It was back on 29 March 1968 that I finished reading Sidney Bradshaw Fay's two volume work on The Origins of the World War (when he wrote, "first" was not necessary). And then on 31 July 1980 I read Fritz Fischer's bombshellic work, Germany's Aims in the First World War. And on May 8, 1986 I finished reading Luigi Albertini's three-volume The Origins of the War 1914. On Nov 14, 1992 I read John W. Langdon's July 1914: The Long Debate, 1918-1990. The subject long has held my interest but not till now did I read Professor Turner's slim and highly readable study. He disputes Fischer on a number of points, and it is neat that an Australian contests Fischer's indictment of Germany. But as one reads one cannot but help but think how bitterly the July 1914 actors on the world stage must have regretted their then actions and inactions as the grim statistics of death and disaster mounted in the years after 1914--and all the world with them. Though over 30 years old I found this work valuably insightful.

This book which was given in a series of lectures contains some remarkable insights into the relationships between the world's great religions (Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) and the philosophies of the One. The author examines the understanding of the One in Taoism, Confucianism, the Advaita Vedanta, Islamic mysticism, and Western philosophy. In addition, the author examines the relationship between the Self and the One (dealing especially with the philosophies of Absolute Idealism of Fichte or Bradley, for example), the nature of mysticism and its relation to the One, and how the One is to be understood in terms of ethical and social ideals. The book concludes with a chapter on the succession of metaphysical systems and the truth and how this related back to the philosophy of the One. The author argues that metaphysics cannot be so readily dismissed as a mode of questioning, and that the One can be understood as having a special relationship to God and theistic philosophy in general. In sum, this book features many fascinating insights into the world's religions and philosophical insights into the nature of the One.

I read this book on night shift. Forsyth takes us from Scotland to Russia and to England in this thriller/spy novel. This is extremely gripping and masterly written. Thoroughly enjoyable! The film version is not a patch on the book.

I am new to this writer because I thought he just wrote boring war stories for old men. I was quite surprised to find that he is a talented writer who is able to create a fast-paced, gripping thriller with a lot of psychological punch. If you are reader of good fiction, even science-fiction (like me), then try this book out. It has many technological surprises.

The story is basically about a top level Russian official who wants to bring down the current british government (maggy thatcher, hehe) and install his own covert government (the opposition, labour!). In order to do this he needs to sway the majority of the british vote to labour by launching a semi-terrorist type attack on a small british town. Seems odd? Well not at all because Forsyth makes you believe it by throwing in some of the most coolest characters alive since "Gorky Park". Although the first 100 pages are pretty slow going you will finish this book in no time. Big surprises, nice plot twists and a courir service from hell.

Frederick Forsyth is a master of complex plotting and this book, published in 1985, is without a doubt one of his most complex."The Fourth Protocol" begins quite humbly with the simple burglary and theft of a mult-million dollar set of diamond jewelry from a London town home. Finding a sparkling tiara won't fit into his own carrying case, the burglar takes an attache case belonging to the owner and thereby saves the entire Western Alliance from collapse. Only Forsythe could pull this off. He does so with a cast of dozens, meticulous attention to plot detail and the sure knowledge of his readers' fear of communism and nuclear terrorism in the 1980s. The story begins slowly, but manages to hold the reader's interest through a series of accidents, mayhem and shrewd deductions of British intelligence officer John Preston. The story takes us back and forth from Europe to the Soviet Union, from Pretoria, South Africa to a U.S. air base in England, and all over Europe. Each new revelation brings the reader a little closer to the edge of his chair and the ending nearly sends him to hide underneath. Even though this thriller is somewhat dated in its Cold War mentality, it is still a wonderful, compelling novel. With only a bit of paranoia, the reader can substitute a Middle-East villain for the aging Soviet one in this novel, and scare himself silly.

This is a good introduction if you have some background in philosophy. Otherwise, it is likely to be over your head. Jaspers' look at Nietzsche is philosophically creative and sometimes complex. It is not just a guide to Nietzsche's thinking but a rather detailed reading of his philosophy. If you are looking for a guidebook of sorts, a good one is Kaufmann's 'Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist'.

Consider Karl Jaspers a master of multiplicity, whose understanding of Nietzsche's thought is like the complexity of a physiologist's understanding of the peristaltic activity involved in swallowing anything. For Jaspers, an interest in Nietzsche is mainly meaningful if it is accompanied by a wish for intellectual growth (this may be a valid career goal for those who are lucky enough to pursue this kind of thing professionally). At least, such a view of Jaspers could be supported by what he wrote on the topic, "Ways of Criticizing Nietzsche" in this book. Anyone who does not accept and assume the full multiplicity of the topic being considered falls into the error described on page 420. "He is bound to consider as fixed and final formulae what to Nietzsche were only steps and to pervert these formulae by turning them into jargon, demogogic means of persuasion, or sensationalistic journalese." The world which offered Nietzsche such foolish models for demonstrating the recklessness of typical thinking does not receive due consideration here, this being a book on a lonely thinker. The self of Nietzsche can only emerge for readers who are able "to keep this depth in sight" while overcoming "the rationally onesided formulations of the understanding which he himself recognized in his own thinking but failed to check." Such a view of Nietzsche springs from the desire of those who need to consider themselves fully educated, but sensible. The kind of thought-check which is being suggested by Jaspers is supposed to thwart the kind of racing thoughts which are not productive. Don't forget that Karl Jaspers was also a doctor, an expert on General Psychopathology, a field in which facts are not as important as the emotional experiences of the kind of person who becomes the subject of such studies. In the field of philosophy, where Nietzsche's desire to learn the truth about the limitations which always prevent the full realization of this desire for truth, thereby setting a new standard for intellectual integrity, Jaspers felt that Nietzsche's sense of "knowing full well where to find exactly what I have to learn" (p. 421) when it came to matters fully covered by books "was of little consequence for his truly philosophical thinking." (p. 421) I must be over-simplifying this ~ this is only a review, and Jaspers's sympathy with Nietzsche's awareness of the limitations placed on his knowledge by the fact that "he was forced to content himself with the reading of books" (p. 421) must be true as well for people who are only reading reviews.

This wonderful introduction to Nietsche by Karl Jaspers was written in 1936 after Jaspers had been disgraced by the Nazis and forced out of his professorship. He had taken refuge in Bern. This work is his offering to help us see that Nietsche was critically important to 20th centruy philosophy, and was not the pop-philosopher the Nazis tried to make him out to be. Jasper's work is the first real undertaking to show Nietsche as he was, and to appreciate him for what he was and is.

Day of the Jackal is not just Frederick Forsyth's best book; it's the best book in it's genre. A political killer code-named "The Jackal" is hired to assassinate Charles De Gaulle, president of France. He is the best, not appearing on any police file. But through one small twist of fate, the French authorities learn of this plot, and set Claude Lebel, their best detective to find The Jackal. From there, the race is on, and Forsyth gives the reader front-row seats. He has created a sizzling rivalry between the cold-blooded assassin and the one policeman talented enough to stop him, and the suspense never lets up. Through deception, betrayal, and luck, Lebel tracks the killer throughout Europe, ending in the climactic assassination attempt itself. Based on true events, the obvious outcome doesn't take away from the thrill of the chase. This is the book that set the standard for others to try and follow

This book is brilliant. I chose to read it after we got it for homework in school. I read a few thrillers and mystery. But this book is on my list of top five books.

It's about an assassin whose codename is the Jackal. He is hired to kill the French president de Gaulle. You follow him when he brilliantly plans the murder. You see how he thinks, how he choose the perfect weapon, gets false passports etc. You end up liking him and whish him good luck, while you sometimes might want him to fail. How does Forsyth do that?

We meet many other characters through the reading, about fifty. Even if they are too many in a book of over 300 pages, it is not quite hard to follow the plot. Who are then the main characters? Well, the Jackal is one of course. The villain is the Jackal, but who is the hero? Is it Lebel, Rolland or Thomas? In a strange way, you find that the plot is the real main character. All things that happen in the book is just analyze of the attempt of murder on de Gaulle. Everything that happens is important and manipulates the ending of the story. This makes the story very complex and brilliant. You won't waste your time reading 150 pages with nothing happening. Every page is important.

Read it, or you'll regret it.

I will very soon see the both versions of the movie.

What can I add to 69 other reviewers? Simply this; I first read the book 25 years ago, and I still regularly take it back down off the shelves and dip into some part that jogs my memory, and enjoy savouring the detail afresh, as with a great piece of classical music or a Jane Austen novel. I am not normally a reader of thrillers; but this is equally much a great detective story and a mind game, and the writing style and the language are also superb, as is the evocation of the French setting. It starts quite slowly but accelerates all the way to the end. It is fascinating to compare it with the great 1973 film (NOT the Bruce Willis version). Scenes from the film like the final assassination attempt create an even more vivid picture in the mind as you read the book again. On the other hand, the detail of the planning, or the moment of Lebel's realisation of how the Jackal has got a gun through the apparently impregnable police screen, or seeing how all the different threads of the storyline fit together, can only be captured in the book. Every word and every nuance count at the climactic moments. Read the book, then see the film, then read the book again. It may not be as pacy as some modern all-action thrillers, but it is never contrived and virtually every bit rings true.

Just as Clement Moore gave us the definitive Santa Claus in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (a.k.a. "The Night Before Christmas"), Charles Dickens gave us the definitive Christmas spirit in his simple but charming novella "A Christmas Carol". First published in 1843, this supernatural story of an elderly man's redemption from his mean-spirited, miserly ways takes place in Victorian London, but its universal theme of charity towards our fellow man has endeared this classic to many a generation around the globe. In addition to its priceless role as a morality tale, the book colorfully describes the Yuletide customs practiced in England during the early nineteenth century. This Washington Square Press edition of "A Christmas Carol" is unabridged, yet you can understand why so short a book is yet published in abridged versions, especially for schoolchildren. Not infrequently, Dickens veers from the main story line and goes into tangents of a philosophical or descriptive nature, much like the converser who abruptly changes the subject only to return to it with the familiar "Anyway, ... ". I assume children (and some adults) may find these tangents cumbersome and distracting, but they are still useful in that they reflect Dickens' thoughts while writing the book. It may still be difficult for some of us to think that cold-hearted Christmas-bashers like Ebenezer Scrooge exist, but look at human nature around you, and it will be difficult no more. At a time when "Merry Christmas" is being supplanted by a more vague "Happy Holidays", and the season gives way to coarse behavior and unchecked materialism, "A Christmas Carol" is the perfect guidebook to put things into perspective.

Well, I finally read it (instead of just watching it on the TV screen).

This is what you can call a simple idea, well told. A lonely, bitter old gaffer needs redemption, and thus is visited by three spirits who wish to give him a push in the right direction. You have then a ghost story, a timeslip adventure, and the slow defrosting of old Scrooge's soul. There are certain additions in the more famous filmed versions that help tweak the bare essentials as laid down by Dickens, but really, all the emotional impact and plot development necessary to make it believable that Scrooge is redeemable--and worth redeeming--is brilliantly cozied into place by the great novelist.

The scenes that choke me up the most are in the book; they may not be your favourites. I react very strongly to our very first look at the young Scrooge, sitting alone at school, emotionally abandoned by his father, waiting for his sister to come tell him there may be a happy Christmas. Then there are the various Cratchit scenes, but it is not so much Tiny Tim's appearances or absence that get to me--it's Bob Cratchit's dedication to his ailing son, and his various bits of small talk that either reveal how much he really listens to Tim, or else hide the pain Cratchit is feeling after we witness the family coming to grips with an empty place at the table. Scrooge as Tim's saviour is grandly set up, if only Scrooge can remember the little boy he once was, and start empathizing with the world once again. I especially like all Scrooge's minor epiphanies along his mystical journey; he stops a few times and realizes when he has said the wrong thing to Cratchit, having belittled Bob's low wages and position in life, and only later realizing that he is the miser with his bootheel on Cratchit's back. Plus, he must confront his opposite in business, Fezziwig, who treated his workers so wonderfully, and he watches as true love slips through his fingers again.

It all makes up the perfect Christmas tale, and if anyone can find happiness after having true love slip through his fingers many years ago, surprisingly, it's Scrooge. With the help of several supporting players borrowed from the horror arena, and put to splendid use here.

Master storyteller and social critic, Charles Dickens, turns this social treatise on shortcomings of Victorian society into an entertaining and heartwarming Christmas ghost story which has charmed generations and become an icon of Christmas traditions. Who, in the Western world has not heard, "Bah, Humbug!" And who can forget the now almost hackneyed line of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one!" or his cheerfully poignant observation, that he did not mind the stares of strangers in church, for he might thus serve as a reminder of He who made the lame, walk and the blind, see. Several movie versions: musical, animated, updated, or standard; as well as stage productions (I recall the Cleveland Playhouse and McCarter Theatre`s with fondess.) have brought the wonderful characterizations to the screen, as well as to life. This story of the redemption of the bitter and spiritually poor miser, and the book itself; however, is a timeless treasure whose richness, like Mrs Cratchit`s Christmas pudding, is one that no production can hope to fully capture.

Slavery was known as a "peculiar institution". By broadcasting such labels for slavery, the southern slave owners were able to downplay the severity of the subjugation of slaves in this "peculiar institution". However, in 1845 a runaway slave by the name of Frederick Douglass was published his narrative which showed the extent of the cruelty within of the oppressive the institution of American slavery. Douglass gives a powerful portrayal of his personal struggle against the tyranny of himself and his fellow slaves. By depicting his personal story regarding the horrors of slavery, Douglass testified to the injustices of the slave institution and conveyed an urgent message of the time for prompt abolition.
Douglass leaves out no detail as he portrays the brutal means in which slaves were forced into subjugation. In order to maintain order and to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity from his slave, an owner used the fear of the ever-present whip against his slaves. Over, and over again throughout the Narrative, Douglass gives account of severe beatings, cruel tortures, and unjust murders of slaves. The message is evident. Slavery dehumanized African Americans.
From the introduction of his early experience, Douglass portrays the burdens of slavery. The reader is forced to cope with the fact that he has no tangible background. Slavery has robbed him of the precious moments of his childhood. He was raised in the same manner as one would raise an animal. In his early years he had no knowledge of time-he did not even know when he was born. He is also forced to scrounge for food in the same fashion as a pig digs for slop. The saddest insight is the alienation of Douglass from his family. He has no connection with his parents and when his mother dies he was untouched. On hearing of her death he states, "I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (19). The bond between mother and child is the strongest bulwark for children and to be robbed of this and to not care demonstrates just how severe slavery was to Douglass and countless others who faced the same fate. In the entire slave experience, the only escape from the repression was through sorrowful singing. As Douglass states, "every tone was a testimony against slavery..." and "slaves sing the most when they are unhappy" (29). Only through music could slaves find comfort in dealing with their anguish.
Douglass's first witness of brutality is the telling of his Aunt Hester's beating. The narration is powerfully effective through terrible detail. The cursing of the overseer, the shrieks of his aunt, and the horrible effects the whip upon her flesh is almost as agonizing the reader of the Narrative as it was to his unfortunate aunt. The fact that this terrible instance is a common occurrence makes it a heavier burden upon the reader's soul.
As if the beatings were not enough, slaves were also murdered on a whim. Douglass tells of Gore, a meticulously cold taskmaster who blew out the brains of a poor slave by the name of Demby. The chilliness of Gore's is terrible due the fact that he kills with the sympathy of a butcher.
Upon hearing about this, one would speculate that the authorities would deal with such barbaric acts justly. However, as Douglass recounts in the story Mrs. Hicks, the murderess that killed a slave girl for not moving fast enough, the law officials were hesitant to enforce the rights of the slave and would intentionally overlook such matters. This is primarily due to the fact that a slave owning society could not allow the rights of the slave to be upheld to the same level as a white man. To do such a thing would threaten the stability of their superiority. This is further illustrated in Douglass's struggle against the shipyard workers, when he fled to his master and told him of the attack his master stated that he could not hold up Douglass or even a thousand blacks testimony. The lack of protection under the law and the unwillingness of the whites to give the slaves a voice allowed the whites to completely dominate the slaves without the fear of accountability for their actions.
The worst aspect of slavery is found in the religious nature of the subjugation of slaves. The cruelty found in slavery was even more intense when placed under the pretense of the slaveholding religion of Christianity. Through Douglass's deconstruction of Christianity, he learns that the white oppressive version of Christianity is much different from his own beliefs of Christianity. The incident that shaped Douglass's understanding of the mentality of religious slaveholders was when he was placed under the authority of Mr. Freeland. In this situation, he was able to see the difference between the so-called "religious slave-holders" and "non-religious slave-holders." Douglass felt that the "non-religious slave-holders" were less brutal because they did not reprimand their slaves based on a Divine command. Instead they were more concerned about reprimanding the slaves when the slaves did wrong as opposed to whenever they felt that the Lord professed a beating.
The Narrative and Selected Writings is a powerful testimony to the struggles American slaves faced. Through the writings of men such as Frederick Douglass, abolitionists were given fuel to the bonfire of the Abolition Movement. Douglass honest testimony helped to bring out the truth about slavery. Abolitionists now had evidence to back their claim that the "peculiar institution" was in fact an institution of evil.

As the title implies, this short work is the narrative of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave. He wrote it by himself, a significant fact in that his prose is so eloquent and his pathos so powerful that it seems impossible for a former slave to have composed it. In this short autobiography, Douglass recounts his life as a slave, and details some of the horrors and atrocities perpetuated on slaves by their fiendish overseers, most of whom Douglass portrays as downright evil. More than just a narrative of his life, Douglass also gives an account of how the desire to be free grew and began to burn within his bosom, and how he grew to hate that horrible institution. Above all, this is a story of a slave learning that he is, in fact, a human being.

The significance of this book cannot be overestimated. In it, Douglass effectively dispels a number of popular myths about slaves and slaveholders, and forever changes the way the reader (especially one who lived while slavery still existed) looks at slavery. The theme of this book is very simple: slavery is wrong. It is evil, it is cruel, and, despite what many people thought at the time, the slaves know how cruel it is. Douglass cites several examples of the horrible treatment slaves received, one of them being separation of families. "It is a common custom...to part children from their mothers at a very early age" So it was with Douglass and his own mother.

Douglass writes in a very eloquent style, and this contributes to the power of this work. Many people who thought blacks were inferior in intelligence were shown to be sadly mistaken with the coming of Frederick Douglass, a man both educated and refined. It may be said that the book is not entirely fair, for it is decidedly anti-slavery, but it is undoubtedly true for most cases nonetheless. Most of the overseers in Douglass's narrative are demonic and sadistic, but when a good overseer comes along (such as Freeland), he is fair in his treatment of him.

One can imagine the fuel this book gave to the abolitionist fire, and it is not difficult to see why Douglass had such an impact on both North and South. This is, in my opinion, a definitive work, in that it shows the horrible institution of slavery in all its barbaric nature, and does it from a firsthand point of view, that of a former slave. This book was a tremendous contribution, both for the light it shed on slavery in general, and for proving that blacks were not intellectually inferior by nature, but instead were "transformed into...brute[s]" at the hands of their overseers.

This is a great book, essential for anyone wanting to study the Civil War era or wanting to gain a firmer understanding of slavery.

Perhaps more so than any other account, Douglass gives us a look into the life of a slave. I enjoy this book on many level. Douglass writes honestly and in a factual tone. He does mince his words when he describes the brutality of slavery. Douglass demonstrates that he is an intelligent man despite his lack of education. He taight himself to read. To our youth, this demonstrates the value of education. Douglass also show Americans manipulated the work of God even in his time. Yet, Douglass found strength in that God. I think the quality I enjoyed most about this book is the fact that Douglass does not see himself as a hero, but as an average slave. This is not a typical characteristic of an autobiography. I read this book for the second time coming and going on 3 hour flights. The book is a short read, but well worth your time to read of atriumph of the human spirit.

Crommelin's Thunderbirds is written by two Navy veterans who flew in from the U.S.S. Randolph (CV-15), in Air Group Twelve. It covers the period from February to June 1945. The ship flew in operations on Japan,and Iwo Jima before suffering Kamikaze damage while at the forward base, Ulitihi. Their Air Group Commander, Charles Crommelin was detatched on temporary duty with the U.S.S. Hornet, at that time. Commander Crommelin, one of the five Crommelin brothers, the most decorated family in U.S. Navy history, was killed in action over Okinawa while with the Hornet. Air Group Twelve continued, and from early April 1945, the ship returned to action, flying cover for operations off Okinawa. In the book there are many reminiscences by veterans of how an event looked to them. This adds a "first-person" quality to the work that helps its perspective. It is well-written and interesting throughout. This period of World War II in the Pacific has not had much written about it. Yet there are parts of it that remain current today. This time of the war saw manned bombs (Kamikazes), that foreshadowed the guided missle warfare of the present.

My Dad was one of Crommelin's Thunderbirds as a TBM aviator, so granted I'm a bit biased, but it's a great read, due in large part to the personal anecdotes contained within. Too many of today's generation haven't a clue of what our parents generation sacrificed. This book brings a lot of that home.

In an age when we have not much time to read one short book from cover to cover, few long books will ever be good enough to read twice; David Copperfield is one of them. It has, perhaps, the most unforgettable cast of characters ever assembled in a work of fiction: Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, Aunt Betsey Trotwood, the Murdstones, Mr. Dick, Peggotty, and, of course, David Copperfield himself.

The story is simple enough to start. David's mother marries a man, Murdstone, who makes life hell for her and young David. David has the courage to rebel against the tyrant and is sent off to boarding school and later to a blacking factory. For readers who want to compare childhood rebellion to authority in the movies, Alexander's defiance of the Bishop in Ingmar Bergman's great movie, Fanny and Alexander, is equally dramatic and sad.

David runs away and finds his Aunt Betsey Trotwood, who takes him in and supports him, with a little help from her wise/fool companion Mr. Dick. This is story enough for many novelists, but it is only the beginning for Dickens. David has yet to meet one of the great villains in literature, that "Heap of infamy" Uriah Heep. Uriah's villainy is terrible because it is hidden under a false pretense of humilty and service to others. The final confrontation between Heap and Micawber is one of the great scenes in literature.

None of what I have said answers the question, Why read this book more than once? The most important answer to this question for the nonacademic reader is "for the fun of it." From cover to cover this novel gives so much pleasure that it begs to be read again. We want to revisit David's childhood and his confrontation with the terrible Mr. Murdstone. Mr. Micawber is one of Dickens's great creations and anytime he is part of the action we can expect to be entertained. When we pair Micawber with Heap we have the explosive combination which results in the confrontation mentioned earlier in this review.

These brief examples only scratch the surface of the early 19th century English world Dickens recreates for the reader. Some other of Dickens' novels like Bleak House may be concerned with more serious subjects, but none lay claim to our interest more than Dickens' personal favorite "of all his children," that is, David Copperfield. Turn off the television, pick a comfortable chair, and be prepared to travel along with David Copperfield as he tells us the story of his life.

Oh, I loved it! I finished David Copperfield, finally, of but an hour ago. Oh, that is such a wonderful book! I hold Charles Dickens in a sort of reverence. He has the fascinating ability to spin a web of the most spendidly horrible (here, I refer to, the remarkably AWFUL Uriah HEEP) and the most splendidly excellent (here, I refer to, the exquisite and good-natured Agnes) characters, and then he completes his tale by adding the most unforgettable of ALL people, a main hero, such as David Copperfield. Never have I been so attached to a work of fiction, and I have read a lot. Oh, the things David so heroicly endured, turning him into a most superior man! I love the story! It's most powerful. It moved me to tears and sent me into fits of laughter so many times I can't count them on my hands. And I felt such rapturous joy when Agnes and David professed their love for each other that I could hardly contain myself, and here started to laugh and cry at the same time; and I felt such overwhelming sorrow over the death of Steerforth, for I rather liked the man, even thought he took Emily away; and I love Peggotty's character to death! She was such a glorious figure of devotion and heartfelt love for David; I felt he would not have survived Murdstone and other things were it not for her steadfastness and friendship (I dearly loved her button-poppings! I found them hilarious!). And the grand Agnes, how I worshipped her! She was so real, I can see her cordial eyes looking upon David with the love of a sister, the passion of a wife. It was the most admirable work, I am sure. Dickens made Uriah Heep come alive so vividly, I see him writhing about, with contortions like a caught fish. I see Traddle's hair sticking up on end like a porcupine's, I see Miss Mowcher waddling about, I see Steerforth, tall, dark, and handsome. Oh, how David did admire Steerforth in the beginning! How he did charm! For all the critics: yes, the book was sometimes boring, and at times it was dull. But can't you see the art in it? That all Dickens wanted you to do was enjoy it and fall in love with the characters? Yes, sometimes he got a little carried away but that's hardly the point. It was worth it, because I know I'll never forget a one of them. What more can I say? I want to read the book over and over again, never ending.

For those who don't have time to read for pleasure, or perhaps spend too much time reading as part of their daily job, audio books are a godsend. You can play them while travelling to work, and you're suddenly transported to another world, if they're any good.

Fortunately this Naxos abridgement read by Anton Lesser is superb. I haven't yet found an actor better at handling both the male and female voices, old and young, rich and poor. It's so easy to forget that that is not a large-cast dramatisation -- it's just a a one-man reading, brilliantly executed.

As a story, 'David Copperfield' means a lot to me because it means a lot to my Dad. Now 73 years old, he had a troubled childhood in and around London, and a difficult relationship with his stepfather. While Dickens needed to create some out-and-out baddies such as Uriah Heep and the Murdstones, many of his characters are basically decent folk, rigidly sticking to Victorian values, and I think this is how my father still sees the world.

Much of the detail in this story is specific to England, but the basic human themes are universal. As a first pass at getting into 'David Copperfield', I would very strongly recommend this 4CD audiobook.

This book is from Willa Cather's middle period of writing -- between My Antonia and Death Comes to the Archbishop. This may be the least known but best portion of her output.

As does My Antonia, The Lost Lady pictures the American frontier in the middle west and its closing due to urbanization, the demise of the pioneer spirit, and commercialization.

Together with its picture of the changing of the West, the book is a coming of age novel of a special sort and a portrait of a remarkable, because human and flawed, woman.

As with many of Cather's works the story is told by a male narrator, Neil Herbert. We see him from adolescence as an admirer of, and perhaps infatuated by Marian Forrester, the heroine and the wife of a former railroad magnate now settled on a large farm in South Dakota. Neil matures and leaves to go to school in the East. We see his idea of Ms. Forrester change as he learns that there is both more and less to her than the glittering self-assured woman that meets his young eyes.

The book is also the story of Marian herself, of her marriage, her self-assuredness, and her vulnerabilty. She is independent and a survivor and carries on within herself through harsh times and difficult circumstances, including the change in character of her adopted home in the midwest.

This is a tightly written, thoughtful American novel.

A novel of retrospection, A Lost Lady (1923) tells of events several decades earlier, when the rapid growth of the railroads was both expanding - and ending - the western frontier. But that is the larger, the national, backdrop against which more intimate dramas are played out, dramas that have to do with youth and age and beauty, and with adultry, sadism, and the growth of a young man, Niel Herbert. Niel idolizes Captain Forrester's young wife, Marion, and in this he is not alone. All who visit the Forrester's home find Marion's warmth and vitality captivating. In Cather's imagination, Mrs Forrester embodies the natural energy of the west itself: ageless and utterly unselfconscious of its own vibrant beauty. So, too, the Captain stands for all that once was the best in America but is now being lost in a greedy bid for money and land; the Captain is a man of conscience - strong, honorable, solid as a mountain. Their home, Sweet Water, is a kind of Eden on the prairie, and even the willow stakes he planted to mark his property lines come to bloom.

Over time, as Niel matures, his "lady" too ages. And when the Captain dies, she falls on bad times, hurt rather than aided by advice from her lawyer. Her fall however is as much moral as it is financial - or at least it is in Niel's eyes. He notes that she has begun to use cosmetics and sherry. He finds her voice too loud, her laughter too forced. Niel loses his lady- or perhaps he gives her up.

There is a kind of poignancy to this brief novel, and a unity that is as pleasing as the story itself. It is, on the one hand, the story of the West's golden youth and fading future. On the other hand, it is the story of a young man's growth and an aging woman's refusal to live as others would prefer.

Ms. Willa Cather has a way of deceiving her readers. Her novels are small simple looking stories when you begin and then you realize you are reading much more. Things are not always as they seem. I loved A Lost Lady-if only I could hear her laughter once more....