"Oct. 22nd, 1837. 'What are you doing now?' he asked, 'Do you keep a journal?'-- So I make my first entry today." Thus begins Thoreau's Journal, made up of more then two million words and covering about twenty-five years of his life. No other work of Thoreau's better exhibits his discipline as a writer and his devotion to the natural world. In the Journal can be found the fragmented foundations of masterpieces such as Walden, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, The Maine Woods, and Cape Cod. But what is perhaps more interesting to a reader of Thoreau's Journal are his thoughts and insights on topics such as friendship, love, religion, nature, bravery, heroism, war, slavery, the art of writing, and, most important to Thoreau, the art of living. Anyone with any interest in Thoreau will find his Journal to be an invaluable aid in understanding and following the life of one of America's most profound prose writers

It's a misstary story and a good one at that if you have read the book the older son had gone out on a rainy night to watch a paper boat float down the stream he lost his arm and was found dead his brother always went back every 4 years to face the creature who took his brother and faced worst fears everytime he went there. He was in the drain as I recall. He took a Life of one every year and his Younger brother studder He Learned how to talk slow without studdering, and went on into his own business so that he could make sure he was there every 4years to face the creture that took his big brothers life. He won the first go round I really can't remember the rest it has been awhile since I have read the book You ought to get it if you have not read it.

By Kathy Truman

I expect that author keeps his book writing

I have this friend who hates Henry James. I can't understand it. The style is dated, in that people dont write that way today, but as you get into the book you begin to enjoy the style, as well as the plot, characters, and French/American dual culture shock that still goes on today. (For an update on the theme, look at Le Divorce and Le Mariage by Diane Johnson). I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to these characters and the description of Paris in the Second Empire were fascinating. If you watch the Masterpiece Theatre version without having read the book, you will be totally confused. They moved events out of sequence all over the place and after about ten minutes I shut off the tape and picked up the book. You have to know the whole story before you watch them throw characters and events at you in the first two scenes that only appear 2/3 of the way through the novel, after a foundation has been laid as to who they are and when and why things happened.

I couldnt recommend this more for a good read. The only caution I have is for readers who have never been to France. They may get an extremely negative impression of French people from many of the characters in this book. Go to Paris and you will find the city is wonderful, and so are the French people. These characters are not typical!! They belong to a certain class, and the book does take place 150 years ago. If this book doesnt get you hooked on James, I dont know what will. Try Washington Square and dont miss that movie, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney and Maggie Smith.

OK so it takes half the book to get to the story. In typical Henry James fashion you are completely prepared for the action. Unlike Thomas Hardy, whose surroundings tell us of the character of the person it surrounds, James wishes you to know the depth of his characters as seen through the eyes of others. This of course brings on many minor characters that just seem to disappear, but it is a view of a person as if the reader was on the other side of the mirror watching the story unfold. Yes, James is wordy, yes this is not a quick read, but Henry James has a mastery of language and story telling that is rare.
"The American" is a wonderful love story that ends as a real life love story might end. Do not expect roses and happily ever after, it is as much a story of an ancient social system as it is of the life of "our hero." And the thing that seems to get missed is that Henry James actually wrote this as a mystery, not a love story.
This is a novel to contemplate and read between the lines. Good verses Evil, Noveau vs Old Money, Right and Wrong, can literature get any better than that?

This book is long, but only because that's how James tells the story. It's like a soup that needs to boil all day, so it's kept on low, but when it's done, it's perfect. The book stays at the pace of "our hero" the American Christopher Newman. A smart, educated, rich, yet easy going, simple, and humane veteran of the Civil War and a self made tycoon, who goes to Europe to see the "treasures and entertain" himself.

He becomes entangled in what he thinks is a simple plan for matrimony, but is really truly a great deal larger and more treacherous and terrible than that.

We spend a lot of time in Newman's mind, paragraphs of character analaysis are sprung upon us, but nothing seems plodding or slow, nothing feels useless. By the end of the book we find that we think like the character and can only agree with what he does. We react to seemingly big plot twists and events as he does, without reaction, and a logical, common sense train of thought.

But don't misunderstand that. For a book that is so polite and the essence of "slow-reaction", it is heartwrenching and tragic. You will cry, you will wonder, and you will ask yourself questions. Colorful, lifelike, and exuberant characters fight for your attention and your emotions, and we are intensely endeared to them. Emotional scenes speckle the book and are just enough. And the fact that something terrible and evil exists in this story hangs over your head from the beginning. It's hard to guess what happens because James doesn't give us many clues, and the ending may come as a surprise to some people. And without us knowing it, James is comparing American culture to European culture (of the day), and this in of itself is fulfilling.

Indeed, James uses every page he has, without wasting any on detailed landscapes and useless banter. 2 pages from the end you have a wrenching heartache, but the last paragraph and page is utterly and supremely satisfying, and you walk away the way Newman walks away, at peace.

Black's is widely regarded as the ultimate authority for the definition of legal terms. I bought the leather-bound version on the first day of law school, but never used it once. (A law student can get by with a paperback legal dictionary.) However, I HAVE used this book as a practicing attorney. I once used it as authority in a brief, and the judge actually relied on the Black's definition to justify his order in my favor.

Know of of a lawyer (whom does not already have this indespenseable tool) or of a person heading to law school; then you should buy this book for them, i.e., Black's Law Dictionary by Bryan A. Garner (Editor), et al. The reference book starts out with a pronunciation guide; preface (which is very well written indeed); guide to dictionary; list of abbreviations; dictionary; seven appendixes, legal maxims, the constitution of the united states of america, universal declaration human rights; time chart of the united states supreme court; federal circuita map; british regnal years; list of works cited. The price is abit steep ... but it is well worth its price.

Know of of a lawyer (whom does not already have this indespenseable tool) or of a person heading to law school; then you should buy this book for them, i.e., Black's Law Dictionary by Bryan A. Garner (Editor), et al. The reference book starts out with a pronunciation guide; preface (which is very well written indeed); guide to dictionary; list of abbreviations; dictionary; seven appendixes, legal maxims, the constitution of the united states of america, universal declaration human rights; time chart of the united states supreme court; federal circuita map; british regnal years; list of works cited. The price is abit steep ... but it is well worth its price.

An elaboration of concepts that Mintzberg has been writing about for a decade: how different mental models of strategy can be classified. This is NOT a how-to-run-a-company book. This is an intellectual exercise in the taxonomy of schools of thought about strategic management. If you are a strategic planner, read this book for its own sake. It is the antithesis of MBA texts; it is about epistemology and competing perspectives, not about a single "truth". After reading this, the obscure academic literature on management will be more accessible.

This book provides a great introductory overview of the field of Strategic Management and is useful to any MBA or consultant with an interest in that area. It provides an overview of 10 schools of strategy, with an assessment of the contributions made by, and a brief critique of, each school. This helps you learn to spot the pitfalls of using one approach exclusively.

The text can occasionally be a bit academic however, since cases are not the authors' intent, so don't expect many "real world" examples. Nor is the book exhaustive, though it does provide a bibliography for further reading. Finally, the attempt to pull all 10 approaches together, while an admirable effort, may be little more than wishful thinking, since the tenets of some schools are difficult to reconcile.

With this in mind, the book is a great starting point for those exploring the field and a handy refresher for those with more experience. If you're interested in Strategic Management, this is as good a place to start.

Mintzbergs Strategy Safari is an excellent book for getting an overview on current schools of strategic management and for getting the ability to distinguish between them in reading about strategic management. Schools are portrayed with their most important premises and authors together with critical opinion at the end of each chapter. Great book!

I felt that the first three writers were the strongest. Mintzberg promotes an idea that leader is just a role in his advocated all mighty manager. Zaleznik brings this down with his idea that managers and leaders are different kind of people and talk about managerial mystique. But maybe best advice how to solve present leadership dilemma comes from Kotter, who says that companies should pick up talented individuals and then put them to grow into leaders through tough challenges.

Gives an insightful view of a manager's job. It enunciates traits and behaviors of leaders and managers very well, and explains how it is important for a manager to have both traits. The material triggers a manager to look within to understand one's leadership and managerial styles. If one wishes to change or develop leadership and managerial skills this material is a great beginning.
It also points out that organizations and academic institutions are good at developing organizational specialists but not at training managers. The author thinks that these institutions should provide management programs that also focus on developing leadership and managerial skills. But to do that it's important to understand what managers and leaders really do.
Overall a very good read for a traditional manager to be introspective and effective.

Excellent book with eight fantastically different views on Leadership. Describes fundamental differences between leadership and Management and brings forth thought process which can help professionals in all fields. Contents are 1) The managers Job (folclore and fact), 2) What leaders really do, 3)managers and leaders (are they different), 4) The discipline of building Character, 5) the ways CEO's lead (5 different ways gathered from study of 160 CEO's),6)The human side of management, 7) the work of leadership, 8) whatever happened to the take-charge manager, also contains brief background about the contributors. Each chapter is from a different contributor

Corbin is one of the foremost interpreters of Iranian, Sufi and Persian gnosticism in the west. This volume is a terrific introduction to his other works as it is a collection of short essays in which he discusses how he grew from being a student of Heidegger to a scholar of Persian mysticism. I would highly encourage those interested in the imaginal realm to begin their quest here and then take on his other works, especially "Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth" afterward. More people should know of Corbin's work, but unfortunately its audience is largely limited to students of Islam and Sufism. Highly recommended.

The last place I would have looked for a profound spiritualism would have been Iran, but this book proved me wrong. It is amazing and disturbing how much influence cheap media has on our views. After reading this book, I am not surprised that, of all places, Iran should be the country to exhibit such a sharp contrast with modern flashy and shallow philosophies. Obviously these guys know their stuff and can distinguish between real thing and fake ones, something that we in the west need to learn since our spiritualism usually ends up in some sort of sex or money scandal.

I usually don't think much of religious scholars and their books, but have found Mr. Corban and his writings very different and profound. No doubt Corban is an icon for religious scholarship.

This was my favorite of Krumgold's books. I prefer it over Onion John or And Now Miguel. Perhaps this is because it is about a smart kid, and I was a smart kid.
Henry's ambitious dad wants everybody in the family to act so as to be a credit to himself - he seems to see his whole family as an extension of himself - even as a child I thought him immature and selfish. But he doesn't come into the story all that much, until the end.
The story starts when Henry's dad is transferred to a new town. Henry decides to hide his high intelligence at his new school - to "play dumb" or at least "play average" so as to be accepted by the other kids. His plan goes astray almost at once when he hooks up with the class bully and makes a bargain with him. This leads to a very complicated situation at school, and things get more mixed up from there. Everything comes to a head when there is a disaster in the town. The disaster brings out both the best and the worst in the town people, including Henry and his dad. I don't want to give away too much plot here, but the story was fascinating to me at the age I first read it (10 years old).

This is a wonderful book that preaches a real value system amidst the backdrop or consumer-driven Long Island.

The book explores cliques, family values, and suburbia in a way that no other ever has.

It's a 'Catcher in the Rye' for suburban values.

It's well written, the plot moves along well, and has lots of ingenious devices to intrigue young minds.

As I first time reader of Fielding I found this book unexpectedly comical. In the same line as going to church to hear a boring old pastor and finding your self humoured throughout the sermon. The charactors keep their distance through the third person narrative which allows the reader to judge, pity and find in the case of Fanny and Joseph perfection which is annoyingly unreal.

As for Parson Adams he well may be a saintly man but surely someone other than myself finds his lack of tact, condenscending tone and total innocence extremely irritating.

This is an incredible book about real friendship,chastity and honesty written in the most humorous fashion.Fielding brings out the true values of friendship beteween Parson Adams and Joseph and true love between the latter and Funny.He points out the sad but true "false" nature of the upper class and brings out questions about real life.I like this book because it encourages chastity and esteems honesty.