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One only wishes that there were more, large color photographs to parallel the excellent writing. Would there be a second eiition with them? If one is really interested in the subject and not just the images, this is the book for you.
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Demons is, of Dostoevsky's novels, the most ideological, yet still it is masterfully pulled off. Let it be known, however, that at times, the plot suffers at the expense of ideology, just as one has to expect, BUT THE IDEAS!
This book, although in my opinion it has the nuance of neither, is a perfect bridge between Notes From the Underground and The Brothers Karamazov. The intelligentsia, you suspect, are trying to build the positivistic paradise that the Underground man railed against, but as the novel progresses, you realize that the idealist vision has already been lost by Stepan Trofimovich, that all that remains is his desire to feel alive, even if that means inflicting every sort of pain. This is the same type of monster that Ivan warns against, and identifies himself with--if he were to act--in the Grand Inquisitor.
Also, please note, I tried once to read it in an older translation, and gave up somewhere in the 100s. This one I plunged through with little trouble.
Dostoevsky's primary inspiration for this novel came from an absolutely horrid novel by one Nikolai Cherneshevsky called "Chto Eto", or "What is to be Done?" An early bit of Russian utopianism, it was a precursor of the vicious theories Lenin/Stalin would deploy to "drag" Russia into the 20th century (indeed it was Lenin's favorite novel). The fact that some 66 million would be killed on the grand march to utopia was irrelevant (as the lunatic Shigalyov states in Dostoevsky's novel, "from unlimited freedom, I ended with unlimited despotism. . ." the solution] to the problems of mankind is to grant absolutely freedom to one-tenth and turn the remaining nine-tenths into a herd).
This echoes, of course, the magisterial "dialogue" between Christ and the Grand Inquisitor on the nature of human freedom in The Brothers Karamazov. But this novel is relevant for more than its attack on socialism and communism -- both of which, outside of Cuba, China, and a couple of bookstores in New York City and maybe California -- have collapsed precisely because they could do no more than create misery and murder. What makes The Demons -- indeed, the entire Dostoevsky corpus -- particularly relevant in this first decade of the 21st century is his take on the Russian intelligentsia/liberals of the 1840s -- a group characterized by out and out hatred for their country, which created the conditions for the rise of nihilism, terrorism, and bolshevism in the 1860s-1890s. Those 1840s intellectuals, like the "intelligentsia" of today's America, adopted a "blame Russia first" attitude toward all internal and external problems -- glorying in Russia's humiliations, and cursing her victories. It's not a far leap from Dostoevsky's Stepan Verkhovensky to the likes of Lapham, Vidal, and Moore. The real threat to one's community, Dostoevsky argues, is not the farmer or the factory worker who attends church, votes Republican, and drinks his beer in a tavern, whose sons and daughters march to war because they believe it their duty to the country that bore and sustained them, but those who, cloaking themselves in the false-prophet mantle of "dissent," spit and sneer at the foundations of community, or what Russians would call sobernost -- the things that makes Russia Russia, the things that make America America. Dostoevsky's work is both warning and antidote. It's no wonder he was banned by Lenin; one doubts he is discussed around the smart parties of Manhattan today.
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As the backcover quotation reads, it made William S. Boroughs "want to be a writer." It made me wonder why I can't find his second book. It should be noted that the illustrations by Art Spielgelman clearly add to the aura of the consuming experiece.
I highly recommend this book that can be read in under an hour. Give it to poetry haters. They can access the work thouugh the tough sexy voice and may enjoy poetry as might have been impossible before.
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However, the assessment of the local kids is the drawings are "weird." Perhaps intended for a more adult audience, the illustrations are beautiful--I enjoyed them--but their idiosyncratic style may not appeal to the younger set.
The characters pictured in the illustrations are dramatcially reinterpreted by the artist, however this may disappoint some viewers. The Scarecrow will look nothing like any scarecrow you've imagined. The Witch of the North is difficult to identify. This fresh point of view will be enjoyed by some but is sure to disappoint others.
I also felt the illustrations don't tell the story as well as the edition by Michael Hague or the original edition with W. W. Dinslow. (This is more important to the younger, read-to crowd, than the older, I can read it myself crowd.)
My daughter asked that we return the book and get a different edition for her. I would urge you to carefully consider the sample pages, except the sample pages don't cover a broad range of the illustrations included with this edition. The sample pages do include an image of the dramatic and striking cover. Unfortunately, in the judgement of several reviewers from 4 to 40, the other illustrations were noticably more "weird" than the cover and I don't think the sample pages represent the overall reading/viewing experience scrupulously.
The setting of the book is in a magicla land full of little people called Munchkins, flying monkeys, and a wicked witch that will melt if touched with water. The characters have their separate reasons for wanting to see the wizard. As the story goes on, the reader can not help but fall in love with them.
The text gives great detail as to what everything looks like and with those details the whole world of Oz can come to life in the readers imagination.
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Shinano was the sister ship to the battleship Yamato (A Glorious Way to Die) and converted into a carrier, the size of one of our nuclear carriers today. The Japanese intended to confront the U.S. Navy with the tremendous firepower of the Shinano. Instead a lowly submarine sinks the Shinano on her maiden voyage.
Regardless of whether the submarine captain Enright or Ryan wrote the story, it is great adventure. Enright is certainly frank in his views, even about his own shortcomings. Both the Japanese and American sides are presented here and this makes it good reading. One understands the fog of battle, after reading about the pursuit of the carrier. A good quick read which is not fiction.
An ocean away, Captain Joseph F. Enright and his submarine Archer-fish, were leaving for the boat's fifth war patrol. Captain Enright had been haunted by the memory of failing to sink an enemy carrier earlier in the war while serving as commander of the submarine Dace. Feeling inadequate as a commander, he asked to be relieved of command. After serving at the American submarine base on Midway island as a relief crewman, he finally got his chance to command his own boat again, and he was determined to make sure that he didn't repeat his earlier mistakes this time around. Taking up his patrol station along the main Japanese island of Honshu, Archer-fish awaited action. This particular area of ocean had become known as the "hit parade", due to the large number of sinkings by American submarines. On Tuesday, November 28, 1944, Archer-fish sighted a large enemy vessel with four escorts. This proved to be Shinano. Unable to run at maximum speed due to only eight of her twelve boilers being lit, and also suffering from a problem with her propellers, Shinano was limited to a speed of approximately eighteen knots. What ensued over the next several hours could only be described as a classic game of cat and mouse. Enright and Archer-fish desperately tried to keep up with the Shinano while trying to anticipate any course changes she might make. Finally, at 0300 hours on Wednesday, November 29, 1944, the Archer-fish was ready to fire.
A spread of six torpedoes leapt from her torpedo tubes, each being fired at eight second intervals. Four explosions rocked the Japanese carrier while Archer-fish dove for the safety of the depths. The ship was mortally wounded. Her protective bladder had failed to stop the torpedoes, and, in the words of Enright, they cut through the bladder "like a sword through butter". Later that morning, the Shinano, with her bow raised high out of the water, slipped below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Her maiden voyage had lasted all of seventeen hours.
This is a very exciting book. The format is excellent, with the chapters alternating between the action on the Archer-fish to the action on the Shinano. The first-hand account of the action by Captain Enright leaps off the pages and places the reader directly at the conning tower during the attack. Loaded with action and adventure, this book is a must for submarine readers.
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While reading it, I couldn't help but compare it to Arthur Hailey novels like "Wheels" or "Airport", because this is the story of an industry told through the eyes of real people with their own foibles, loves, and idiosyncrasies. Laura Jadwin, nee Dearborn, tells most of the story. Her inner conflict between self-centered materialism and desire for "perfect" love forms the backdrop to the financial saga enmeshing her husband, Curtis. All in all, this is a good read but may move too slowly for some people--except for the climax of Jadwin's corner of the wheat market, which is as fast-paced as a Clancy novel.
After marrying Laura, the conservative speculator, after making a nice profit on the wheat market, becomes obsessive over controlling it. As the story unfolds, his wealth grows in a short period of time and for a while he captures the market. Ultimately, though, the market corrects itself and he must save his fortune as well as his wife, Laura, whose love begins to flee from lack of attention from Jadwin.
I found this book very slow at the beginning. However, once the market traps Jadwin, the book becomes exciting and the pages fly by. Laura is a realistic character, although I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her - she come off rather spoiled and hapless. Norris's point about the addictiveness of speculating on wheat futures and the power that it has over the rest of the world is evident. A solid book and worth reading by those who like that period of time or are interested in Chicago's history.
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The book starts out with a meager and demented man, Raskolnikov, shutting himself off from society, but still interestingly enough, shows much compassion and pleasure in the company of the downtrodden. Raskolnikov wants to prove a theory to himself, and perhaps to the world, that powerful men are able and predictably will seize power by force and are justified in doing so. In other words, Raskolnikov sought after a proof of his belief that he could murder a villainous old pawnbroker and be able to maintain a guilt free conscience. In order for powerful people to complete this task, they must separate their feelings and morals from society and demand the isolation that waits for them.
However, Raskolnikov has a weakness for the downtrodden victims, and seems to seek their approval. As a result, he confides in a prostitute, Sonia, who happens to represent all of the maltreated people of the world. With a confession, Raskolnikov's world is not as it seems and his preposterous theory is in ruin.
Crime and Punishment is a very difficult, but valuable and memorable read. I highly recommend reading this book, and even I would suggest reading the cliff notes version to follow up on the important symbolism saturating the novel. This book is not just about a theory, but about human society, class structure, and consciousness.
To be sure, the book seems wordy in places, but I suspect this has to do with the translation. And what translator in his right mind would be bold enough to edit the great Dostoyevsky? But this is a very minor problem.
What we get with Dostoyevsky is dramatic tension, detailed and believable human characters, and brilliant insight into human nature. Early in the novel our hero meets and has a lengthy conversation with Marmeladov, a drunkard. This conversation is never uninteresting and ultimately becomes pathetic and heartbreaking, but I kept wondering why so much time was spent on it. As I got deeper into the book, I understood why this conversation was so important, and realized that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. This is also indicative of the way in which the story reveals itself. Nothing is hurried. These people speak the way we actually speak to one another in real life, and more importantly, Dostoyevsky is able to flesh out his characters into whole, three-dimensional human beings.
And what a diverse group of characters! Each is fleshed out, each is marvelously complex. Razujmikhin, the talkative, gregarious, good-hearted, insecure and destitute student; Sonia, the tragic child-prostitute, with a sense of rightness in the world; Petrovich, the self-important, self-made man, completely out of touch with his own humanity; Dunia, the honorable, wronged sister: we feel like we know these people because we've met people like them. They fit within our understanding of the way human beings are.
Dostoyevsky also displays great insight into human nature. Svidrigailov, for example, talks of his wife as liking to be offended. "We all like to be offended," he says, "but she in particular loved to be offended." It suddenly struck me how true this is. It gives us a chance to act indignantly, to lash out at our enemies, to gain favor with our allies. I don't believe I've ever seen this thought expressed in literature before. In fact, it never occurred to me in real life! Petrovich, Dunia's suitor, not only expects to be loved, but because of his money, and her destitution, he expects to be adored! To be worshipped! He intentionally sought out a woman from whome he expected to get this, and is comletely flummoxed when she rejects him. His is an unusual character, but completely realized.
There is so much more to talk about: the character of Raskolnikov, which is meticulously and carefully revealed; the sense of isolation which descends on him after committing his crime; the cat and mouse game played on him by the police detective. I could go on and on. I haven't even mentioned the historical and social context in which this takes place. Suffice to say this is a very rich book.
Do not expect it to be a rip-roaring page turner. Sit down, relax, take your time, and savor it. It will be a very rewarding experience. And thank you SL, for recommending it.
What I often do with "heavy" books like this is I get the Cliffnotes to accompany the book as I read it, to in a sense have both a discussion internally and a map so that I don't miss any of the rich fields along the way. That is how the classics should be taught, with an eye to the brains that have yet to be initiated into such heavy patience reading.
In this fascinating book it is a reevaluation of older principles (the ancient Greek belief about lower and higher destiny for one) connected with modern psychology (C.Jung primarily) that leads to a mesmerising study of the phenomenon of synchronicities: events that we today tend to describe as "incredible coincidences" or dejavues without actually realising that there could be a meaning, a "code", which can reveal to us either things about to happen or can function as warnings about the future, or even, "messages" about ourselves and what we can do to alter the "higher destiny" which is the part of fate we actually can manipulate.
In the hi-tech, fast paced and materialistic modern world all this may sound like another book for "weirdos", but it can't be dismissed as others in its genre exactly because synchronicities are something mostly everyone notices at one point of life or another, and the more aware you are about them the more apparent they become.
Being a natural sceptic the first time i picked up this book i abandoned it after only being 1/3 into it becuase i felt it wasn't compatible with my own personal system of beliefs and understanding. It was only after i started noticing some startling synchronicities myself that i read it (through this time) again , only to realise that there's way more to synchronicities than, well, meets not only the eye but any of our senses.
I tend to think that the "truth" (whatever that may be) is not only something one can "learn" but it's also something one can feel and i consider both processes equally important.
The author divides synchronicities into 17 categories and studies them providing in the process numerous truly incredible examples about them. At certain parts of the book it's the examples themselves that steal the show and you may find yourself recognising situations that are in one way or the other familiar to you but you hadn't paid attention when they happened. Attention is of primary importance as you will find out if you go ahead and read it. Frank Joseph attempts to find what most of us would call a "rational explanation" about synchronicities. He's never dogmatic (to his credit) about his own thoughts and his book reads like a conversation with the reader making it one definite "cantputdowner".
In the end what he proposes is essentialy that the reader examines this his/herself and explain it in his/her terms. It doesnt actually matter how one decides to explain synchronicities he muses, what matters is that there is a different dimension of reality present for everyone waiting to be explored, discovered and deciphered.
Put this book in your bag of valuable tools.