I just finished reading this book cover to cover and feel very confident about moving on to the next stage of my CCNA preparation, practice tests and simulation! I've been using the CCExam software from CCStudy.com as well as a few other practice tests and am amazed how easy a lot of the questions were after reading this book. Just an indication of how comprehensive this book is.

More important, in my opinion, is the book's "readability"! I'm sure there are numerous books that cover the exact same information as this book yet might not be written in a manner that is clear and simple to understand, especially for Cisco newbies like myself. This book is just a lot of fun to read.

Finally, I really enjoyed the "real world" tone of this title. It isn't written for someone who's bound for the testing center, but rather for someone who needs to apply the knowledge at work in the field. I'm certain that I'll constantly be using this book as a reference even after passing the exam. Very cool.

All in all, I'd like to recommend ICND to the Cisco neophyte who's looking for that great "First Book" to start off his or her Cisco library. I'm really glad I got this book and I'm sure you will be too.

Good luck on your CCNA!

I read ICND by Cisco Press before. I found this book used on Amazon and bought it just because it was cheap. Now I can not put it down. This book is far better than Cisco Press' ICND. It has about 100 more pages than Cisco's. To me it is worth every minute spent to read this book.
I passed CCNA in December. So, I don't have the exam pressure. I am reading this just for fun and enjoying it.
I strongly recommend it over Cisco's ICND if you intent to take CCNA test.

I pass ccna2.0 with 935/1000 today. All I have is this book and Boson exams. I've read my friend's Todd Lammle book. I think this book is much better than Todd's. Todd's is written for passing the exam. For the ICND book, you actally learn the CCNA stuff in depth. I strongely recommend this book for everyone who want to pass the CCNA2.0 with FULLY understanding.

For those who have seen the movie American Beauty, this book sort of reminds me of that message. Different reviews mentioned AIDS in their discussion of this book but I didn't get that from the read at all. It lends itself to seeing life at various levels. I finished this book with a sense of wonder and hope. I recommend this book.

Though I'm not often a particular fan of magic realism or fable-like narratives, this one fooled me by its literary quality into turning every page with vast enjoyment. Golding takes chances and succeeds, never sticking to the expected. I loved the way it ended, which was satisfying in a much deeper way than if all our longings (and those of the sympathetic characters) had been readily fulfilled. It's pretty much a timeless tale, though set a long time ago. Golding's got a lock on human nature and writes with supreme flair about frailty, longing, and ambivalence.

This beautiful little book has continued to haunt me. It took me away from my daily existence to a shimmering island peopled by characters who were not of this world, but somehow still as familiar as my neighbors, my cousins, my mailman. Delicious.

If you like "plot" you'll like Benjamin's Gift. There were so many aspects to the plot of this story--it was at sometimes a historical documentary, at others a science fiction adventure, and others a book about sexual fantasy. Michael Golding has incorporated themes reminiscent of Charles Dicken's Oliver and Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Gray. While there was a great deal of action--what I missed was character development. The characters were flat and were not believable. There was so much opportunity in my mind to create some quality introspection in the characters so that the message in Benjamin's gift (which is hard to find) could be a theme for all. My projected theme is the fact that each indivdual has specific "natural gifts" and there is an inherent responsibility to share those gifts for the greater good.

A contemporary fairy tale which bypasses the logical mind and enters one's heart and soul directly. Thank you Michael.

I loved this book! The characters are marvelous -- warm, funny, and alive -- and the story is surprisingly moving. Golding has a gift for language and his lightness is deceptive; you are pulled into a tale that you will not forget. I loved Golding's first book, SIMPLE PRAYERS and BENJAMIN'S GIFT is every bit as wonderful. Don't hesitate to buy it.

I was very disappointed by William Golding's novel The Spire. Golding, whose most famous book is Lord of the Flies, tells in The Spire the story of an Dean Jocelin's obsession to add a 400-foot tall spire to his English Cathedral. All, including the builder, tell Jocelin that this is impossible, as the building lacks adequate foundation. Nonetheless, Jocelin persists, going mad in the process. While much of the writing and language of this book is first-rate, I found it difficult to either pay attention or follow the plot. I found myself rereading many parts of the book with no greater comprehension than the first time through. For me, this was one of those books which I was thankful was short.

"The Spire" manages to brush up against the successful elements of Golding's best work. Although it never reaches the heights of the brilliant "The Lord of the Flies," it does paint vivid and fragmented pictures of man come undone.

William Golding, after seeing the horrors of war firsthand, rejected the foundational thought of humanism that "man is basically good." In "The Lord of the Flies," he used concise language and haunting symbolism to validate his thoughts. And, by creating sympathetic characters, he drew us into his viewpoint. Few of his other novels create such sympathy. It is as though he bought into his own philosophy so deeply that he no longer found value in his fellow man. "Pincher Martin" and "Free Fall" left me impressed with his skills, but intellectually unmoved.

In "The Spire," he moves me again. At first, his protagonist--an anti-hero in every sense--is hard to sympathize with in any fashion. The man, Dean Jocelin, is driven to the point of obsession and insanity by his need to serve God, or, ultimately his need to feel worthy in God's sight. He demands obedience and servitude from those around him, driving them to complete his vision of a 400 ft spire above his cathedral. In the process, some will die, others will lose faith, hope, and love. Only as Jocelin comes to terms with his fallibility do we begin to care about the doomed outcome of his dream. Only as he admits his own pride and stubborness do we hope for his absolution, deserved or not.

This book is an ode to all those who become obsessed by religion and love, who strive for something to the point of sacrificing everything of true value along the way. Here, finally, Golding once again finds a way to show the madness of humanity while still proferring a glimmer of hope.

William Golding's reach in this novel is prodigious. Not only does he demonstrate that the one historical constant is human nature, he also manages to flesh out the scope of behaviour admitted in one particlar human being. The novel takes the reader back in time and to an historically, as well as geographically, foreign place. It deals with how human beings cope with pain, loss, ambition, vision and the tenderest of feelings. The novel is a tour de force.