This pleasantly simple picturebook features a nicely illustrated cat who describes her day. A foldout moveable clock allows children to match the hands of the clock with the time of day being described by Mother Cat. The pictures are soothing and the work is both comforting and fun.

We purchased this book for our two and three-year-old daughters as a way of introducing math concepts through literature. The concept of time passing is told firsthand by the cat as we travel with her throughout the day.

Whether you're teaching your kids to tell time or not, this book is so charming! The illustrations are beautiful, and perfectly capture the lazy/hungry/cuddly nature of cats. It works as a picture book for younger children, with not too many words on a page, and I imagine it would be a good teaching tool as well.

This book is a classic meant to be read aloud. It's best when read to children as a bedtime story on a winter night. Try using different voices for the characters... children have a good time with this and so will you. And, usually, they will ask you to read the next story when you've finished. The next story, of course, is saved to be read tomorrow night.

I love this book, and loved it as a child, for the writing, the stories, and for the pictures which I could pore over again and again, looking for new details I missed previously. I have remembered and talked about many of the stories throughout my life, particularly The Cat Who Walks by Himself, and The Elephant's Child. I also like . . . oh, well, there are just too many to talk about. Read them for youself, and to your kids.

The stories are complex and mysterious and, though I can't say much for Kipling's politics, I find them delightful. I think most children will, too. As an adult, I couldn't get my mother to part with my childhood copy so I went out and bought one of my own.

A classic!

My grandmother bought this book for my three year old. We read the stories together at bedtime and enjoy them immensely. Rudyard Kipling wrote these stories for his young best beloved...don't wait to read them to yours!!!

The advetures of tom sawyer was on of the greatest books I've ever read. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a mischevios adventurerous kids. This book is good for adults because it could most likely to take you back to your own childhood. For kids it could give some ideas to enjoy your childhood.

Tom sawyer is a mischevios boy who always gets into trouble. tom tricks his friends into doing his chores. He falls in love. He wittnesses a murder scene. he runs away to be a pirate. He attends his own funeral. he finds buried treasure. feeds his cat pain killer. gets lost in a cave with the person he loves. Also gets 6,000 dollars.

I've learned from this book the importance of being young. It also taught me don't rush to grow up because you're only young once. IT also taught me what it was like to be a kid 150 years ago.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of the best books I have ever read. The language,the thinking,the adventures-all of it was just incredible and enjoyable. The only thing this book needs is more pages! Mark Twain's skill in writing has created a book that all ages should read (or have it read to).Mark Twain reactivates the life and actions of a boy in the mid-1800's,and showed me that kids should be who they are- not what they will be. This is a classic for every generation to read and enjoy.

Mark Twain's,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, tells about a boy loving and living his life to the fullest. Tom Sawyer is the kid that the world has seemed to forgotten. He is the kid who always get in trouble but continues to have fun with life. In this book, Tom does everything from being engaged, to watching his own funeral, to witnessing a [death] and finding treasure. Twain's creative character finds fun everywhere in his little town in Missouri, as do his friends. The storyline is basic, but it is a piece of the past that everyone should hold on to.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I learned mainly two things. The first thing I learned was that you can make life fun with just about anything if you use your imagination. Life is too short and precious to be wasted. I also learned that where you least expect it [help or protection], you might just get it. This book was just amazing-filled with unique characters, exciting events, and how a town can pull together to help those in need.

Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy!

Professor Miller's is not one of the better translations of the Gita. We can see this immediately by her choice of subtitle, "Krishna's Counsel in Time of War," which works against the real significance of what Krishna is saying and misses the profound message of the Gita entirely. If the Gita were only advice about how to act during war, it could hardly have even a minuscule part of the world-wide and timeless significance that it has. Regardless of how literally one may want to read the Gita, it is an unmistakable truth that Krishna's counsel is not about war, per se, but about how to live life, and how to face death.

We can also see in her introduction and in the "key words" section following the text that her understanding of the Gita is mostly academic. She has not practiced (at least not to any great extent) any of the yogas central to the Gita. It cannot be emphasized enough that a true understanding of the Bhagavad Gita requires not only study but practice in one or more of the four yogas presented by Krishna, namely bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga or raja yoga.

To illustrate some of the problems in the text, let's look at the beginning of Chapter Five as an example. Miller calls this, "The Fifth Teaching: Renunciation of Action," which is not exactly right since what is renounced are the fruits of action, not action itself, which according to the Gita, is impossible to renounce. We always act; even in inaction we are acting. Just "Renunciation" would be a better title for the chapter. Miller uses the word "Simpletons" in the fourth verse as the converse of "the learned"; but this is just poor diction. The intent of the Sanskrit is "unlearned" or "immature." Swami Nikhilananda, in his translation (1944; 6th printing, 1979), even uses the word "children." The natural word is "fools" which Miller avoids for no clear reason.

In the next verse, Miller has: "Men of discipline reach the same place/that philosophers attain;/he really sees who sees philosophy/and discipline to be one." She certainly has the spirit of the meaning correct, but "Men of discipline" is not only needlessly vague, it is misleading since discipline alone does not work at all, which is one of Krishna's main points. While hers is a literal translation of the Sanskrit "yogair," a more meaningful translation would be "Men of yoga." R. C. Zaehner, who translated the Gita for the Oxford University Press (1969), uses "men of practice" although that too is not entirely agreeable. Eknath Easwaran (1985; 2000), who really knows yoga, has Krishna simply say, "The goal of knowledge and the goal of service are the same; those who fail to see this are blind." Easwaran can deviate from a strict literal translation because he really understands the purport of the Gita. Swami Prabhupada, whose translation serves the further didactic purpose of promoting "Krishna consciousness," is also a man who has a deep understanding of the Gita. He puts it this way: "One who knows that the position reached by means of renunciation can also be attained by devotional service, and who therefore sees that sankhya and yoga are on the same level, sees things as they are."

Another disagreeable choice made by Miller is the epithet, "Lord of Discipline" that she has Arjuna use in addressing Krishna in 10.17. This unhappy phrasing comes about because of Miller's reluctance to use the proper and natural word "yoga." Easwaran has "supreme master of yoga," while Nikhilananda has simply, "O, Yogi...O, Lord." Prabhupada has "You...O Blessed Lord," and Zaehner tries to explain with "athlete of the spirit...You, Blessed Lord." Stephen Mitchell's recent translation (2000) has the eminently sensible, "Lord of Yoga."

I think Miller was overly influenced by the very literal and also largely academic translation by Franklin Edgerton from 1944, a translation admired in academic circles since it was the one included in the prestigious Harvard Oriental Series, but a translation neither poetic nor especially insightful. It is difficult to make strictly literal translations true to the spirit of the Gita because the Gita is poetic and is profound in a way not immediately apparent. Miller worked hard at a literal rendition of the text, but she also sought to make it contemporary for a particular (young) American generation. Ainslee Embree, Professor of History at Columbia University, is quoted on the cover as saying, "Miller's is the translation for her generation." Unfortunately, it is not clear that Embree meant that entirely as a compliment!

Having said all this, Miller's is a sincere effort, and captures most of what the Gita is about. No reasonable translation of this great spiritual work is in vain.

This book is a classic text of the Hindu culture. Very readable and easy to digest, this book provides a lot of sound teachings. Being a Christian, I am often amazed at the vast amount of parallelisms that exist between the various religions and find myself less condemning and a result less offensive, which leads to more opportunities to discuss my beliefs. With that said, I recommend that more people need to be able to understand other cultures and beliefs before attempting to persuade others to adopt their teachings, whatever they may be. This book is great ground zero reading into the psyche of the Hindu culture, as well as a good instructor in many areas where we have questions.

Despite the literary criticisms made by some other reviewers, the fact is that the main messages of this age-old text still come through clearly in this modern translation. The introduction is excellent, and its engaging style is probably easier for first-time readers to swallow versus other academic translations. For the book's small price and size, it's a great investment and, as a piece of world literature, has to rank among the greatest ever produced.

While I think most religions of the world are fundamentally the same if you explore them yourself, from a documentation perspective, Eastern texts seem to go further than many Western texts in trying to explore and understand the nature of, and the relationship among, reality, God and ourselves. It seems you don't have to travel someplace far to finally understand it, or at least understand it better; the knowledge is in the here and now. Like Krishna's friend Arjuna, you have to become aware and accept it. And the first step in doing that is opening a book like this.

Let me first echo the sentiments expressed by others and comment on what a beautiful edition the Univ of Nebraska Press has produced. The margins are indeed wide and the type very readable. This edition is easily held, the illustrations nicely complement the text and the binding is quite durable. The introduction by Joyce Carol Oates is helpful albeit pedantic. Also, those who've read the Univ of Calif Press edition of Frankenstein will notice some overlap between this introduction and the one that Ms. Oates wrote for that particular edition. Nonetheless, the introduction is valuable.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of those stories, like Frankenstein and Dracula, that seemingly everyone has heard of and believes they understand("mythopoetic " in the language of Joyce Carol Oates). Much like the aforementioned works, the actual details of the story may come as a surprise to those who assume they know the story based solely on the popular understanding. For that reason alone I think the book is worth reading.

Dr. Jekyll is a respected if somewhat reclusive London doctor who has, through the course of years of experimentation, managed to create a solution which brings to the fore his evil alter-ego. Unlike many gothic literary villains, Hyde is not imbued with superhuman strength or exceptional gifts of any kind. In fact he is of a smaller and less imposing stature than most men. What he does possess however is a complete lack of compunction with regards to others. Hyde for example ruthlessly runs down a small child who gets in his way. As is the case with Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll creates something that he can't control and which eventually destroys its creator.

The inhumanity that the fictional Hyde displays can be seen in the non-fictious world on a daily basis. As such, there is a realism to the story which is missing from many horror stories past and present. The fact that such a short and captivating work exists in an attractively packaged edition makes this one classic that will be a joy to read for all.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a clasic so, naturaly, I had high expectations. I certainly was not let down. It has a totally unique style with much detail and extensive writing. Yet, this novel is a very quickly read novel, unlike other excessively detailed books like Dracula. This book is not boring. This book is fun. It doesn't ruin the plot with too much detail like other books. Other fantasy books are usually not even close to realistic. Whereas Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is close to being conceived realistic. This book has a general morbid feeling to it where other fantasies are sometimes cheerful and happy. Robert Louis Stevenson is a realy good writer in my opinion.
He uses a very wide range of vocabulary. Stevenson uses many 19th Century terms that seem weird and different to me.
One thing bad about his writing is his punctuation. He uses way too many semicolons and comas. He makes one sentence out of six or seven sentences.
This book was not the best book I ever read, but was not the worst either. it was mediocre. however It was miles ahead of Dracula. Dracula is boring, whereas Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is fast paced, quick, and fun to read. its pritty morbid which is kind of a down side, but Since it is very short it is a good book on my list.

The University of Nebraska Press edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is beautiful! The illustrations by Barry Moser, woodcuts that progress chronologically through Dr. Jekyll's life as it is described in hints throughout Robert Louis Stevenson's story, are atmospheric and evocative; a picture of a boy being guided by his father, for example, echoes Dr. Jekyll's comments that he has a "fatherly" interest in his alter-ego, Hyde, while Hyde has a son's "indifference" to the father; the cover illustration is a portrait of Dr. Jekyll's father destroyed by Mr. Hyde on a rampage.

Joyce Carol Oates's introduction is worthwhile, especially for those readers who know the story, as most English-speaking people do, in its basic framework, but who have not yet actually traveled the dark road with Dr. Jekyll and his friends.

It is a pleasure to read a classic book in such a carefully crafted edition. Too often books such as this are printed in cheap editions with narrow margins and lousy type; this one fits comfortably in the hand and is easy on the eye as the reader is drawn into this allegorical nightmare.

This review refers to the University of Nebraska Press edition only.

This book is the worst book i have ever read. It doesn't make any sense, and very hard to understand. I reccomend this book to no one.

This story was written for young readers, but is an incredible story suitable for all ages.

The story is about the life of a young boy named Journey, whose mother left him to live with his grandparents and sister on a rural farm. Journey is faced with the question: why did she leave? He spends the summer searching for answers in photographs from the past and discovering his own family relationships and past through them as well.

I enjoy photography and found that this book gave me an appreciation for the view from behind the camera. It's a touching story of growth, discovery, and the love that binds families together. A great read for all ages, "Journey" is a worthwhile and intriguing novel.

Journey comes from a disfunctional family.His mum left him and his older sister,Cat with his grandparents.His father left when he was not even born.Journey misses his mum and longs for her to come back.I feel pity for him as his parents dumped him when he was a boy.When I read this book,I was so angry with his mother that I could have beaten her up in real life.His grandfather takes many photos of them and the surroundings.So,when they are grownup,they can have something to remind themselves about the past.Journey's mum tore up all their photos of the past.What an irresponsible mum! I wish I could pound her to pieces like what she did to the photos.I must consider myself the most luckiest girl in the whole world.

I strongly disagree with the first reviewer here, who categorized Barry Moser's illustrations as "lousy 'art'." She complains that the images are macabre and sometimes border on the repulsive. She seems to think that her low opinion means that the works must give up any claim to being art. I believe that her sensibilities are rather too delicate, and suggest that she avoid viewing the works of great artists and illustrators such as Goya, Bosch, Gustave Dore, Dali, Leonard Baskin, Edward Gorey and many others. There is nothing offensive here but the cavalier manner in which the reviewer negates the artistic legitimacy of an entire series of prints.

Please see Amazon.com's scan of the book cover above, and you will see a handsome, well-composed wood engraving done with considerable skill, representative of the illustrations commissioned for this volume. The title of the book is "Word MYSTERIES and Histories" (emphasis mine), and the artist has chosen to emphasize the darker, more sinister aspects of the word selections.

I find these strong full-page images to be an intriguing counterpoint to the text. But they are art, whether I and the censuring reviewer like them or not.

I love words and gravitate towards books about them.

Here the authors explore the backgrounds of a variety of words from "paparazzi" to "teflon," "silhouette" to "zugzwang." Emphasis is on the mystery as well as the history of the words. Illustrations by Robert Moser, original wood carvings commissioned for this work, are sometimes macabre, always different. Much of the art work borders on the repulsive and the words aren't particularly unusual -- I found only 3 I didn't know and zugzwang was one of them.

But their histories are fascinating and, after all, that's what the book is about. I just wish they'd concentrated on the words and left out the "art" entirely.

I guess I'm the lone ranger here, but, on the whole, I did not enjoy Moser's illustrations. The choice of subject matter was extremely idiosyncratic (he manages to get through all four gospels without illustrating miracles or parables) and the overall tone of them was exceptionally dark. This can be appropriate for the mood of a book like Jeremiah or Lamentations, but seems almost absurdly out of place when illustrating the Pauline epistles, which focus so strongly on God's miraculous gift of grace. The cardinal virtues of Christianity are faith, hope and love. Moser's illustrations, however technically masterful they may be (and they obviously are) do not contain the elements that have made the Bible a repeated source of inspiration and strength for two millenia. As such, they define a Bible that is interesting in its own way, but lacks critical dimensions that have been central to this book's longevity, impact and meaning for humanity.

Some people might think it inappropriate to illustrate a bible, but I for one find this volume to be a refreshing change. Barry Moser is a master book maker. He oversaw every aspect of its production from the [money]small press versions to this "every day" [money] version. He chose the fonts, did the layout and typesetting. He designed and engraved all the illustrations, picked out the papers and the binding. Books are not made like this any more, it is a treasure to have in your hands, I only wish that there was a paperback version that would be a little more portable. The wide two column layout without verse numbers is delightfully readable. The illustrations are engraved in his trademark black line style. They are dignified and totally appropriate. I personally favor the New Internation Version of the bible over the New King James for content, but still enjoy reading NKJ for its beautiful language. Having met Mr. Moser at a book making conference I wasn't surprised to find out that he was a former preacher. It was an incredible endeavor to undertake such a huge project and I am completely in awe at the depth of the book. The illustrations add a completely new dimension to the bible. It is wonderful to see faces for all the prophets. His illustrations of Christ are masterful.

I am fortunate in that Mr. Moser was a teacher of mine in high school. If he kept track I was also probably his worst calligraphy student. I could not draw a vertical line, so he literally held my hand, and then his guiding hand produced magic. Unfortunately for me, I was, like some teenagers equipped with an organ more akin to a gland than a brain. You cannot review this book. One can comment on whether The King's James Version is or is not enjoyable or the language too dated to push through. This is about the illustrations for each of the collection of books that is The Bible. Try to put aside as best you can the secular nature of the story, forget the words, and look at the images. These works are in black and white, and now that I have seen them I do not believe they can be effectively portrayed any other way. Color can be distracting, color can be inappropriate. In Steven Spielberg's Movie, "Schindler's List" would red blood spreading on white snow have been more or less dramatic? How about the same movie in color? It would not have been the same movie. These images while beautifully composed, and incredibly detailed, accomplish making there point or points with as much impact as a visual experience can be with a simple palette of color, or perhaps better described as contrast. When you see Job you see suffering that is unimaginable, and knowledge of the story, or the fact that it is a Christian story, to me, is missing the point and not recognizing what Mr. Moser has accomplished. Knowing the suffering comes from loyalty does make it even more powerful that this man endures this for something he believes. Any religion can have this loyalty. Knowing a bit of the story makes the image more dramatic, if that's possible. You want pure Human evil, and the horror it creates? Look at the crucifixion series. This shows what it must have been like to suffer such a deranged man-made form of torture and murder. And it is not because Mr. Moser shows you hammers, nails, and blood, that's the easy way out. He shows you enough to trigger the horror within you. To understand what man is capable of doing to his own. It does not matter what sort of building you worship in, or whether you worship at all. You cannot view these images without being affected. These people that he has rendered are the people you see every day. These are not the The Medici's idealized gigantic frescoes, not an altar piece approved by a committee and rendered by Carravagio (I Love Carravagio) on hundreds of square feet of space that will make an impression if only for their size. Some of these illustrations are quite small, they force you to get close, and the size has nothing to do with what they are able to communicate. We are the only Species that tortures it's own. It's a fact, it's sad, and it raises some disturbing questions. But look at these pictures, "read" them. A grieving Mother can be a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Cherokee, or Zulu. They are the same in their grief. If Mr. Moser could teach Humanity to all "Humans" with his images, then we would be worthy of the world we then would have. Mr. Moser, a sincere thanks.

I can't believe I reached my 30's (even majored in English) without reading Moby Dick. I was turned off on Melville during college when an overzealous teacher assigned us what he called Melville's "worst book," Pierre, Or the Ambiguities. I still don't remember WHY he chose that one, but it was not particularly good. So, while I hunted down many classics, this was not one of them. Then, after finding an old edition in a library sale for $.10, I decided it must be a sign. I was completely enraptured from the beginning. The opening chapters that describe Ismael and Queequog's relationship are stunning. Then, the focus shifts and like the crew, we become accustomed to life on the ship. In fact, the process of reading Moby Dick mirrors the process of getting your sea legs. The years at sea drag on almost as long for us, but I don't mean this in a bad way. I found the whaling chapters fascinating although I did expect to be bored by them. Looking back, it's interesting that Ishmael becomes so secondary in the middle of the book we feel a kind of literary illusion that he disappears until the end. Instead, we take on the characteristics of the crew watching with horror as fixation takes over Ahab. My favorite scene takes place when Ahab is so crazed in his single minded pursuit that he turns down the captain of the Rachel's request to look for his lost son. Though reading Moby Dick is a struggle, lots of great literature doesn't come easy (Magic Mountain comes to mind) -- if you're up for the challenge, go for it. It's infinitely rewarding for a strong reader. Plus, you can always rent the movie with Gregory Peck which is pretty damned good and much shorter!

I first read Moby Dick; or The Whale over thirty years ago and I didn't understand it. I thought I was reading a sea adventure, like Westward Ho! or Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym. In fact, it did start out like an adventure story but after twenty chapters or so, things began to get strange. I knew I was in deep water. It was rough, it seemed disjointed, there were lengthy passages that seemed like interruptions to the story, the language was odd and difficult, and often it was just downright bizarre. I plodded through it, some of it I liked, but I believe I was glad when it ended. I knew I was missing something and I understood that it was in me! It wasn't the book; it was manifestly a great book, but I hadn't the knowledge of literature or experience to understand it.

I read it again a few years later. I don't remember what I thought of it. The third time I read it, it was hilarious; parts of it made me laugh out loud! I was amazed at all the puns Melville used, and the crazy characters, and quirky dialog. The fourth or fifth reading, it was finally that adventure story I wanted in the first place. I've read Moby Dick more times than I've counted, more often than any other book. At some point I began to get the symbolism. Somewhere along the line I could see the structure. It's been funny, awesome, exciting, weird, religious, overwhelming and inspiring. It's made my hair stand on end...

Now, when I get near the end I slow down. I go back and reread the chapters about killing the whale, and cutting him up, and boiling him down. Or about the right whale's head versus the sperm whale's. I want to get to The Chase but I want to put it off. I draw Queequeg with his tattoos in the oval of a dollar bill. I take a flask with Starbuck and a Decanter with Flask. Listen to The Symphony and smell The Try-Works. Stubb's Supper on The Cabin Table is a noble dish, but what is a Gam? Heads or Tails, it's a Leg and Arm. I get my Bible and read about Rachel and Jonah. Ahab would Delight in that; he's a wonderful old man. For a Doubloon he'd play King Lear! What if Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of The Whale? Would Fedallah blind Ishmael with a harpoon, or would The Pequod weave flowers in The Virgin's hair?

Now I know. To say you understand Moby Dick is a lie. It is not a plain thing, but one of the knottiest of all. No one understands it. The best you can hope to do is come to terms with it. Grapple with it. Read it and read it and study the literature around it. Melville didn't understand it. He set out to write another didactic adventure/travelogue with some satire thrown in. He needed another success like Typee or Omoo. He needed some money. He wrote for five or six months and had it nearly finished. And then things began to get strange. A fire deep inside fret his mind like some cosmic boil and came to a head bursting words on the page like splashes of burning metal. He worked with the point of red-hot harpoon and spent a year forging his curious adventure into a bloody ride to hell and back. "...what in the world is equal to it?"

Moby Dick is a masterpiece of literature, the great American novel. Nothing else Melville wrote is even in the water with it, but Steinbeck can't touch it, and no giant's shoulders would let Faulkner wade near it. Melville, The pale Usher, warned the timid: "...don't you read it, ...it is by no means the sort of book for you. ...It is... of the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hausers. A Polar wind blows through it, & birds of prey hover over it. Warn all gentle fastidious people from so much as peeping into the book..." But I say if you've never read it, read it now. If you've read it before, read it again. Think Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Goethe, and The Bible. If you understand it, think again.

It's always dangerous to label a book as a "masterpiece": that word seems to scare away most readers and distances everyone from the substance of the book itself. Still, I'm going to say that this is the Greatest American Novel because I really think that it is--after having read it myself.

Honestly, Moby Dick IS long and looping, shooting off in random digressions as Ishmael waxes philosophical or explains a whale's anatomy or gives the ingredients for Nantucket clam chowder--and that's exactly what I love about it. This is not a neat novel: Melville refused to conform to anyone else's conventions. There is so much in Moby Dick that you can enjoy it on so many completely different levels: you can read it as a Biblical-Shakespearean-level epic tragedy, as a canonical part of 19th Century philosophy, as a gothic whaling adventure story, or almost anything else. Look at all the lowbrow humor. And I'm sorry, but Ishmael is simply one of the most likable and engaging narrators of all time.

A lot of academics love Moby Dick because academics tend to have good taste in literature. But the book itself takes you about as far from academia as any book written--as Ishmael himself says, "A whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard." Take that advice and forget what others say about it, and just experience Moby Dick for yourself.

Allen Mandelbaum has produced a fairly good translation of the Aeneid. If you are looking for a companion to the Latin, then look elsewhere, possibly to Jackson-Knight. I find that Mandelbaum handled the Comedia better than he did Virgil. Anyway, reading a translation without reading the original does the poem no justice at all.

This translation of Virgil's masterpiece is the perfect choice for a reader who wishes to experience the original form of this Augustine work of art. It is written in easy flowing and accessible blank verse, unlike the rather cloggy and unattractive prose translations. After all The Aeneid was written to be read as an epic poem: not the post Renaissance format of a novel, and Lewis's translation is as close to capturing the originally intended delivery as you can get without the lengthy process of learning Latin .

This classic epic poem was commissioned by Augustus Caesar in 31BC, a task which was reluctantly accepted by Virgil. Ten years of writing followed, and unfortunately the poet died, by contracting a disease, whilst returning from a trip to Athens. The epic was not fully revised by then, yet the contents of all twelve books are complete except for a rather abrupt ending.

However, just before his death Virgil left strict instructions for The Aeneid to be burnt: lost to the world for all time. Yet this commanded was counteracted by Caesar. Why was this? Why didn't Virgil want the greatest poem in Latin to be discovered for its prominence?

These are questions which will truly interest any reader. When you hold this book in your hands you cannot help thinking that Virgil did not want you to read this - if it had not been for the Imperial arm of Caesar we would be forever lacking this great Latin work. Thus a guilty feeling pervades when reading The Aeneid, moreover, those of you already well versed in Greek mythology will know that Actaeon paid very highly for his antlers, a lesson hard to forget whilst perusing prohibited splendour.

When commissioned to write an epic with the sole purpose of portraying an almighty Augustus in 31 BC it is difficult to capture the magic of Homeric Hymns. To have the inclusion of gods and mystical powers in ordered Roman society would have been simply laughed at. Therefore Virgil chose the legendary founder of Rome - Aeneas of Troy - as the protagonist of his epic. This poem documents the various adventures of Aphrodite's son: whose quest is to find his destined homeland - Italy. Jupiter has ordained that Aeneas's ancestors will become the great masters of Rome, and it is here that Virgil can cleverly celebrate Augustus's magnificent achievements.

But what is the underlying meaning to Virgil's epic? What you can witness in The Aeneid is Homer's similar appreciation of acts of bravery; yet what you will observe for the first time is the dreadful price that Imperialism exacts. Aeneas is forced to reject his passionate love, experience the death of his father, and kill the noble sons of people he is destined to rule.

Therefore a fundamental enigma in Virgil's work must be to endeavour whether this is a work that supports Imperialism or refutes it. Did Virgil advocate Augustus's omnipotence? If yes, why did the poet wish the epic to be destroyed? The price of blood for the fellowship of freedom is one continual theme that pervades not only archaic history, but also that of the modern day; and in Virgil's masterpiece it is portrayed no less effectively than in all great works of literature.

Mandelbaum's handsome translation of Virgil has become the standard edition used in Classical Literature courses in college. I can see why: his verse translation is competent and faithful to the original, and I found it inspired and vibrant, a translation which captures the rusticity and ruggedness of the Italian frontier, the belligerent natives dressed in wool caps and wolfskins; the rag-tag Trojans led by Aeneas resplendent in Vulcan's golden armor. It's such a delight for all the senses.

Inspired by Mandelbaum's translation, I have decided to read the Aeneid in the original Latin; I did the same with Catullus a few months ago, when I bought Daniel Garrison's wonderful text and commentary (The Student's Catullus). I also like to check around to find just the right text (Clyde Pharr's [Bolchazy-Carducci] is on the top of my list). The Loeb Classical Library's texts are always a safe choice.

This translation, affordable and accessible to everyone, is truly a gift. And anyone who at least considers himself/herself a poet must read this NOW!