I don't think I'd like to have Charles Dickens as my travelling companion. He's always on the go, seemingly preferring an enclosed carriage careening down the road to mixing it with the natives (he makes one exception for Genoa, where he spends twelve months). And he makes virtually no mention of his wife, to whom refers at one point as accompanying him, but who therupon disappears as surely as if she had fallen down a well. Finally, as a Roman Catholic, I would spend my trip grimacing at his observations of my faith.

The people appearing in PICTURES are almost entirely people encountered enroute, including postilions, innkeepers, guides, soldiers, and the like. He does not appear to have entertained any intention of interviewing writers, political leaders, prelates, or others. It is as if I took a trip through the U.S. and wrote only about bus drivers, service station attendants, traffic cops, and ticket takers.

And yet, and yet, it is obviously the great Charles Dickens writing this book. The writing is superb even if the subject matter is strangely limited. I was entertained, dismayed, and befuddled all at the same time. Comparing it to something like Mark Twain's INNOCENTS ABROAD or ROUGHING IT, however, I feel it is Twain who comes out ahead. Dickens, it seems, forgot to create any memorable characters.

Hard Times feels like a book that Dickens did not polish nearly as much as the many classics associated with his name. It's the story of the unhappy lives of two children of a father who raised them to speak and appreciate only "facts." Imagination, fantasy, passion, and the like were all forbidden in their household.

Their lives are unhappy, as you'd expect. But they also lack much narrative interest. The usual twists and turns of fate that Dickens invests into his characters' lives are mostly absent. As a result the book drags on. Hard Times also lacks the humor found in other Dickens books, his pithy observations of different persona of his time. So, in reading the uninspiring narrative, you find yourself wishing for something, anything of the old Dickensian magic. Alas, it does not show up.

If you have other Dickens titles you're set on reading, read them first. You're likely to enjoy them more.

I always had a revulsion when I was forced to read Dickens in high school, and I was never able to get past the first chapter of any of his books, including this one. Now that I'm in my mid-30's, I want to re-visit a lot of the works that I had no patience for as a teenager, so I read Hard Times. Although there are many flaws to this book, I felt proud to have finally cleared the Dickens hurdle. Dickens is excellent at creating sympathetic (and evil) characters, even though they may be slightly cliche or wooden. The fact is, Dickens is able to hook you in with his plots and create a profound concern on behalf of the reader that the good guy (or girl) wins and the bad guy suffers. A lot of the twists in this book were a little "too convenient" and implausible to make it a crowining work of literature, but nevertheless it has motivated me to move on to Dickens' larger, more daunting works. If you are having any trepidation about tackling Dickens, Hard Times is a good place to start.

Dickens creates a novel that virtually revolutionizes literature of the 1800's. At a time where most writers wrote in a stuffy prose full of unrealities and a jaded outlook, Dickens dares to tell with honesty what he sees through his window.

Hard Times has yet a misleading title. It gives one ideas of harshness, depression, poverty, and social decline--although the actual reality of then-London, still not something you would choose to read. However, Hard Times has as much depression and poverty as any of Dickens' other works. It is just in this case that Dickens chooses to remind the world that in the deepest despair there is beauty yet to be seen.

Dickens was a strange author. In his supposedly inspiring books, you get an overdose of sadness, and in his depressing books, you find beauty. It is this case with Hard Times.

It is a poor, honest man's search for justice in a world where only the rich have merit. It is a girl's search for true love while battling the arranged marriage for money. And lastly, a woman's search for recognition against her favored, yet dishonest brother. It is these searches that at last come together and become fufilled. And, while at the same time telling a captivating story, it comments on the then--and still now--presence of greed and total dishonesty one has to go through for money.

The title of this review sums up Hard Times. Its beauty comes from the pure searches for truth, the sorrow comes from the evil the characters most overcome to get there, and the honesty is both the truth with which Dickens portrays life and the the overwhelming truth that these protaganists create.

Holly Burke, PhD.

Clinical Psychologist, Abnormal Psych. Professor

Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins Inst.

I've read the other books in the "Book of Psalms" series and this one was very disappointing. The story began in a fairly amusing and intriguing way, as is usual with Kate Charles, but about half way through, the characters and dialogue became very predictable and the ending was not a surprise, to say the least. The dialogue also seemed very dated and similar to the author's other stories. I hope the next one will be better.

This book held my interest all the way through and was well-written. One thing puzzles me. Part of the plot hinges on a young bride who receives obscene phone calls. She gets so upset that it is ruining her marriage and her health. She listens to each phone call all the way through each revolting detail. Why? Why doesn't she simply hang up the phone? Or report the problem to the telephone company? Somehow, since the gal is not an idiot, this part does not ring true. I wonder if this bothered any other readers.

In a small and insulated society, sometimes evil grows and festers. And then, if changes are introduced from outside that society, sometimes that evil begins to ferment. Evil Angels Among Them by Kate Charles takes place in the small English village of Walston. Everyone knows everyone else and everyone understands his or her place in the social and power structure of the village. Newcomers Gillian and Lou, a lesbian couple with Gillian's young daughter, and Stephen and Becca, the newly married rector and his wife, engender the change that activates the malignancy. There is gossip and rumor, then obscene telephone calls and finally murder. Stephen's friends, David Middleton-Brown and Lucy Kingsley, come to Walston to try to sort things out. This is a study of evil, a banal and petty evil, but evil nonetheless. The atmosphere of the book is fetid with fear and ambition and hatred. Only the church stands, peaceful, beautiful, above the infection in the village. This intricate and intellectual mystery pulled me into the story, taking me down by-ways and back lanes, until finally the solution was revealed, layer by layer. It also introduced me to some very complex and interesting people, three-dimensional people who change and grow because of what happens to them in this little village.The church and the rector are at the center of the story, but the storm swirls around them, hardly touching them with its frightfulness. This is hopeful because that means the good people who live in this village may rise above the gossip, the prudishness, the licentiousness of the few tainted people. This is a story that is a mystery and yet surmounts the mystery to reflect a universal truth

I want to express my disgust at the decision to offer this only as an e-book. The editors should read the books they are recommending. Customers want a choice. I prefer to take nutrition by enjoying a wonderful tasting meal, not through a tube. And, I prefer a book, bound, and in my hands, not some data stream that forces me to waste time at my computer doing the tasks of downloading and printing. Until the authors wake up, I'll read others' books. If they do wake up let me know. The material looks interesting.

I just downloaded the PDF and are already questioning my decision to buy this eBook. Obviously I had no chance to read everything before writing this review and my opinion about this ebook might change for the better, but I doubt it. The reason why I can be so certain about this is, that this book is awefully short (only 49 pages) and therefore, scratches only the surface of most books. I would like to have a little bit more on each book, but maybe I am just a little annoyed that I paid over $$$ that is not even printed.

Now, to some this might be a benefit (and I would see it as such too) if it wasn't for the fact that the layout of this ebook is clearly created for print. For example: the layout is layouted in two columns requiring you to constantly scroll up and down and it doesn't even uses the most simplest features of Adobe Acrobat like creating bookmarks, which would allow easier navigation between the sections.

Given, that the publisher didn't have to fork out the money for the print, I think it is absolutely reasonable for me to expect a presentation of the content that is suitable to the medium, or, that I am not going to be charged an amount that I would not be charged if the information was printed on paper.

I still think that the underlying idea of this book is good and I hopefully will end up buying some great books that I otherwise might not have read. So, I am not sure if it is worth it, but since there was no reader review on this I felt compelled to give you at least my 5 cents of wisdom.

If you're a fanatic business book reader as I am, this is a great overview of business books across every area ranging from history to biography to strategy and leadership.
I ordered it, got it delivered digitally same day and printed it out to take home and read on vacation the next week.

Great book, great technology, great price!

I have to admit that this book was one of the most bizarre that I've read in a while. I like to believe that I have very eclectic taste when it comes to what I like, but this one crossed the line. It took a bit to get used to the book at first b/c the author's style of writing was quite different from the norm. You never felt truly engrossed in the novel, but rather watching this evolve from a distance. I couldn't connect with Tessa, who was so "helpless" throughout the entire story that I was pretty much disgusted with her. I felt like she was living in a dreamworld where she simply floated along and hoped for the best. Take for example her relationship with Ian. I can understand how there's always that one dream guy who never seems quite in reach to grasp, but she followed after him for years. She took a childhood infatuation and let it rule her for the better part of her life. Then, she meets Rob, who seems utterly charming, and marries him after knowing him only for two weeks. In my opinion, you should probably get to know the quirks of the guy you're going to marry before you marry him, so you're not stuck with a guy who may or may not have killed his own mother. The book also had some really bizarre aspects, especially concerning Rob's mother and her "Babies"...gross! All in all, I wouldn't really recommend reading this book, it was rather forgettable.

Why would anyone want to listen to dark, dreary stories of the undead, Angels that drink blood, this book was very misrepresented in the title. "Deamon" fantasies is much more appropriate. I was looking forward to a spiritual uplifting, instead I threw all the tapes and box into the trash, right where it belongs.