I loved this book! I recomend it for everyone

Halberstam does a great job of personalizing the September 11, 2001 tragedy by the portrayal of 13 brave New York firefighters of Engine 40, Ladder 35. Twelve of these men died on that day, along with many employees of the World Trade Center and countless other firemen. Halberstam gives a short biography of these thirteen along with a history of this particular firehouse.
This is a touching tribute to these firemen. All of them were male and most were white. Halberstam paints the positive side of all these men and makes them heroes.
The one small criticism I have of this book is that it makes these men larger than life. They are certainly heroes for going into a dangerous area with less than good prospects of returning.
These were men performing a dangerous job, but they were still human and had all the frailities of humans. What of the other hundreds of firemen who did not return that day? The tragedy of those other hundreds are lost in this story. This is a good book to read, but the reader has to bear in mind the other losses on that tragic day.

Actor/director/writer Mel Foster gives an appropriately subdued and reverential reading of the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 and the firemen who lost their lives on a day America will never forget - September 11, 2001.

As Frank McCourt commented, "If you have tears, prepare to shed them." I would add you may have difficulty stopping those tears.

In this particular firehouse, which was dealt the most severe blows following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers, as in other firehouses the men live, work and eat together. Halberstam writes: "....they play sports together, go off to drink together, help repair one another's houses andmost importantly, share terrifying risks; their loyalties to each other must, by the demands of the dangers they face, be instinctive and absolute."

Few could have dreamed of the danger in store. On that terrible morning two rigs carrying a total of 26 men left the firehouse; only 14 men would return.

We are with the families as they wait for news of their loved ones and, in part, come to understand why men undertake such a perilous profession.

"Firehouse" is history, a moving narrative of an earth shattering day.

- Gail Cooke

Engine 40/Ladder 35 leave their firehouse, near Lincoln Center, the morning of September 11th. 13 brave men head for the World Trade Center. Only one shattered survivor returns. "Firehouse" by David Halberstam is a short and emotional journey into the lives, families, culture and backdrop of this tragic event. The author effectively blends the events of the 11th with personal glimpses of each victim. What is most interesting is the perspectives of their families and their colleagues from the firehouse that were not on call that terrible day. The reader gets a sense of the extreme emotions of pride, anger, sorrow, guilt and loss by those remaining in this terrible void.

David Halberstam is a gifted reporter and writer who uses simple prose to effectively describe a complex and horrible situation. Hundreds of fireman were among the thousands lost at the WTC. By personalizing this small team, Halberstram enables us to better appreciate all of the heroes and victims of the attack. His best description about them is ". . . acts of uncommon courage by ordinary people."

Like the other "How to Draw" Disney books, this one gives you a great overview of the key characters in classic poses. The basic drawing tips are also useful for new artists.

I'm 13 and I love drawing. I have been a Bambi/Disney fan for quite a while, so I bought this book. In a few days, I could draw a excellent Bambi. Step-by-step pictures make it easy to learn to draw Bambi by using circles, ovals and other basic shapes. It covers the main characters like Bambi, Thumper, Friend Owl, Flower, and also includes secondary characters such as The Great Prince, Faline, and many of the little forest animals. In the front it has a few pages that tell about the movie. I would recommend this book anytime!

"Patient," by the Argentine writer Ana Maria Shua, is a surreal novel in which an unnamed first-person narrator checks into an unnamed hospital. He finds himself entangled in an authoritarian, bureaucratic nightmare. The novel has been translated into a stark English by David William Foster.

The novel's creepy, sometimes gruesome touches are oddly complemented by a current of ironic humor. Overall, the novel is strikingly similar in theme and tone to "Bedside Manners," by Luisa Valenzuela (another talented Argentine writer). If you're in the mood for a Kafkaesque satire, give "Patient" a read.

Guy has a slight problem and goes to hospital and can't get out. Being the wife of a doctor myself I really enjoyed this book but it had me thinking, too..

The book was much better then the movie, but, like in the movie, they should never have killed off Newt or hicks, or Riply for that matter. I didn't understand why they felt the need to put one of those things inside her. in the last movie, she had nightmeres about it happening to her. It was an unjust thing to do to such a strong, surviving charracter. What's worse it only opened the door for Reserection. It was a good movie, but only braught the series down. For it's entertainment value, 3 was great, but it's one movie that I try to avoid watching.

Would you buy the book of the first Alien movie after watching it? Nope, me neither. But with this book things do change. Not because the movie is bad (though it was not; if you think the opposite, it may be time to refine your cinematique taste) but the story is so capturing and well told that you never regret your time and money spent at the bookstore.

Alien 3 is a bad movie, and is definitely the worst of the four. But the book is fantastic. It is much more in depth than the movie and easily explains everything that the movie didn't. This book is suspenseful to say the least. You won't be able to help yourself from reading on.

Alan Dean Foster's "novelization" of James Cameron's screenplay for "Aliens" is certainly above average as such things go. What is really interesting now is that with the complete director's cut of the film we discover that all of the "depth" Foster was providing, such as the scene where Newt's parents discover the wrecked ship, were in Cameron's original script. But that is fine, since you do not really want the person writing a novelization to go out and create too much new material. The true strength of this novelization is in fleshing out the scenes, not so much the action sequences but those between people trying to make the best out of a bad situation that is only getting worst. The story still maintains a pace consistent with the driving force of the film. Alan Dean Foster does so many of these novelizations that when he really nails one like he does with "Aliens," we need to stop and take notice.

Commentary

I usually am one to read relationship/unrealistic novels such as The Outsiders or Catcher in the Rye, but after falling in love with the movie "Aliens" when I was seven I thought reading the book may be fun to. I have to admit, I have read this before, but not since the third grade so picking it up again was not a problem because I had lost all memory of the tale. The thing I like about reading books based on movies is that you get a whole new idea of what each character is feeling when something happens. For instance although Sigourney Weaver is a truly talented actress, when Ripley is trying to get Newt (AKA Rebecca Johnson) to drink the hot chocolate in the movie you don't get the same essence of her emotion towards the child as you do in the novel. I appreciate Alan Dean Foster because he has a tendency to go over what is expected and dive into the depths of a character, making them more distinguishable and easier to get to know. This book is truly one of the only books that makes reading it before or after you see the movie a fun ride. Plus there's a lot of swearing, that's always a plus.

Great book! Like the movie is was suspenseful, action packed, and scary. The first book wasn't as good as this one though. The best parts are the end, and the part where Ripley is trapped with the facehuggers, and without weapons!

I was tired of waiting for the next Lemony Snickett book for my boys and bought this. It's truly a disappointment. The humor isn't very good, the plot is boring in fact my children never asked me to keep on reading as they do with their other favorites. Save your $$ and buy something else.

Let me first say, that as I read Mr. Ardagh's work, I couldn't help but think that he was the British version of Lemony Snicket-similar topic and writing style, complete with asides explaining the origins of certain words and phrases.
Even the pencil illustrations by David Roberts look like the drawings in the Snicket book.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing.

In the preface of A House Called Awful End it is explained that the story came about as a series of letters written to cheer up Mr. Ardagh's nephew Ben while away at boarding school.

Eddie Dickens, 11 years old, has a mom and dad with a strange illness that makes them go yellow and all crinkly around the edges and smell like hot water bottles. Until they are well, he is sent to live with his mad uncle Jack and mad Aunt Maud (who, by chance, carries around a stuffed stoat). Eddie travels to an inn where Uncle Jack pays the people w/ dried fish, meets some traveling theatre people and eventually ends up being sent to an orphanage, which he leads in liberation.

This book is rather an enjoyable read. Fans of Lemony Snicket will love it

My dyslexic son bought this book and the sequel while we were in
Oxford, England and we absolutely loved them. We could readily picture all of the characters and the things they were involved in. My son was 11 at the time and loved having it read to him every night. We have just purchased our first Lemony Snicket book as we grew tired of waiting for the final book in this trilogy. Perhaps we found it so entertaining as I am an upper elementary teacher and his father a middle school teacher and we know these characters on a personal level. It is well worth exploring. I have also read it to my students and they beg for more.

The best chapters of 'The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel:'
owe much to Alexandra's own account of her journey to Lhasa. Her own books are wonderful to read, all of them , but in particular her 'My Journey to Lhasa' Beacon Press republished it as a paperback in 1993, ISBN 0-8070-5903-X
I can guarantee you will have a most enjoyable read.

It is my great pleasure to let Amazon readers know about the exploits of Alexandra David-Neel, the explorer of Tibet, which the Fosters chronicle so vividly in the biography, THE SECRET LIVES OF ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL. This bio reads more like a novel or adventure tale due to the wonderfully-detailed scenes with such authentic touches I felt as if I were truly there, and often worried about David-Neel's ability to survive. Obviously the Fosters have done their research incredibly well and write graceful,lucid prose; I was captivated from the first sentence and actually resented having to put down the book to take care of chores. This is is one of the best biographies I have ever read. The story cries out to be told visually on the big screen.

Little known crossdressing Victorian Frenchwoman undertakes a dangerous journey of discovery in forbidden country disguised as a monk and lives to tell her tale to the world. Thoroughly well researched,and well crafted The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel is the biography of a remarkable woman. A woman born to the mannered and circumscribed Victorian era who chose to strike out on her own initiative to explore the spiritual secrets and she was among the first Europeans to report about it from inside to the rest of the world.
I found it a fascinating read about a remarkable woman of whom I knew nothing, a woman who accomplished amazing things in her life. I recommend this biography by Barbara and Michael Foster to anyone interested in tales of high adventure in exploration, in the golden age of exploration and of unknown exotic lands. If the story of resolutely fearless woman pursuing her dream of exploring Forbidden Tibet whets your appetite I recommned you read this well crafted biography. I can recommend it without reservation. ZaneMason

This was the e-mail'd recommendation I received from a friend (do I need to put those stars in there - I really didn't know). And after reading IJ, I agree with him. Don't read it if you never bought the line "half the fun of traveling is getting there" - or whatever that saying is. I guess that's why people don't like it. I loved the book, but I've been reading these reviews and can understand why people don't like it. The book that is. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's not because it's such an intellectual challenge. Although if your vocabulary is somewhat limited or reading Michael Crichton novels taxes your brain - it might make the reading a bit more tedious (ie, boring for you, the reader). I would suggest that if you read 100 pages and are still waiting to get into it or hoping for some epiphany by the end of the thing. Put it away ... for good. But try it you might love it. Finding humor in pop culture and things such as bongs raises the possiblity of enjoyment I would think. Also you may like it if you laughed in the movie "Get Shorty" when Travolta corrects Farina's use of "e.g." - when he meant to say "i.e". I.e, like when you submit a review to this site they ask for "Your Location (ie, Moscow, Russia)" sic - when they meant to put "Your Location (eg, Moscow, Russia). At the same time understanding that by noticing something like this you are a bit anal retentive, but think it is worth discussing anyway.

Wallace's style is absolutely addictive (and mildly schizophrenic)1. Don't let the sheer weight of this book intimidate you; it's a very readable 1200 or so pages. With references flying like wood chips from a table saw, you'd swear that Dennis Miller asked David Markson (Wittgenstein's Mistress--a must read) and Camus to help him co-write the AA welcome kit. Don't try to catch them all.

The beauty of this novel is its self-reference. Upon turning over the last page and realizing that it was, indeed, the last page, I realized that, like "The Joke" (a film directed by one of the characters), the "Infinite Jest" is ultimately on the reader. The two discernable major plots (the tennis academy and the half-way house) both seem to hint at what Wallace must think of his own craft (including the writing of Infinite Jest itself): it is a communal hiding place, cohabited by people collectively excused from their "normal" lives and individually driven to attain purity and perfection.

The only other work of his that I've read is "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men", but Infinite Jest is so loaded with throwbacks to it (through Orin and James Incandenza, Gately, Pemulis, and other male characters), that I'm sure readers that enjoyed his other works will find this familiar. It's comically on par with "Brief Interviews...", with the biting dark undertones that almost make you embarassed to be a man (if you are one). The comic/pathetic pull of Wallace's work reminds me also of George Saunders' "Civilwarland in Bad Decline".

If you dig the postmodern lack of structure and temporality, and you aren't too attached to conclusions and climaxes, this book is going to keep you moving through all 1200 pages. If you don't, or you're Canadian, I wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot-pole.

1. Okay, maybe not so mildly ;)

Do you have lots of time to do any reading? If so, I recommend Infinite Jest. Just out in paperback, I'm reading it now, I think you might like it. It has this twisted plot involving, among many other things, Quebec independence from (gasp) America (heehee) and Organized North American Nations subsidised time (ie corporate sponsorship of the years, like Year of the Whopper, Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad, instead of 1998, 1999, etc) being fought by Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents. It also involves a tennis acadamy, lots of drugs, interesting endnotes (the author must moonlight at a pharmacutical company), and high definition digital entertainment. I'm interested to see how it all converges, I'm on page 150-something now. It's written by David Foster Wallace who seems to be brilliant. His insight is always so fresh, which isn't easy to do when you have hundreds of years of writing preceding you. But not a obvious metaphor yet, this guy is good. Not a single "The blood making patterns on her dress like the ink blots on a Rorscharch test." (That quote, as much as it sounds fabricated to be an obvious metaphor quote, is real, taken from Eden Robinson's much hyped collection of short stories Traplines. Eden is called a Gen X laureate by some. I ask, with that boring imagery? Please, Eden, we can do better than that, can't we? Check Mr. Wallace for one. But I digress...) Very few people, and writers in particular, know how to describe something in a very new way. David Foster Wallace does. One image I recall is his description of the desert surrounding the city of Tucson as the color of a lion's hide. Now that is original to me. I would not have thought of that. And the book is absolutely chock full of original (and funny!) things to say, even when I'm not..