Margaret Drabble is a literary genius. Her Headeland Trilogy, of which THE GATES OF IVORY is the concluding volume, is one of the great literary accomplishments of the late twentieth century. In it, an entire world--the global village itself--is analyzed, along with its problems, through the eyes and stories of a myriad of engaging, three-dimensional characters.

Because her stories have a substantially feminine focus; because Drabble's prose and work as a whole requires sustained attention to detail in order to perceive the interconnections and ramifications; because her styles of writing aren't as flashy as those of Rushdie (et al.); because she isn't intellectually fashionable (lord knows why); because she's a Brit and not an American; because her sister's less enduring but more popular/academic work sometimes overshadows her own; because she's relentlessly normal as opposed to brash, odd, or glitzy: all these possibilities still do not excuse the reading public as a whole from their general lack of attention to Drabble's stunning accomplishments as a novelist.

Read THE RADIANT WAY, A NATURAL CURIOSITY, and THE GATES OF IVORY and be the first on your block to recognize Drabble as Nobel-prize material!

Gates of Ivory is perhaps Margaret Drabble's most difficult novel because it weaves back and forth between London and Cambodia, between "Good Time" and "Bad Time." However, amidst social commentary, Drabble's humor comes through, and the ending is reminiscent of the ending of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway." I cannot do this novel justice in a short, quickly-written review. I can only strongly recommend that you read it.

I can't believe The Radiant Way is out of print. The first in a trilogy about three middle-aged women friends confronting the problems of Thatcher's England, this novel charts the socioeconomic collapse of Britain. It's witty, charming, and profound by turns; the characters turn their feminine do-gooder instincts to teaching in prisons, psychiatry, and lecturing in art museums. I just reread and loved this. Get it back into print fast!

In her own inimitable SHIMMERING style, Margaret Drabble's Radiant Way, is radiant indeed. The novel opens with a grand New Year's party, and Drabble is one of the best at rendering the ebb and flow, highs and lows, of a party. You will not get bogged down in a confusion of characters because this author knows how to deftly create individuals swirling within group chaos. Social groups, whether they be society at large or a few close friends, are Drabble's forte. The reader is immersed in the ever-changing world of three women who share a life-long friendship. Join them as they make their way down the path of the radiant way.

This book fills a niche, and does so perfectly. I wanted a reference work for literature, but I didn't want to pay $50 for one. This book gives short, concise blurbs, which is often all one needs. It is organized well and is inclusive enough for the average household. Not a book for specialists, but excellent for the layperson and student.

If you are like me, and have never closely encountered Lebanese literature, you are likely to find this book a revelation. From the first pages, the story rises to an emotional height that is sustained throughout the story. That the protagonist addresses himself to the long-dead Japanese novelist only underscores the confusion of his life, as well as a certain detachment from reality.

The reader gets an amazing opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a young Arab man. We walk with the boy through the life in a backwards village that is full of medieval feuds, and is soaked in ancient traditions. We follow the teenager as his quest to fight injustice brings him right into a dangerous and highly politicized war. Finally, we see a tired man looking back at his old self, and trying to make sense out of his own life.

Even though I couldn't disagree more with the protagonist's political goals, I could not help but sympathize with him. It is rare to find a book that can show readers that underneath many actions lie simply the emotions of frustrated young people.

Is Joy, the main character, a pathetic, short-sighted loser or a passionate, loving mother, or both? I had trouble deciding. This is the joy of the book. (No pun intended!) You never know what you'll find in the next paragraph--Joy's poor choice of male companionship is frustrating for the reader, yet understandable given her need for affection. Her relationship with her son Jonny is chronicled over a couple of years and is incredibly touching; her intense feelings for Jonny, which could easily have been resentment given Joy's youth, were the highlight of the book for me.

This novel begins slowly, with a woman scholar in a foreign city, due to give a lecture, suffering a toothache. The pace accelerates as she returns to England, travels to a conference in Africa, then returns abruptly for a totally unpredictable family crisis. Competent, confident she settles all that can be settled, faces what cannot, and finds personal restoration in lasting love. A historian, an archeologist, and a geologist settle into their own visions of time, as the most suitable ending evolves itself. A stimulating reflection, a wonderful story, a great work of narrative control, by far my favorite Drabble of all.

Pre-menstrual syndrome, with all its characteristics of cramps, pain, depression and headaches is nothing more than male programming or 'Howlback' according to the WW. Women have been conditionned to perceive the bleed as just a biological inconvenience which can be modified or 'treated' with drugs or ignored completely. Shuttled and Redgrove theorize the motivation behind this pattern and deconstruct it using examples from ancient cultures and horror film imagery of the menstruating female.

But the text covers much more than PMS; in a way, the latent significance of menstruation has been turned 'outside- in', concealed from and downgraded by modern society and suppressed. The WW demonstrates how the gifts of the bleed can be turned back inside (from the unconscious) out (to consciousness), that is back to the right and Natural place in the importance of our femality.

If you are looking for advice on how diet can help with PMS dont bother with this book. If you want to change the 'curse' into a very wise wound indeed, the you MUST read it. My wisebleed is now my 'call of the wild' and PMS is His-story !

I have always loved the style and social politics of the Regency period (the time of Jane Austen.) But when I read "Sense and Sensibility" in 7th grade I found the first few chapters lifeless, dull and hard to read. Two years later I was encouraged by a friend to give "Pride and Prejudice" a try. I did and have since become a complete Janeite. I am now able to peruse joyfully through "Sense and Sensibility" with a new understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen. The reason? "Pride and Prejudice" is fresh, witty and is a great introduction to Jane Austen's writing style without the formality of some of her other novels (unlike S&S and Persuasion Austen does not give us a 10 page history of each family and their fortune.) If you have never read Jane Austen or have read her other novels and found them boring, read Pride and Prejudice. The characters, and the situations Austen presents to them, are hysterical and reveal a lot about Regency society and morality. This book perfectly compliments a great writer like Jane Austen and is essential to every reader's library. The Penguin Edition of the book is stellar and I personally recommend it not only for the in-depth and indispensable footnotes, but also for the cover that is non-suggestive of any of the characters' appearances. In summary "Pride and Prejudice" is a great book for beginner Austen readers and seasoned fans, and Penguin Classics is a great edition for fully enjoying and understanding the book.

Pride And Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, is an amazing work on the nature of love. Austen uses beautiful language and intriguing characters to tell this story of courtship in a time when reputation was everything. The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, is a clever-witted woman who manages to gracefully glide through the lines set up by society. Although she does not always come off as lady-like, her charm and confidence demand the reader's respect. She is surrounded by a cast of diverse characters, creating a riveting plotline. Her mother is a rather quirky character who wants nothing more than to see her daughters wed. Her father, on the other hand, is a sarcastic and intelligent man who favors Elizabeth for her wit. These characters are brought together with the Bingley's when Elizabeth's older sister, Jane, falls for Mr. Bingley. Here, we are introduced to the stubborn and proud character of Mr. Darcy. He seems to be above everyone else and completely opposed to the idea of love.
When Elizabeth Bennet catches Darcy's eye, however, a battle between the mind and the heart begins. These two chracters are faced with the obstacles set up by a strict, Victorian society. Their largest obstacle, however, will be to overcome their own pride and prejudice, and discover their love for one another. Is this a battle that the heart can win?

It is unfortunate that most first time readers of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE see it merely as one more book to be endured in 11th grade English. However, most soon enough catch the magic of an author (Jane Austen) who can weave a spellbinding tale of love, romance, satire, and passion while all the while poking a not so gentle thrust at the social mores of the early 19th century. This book is no frilly ancestor of a Harlequin romance, even if it shares with the dim-witted heroines of Harlequin a time-honored plot of lovers who meet and find an instant dislike that later morphs into enduring love. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE starts off with that basic premise, but what sets it off as classic is what goes on behind the lovers, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. A careful reader usually notes the society in which Elizabeth and Darcy play out their little games of cross-purpose verbal repartee. The world of Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is a society ruled by conniving and single-minded women who see men only in terms of the size of their wallets. Whenever a new bachelor appears on the scene, the women of the novel (with the exception of Elizabeth, of course) immediately try to guess his income so that they can decide if one wishes to marry him. His age, his looks, his habits are much less significant than his income. A fat purse compensates for a fat head.

Modern readers typically call such schemers 'golddiggers,' and according to modern values, perhaps they are, but these readers ought to judge the book's morality against the age in which it was written. Austen (1775 - 1817) lived in an England that prized manners and breeding over all else. It is no surprise, then, that since the reclusive author felt most comfortable only in the company of women, that she would limit her book only to the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and habits of women. In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, men are never permitted to occupy center stage, nor are they shown interacting independently with other men. If a man is present in any scene, so must a woman to control and observe his actions. Men--even the eventually triumphant Darcy--are generally portrayed as vain, sycophantic, sarcastic, and totally aware that they they are prized only for their money.

The world of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, especially if one has seen the fine film version starring Greer Garson, is one that seems to have been built for women to inhabit. All the women wear flouncy, bouncy dresses with huge flowered hats that Scarlet O'Hara might have worn in GONE WITH THE WIND. Even those ladies that complain of poverty never lack the funds to afford those outrageous outfits. Further, Miss Austen stages a ball in just about every third chapter that permits single women to size up eligible men. As these dandefied women and uniformed men speak to each other, the modern reader probably will be surprised at the excessive politeness and deference tossed unerringly about. This strict adherence to a surface morality ought not to fool the reader into assuming that the characters are as inwardly noble as they are outwardly polite. In fact, behind this massive wall of formal phrasing and good manners lies the same fears, jealousies, and general backstabbing that pervade a modern disco. What gives PRIDE AND PREJUDICE its perpetual charm is the biting irony that causes the reader to wonder: 'Did that character say what I think he (or she) just said?' The modern reader can best appreciate Austen's wit if she can read between the lines to sense the tone of the moment. If such a reader can see that this book is a polite if powerful indictment of a way of life that even Austen wished to poke fun of, then perhaps this reader can appreciate the charm of a book that grows with each successive reading.

Who can compare to that masterpiece of a novel? Villette was a literary masterpiece as well, but in its own way. Villette was more a tale of one woman's finding of herself than a love story. The heroine, Lucy Snowe, lived her entire life under the stereotypes of each of the people who knew her. (i.e. John Graham Bretton, Mrs. Bretton, Ginevra Fanshawe, Paulina Home/de Bassompierre) She had to realize who she truly was and not who she appeared to her friends. Perhaps it took a while for the plot to develop, but when she discovered who she was and who knew her best (can't tell you who that is), the genius of the novel came to life. It won't be as breathtaking as Jane Eyre, but nor will it be a disappointment. Villette is an opportunity to take off the mask and be who we really are.

More endearing than Jane Eyre, and a darker study, Lucy Snowe embodies all the despair, depression, and heart-turnings of the plain woman. Compare her to Ginerva and she is unbeautiful, to Paulina and she is unaccomplished. But still she dares to hope in Dr. John's affections, and is deeply touched by M. Paul's friendship, the first real friendship which can sustain her troubled soul. Charlotte Bronte's last character deals with the lost-and-found families, the other-worldly interruptions, the choices of acting on her own or doing as bid, and repressed passion in the true Bronte heroine style. There is a connection here for each reader, a chance to feel as Lucy does, to hope and to anticipate, to let go and despair. For me, the novel ends differently with each reading, depending on my own life at the time (now you must read it, just to find out what I mean). I would highly recommend this novel for any serious literature student or any lover of the Brontes.

The swift movements of the characters and their emotional speeds were overwhelming. This book is the perfect example of creative sentence patterns that draws you in as a reader until the last page of the book. Not as cry prone or tissue wrenching as Charolotte's Jane Eyre, but more intense and tragic.

I'm not sure on why the title is thus called Villette, a piece of land without much inhabitants. But with the narrator/main character Lucy Snowe, she is constantly lonely and depressed, which may explain her initial connections with the grounds of Villette.

"Persuasion" was Jane Austen's last novel, and the more sober and pensive quality of the book, as compared to some of her earlier works, most notably "Pride and Prejudice", reflects her maturity both in age and as a writer; no one in their early 20's could have written this book. The heroine of "Persuasion" is Anne Elliot, seven years after she rejected, at her family's insistence, the young man she had fallen in love with at 19, when he was just starting a naval career and was too poor, in the eyes of her pretentious relatives, to be considered acceptable marriage material. Now he has returned, financially secure and promoted to captain, and she finds herself still in love with him. Without giving away the rest of the plot, the book gives a powerful argument for following one's heart instead of the prejudices and snobbisms of society. Anne does not have the same appeal to many modern readers as Elizabeth Bennet; she is more shy, retiring and reflective. But as the book progresses and she finds the strength to act on her feelings, she grows in personality and character. This final work by one of the greatest writers (and my personal favorite) in the English language is a lasting testimony to her incredible talents as a novelist.

I know a lot of teens who, when I tell them I am reading Jane Austen, say, "What are you thinking?" because they have read Sense and Sensibility first, before trying any of her easier works. Persuasion is the easiest book of Austen's to get into, to follow, and to love. She makes the characters real by explaining them in many situations. When I read this book, I instantly became friends with Anne Elliot, the family outcast, because she was an outcast. Then she became even more my friend when she became the beloved and desired friend and love of Captain Wentworth. I loved seeing Anne go through the difficulties of dealing with her past actions, and instead of wanting to go back and change the past, she wanted to go forward and decide the future. Austen masterfully portrays all of her characters, and I would love to go to Lyme and see where Anne met her cousin, and to Bath to see where she and Captain Wentworth decided their future together. Persuasion is my favorite book of Austen's, and if you read it, it will be yours, too.

This story is heart-wrenchingly agonising. This is a good thing! Never have I been so moved by a love story. When Anne and Captain Wentworth finally overcome their own guardedness and the pressures of society and re-declare their love for each other...... It is the most wonderful scene ever written. I have never read a more wonderful love story. I think this to be the most romantic of Jane Austen's novels. The mercenary marriage market Jane Austen ridicules in "Pride and Prejudice" is portrayed in a darker and more destructive light in "Persuasion". Two lovers torn apart by a society fixated on class, wealth and position, only able to find happiness together once this obstacle has been overcome, but in the mean time..... OH THE HEART ACHE!!!!! I recommend this one for a rainy day when one can lie in bed, or sit in the favourite arm-chair, and wallow in the brilliance of this timeless and heart stirring romance. Don't forget your tissues!