"The Man Who Planted Trees" is a wonderful short story about the fictional life of a man who singlehandedly restores a valley to life by becoming the Johnny Appleseed of Trees. More importantly, its about a man who, having suffered the loss of his wwife and only child, chooses to live a simple life in anonymous service with little but his own resources and his love for trees. The short-term effect is almost unnoticeable; long-term its staggering.

The wood engravings that accompany the text stand out and mirror the book's theme of asutere simplicity quite beautifully. Its a wonderful book for children, nature enthusiasts, gardeners and those looking for hope that follwoing one's heart and living out of love, rather than fear, can ultimately make a difference.

This is a wonderful read. It makes a great bedtime story and it is also beautiful (the wood carvings) and inspiring. This is good for people tired of reading what is wrong with the environment. The Man Who Planted Trees is kind of like a sophisticated Lorax book. Anyway, buy this book and enjoy it!

Jean Giono's inspiring story of the "man who planted trees" reached me some days ago as a birthday gift from my two sons.They thought it an appropriate gift for me probably because I am now engaged in an effort to grow trees in some land which I bought as a barren waste land. I found the book extremely inspiring.The interesting thing is that there indeed are unsung heroes and heroines in many parts of the world who do do such inspiring work without thought of reward.Some months back I read in Indian newspapers about a poor couple in the Karnatak state of India who decided to plant trees to assuage their sorrow in being childless.As they had no land of their own they decided to plant trees on the roadside.And ended up with magnificent avenue trees on miles and miles of the road near their village. There still seems to be hope for mankind!

BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY is THE classic introduction to ancient and medieval myths. In three volume's, Thomas Bulfinch recounted and referenced classical stories of Graeco-Roman gods and heroes, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Norse and Hindu mythology, the Arthurian legends, Robin Hood, the Mabinogeon, and the tales of Chalemagne and his paladins. All three volumes are combined here in a single book. Besides making great reading on their own, these tales, and the values and ideals that they illustrate, are at the very heart of western literature and culture. Shakespeare, Milton, and most of the other icons of English literature drew on them repeatedly. The modern fantasy genre has its origins in this material. Tolkien was inspired by it. They are "must" reading for anyone who aspires to be considered "educated".

There are just a couple of negatives here. The particular edition I have has a lot of typographical errors in it. There were such things as a sentence beginning "She..." when clearly it should have begun "The...", for example. Further, one can find fuller retellings of specific stories in other places. These are minor points, however. Bulfinch is still the classic introduction and source for mythological tales. Plus, as I said, it's great fun. Most people can profit from Bulfinch. Fantasy fans should especially love it.

This book is an excellent mythology reader. The first section is devoted to the stories of gods and heroes. The majority of the stories is from Greco-Roman mythology and includes such classics as Apollo and Daphne, Pygmalion, The Golden Fleece, Midas, The Sibyl, and much more. This part also devotes four chapters to Eastern Mythology (Hindu myths, Zoroastor, etc.), Norse mythology (Thor, etc.) and The Druids of Iona. Part two is made up of the popular Arthurian legends and contains many of the most famous stories such as Tristam and Isoude, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the Death of Arthur. Much of this section is rendered in verse. This part also has the Mambinogeon and other myths of the British race (e.g. Beowulf and Robin Hood). The final section (my personal favorite) includes the legends of Charlemagne, or more specifically those of his paladins. This is where one can find stories of Orlando, Rinaldo, and Ogier the Dane. These stories are not as famous as the Arthurian legends, but are just as exciting. There is a very helpful dictionary of names and terms and a few maps and illustrations. Also, the English is fairly easy to read and shouldn't be difficult for the average person. This book is not complete; many of the stories are obviously abridged. It would be nice if it included annotations or a bibliography for those wanting to read more in depth. However, the introduction includes a very basic history of the stories, which should help the more enterprising reader find the unabridged editions. Still, Bulfinch's Mythology is one of the best and least expensive ways become acquainted with these classic stories. I highly recommend it!

This book is a most buy . This book was used by Ensemble Studios from Microsoft to create the game Age of Mythology (AOM). What else can I say? if any of you are fan of the Age of Empires series then you'll know what I'm talking about. :)

Ms. Goodrich did an excellent job. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in womens studies, either a beginner or someone well versed in womens studies.

A very good book on the women that Christianity hid from history for years. Much good information, interesting pictures, and an overall excellent effort by Ms. Goodrich. Brava!

This great work by Norma Lorre Goodrich has been absolutely invaluable to my research into such areas as the Oracle at Delphi, the Cumaean Sibyl, the legendary Amazons, and many other topics for which information is hard (at least) to find. Ms. Goodrich uses resources to their full extent. At times it seems to be amazing that she has been able to combine so many ancient materials to come up with valid, comprehensible portraits of histories that would be forgotten without her scholarly persistence. This is a book that I recommend to all scholars. I've used it to great extent on my web site, Morgana's Observatory, THE only source of such material that I've been able to find. Ms. Goodrich brings ancient history (herstory) to life!

This book isn't as great as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, or any of Dumass' other great works but it is a great book to read. If you are interested in gothic fiction or mystery you should read this book. I will tell you that the shock at the end of the book is worth reading the whole thing for. Overall, I thought it was a great piece of work.

Norma Goodrich's *Guinevere* promises to find the historical truth behind the figure of Guinevere. The blurb on the back, the quoted reviews on the cover, and the introduction all state that Goodrich offers proof here of the historical Queen. I had just finished the wonderful *Journey to Avalon* by Barber and Pykitt, which is full of information on the probable figure behind Arthur, but which only devotes a few paragraphs to his wife. So, I was looking for some more information about her.

Goodrich doesn't dig into archaeology or history, though; the entire book is based on two medieval writings, the "Prose Lancelot" and the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and takes these works as absolute fact. She delves into confusing episodes in the epics, and into symbols the writers associate with Guinevere, and attempts to find the roots underlying them. Since much medieval romance was based on an earlier oral tradition, that's all fine and good--except that the more Goodrich finds, the less historical it sounds. Instead of Gwenhwyfar, queen of the Britons, we get Guanhumara, goddess of death and initiation, a mythic rather than a historical figure. Now, I don't generally mind mythic explorations onto the Arthur legends. I gave the Matthews' *Ladies of the Lake* five stars. But the Matthews were up-front about what they were doing. Yes, the Arthur cycle is based both on history and myth. But don't promise me history and give me myth.

My Mother named me Guinevere. I am thankful to Norma Goodrich for clearing up the issue of the name being associated with infidelity and dishonor. Often times I would be the brunt of jokes relating to Lancelot. At least now I have some rebuttal. Being a historian myself, putting the Arthurian legend in the 5th Century is makes sense. Goodrich's style does get off track and at times gives too much information without conclusion, causing confusion. I agree with other reviewers that her writing should be better. The writer John McPhee comes to mind as one who can reveal a subject such as geography/geology and make it exciting.

This is not some romantic fantasy concocted for entertainment. I would not recommend it for young readers. I highly recommend it for those with a strong interest in history. Although I am a women's history buff (NOT an academic expert) I found information in this book that I have not found anywhere else. Perhaps such information could be found in some stuffy academic book in a university library, but for the general reading public with an interest in history (especially those who already know that history is not as romantic as it is sometimes portrayed) this book has fascinating information that I have not found elsewhere. In fact, the chapters on Guinevere's grave were among the most interesting.

Ms. Goodrich undoubtedly knows what she is talking about, and has done her research. However, her writing style and grammar are so horrific that I was completely unable to finish even the first quarter of the book.

Her sentences are disjointed, she makes frequent reference to events and myths without sufficient background information for the reader, and cannot seem to hold a cohesive thought in her head for more than the length of a sentence. Her writing skips off on tangents and rabbit trails, and generally fails to lead to any logical conclusions or coherent presentation.

The research is there, but she's unable to express it to her audience in either a narrative format or a reference format. A huge, huge disappointment.

Goodrich claims that Merlin was a Celtic Christian scientist, political advisor and religious leader. She may well be right. Indeed, I would like to think that she is right. But if I disagreed with her conclusions, her arguments would not convince me. As other reviews of her writing have said, it is full of non sequiters. I have a Ph.D. in religious studies, and teach religion and philosophy. But I could not explain to a third party her arguments for her conclusions. If you want some exposure to ancient/medieval texts that bear on the identity of Merlin, this book might be useful. But don't expect to come to any clear conclusion (for or against her views) with the help of her writing. She mixes textual exposition and argument without stating where one leaves off and another begins. The reader is constantly wondering: is this what her sourse says? Is it what Goodrich THINKS it says? Is it evidence for her point of view? If so, how? A tangle of confused writing.

Merlin is the second book by Goodrich that I've read. Ms. Goodrich's writing is intelligent and impressive. It's interesting to read a book that considers the Arthurian legend to be a historical reality, and Ms. Goodrich comes up with lots of evidence to back up her claims. The best part of this book, in my opinion, is "The Prophecy of Merlin" and the author's explanation of it. Merlin must have lived! Reading this book made me a believer.

whoever would like to know something more about king Arthur and Early british history should avoid this book.
first of all because the theory of Mrs. goodrich is not clearly developed and at the end of each chapter is not easy to point out what the author has really been able to prove about the historical arthur, secondly because the analitycal methods of the writer are poor, misleading and lack of a deep integration with other sciences (archeology, philology...).
nevertheless, some points of her argument are interesting, but useful only to readers with an already rich arthurian background.

Goodrich's works have enriched my knowledge of the Arthurian genre. In fact, it's roused my curiousity so much that I'm presently researching the Holy Grail, the Templar Knights, and Celtic Christianity and their influence on the Arthurian canon.

Anyone who subscribes to the romance and mystery of the Arthurian legends will be upset and confused by this book. Those who have open minds and have not been blinded by what has been written centuries before, will apppreciate Ms. Goodrich's dilligent efforts. Modern man and woman have had the wool pulled over their eyes too many years where Arthur and Camelot have been concerned. It's time that the story be told correctly!

I am a professor of medieval literature, and have to say as a professional, that this book is just plain awful. It reduces huge epic stories, most originally composed in poetic form, to brief prose tales. Goodrich's word choices are poor, as are her deciions about which selections to "keep" and which ones to delete. Even seemingly small changes cause students problems in years to come. For instance, instead of using the standard English name for the great Frankish king (it is a translation, after all), that is Charlemagne, she translates the name awkwardly as "Carlemagne." Similarly, Roland is "Rollanz," Gueres is "Guenes," etc. These odd spelling choices make research difficult for students. Unfortunately, this book is completely worthless, and may even do damage if people read it and learn to hate medieval literature.

Even though there were some interesting points in this book, it really just put me to sleep. Overall, this book is boring, and I couldn't even finish it. I'm sure there are some more interesting books about medieval myths that I would suggest people read. I gave this book a 2 star because 1 star means that I through it away.

This book was the only text used in my Medievial Myth class, and while I was at first very excited to read this compilation it soon became a burden. Goodrich has lofty aims - to bring the origional texts to the reader in her own way with a minimum of abridgement and interference. Unfortuntally the text through the whole book is just confusing. The stroy of Peredur, a distant begening of the Aurthur Legends, is so disjointed as to be unreadable. Stories are also in modern language and story form, so although Beowulf was originally a poem, it is not in this translation. It was very dissapointing to have such high hopes for a valid littery work only to be left confused by the translated text. A better work is H.A. Guerber's Middle Ages from the Myths and Legends Collection. At least that work mixes coherent modern story with noted original translation to bring home the point.

This book displays some of the worst writing I've seen since editing my elementary school newsletter. I can't believe this thing made it through an editor. Bad grammar, twisted logic, and non-sequiters abound, and I didn't even make it to page 50. It would be pointless to try to address how well the author conveys her thoughts, because if those thoughts are present in the book at all, they're unreachable. Pick up something by Baigent and Leigh if you're interested in actually learning about the Grail legend.

Reading contrary interpretations or views of historical events and influences often means mining for facts, for bits of intellectual insight which enable the reader to reassemble the necessary sequences to distinquish cause from effect. The reader's mining of such information from this book is tedious, laborious and minimally productive. The text is full of fits and starts, restarts and redundancies, and so many non sequiturs that it approaches comedic proportions. I kept reading in hopes of finding something worthwhile or substantive, with little actual result. I kept wanting to throw the book across the room in frustration. Don't study it and hope to retain your sanity for long.

Surely, after reading this entire book, I deserve some sort of prize as reward for my efforts. Undoubtedly, reading this book requires an uncommon effort on behalf of the reader. Goodrich employs a writing style even more idiosyncratic and unwieldy than my own. I don't think she is a terrible writer, all the same, and I must praise anyone who is able to get an editor to accept passive sentences. Nonetheless, there are sentences that, no matter how many times I read them, do not seem to be sentences at all, just expressions that often make no sense. On a broader level, many passages in the book either do not seem to relate to the topic at hand, namely the Holy Grail, or else they only make sense if the reader already knows much of the information that the author assumes her readers know (doubtless, she assumes we have already read her books on Arthur, Merlin, etc.). I never really grasped the relevance of Esclamonde in the story, even though the author devotes a lengthy chapter to her. There are some sections, I must say, that are interesting and less arcane, particularly the section about the innately interesting Knights Templar. A remarkable sentence in this section leaped out at me (as no other sentence did, I assure you). When alluding to the tortures inflicted on the Knights Templar in France, she writes "No woman, it is certain, can believe that any man alive would torture another man in such ways." Regrettably, to my morbid tastes, she doesn't really detail these horrible acts. What makes this sentence so interesting is the fact that Goodrich's feminism is clearly evident throughout the whole book. In fact, some sections seem to degenerate into a feminist diatribe bearing almost no relation to the Grail quest. I guess the sentence referenced above means that women are less bestial than men; if not, it sounds like a Victorian sentiment about the daintiness of women. In the end, I can't really recommend this book to the general reader. You just aren't going to find a lot of substantive information about the Holy Grail here, at least not the kind of information I was looking for. Maybe an expert in mediaeval literature would find this book much more stimulating and relevant than I did. If you want to prove to yourself that you are truly an intellectual, though, this may be the best test I can think of for you. Good luck.