This is a most readable, in-depth and scholarly examination of prejudice and racism. The author discusses the different definitions of prejudice and racism and how people come to understand their meaning as well as learn the behaviors associated with these beliefs and attitudes. A helpful guide through very difficult concepts and perplexing behavior with clear research and everyday real life examples. This book clarifys the distinctions between prejudice, racism, and discrimination. It discusses how it manifests at an individual, institutional and cultural level within social, political, and economic situations. Historical and contemporary world examples are used. A truly interdisciplinary text, excellent resource, or simply an enlightening book for all disciplines and persons interested in this topic.

This is a wonderful book! It boils down the truths of a spiritual life in a few short chapters and forces you to think about what it means to be a Christian, a man and a dad. Don't bother with this book if you want theology...this man's a teacher for men.

I must have accumulated over a dozen books on cigars over the years... this one stands out far above the rest. Not only does Dr. Camarda really now his stuff, but he presents everything you need to know about buying/smoking/storing cigars in detail and with a great sense of humor. It's a lot of fun to read (and hard to put down), extremely informative, and offers tons of valuable 'inside' information that simply cannot be found in book form anywhere else.

All in all, I highly recommend it. If you only own one book on cigars, "The Sensible Cigar Connoisseur" is the one to have.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry readings by some of the best actors in the world. If you allow yourself only one tape of poetry, I would recommend this one. The rendition of Lawrence's "The Snake" is spellbining, and the reading of Macneil's "A Death in the Family" is quietlly gut-wrenching. And you will be surprised how well Bill Shatner recites about whales. Buy this tape, and you will listen to it again and again.

This is an extremely well written, detailed unit history of Merrill's Marauders that I highly recommend. Both the author and the collaborator were members of the unit and bring great authenticity to the book. The author was the battalion surgeon for the 3rd Bn and the collaborator was an intelligence officer. Their sources include first hand accounts, unit records ( what little there were ), and official documents and publications. The book covers the entire time period that the 5307th Composite Unit ( Provisional ) was on active status and encompasses recruitment, training and combat. One of the best sections of the book is the description of the siege of Nphum Ga. The authors descripted, detailed, day by day and unit by unit account of this little known horrific battle is the best I've ever read. The author also gives an excellant record of the medical support ( or lack of ),for the unit, ( which is to be expected considering the source ). He discusses the various health concerns the Marauders had to deal with, such as scrub typhus, malaria, dysentery and of course getting shot at. All in all this is a great book that not only informs but does it in a way that keeps you interested. This book is well worth the read.

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Like "The Thin Red Line," Jones again uses his uncanny ability to transport his readers INTO the characters of his novel. Rather than say, a Tom Clancy book, which is akin to watching a Rambo movie, Jones portrays his fascinating characters in a light that moves the reader, not just describing their actions, but the reasoning and feeling behind those actions.

Jones, unlike any other author I've read, probes the psyche of his protagonists, and as a result, writes some of the most interesting, thought-provoking books that exist.

Not just a look at the US army pre-WW II, this book is a look at the trial of life, the disaffected yet good people that grew out of the Depression, the challenges we've all faced making decisions in life, and the constant challenges a young man faces between compromise and survival in life, and the ability to look at himself in the mirror based on those decisions.

This book clicks on so many different levels, it is difficult to write a succinct review. The depth of insight provided into characters such as Warden, Prew, and the contrast between characters such as, say, Malloy (the classic dreamer/philosopher/socialist from the late '20's) and Lt. Holmes (a philandering officer who has sacrificed his family for career) will leave you thinking about the book and life in those times for days afterwords.

In addition to the philosophical bent of the novel, it is also entertaining, which keeps it moving along, and provides some moments of levity. Stark's (G company's mess sgt.) cleaver rampage comes to mind at the moment.

My only criticism is that the book takes a while to "get into to" - I feel the beginning drags a bit. But you often get out of a book what you put into it, and this one is worth the effort. Definitely recommended, and while you're at it, rid your mind of Terrence Malick's poor film, and pick up "The Thin Red Line" today.

"From Here to Eternity" is an epic about life in the Army at Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii, in the months preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Jones portrays the Army as a system in which enlisted men are like pawns in a political chess game played by the officers. The everyday drudgery of Army life contrasts sharply with the promise of high adventure advertised by the recruiting posters. A common peacetime practice is rewarding soldiers for athletic prowess that has little to do with their military training, and boxing is a popular pastime.

Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt, having grown up dirt poor in eastern Kentucky and spent much of his adolescence as a vagrant, does not have many options in life and serves in the Infantry with the intention of being a career soldier. When the novel begins, he has just transferred into G Company where, much to the chagrin of his superior officers First Sergeant Milton Warden and company commander Captain Holmes, he is unwilling to join the boxing team despite the fact that he is a champion welterweight. His superiors try to break him by putting him through systematic psychological intimidation they call "The Treatment." Prew is wise to their motives, but accepts it with cynical indifference.

Meanwhile, Warden is having a clandestine affair with Holmes's wife Karen, whose promiscuity is a rebellion against her imposed domestic lifestyle as an Army wife. Prew also has a love interest, a prostitute named Lorene, who provides sanctuary when he gets into trouble.

The climactic incident of Prew's "treatment" occurs when he gets in a scuffle with a sergeant named Old Ike (who, oddly enough, talks like Yoda). Prew is sentenced to the Stockade, where he must endure swinging a sledgehammer on a rockpile, solitary confinement in the "Hole", and sadistic guards who wield a reign of terror through physical abuse. When one of the guards beats an inmate to death, Prew vows revenge, and making good on it is yet another step in his downward spiral. And here I think it's worth mentioning that Jones writes some of the best fight scenes ever.

What I liked most about "From Here to Eternity" is that, for a military novel, it avoids formulas of jingoism and contrived heroism in order to tell realistic stories about soldiers who are not necessarily honorably dedicated to fighting for their country, and are doing so more out of being in the wrong place at the wrong time than out of patriotism. This is reflected in Prew, who lives for the Army and ultimately is destroyed by it in more ways than one, and the several other disparate characters Jones introduces to emphasize the Army's internal conflicts. And the most indelible memory this novel leaves me is Jones's succinct and brilliant description of a suicide victim's final thoughts in the split second after pulling the trigger of the rifle lodged in his mouth.

"From Here to Eternity" is the kind of novel for which the word "sprawling" was invented. In fact, the only possible criticism one could have for this book is its excessive length for the story it tells. But even so, author James Jones turns that length to his advantage with powerfully drawn characters and tense, dramatic situations. I first read this book twentysome years ago and when I returned to it, I remembered it better than most no. 1 bestsellers since.

The central conflict is Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt's refusal to box in an Army company that prizes boxing above all else (this is in the innocent days of Pearl Harbor just before the Japanese attack). The agonies Prewitt goes through for his conscience are best left up to Jones to describe. The movie version of this book is quite competent but had to be cleaned up to an almost ridiculous extent (the whorehouse became a "dance hall," for example). If you can, read this massive novel first, then see the film. I think few if any people would regret the effort it takes to read "From Here to Eternity."

The Covenant was my first Michener novel. Loved it. I particularly liked how he mixed the development of his characters with the African history. I could see the characters and feel their passion. I finished the book knowing more about Africa and enjoyed a great story. Definitely intend to read more of his novels.

This is a masterpiece. A masterpiece of history bur also a masterpiece of human nature. Often, in a 1200 pages book, the author loses himself (and us) with useless details. Not in this one. Each page conveys the essence of that book: The Love of The Land.

One would think that Michener came from South Africa since he depicts that love with such purity and such passion. He also sucessfully avoided falling into the trap of taking side which, when you write on such a contreversial country, is very tempting.

You will discover South Africa and learn to love it, even if you never have set foot in Africa or never particularly cared about that region. This is how powerful this book is.

Learn to love that land through the eyes of the Nxumalos, a family of Zulus who emigrated south thousands of years ago to find food and adored the land in all of nature's expressions.

See it also through the destiny of the Van Doorns, a dutch family who, exploited through many generations by a country ran by the sense of business, returned to the fondamental values of god and the soil and made this land theirs, convinces that god granted them this new Eden.

Finally, follow the Saltwoods, A family of English noblemans who after wondering what Britain presence should be in South Africa became part of that intricate cultural web.

No race or culture is evil, history dictates what we are and will be. Passing on that book is passing on a great opportunity to understand the complex history of a country rich in emotions but also in understanding the events that led to the Appartheid and racial tensions in South Africa.

Mr. Michener, while you are there, write us an history of the paradise !!!

A very entertaining trip through the history of south africa. This book is quite long but well worth it. A very detailed accounting of the people and places and events that led to apartheid. Although this book was published before apartheid ended and therefore doesn't contain the latest events of south africa, it is still well worth reading and of the most enjoyable books I've ever read.

The Thin Red Line is a fast paced exciting novel of combat on Guadalcanal. Forget all that you know about the dull introspective movie of the same name, the book is nothing like the movie.

The novel details the adventures of C Company as they arrive on transports and engage in two battles. At the outset of the action Guadalcanal has already been invaded and the men of C Company are part of a force that will mop up remaining Japanese forces on the island. There is a cast of dozens of characters that is too long to detail here. Most are well-formed individuals. Jones takes us into the thoughts of each man. We read each mans inner dialogue as he is forced into life or death combat situations. All are scared, some rise to the occasion, some find they enjoy killing, some go mad and many are killed or wounded. Just like real life. They do not spend their time contemplating lizards and jungle foliage as is in the movie.

The characters go through a transition from scared untested troops to battle hardened veterans all in the course of a two-day battle for a hill called the Dancing Elephant. Jones describes how they acquire the "thousand yard stare" along with a mental numbness that inures them from horrors of battle.

After the first battle the men are given a week off which they spend getting drunk. Their too-cautious Captain Stein in relieved of command and his exec, First Lieutenant Band takes over. Band is eager to prove himself and volunteers his company to lead the next assault, the battle of the Great Boiled Shrimp.
This battle is a success and the Japanese are completely defeated. Unfortunately Band is judged to be too reckless by his superiors and he too is relieved.

With these two battles behind them, a new company commander is appointed. Captain Bosche is a stranger to the men, having been transferred from another division. Many of the veterans are promoted to fill ranks thinned out by casualties. Many others find that they can talk the army doctors into transferring them away for medical care, even though some aren't very sick or disabled. The novel ends with C Company climbing into another transport to be taken to fight for another island.

Unlike many other war novels, The Thin Red Line does not have a single overarching message. In this book, war is hell but it is also fun. Killing is bad but it also exhilarating. Heroism is a complex issue here. No man is purely heroic but many do behave heroically. Some do so because they don't want to be thought cowards by their buddies, others because they are hungry for glory, medals and promotions. One soldier, "Big Un," volunteers for a dangerous mission because he's upset that the Japanese are killing captured Americans. During that mission he himself kills several Japanese who are trying to surrender, screaming at them that this will teach them not kill captured Americans.

There are a few stylistic issues that I found annoying. Jones gives every man a monosyllabic name. He insists on unnaturally referring to the company as C-for-Charlie every time he mentions it. Other companies, such a B-for-Baker, are named similarly. Natural speech would of course abbreviate familiar names. There are other similar stylistics excesses. An officer is referred to a "pickle nosed, mean and mean-looking" every time he appears. Jones probably thought he was quite the artiste in doing this but I found it annoying and distracting

These minor points aside, The Thin Red Line is enjoyable, exciting and well worth reading.

I thought both this book and the movie were excellent but the two are so unique in their own way, you almost can't compare them. Both address the difficulties of facing and accepting death brought on by war. The book does this in a realistic, almost 'in your face' way with its detailed depictions of soldiers' experiences, both on the front line and off, and as it delves into each character's evolving thoughts and emotions. James Jones really brings you onto the battle field and into the soldiers' minds. The movie on the other hand takes a poetic, almost ethereal approach, leaving you to wonder and reflect upon death and war. While it doesn't take you deep into all of the character's minds, the movie does offer powerful imagery and eloquent narratives to illustrate its message...as well as excellent performances by the actors themselves. I highly recommend reading this book and seeing the movie, but don't expect them to take you down the same road. And if you're expecting another "Saving Private Ryan", then you should see "Saving Private Ryan". "The Thin Red Line" is on a whole other level.

The Thin Red Line is a book that dives deep into the minds of the men fighting on Guadalcanal. It begins by getting inside the heads of the men of C-for-Charlie Company. Through the varied personalities, the reader sees what it's like to fight against Japanese and to kill them. Men like Corporal Fife undergo a complete transformation by the end of the novel. The soldiers learn many tough lessons such as the fact that every man is replaceable. This novel is so unique when compared to other war novels because of the graphic realism it portrays.

Everything I had ever believed or thought I knew about war has been completely reversed by this book. There was such a human element that made it so compelling to read. The men slowly become dehumanized as the numbness of combat sets in. I challenge anyone who enjoys learning about war to read this book. I doubt that anyone could come away from it unchanged. War becomes an aspect of life that one can only understand if they experience it. This novel proves once and for all that no one should want to experience it... only read about it to gain a new appreciation for the men that fight for freedom.

"One day one of their number would write a book about all this, but none of them would believe it, because none of them would remember it that way."

Shakespeare's play, "Othello" is usually recognized as one of his "great" tragedy's (with Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth). It certainly has a quite exciting plot and great poetry. If you have not yet had an oportunity to read this great work, I recomend it strongly. It is still an intelligent treatment of race, family and civic duty, and sex. It also has one of the most interesting bad guys around - Iago.

I read it in the Arden edition, edited by Honigmann. Honigmann argues that Othello has a strong claim at being Shakespeare's greatest tragedy and makes a strong case for the work. He has a good introduction that gives a quite balanced and clear overview on many topics regarding this play, from the "double" time method Shakespeare uses, overviews of the various characters, as well as a the stage history. Amazingly, he can be remarkably balanced, even when he is talking about his own views. While he is a decent writer, Shakespeare is better... In the text itself, he gives quite ample footnotes to help explain the language, why he picked particular readings, as well as where themes came from...

Like all scholarly Shakespeare editions, the notes are in danger of overloading the text. This reader, however, recognizes the distance between myself and Shakespeare and so I find it comforting to be able to look at the notes when I have questions. At times his "longer notes" were awkward, but there is no easy way to handle this amount of material.

Othello relects the true meaning of a tragedy both in its content and its structure.Tragedy is 'a story of exceptional calamity produced by human actions, leading to the death of a man in high estate.'The downfall of Othello is caused by his own actions, rather than by his character, or rather the two work in unison to create the stage for his downfall.
This is what captured my attention when I read this play.It is very profound to realize the fact that Shakespeare uses Iago to set this stage on which Othello is a mere player.
I love the character of Iago. His total confidence, the superiority that he feels when psychoanalysing human nature, his rational thinking and intellectualism sways the reader to think: 'Wow, this is a compelling and sophisticated man we're dealing with here!'
However, my admiration of Iago does not in anyway undermine my love of Othello. His poetic and calm demeanor makes the reader feel the pity and terror for him when he falls from grace (catharsis). Yet, we are made to understand that the reason why he is made to appear a gullible and ignorant fool to some readers is that he does not have any knowledge of a delicate, domesticated life. Venetian women were foreign to him. This tragic flaw in Othello added to the circumstances used by Iago to destroy him.
The meaning, and hence the tragedy of the play is conveyed through the use of Shakespeare's language, style, literary devices and imagery. Without these dramatic effects, readers would never be able to enjoy the play as much, although the dialogue is at times difficult to decipher.
I thoroughly enjoyed Othello and it is my hope that more people find it enticing as I have. I would be delighted to contribute more of my reviews to that effect.

As a play, "Othello" encompasses many things but more than anything else it is a study of pure evil. Although Othello is an accomplished professional soldier and a hero of sorts, he is also a minority and an outcast in many ways. As a Black man and a Moor (which means he's a Moslem), Othello has at least two qualities, which make him stand out in the Elizabethan world. He is also married to a Caucasian woman named Desdemona, which creates an undercurrent of hostility as evidenced by the derogatory remark "the ram hath topped the ewe".

Othello's problems begin when he promotes one of his soldiers, Michael Cassio as his lieutenant. This arouses the jealousy and hatred of one of his other soldiers, Iago who hatches a plot to destroy Othello and Michael Cassio. When Cassio injures an opponent in a fight he is rebuked, punished, and subsequently ignored by Othello who must discipline him and teach him a lesson. Iago convinces Desdemona to intervene on Cassio's behalf and then begins to convince Othello that Desdemona is in love with Cassio.

This is actually one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to watch because the audience sees the plot begin to unfold and is tormented by Othello's gradual decent into Iago's trap. As with other Shakespeare plays, the critical components of this one are revealed by language. When Othello is eventually convinced of Cassio's treachery, he condemns him and promotes Iago in his place. When Othello tells Iago that he has made him his lieutenant, Iago responds with the chilling line, "I am thine forever". To Othello this is a simple affirmation of loyalty, but to the audience, this phrase contains a double meaning. With these words, Iago indicates that the promotion does not provide him with sufficient satisfaction and that he will continue to torment and destroy Othello. It is his murderous intentions, not his loyal service that will be with Othello forever.

Iago's promotion provides him with closer proximity to Othello and provides him with more of his victim's trust. From here Iago is easily able to persuade Othello of Desdemona's purported infidelity. Soon Othello begins to confront Desdemona who naturally protests her innocence. In another revealing statement, Othello demands that Desdemona give him "the ocular proof". Like Iago's earlier statement, this one contains a double meaning that is not apparent to the recipient but that is very clear to the audience who understands the true origin of Othello's jealousy. Othello's jealousy is an invisible enemy and it is also based on events that never took place. How can Desdemona give Othello visual evidence of her innocence if her guilt is predicated on accusations that have no true shape or form? She can't. Othello is asking Desdemona to do the impossible, which means that her subsequent murder is only a matter of course.

I know that to a lot of young people this play must seem dreadfully boring and meaningless. One thing you can keep in mind is that the audience in Shakespeare's time did not have the benefit of cool things such as movies, and videos. The downside of this is that Shakespeare's plays are not visually stimulating to an audience accustomed to today's entertainment media. But the upside is that since Shakespeare had to tell a complex story with simple tools, he relied heavily on an imaginative use of language and symbols. Think of what it meant to an all White audience in a very prejudiced time to have a Black man at the center of a play. That character really stood out-almost like an island. He was vulnerable and exposed to attitudes that he could not perceive directly but which he must have sensed in some way.

Shakespeare set this play in two locations, Italy and Cypress. To an Elizabethan audience, Italy represented an exotic place that was the crossroads of many different civilizations. It was the one place where a Black man could conceivably hold a position of authority. Remember that Othello is a mercenary leader. He doesn't command a standing army and doesn't belong to any country. He is referred to as "the Moor" which means he could be from any part of the Arab world from Southern Spain to Indonesia. He has no institutional or national identity but is almost referred to as a phenomenon. (For all the criticism he has received in this department, Shakespeare was extrordinarlily attuned to racism and in this sense he was well ahead of his time.) Othello's subsequent commission as the Military Governor of Cypress dispatches him to an even more remote and isolated location. The man who stands out like an island is sent to an island. His exposure and vulnerability are doubled just as a jealous and murderous psychopath decides to destroy him.

Iago is probably the only one of Shakespeare's villains who is evil in a clinical sense rather than a human one. In Kind Lear, Edmund the bastard hatches a murderous plot out of jealousy that is similar to Iago's. But unlike Iago, he expresses remorse and attempts some form of restitution at the end of the play. In the Histories, characters like Richard III behave in a murderous fashion, but within the extreme, political environment in which they operate, we can understand their motives even if we don't agree with them. Iago, however, is a different animal. His motives are understandable up to the point in which he destroys Michael Cassio but then they spin off into an inexplicable orbit of their own. Some have suggested that Iago is sexually attracted to Othello, which (if its true) adds another meaning to the phrase "I am thine forever". But even if we buy the argument that Iago is a murderous homosexual, this still doesn't explain why he must destroy Othello. Oscar Wilde once wrote very beautifully of the destructive impact a person can willfully or unwittingly have on a lover ("for each man kills the things he loves") but this is not born out in the play. Instead, Shakespeare introduces us to a new literary character-a person motivated by inexplicable evil that is an entity in itself. One of the great ironies of this play is that Othello is a character of tragically visible proportions while Iago is one with lethally invisible ones.