A Way of Seeing is a group of articles published originaly in Christianity Today and later published as a book. Each chapter is filled with practical ways to put Christianity into your everyday life. One chapter entitled "Spongecake or Noodles" speaks of the mess we often make of our lives and how we have an opportunity to begin anew every day in Christ. Another chapter entitled "What About John?" encourages one to live the life you are meant to live without comparing your life with anothers and somehow feeling "cheated by God." Another chapter entitled "The Security of Insecurity" teaches the concept of trusting God when everything around you seems to be falling apart. I cannot tell how much comfort I have recieved from the Truth in this book. When I have been in my darkest hours I have picked up this book and been refreshed as the author has pointed me back to my Savior Jesus Christ Who is the answer to all of my needs. I recommend this book enthusiasticly to anyone who has ever questioned the True meaning of life, to anyone seeking hope and purpose in life. The author through this work as well as her many other books has truely changed my "Way of Seeing."

If you are planning a wedding and don't know "who" to ask the multitude of questions you have, this book is for you. Sherri Goodall and five other wedding experts have put together the ultimate wedding planning book. From etiquette to the bizarre and beyond, this book captures the essence of planning for your very special day! Recommended!

This is a horrifying personal account of a young girl's experience of the holocaust. She tells her story in direct and unadorned language, simply relating each experience as it occurred. We watch her childhood stripped from her and her belief in humanity almost broken. But Bruck observes her experiences with an acute and truthful eye - she speaks the unspeakable, revealing how under the worst human conditions, kindness and love so rarely shine through. We are faced with unpalatable truths about how close to the surface our savage natures lie. This book should be read for its uncompromising honesty, and the extraordinary story it tells.

This is a lovely book that uses simple words and ideas to tell us how many wonderful things we can do with our hands. We work, play, fight, love and explore our vast world with them. The black-and-white photographs depict people of many ages and races doing things with their hands...so powerful are the pictures that the words almost seem secondary to the book itself. Great book for young children!

Words Of Ages: Witnessing U.S. History Through Literature is a remarkable 320 page trade paperback book that takes a unique, ground-breaking approach to showcase American history by using letters, journal entries, short stories, and poetry to illustrate the American experience through pen of some of America's greatest authors and historical figures. Included are more than 125 excerpts from such luminaries as Booker T. Washington, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Tom Wolf, Thomas Paine, Chief Tecumseh, Frederick Douglass, Robert Frost, and a host of other to provide an accessible context for understanding the events, places, and people that shaped American history, culture and politics. Words Of Ages is divided chronological into units ranging from "Voices of a Revolution" and "Civil War and Reconstruction", to "Social Critics and Reformers" and "The Vietnam Years". This dynamic, interdisciplinary blending of literature, history, and art provide a most unusual, effective, and academically sound approach that will be read with enthusiasm by anyone with an interest in American history.

Xingu is an excellent story highlighting how Victorian women seemed to think that they knew everything. Each character is a conflict of interests, from the headstrong Mrs. Ballinger to the timid Mrs. Leveret. The characters are brilliantly portrayed and their interactions are hilarious. Read it and find out all about "Xingu".

This book was written when Stephen King had become a household name--and it's clear his editor was either intimidated by King's growing reputation or just horribly lazy.

"IT" is ridiculously long and burdened with with an excess of characters and an excess of dreary, self-indulgent verbiage. Scenes that should have been startling and tight are dragged out for pages and pages and pages. I don't know if King was deep into his cocaine addiction by this time, but the book certainly reads like it was written by someone sky-high on coke and completely out of control.

Avoid this book. Reread classic King instead: the admirably concise Carrie or The Shining (which rarely drags and earns its length).

I am a 15 year old reader and 'IT' was the first book by Stephen King which I read. It was amazing at first, totally living up to my expectations, until I read the last 200 or so pages. I wasn't put off by the great length of the book, in fact I loved books which allowed time to develop the characters and storylines. Initially, I was drawn into the world of the 7 children, and adults, battling the unknown horror of IT, and the book was a constant page-turner. The characters had depth and realism, and the monster was pleasingly frightening. The mystery of IT is the book's strengh. I turned the pages, impatient to discover what It is when It is finally revealed in its true form.
But the book could not maintain its high standard and began to fizzle out. One of the major downfalls of the book was King's portrayal of the only female character of the book, Beverly. I tolerated the character at first, enduring her whiny and irritating depiction. But when I read the disturbing account of the group sex in the sewers involving her and six boys, all around 11 years old, I just couldn't take the book seriously. I am not sensitive towards sex, but the account obviously served no purpose in the book and only degraded and insulted the previous splendour of the story. Not to mention the lame ending, involving the children fighting IT off by shouting at IT and an even lamer explanation of IT's origins, something about the Turtle vomiting out the universe(???). Nothing made any sense in the last hundred pages and it seemed like King had written it just so that he could finally finish the book. I felt that all of the important 800 pages of build-up were for nothing, and was deeply disappointed. However, the book, overall, is worth reading. But I suggest you stop reading three-quarters of the way through so that the story won't be spoilt by the ill-written ending.

I love IT, it was my fave Stephen King book, my second was the Stand, if you haven't read either, you should. Or try The Shining, Pet Sematary, Carrie, or Salem's Lot. They are all great Stephen King books. Or try Dean Koontz or Jonathan Kellerman, they are both good too. Here I'll tell you a little about IT.

In 1958, seven, twelve year old kids, six boys, and one girl find that a ancient evil lives in their town and is killing children of all ages. They christen the evil that can change faces "IT." One of kids, his little brother was killed by it. The kid wants to avenge his brother's death and stop others from happening. So they go and fight it and kill it Or did they.....? Many years later, in 1985, all of the kids but one had moved away. They are know successful grownups, but one call will change their lives. The man still living in their hometown calls each one, with a chilling message. "IT's back."

True love exists. Set in the traditional and magical humid towns of Colombia, this tale of love develops for fifty years. There is almost no magical realism here, but magic of a higher sort: the magic of a true and desperate love. The novel is not tragic nor edulcorated: it is witty and funny. Florentino Ariza is a rather poor young man deeply in love with Fermina Daza, a well-to-do miss. She likes him, but decids to marry a prosperous physician, who is a good but rather dull man. Florentino never gets married, since he is always hoping that, somehow, Fermina will be one day by his side. In the long meantime, he has sex with hundreds of women, but never finds a love to replace Fermina in his heart. Parallel to the unfulfilled love affair, we are told the story of many times when cholera hits the town, with the drama of that disease compared to what Florentino feels for Fermina. The novel is long but you'll read quickly. It is one of the best stories of love there are, and Garcia Marquez is at his best here, along with "Chronicle of a death foretold" and "One hundred years of solitude".

Although I read this book four years ago, I still think about it and recommend it to anyone I think loves great literature. Unlike many people, I do not think of it so much as a "love story" as a "life story." Today we would call the "hero" a stalker. Love is so complex and involves such an evolution to fruition, that I always felt Ariza loved his own fantasy more than anything else; but he loved it completely. And in the end, he still sought to wed fantasy and reality. More moving was the brilliance of Marquez' use of language, his craft developed to the outer reaches of art. He can play the strings of emotion like a master violinist would his instrument. No John Wayne's and Darth Vadar's here. Good guys and bad guys are one and the same. These characters are rich and three dimensional, and you'll laugh and cry at the same moment. Sometimes I could only read a paragraph or two before I would have to stop and savor the richness of this work. In the fullness of time, I will read it again.

Where "100 Years of Solitude" is the greatest testament to family ever written, "Love in the Time of Cholera" is the greatest testament to love.

I was lucky to have already experienced love before reading this book, because I don't know if I would have been able to comprehend this book without such an advantage.

Read this book and you will forever be haunted by the smell of almonds. You will never forget the image of Fermina and Juvenal travelling in a hot air balloon as dead cows and human beings decorate the rivers below, their remains being eaten by vultures--Marquez' bird of choice.

There are also two memorable scenes in this book for how painfully real they are. One, Marquez' description of Urbino's fall from a ladder, which leads to his death, is expertly detailed. Death is never a simple occurence in the world of Marquez', and Urbino's last breaths are decorated with thoughts of Fermina and the relief in having experienced love. Two: Fermina realizing, "moments" after her husband's death, that all her life, she has given her love to the wrong man.

Never melodramatic because Marquez creates characters whose passions are all too human. There is such a thing as love in Marquez' world and nothing proves this more than Florentino Ariza writing his love for Fermina on rose petals.

I hope that I will always have a love in my life as intense as the love Florentino has for Fermina, and if I ever have to wait as long as he did, I hope that my journey is as rewarding.

Marquez teaches us that love comes in many forms and although we may expereince it differently, without it, we are incomplete. Ultimately, of course, his message is that with love we can easily conquer or "rise above" the most unbearable of human sorrows.

Muchas gracias Senor Marquez! Eres un buen instructor!

I must admit I cheated and saw the movie before I read this book. I've had the novel for so long, but never got around to it. The film was stunning and I was sobbing at the end. Now after the reading the book - I am pleased to say the film follows the book closely and Gillian Anderson really captures the moral complexities of Lily Bart. I love how Wharton was able to find the hypocrisy in nineteenth century high society. Not only did she expose its follies, she also unveiled its fragility. Lily could have easily maneuvered her way out of nearing poverty, but she possesses a kind of morality that her privileged, back-stabbing friends do not. It is only by turning their backs on the truth do her peers hold up their shameful facade. I do find it disturbing that Lily believes her only way out is death...that she has nothing else to offer the world. Wharton uses this tactic, though, to symbolically represent the rich snubbing the poor - how they exist without even seeing them.

However, the most intriguing part about this novel is Lily's relationship with Seldon. In the beginning, he seems to always remind her of her vain attempts at marrying rich men. She can't go through with her designs, though. He strings her along, all the while he's having this under-handed liason with one of the most pretentious women of their social circle. Lily never gets to tell him how much she really loves him. Her pride reverts to bravery as she realizes she must face her future without his companionship. Does she die for an empty purse or a broken heart? I choose the latter.

Prior to reading The House of Mirth, I had read both The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome. The House of Mirth deals with moneyed New York families, as does The Age of Innocence, but The House of Mirth has a more serious tone and a more tragic storyline, in that the main character is a woman who is a victim of her times. Lily Bart lives in an era when to be poor is the worst punishment of New York society. The idea of having to work for a living is untenable. Her goal in life is to marry well, but she struggles with the idea of abandoning her goals for true happiness just to marry well. The story deals with her misadventures in society, and the sometimes painful price her relatives and friends extract from her in exchange for financial support. This is a very enjoyable, although sad, novel, and I recommend it particularly to those who have already read some Edith Wharton and wish to round out their selection of writing.

I stumbled upon a review of the recent film of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH in the TLS and, in order to have the novel firmly fixed in my mind (that is, before the lush, seductive images of film forever eradicated Wharton's novel from me) I dragged my copy off the shelf for a re-read. It had been 16 years since I last read of Lily Bart and her life, and I didn't realize how much I had missed her. For me, this is one of the great reading experiences, one of a handful that make reading a book the deeply moving and human exchange that it is. Despite the distance of wealth, property, time and manners, Wharton manages to make Lily's world and life palpable to anyone who will listen. The clash of money, morals, personality and circumstance is infinitely developed and played out in front of a never fading natural world. Once again, I was deeply moved by Lily Bart and at the end, felt I had lost someone myself.

This is a story set in the stifling atmosphere of upper-class turn of the century New York, where everyone does what they think others expect of them, and are more worried about appearances and 'tradition' (though really, the city is till so young the traditions are relatively new) than what is right or good.

Newland Archer is engaged to marry May Welland, a young woman from the same social strata as himself. He then meets May's cousin Ellen Olenska, and falls in love, which is a major problem - not only is Newland expected to marry May, but Ellen is a married woman, who did the wrong thing and left her rich European husband. The story explores the attempts by Newland to break out from the expectation of society to be with the woman he loves, and how society and his own beliefs keep him reined in.

This story is a joy to read, not only for its narrative, but also because of Wharton's lush descriptions of the locations and rituals of New York life - she can make you feel that you know a house inside and out just by the way she writes about it. This book reminded me a lot of Anna Karenina - the same stifling societal rules that kept people from doing what they wanted in life, the same sumptuous settings. Only Age of Innocence is a lot shorter, and I have to say a lot more readable!

Although the story line was not my favorite out of Wharton's books, I did like The Age of Innocence for what it seemed to be, a social commentary of the time. Age of Innocence is a mirror of the society where Edith Wharton lived. The book was written concerning the high society around the turn of the century. May Welland, the van der Luydens, and Countess Olenska represent the stereotypical characters that made up that society, although with a little closer examination they embody not only the stereotype, but much more. Wharton is able to make the characters come to life. I must admit that I'd seen the movie before I read the book, and I was not looking forward to the read. However, once I got involved with the characters, they seemed to come to life even more than the actors on the big screen. Especially the characters of Newland Archer and Countess Elaine Olenska stand out. In one way they are complete opposites, Archer is a man completely accepted by the upper class community, while Countess Olenska is avoided at all costs until Archer intervenes. Yet, both find themselves in the same community with the same types of restrictions. Archer reminded me a lot of myself in certain ways. He questioned a lot, but he could not always force himself to do what he desired. I think that's one reason that he appealed to me so much. What made it more difficult for me to read was the involvement between the countess and Archer. Although nothing really happened as far as an all out affair between them, knowing that Newland was engaged was painful. It was difficult to know what side to cheer for because if he stayed with May, he may not ever be truly happy, but with anyone there is always that possibility. Over all I liked the book, but if I had a choice between The House of Mirth (also by Wharton) and The Age of Innocence, I would read The House of Mirth. All of the same type of social commentary is present, with out the suggestion of adultery. I think that Wharton really is an effective author and that she knows just how to make characters come alive while showing how their surroundings affect them.

One decision can impact a life forever. Should one choose what is best for him or what society demands of him? Newland Archer ponders these questions throughout the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. Love, lust, power, deceit, greed, and settlement are employed throughout the book as the author explains the plight of May Welland's fiancé, Newland Archer. Being members of an elite social class in New York City, the couple abides by strict Victorian rules of conduct and etiquette. Their world is turned upside down upon the arrival of Countess Ellen Olenska, (an independent and radiant woman, much different from any proper lady of the time). Archer secretly falls in love with the recently separated countess, who is the complete antithesis of the naïve woman he is about to marry who cannot make any kind of decision about her life without consulting outsiders for guidance. Archer begins to question society roles and standards, but most importantly, doubt his love for May.
Seen through the eyes of Archer, the reader has the ability to pick up on emotions, which plague him as his wedding day approaches. He struggles with the thought of settling for a life of true unhappiness to appease his family and the aristocracy of New York, by marrying May. Archer breaks the mold of stereotypical ways when he questions society and their values. He is ridiculed in the process by supporting a blasphemous and flamboyant woman who speaks her mind, Ellen Olenska. Archer is immediately attracted to Ellen due to her vivacious and feisty personality. Archer is able to view the difference quite clearly between his innocent fiancé and a worldly woman who has real opinions and concrete views. "And with a shiver of foreboding, he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on one side and hypocrisy on the other," (page 63). Through his thoughts, one is able to discover the major theme of man verses society, and true love verses reality.
I have never read a more captivating book in my life. Ms. Wharton kept me engaged in the story throughout the entire book. She created a visual aid, which was depicted so clearly that it was nearly impossible to put the book down. It is clever, witty, and holds controversial issues, which are relevant to the present as well as during the 1870's. It makes me think, should I be a bold Countess or accept society protocol and demands as May did?