the rest of this exciting story. Told in the words of the innocent midshipman, Roger Byam, who is wrongly found guilty of mutiny and condemned to death, this is a classic few can forget. Read this exciting book and I guaranty that you will love it's adventure and suspense. You won't be disappointed!

I recently decided to try reading some classic books. Mutiny on the Bounty was the first one I tried. Although some of the navigational and shipping vocabulary was unfamiliar to me, the plot of the book and the triumph of good and truth made this story one of the best I've ever read. Better still, it is based on actual events! I think you'll agree with me that Captain Bligh makes a most agregious villian-his parts were almost difficult to read. Still, Roger Byam's heartfelt account made this a fascinating read. Give it a try!

While Charles Tyng's brothers became wealthy as doctors, lawyers and land-based businessmen, Charles (due to his poor study habits) was forced to pursue the much more dangerous and uncertain vocation of sailor and sea-merchant. This is definitely no dry account of business deals. This story is about Charles' struggles against cruel and incompetent superiors, ferocious storms at sea, mutinous and violent crews, pirate attacks, shark attacks and, for good measure a bout with cholera. If even half of Tyng's account is true, he was very, very lucky to live to old age. Tyng was obviously a man who was very curious by nature and so he was able to describe in detail many aspects of the people, places and operations that he witnessed (such as whale hunting, sugar processing, and opium smuggling). Most of it is very interesting because it paints a piture of a world very different from our modern world. Tyng himself is likable, for the most part, although he definitely was a bit of a rogue; he pulls a few pratical jokes on people that adds some humor to the story. I only give it four stars because there were a couple short dry patches in the book. Overall, though, very enjoyable.

In the early days of American history, the merchant trade was the predominant occupation on the Eastern Seaboard. Charles Tyng's memoir, "Before the Wind," captures that life in a way histories written today never can. Tyng lived a colorful, adventurous life, and had the ability to record it in a fresh and vivid style. Tyng's early life reads like a combination of Charles Dickens and Horatio Alger. The son of an affluent but no-nonsense father, Tyng was farmed out to various relatives and school headmasters until his father sent him to sea, hoping to cure his son's self-confessed rebellious streak, and to teach him a trade. Although this sounds rather severe, it was far from uncommon, especially in large families such as Tyng's to apprentice or force children to seek their way at a very early age.

Once at sea, Tyng experienced a variety of hardships at the hands of sadistic shipmates who seemed to have no regard for a boy's safety or well-being. However, his early experiences at sea energized Tyng's dormant ambition to rise above the position of sailor and become a ship's officer. The memoir contains recollections of Tyng's studies, trips, and early efforts at trading on a small scale. Eventually Tyng rose through the ranks to become a ship's officer, captain, and eventually the owner of two ships. His memoir is filled with recollections of entrepreneurial deals, mutinies, and pirates. It is also filled with the day-to-day details of life aboard a merchant vessel. In a more general sense, it is also filled with the routine, but now forgotten, details of life in the early 19th century. One notable quality of this memoir is how Tyng's tone actually changes from that of an overwhelmed and somewhat unruly "ship's boy" to a mature, ambitious, and self-assured ship's captain and merchant. This change and growth in character seems natural and unforced, which lends a greater air of credibility to this book.

Tyng's story is typical of many New England boys who turned to the sea and the merchant trade to make their fortune. In his case, Tyng actually succeeded at both his chosen trade and in his ability to recount a life once common, but now forgotten. Highly recommended.

If you're not already into this stuff, it will put you to sleep.

If on the other hand, like me, the mere mention of the days of tall ships fills your lungs with salt air, gets your sea legs in motion, and gives you a faraway thrill, then this becomes the definitive life story of every sailor who ever went to sea.

And this guy has been through it all: pirates, mutinies, shipwrecks, storms, cruel officers, exotic foreign shores, wars (on both land and sea, including the American revolution and the China traders), sharks, starvation, marriage (that ultimate adventure), disease, and even "haunted" ships.

Beautifully written in the eloquent style of a man who had been an illiterate cabin boy and eventually educated himself with distinction, it even chronicles the effects that his life at sea had upon the way his family saw him and the business world dealt with him, and contains vignettes about minute aspects of life back then that I'd never been aware of.

What a find!

This tiny volume offer more advice on how to become a better writer in less space than any other. While it is not a "fun" read, it is absolutely mandatory for anyone who wishes to communicate through written words. Will Strunk is concise, direct, and unflinching in his examination of many bad habits which writers may knowingly possess.

There is an extensive (by this book's standards, at least) section about words that are frequently used incorrectly, as well as rules regarding composition, form, and style. He instructs us with examples of correct and incorrect word, punctuation, and grammar use, and briefly explains each example. One possible complaint is that perhaps at times, he is too brief; this is not a book for someone who doesn't understand the basic parts of speech. If you loathe the idea of relearning those little buggers, may I suggest _The Deluxe Transitive Vampire_, which is a bit more engaging than the standard basic grammar book.

Whenever a writer is unsure of what is the correct way to express him- or herself, that person should reach for this book. Heck, reading it over in spare moments to refresh one's memory of the rules. _Elements of Style_ will make a better writer of anyone who pays attention to it. Keep it by your writing space, keep it in mind.

As the 'rules' in this iconic book take up only 14 pages, it continually amazes me how often I can find the answer to a grammar or punctuation guestion within those pages. It doesn't cover everything, and some of the 'rules' are of course changing with the passage of time - but if a wannabe writer can't afford a whole bookcase of tomes on How to Write, then this is the one he or she should buy.
Beyond those 14 pithy pages, however, are another 100 or so that extend the value of the book immeasurably: Principles of Composition, Commonly Misused Words, and perhaps the most valuable: An Approach to Style, which gives excellent advice along the lines of Do not overwrite, Avoid qualifiers, Don't over-explain, Avoid adverbs, Avoid dialect, Don't inject opinion, and tons of others.
When all's said and done, however, one of the very best parts is a wonderful essay by the inimitable EB White himself - the Introduction, which serves as a perfect example of all that the rest of the small book preaches: write concisely, clearly, and well, and say something worthwhile.
Other books for writers to consider: Bird by Bird, On Writing, and Writing Down the Bones.

While skimming through Stephen King's book ON WRITING, he highly recommended THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE. Taking his advice I searched for a copy and found one in a free bin--of all places! I looked at it and decided that it was so much better than any other textbook that I had seen that I decided to WRITE IT. Three pages a day for a month or so. It's a very short book, only about 80 pages or so. You learn everything from words that are often spelled wrong, to punctuation, to style, etc. Very blunt and to the point. No exercises in here, problems 1 - 10 all. Nope, you just read this book and enjoy it. Why, there's actually a little humor in it at times, which is pretty good for a textbook. Now I've heard some people say that this book is bad because it is saying to follow all these rules and don't stray from them. I think they got it all wrong. This book is essentially saying this: you can't blaze new trails in the English language without having a solid foundation in the basics first! This goes for ANYTHING. You don't suddenly set off an a 200 mile trek, you slowly work up to it, starting from the basics. After you have mastered the basics, then you can break free. One thing that this book continually points out is that it is OFTEN A MATTER OF EAR. Meaning that if you are experienced enough, you will know whether to stick to the traditional or whether to be liberal when phrasing something, for example. By far this is the most talked-about textbook that I've seen and the most valuable.

. . . to really achieve its full potential, this play needs to be acted out on stage. Still, highly excellent, involving twins, cross-dressing, love tangles, sword-fighting, secret marriages, music, disguises, mistaken identities, high speech, and lowbrow humour.

The entire play takes place in Illyria. In the main plot, Orsino is in love with Olivia, who unfortunately does not return his feelings. Viola is shipwrecked on the Illyrian coast, and dressed as a boy, comes to serve in Orsino's court, where she of course falls in love with Orsino. Meanwhile, in Olivia's court, some of her courtiers plan a cruel--but funny--practical joke against her pompous steward Malvolio. There is also a third plot later on involving Viola's twin brother Sebastian, who has been shipwrecked likewise. Naturally things get quite confusing, but, true to Shakespeare's comedic style, everything gets worked out in the end.

This is an enjoyable book to read, and the notes are very helpful. However, it is still better as a performance.

"Twelfth Night" is one of the famous romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Many critics said, "Twelfth Night" is the masterpiece among his comedy because his fully developed style and insight are in the "Twelfth Night", so it has special value and attractiveness.
There are four main characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Duke Orsino, Olivia, Viola, and
Sebastian. Duke Orsino who lives in Illyria loves Olivia, so every day he send one of
his servant to Olivia's house for proposal of marriage. However, every time Olivia
refuses his proposal for the reason that she lost her brother before long, so she is now
in big sorrow and can not love anyone. One day, Viola comes into Illyria. She and her
twin brother Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck and they are rescued by two
different people in two different place, so they think the other one is dead each other.
Viola disguise as a man and become a servant of Duke Orsino, and then she fall in
love with Duke Orsino. But, Duke Orsino loves Olivia and he send Viola whose new
name as a man is "Cesario" to Olivia for proposal. Unexpectedly, Olivia fall in love with
Cesario!! Therefore, love triangle is formed. In the latter scene, Sebastian also come into
Illyria, so the confusion getting worse. However, in the end, all misunderstandings are
solved and Cesario become Viola, so the four main characters find their love.
There are also four supporting characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Clown, Sir Toby Belch,
Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. They make the readers laugh through their funny
behaviors and comments in subplot.
"Twelfth Night" is very funny story and enjoyable book, so I recommend you.

I didn't read this particular version of Twelfth Night, so I'm rating the plot, not the editing. This book was the first play by Shakespeare that I read, and I loved it! It starts when Viola and her brother, Sebastian, are seperated in a shipwreck. Viola decides to disguise herself as a boy and work for Orsino, the duke. Orsino sends Viola to tell Olivia that he loves her. Viola does what he says, but she wishes she didn't have to, because she has fallen in love with Orsino! Then Olivia falls in love with Viola, thinking that she is a boy. While all this is going on, Andrew Aguecheek is wooing Olivia, who scorns him. Also, Maria, the maid, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, and another servant write a letter and put it where Malvolio, a servant, will see it. The letter says that Olivia is in love with Malvolio. Malvolio immediately starts trying to woo Olivia. Maria and Sir Toby pretend to think that he's mad, and lock him up. Meanwhile, Sebastian comes to town with Antonio, the man who saved him from the shipwreck. Antonio gives him his purse and says that he must stay away from the city because he fought against the duke in a war. A few minutes later, Antonio realizes that he needs money for lodgings and goes to find Sebastian. In the city, Viola is being forced to fight Andrew Aguecheek for the right to marry Olivia. Antonio sees the fight and hurries to intervene. Orsino recognizes him and has him arrested. Antonio asks Viola for his purse so that he can pay bail, thinking that she is Sebastian. Viola denies having had a purse. Then Sebastian comes up. Olivia had found him and married him on the spot, and he, deliriously happy, had gone away to give Antonio his purse. On the way, he met Sir Toby and Andrew Aguecheek. When they try to force him to fight, he punches them and goes on. They come up too, bitterly accusing Viola. (No one has seen Sebastian yet.) Then Olivia comes up and speaks to Viola, who denies being her wife. Orsino becomes angry with her, thinking that she has married Olivia, and accuses her of treachery. Just as things are looking bad for Viola, Sebastian reveals himself. Then everyone is happy (since Orsino falls in love with Viola on the spot) except Andrew Aguecheek and Malvolio, who is later set free. The plot of this book is a little hard to understand, but it is halariously funny and makes for happy reading.

This superb play by Shakespeare somehow reminded me of Antigona, the first play which directly examined the always complex interplay and usual confrontation between political reason and moral reason. This play is an excellent account of the immediately previous and subsequent days of Julius Caesar's assasination by Brutus, his best friend, and other conspirators. Brutus is persuaded by the resentful Cassius that Caesar has betrayed Rome by abandoning the Republic and turning to Dictatorship. Brutus gets to be convinced that, in order to save the Republic, Caesar must be killed. This puts him in a great dilemma, for he loves Caesar and he's his closest friend. Here we see in an acute form the way in which political power gets in conflict with morality and feelings. Friendship, power and betrayal are the basic subjects of this excellent piece of work.

This is certainly one of Shakespeare's greatest works. Every individual character has been perfectly planned before the play was written, and each has his/her own unique characteristics. The plot is well-known, but Shakespeare adds the themes of betrayal, love, and distrust into the mix, making it a nonforgetable story. This is definately a masterpiece to be reread over and over again. LONG LIVE JULIUS CAESAR! GO SM!! WE ARE HIS #1 FANS!!!

A while back, a friend of mine and I decided to pick a Shakespeare play every couple months, read it, then get together and discuss it.

It worked with pretty good results for ROMEO AND JULIET, but then we ran out of gas somewhere in the middle of our next selection, JULIUS CAESAR.

Now that I've finally finished reading the play long after our allotted "couple months," I have to say that the fault (the mutual disinterest that effectively brought our little Shakespeare club to a halt) doesn't lie in the play itself, but rather in my preconceptions of what the play was about.

I can't speak for my friend, but since I took the Cliff Notes route in high school when we were supposed to be reading about Caesar and Brutus and the rest of the treacherous Roman senate (and didn't do a very thorough job at that) I always assumed the play's action revolved around the plot to kill Caesar and culminated with his death scene. I wasn't prepared to find Caesar dead halfway through the play, with two-plus acts remaining. I think I just lost interest once Caesar blurted, "Et tu, Brute?" and slouched over lifeless on the cold marble.

But thankfully I eventually kept going, and discovered what the play is really about: the manipulation of the public that goes on after Caesar's death. The speeches in JULIUS CAESAR, given by those who would take his place, are full of the damage-control, image-making spin that happens everday on our "all news" channels. It's an interesting play, maybe not Shakespeare's best, but one that has certainly has some modern relevance and is worth examining.

Now if my friend and I can just get our club back on its feet. Maybe a comedy next time...

This play is great! I've always liked Shakespearean comedy and tragic romance, and I didn't want to read this play at first, but when I did--it got me.

For those who want to read a play full of word play, appearance and reality in the world and for you, irony and Christian innuendoes, Macbeth is for you. The word play, especially the surprising comparison of murder with "Tarquin's ravishing", and the really effective ones like ambition with drunkeness, will make you read it again and again. There is a haunting soliloquy in Act 5 that Macbeth gives about life--it's famous and most would have heard of it, but nothing beats reading it together with the play.

Behind every successful man there is a woman, and behind every tragic hero there should be a tragic heroine. Lady Macbeth will repulse you and gain your pity. Don't despise her, folks, she just squashed her femininity thinking it was the best thing to do. She wouldn't have to ask evil forces to take away her human compassion if she didn't have any to begin with.

A must-read, and must-savour.

"Macbeth," the play by William Shakespeare, is definitely one literary classic that still holds its own as a vital and engaging piece of art. Despite being a stage play, it also works superbly as a reader's text apart from a theatrical setting.

The plot begins thus: Scottish warrior Macbeth is told by three witches that he is destined to ascend the throne. This fateful prophecy sets in motion a plot full of murder, deceit, warfare, and psychological drama.

Despite being a lean play, "Macbeth" is densely layered and offers the careful reader rewards on many levels. Woven into the violent and suspenseful story are a host of compelling issues: gender identity, the paranormal, leadership, guilt, etc. In one sense, the play is all about reading and misreading (i.e. with regard to Macbeth's "reading" of the witches' prophecies), so at this level the play has a rich metatextual aspect.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most unforgettable tragic characters. His story is told using some of English literature's richest and most stunning language.

While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.