Soy maestra de inglés. A mis estudiantes hispanohablantes les encanta este libro. Tiene palabras y frases muy útiles. Lo que más les gusta es que las palabras en ingles vienen con la manera de pronunciarlas escrita al lado.

Al ver una copia de este lilbro mis estudiantes me pidieron que les ayudara conseguir copias de este libro.

El nivél de este libro es muy básico.

Excellent book for Latinos learning English. I am an ESL teacher and I brought this book to class one day. All of my students wanted one! They said it was "funny" and they really enjoyed it. Now almost everyone in the class has one. I highly recommend it.

This book provides very good advice on how security works, and some way hackers had invaded systems.

Includes, Java, CGI, SATAN, Kerberos but lacks an step by step advice to protect networks. The book is all about Unix...

This book cover a width range of themes, include security for winnt, unix. Also cover security with CGI, Java.. Excellent !!!

Stories by Sturgeon inspired movies, episodes of Star Trek, & even the New Twilight Zone. I'm not a Sturgeon fan, but I'm baffled by how an award winning author (indeed an author with an award named for him) who had links to the media is disappearing. Talking about the author is Very relevant since this & other such collections are about keeping his work in print. Anyway this a mixture of fantasy, SF, horror & Mainstream. The standouts are said to be the title peace (Killdozer! is mentioned a lot in MST 3K's early seasons) "Abreaction", "The Chromium Helmet", & "Mewhu's Jet". This collection gives you a good feel of this stage of Sturgeon's career. If you like Sturgeon or just have an interest in older science fiction & fantasy this is worth trying out

This is the third volume of the serieis and I'm reading the fourth now and I have to say that if you have ANY passing interest in science-fiction, literature, basically anything related to writing and the art of the short story, you owe it to yourself to hunt down these volumes, they're about the best service the publishing industry has done for one of its writers in years. You won't get genius each time but each volume has its own gems to treasure. This one has of course the masterful Killdozer among other things, the stories are branching out more here, most are touching in some way but all are at the very least entertaining, my favorite might just be the unpublished "August Sixth, 1945" which distills brilliantly the thoughts of a generation realizing the power they had with atomic energy and coming to grips with just what it meant. You can see a shift in his stories at that point and especially with the later "Thunder and Roses", as with most science fiction writers, the future was now and it wasn't all rosy and they felt they had a duty to show that it could be good that the shining stuff they showed in their stories could come true. Sturgeon believed that because he believed in people and he loved everyone and nothing shows that better than his stories. Read them and you come to know the man. And he's worth knowing.

Mr. Williams has done a fantastic job of clearly and effectively laying down the foundations of the Mahayana movement. This movement, arguably the most colorful of the incarnations of Buddhist thought and theory, has a convoluted past, and Mr. Williams has expertly shown the reader the origins of the Mahayana and the origins of modern Buddhism. The only criticism that would in any way deter the reader from thinking this work to be one of the definitive in the doctrine is William's unfortunate tendency to mix his opinions which are for the most part religiously based, with philosophical quandries. Mr. Williams is the European Secretary for the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and I feel as such his opinion surfaces on several issues, most notably in the chapter on the Saddharmapundarika Sutra. The educated reader, or at least the reader able to assimilate William's position, can, however, easily overcome the minor references to academia based on faith rather than empirical knowledge. All minor biases aside, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations is a superior work when compared to many mainstream texts used in Buddhist study, which tend to be more esoteric, or treat only specific facets of the huge diaspora that spawned Buddhist practice in so many countries. Mr. Williams has produced a great work of fantastic merit in regards to understanding Mahayana Buddhism, and should be lauded for his work which makes, in my humble opinion, a stupendous read.

I found this book extremely helpful on mutiple levels. Beyond the fact that Mahayana Buddhism suffers from a lack of cohesive literature combined, Williams counters this problem in his gathering of doctrine and his own insight on the history, evolution, and spread of Mahayana. He shows great detail to the evolution of each "school" and how it was affected by the geographic, ethnic, and cultural environments that fomred each branches specifics.

A historical paper trail is fomed for many of the major works attributed to Mahayanist thought, so that we see roots formed. This grants immense clearity to many misunderstanding about certain school ideologies that might appear completely unrelated until all the details are shown within Williams book.

Although there are no actual sutras translated, the book is a perfect starting point for philosophies, history, and a listing of many of the great Mahayana sutras, which one could then find available to start forming an actual library for practice and reference.

As a Priest in the Pure Land tradition and trained in both Mahayana and Theravadin, this book stands apart in my findings of authors that spread knowledge in quanity and quality instead of minute chunks for only lineage lip service.

Readers should note that this site does not distinguish between the various editions of Shakespeare, so the reviews you read may be for audiotapes, modern translations, etc. I am reviewing the Kenneth Branaugh BBC Radio recording of Hamlet. It is adequate, which I consider high praise for this challenging play. Like Branaugh's movie a few years later, it includes the entire text of the play, which is a nice way to remind yourself of some issues you may have forgotten.

The performances are pretty good, and include Branaugh (of course) as Hamlet and Derek Jacobi as Claudius, giving us a hint of the performances they would later give in the movie. No one's performance really blew me away, although Jacobi was excellent.

Ultimately, the play loses quite a bit when transferred to audio only. There's a lot to be conveyed with stage placement, physican action, expression, etc. Somehow, listening to the play limited my imagination on those issues, preventing my from using my "mind's eye" to the fullest.

Hamlet is considered, by many scholars, the pinnacle of Shakespeare's dramas. If you haven't read it yet this this Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism edition would be a great place to begin.

The text notes that are included with the play are very helpful to understand some of the more difficult language nuances that are inevitable with any Shakespeare. The structure is well laid out and conclusive. It complements the complexity of Hamlet very well.

Of course Hamlet is one of the great paradoxes and mysteries every written. The search of finding yourself and what it is that fuels the human spirit. Hamlet can be a very confusing play because of the depth of substance. However, the critical essays that suppliment the reading make it very accessable.

Each of the critical essays are of different schools of literary criticism: Feminist Criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, post-structuralist (deconstuctionist) criticism, Marxist critism, and finally a New Historicist criticism. Before each critism there is clearly written introduction to explain the motives and histories of that type of criticism.

This edition of Hamlet will not only introduce the reader to more Shakespeare, but also explain the play and help to familiarize the reader with literary criticism too. It is a beautiful volume that cannot be more recommended if you are wanting to buy a copy Hamlet.

Hamlet is, by far, the most complex of Shakespeare's many plays. Many of the themes covered are love vs hate, action vs non-action, revenge, and jealousy. Hamlet discovers that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" when he encounters the ghost of his father, the King, who has recently been killed in battle. From here, Hamlet goes on a search for the discovery of what happened to his father. However, Hamlet not only uncovers secrets of the past, but also the depths of his own being.

The Folger Edition of Hamlet is a great edition to buy, especially for those who are studying this play in high school or college, because it is relatively cheap in price and is very "reader-friendly" with side notes and footnotes that accompany each page of each scene. So, even if you aren't a Shakespeare lover or if Shakespeare is just a little intimidating (we all know how this feels), this version at least allows you to get the gist of what is going on. Also, there are summaries of each scene within each act, to let you know in layman's terms what is taking place. I highly recommend this edition.

I'm a little suprised at the one very negative review posted, as I prefer Sarabande's sagas to Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series (I bought Auel's first book and never wanted to read another), but that just goes to show how opinions differ. Like another reviewer, I have eclectic taste and enjoy thriller, mystery, sci-fi and fantasy genres, but after giving this book a read, I liked it enough to run out and purchase several more. I think some are better than others and haven't tried to read them all. They do go on forever! But if you peruse the back cover copy you can select the storylines and timeframes that most appeal to you.

Since Beyond the Sea of Ice begins the saga of Man leaving Siberia and entering the Americas via a land bridge, it's a good place to begin. I found the main characters simple, but compelling. It seems to me that each represents a role within prehistoric society: the hunter, the wife/mother, the elder, etc. They are developed as individuals, but they also serve to highlight the author's painstaking and detailed research. The author (actually a woman writing under a pseudonym) has a dramatic, very visual style. I think she does an excellent job of bringing the prehistoric world--in this case the windswept Siberian and Alaskan tundra--to life All the details of daily life are here--how camps were set up, clothes and weapons made, game stalked, wounds dressed; how men, women, children, and the elderly may have interacted in prehistoric hunting/gathering society. These theories are NOT presented in a boring way, but they are a big part of the story. So if you're looking for pure action, this is not the book for you.

The story begins when an insane mammoth attacks some hunters, then follows their trail back to the main group's encampment where it wreaks havoc on the inhabitants. The sole survivors, the young hunter Torka, the strange "round-eyed" girl Lonit, and Torka's grandfather and spirit master Umak begin an epic trek across the Bering Strait. Along the way they encounter caribou, dire wolves, a great cave bear, and Galeena, the wily leader of another small band decimated by the same malevolent mammoth. Galeena competes fiercely with Torka for leadership once the two bands unite. The outcome of their struggle will determine the band's future and survival.

And always far behind them follows the mammoth. Thunder Speaker. World Shaker. The Destroyer: "Torka paused, his eyes inextricably drawn back across the way they had come. The plain lay far below. The miles seemed to tremble in a glaring haze born of distance. And in that haze, upon the far horizon, he could just make out a dark form following . . . its back as high as the distant hills, its tusks glinting in the sun, its color as red as dried blood."

William Sarabande proves in this first installment of the "First American's" series that he is a truly great writer. His ability to quickly introduce the reader to characters that you can care about is really quite fantastic. Sarabande paints a picture of his Pre-Historic times crisply, providing the reader with a vivid image on the landscape, elements, and people. I could hardly wait to read the next book in the series!

I typically don't read these types of books -- I'm more into thrillers, suspense, sci-fi, fantasy, and historical romances. But I stumbled across this one while book browsing simply because the cover caught my eye. After checking here first for reviews -- and seeing them all positive, I decided to give the book a try. I'm very happy I did. I bought the audiobook version -- since I have little time to sit down and read for pleasure -- and I was captured by the book just minutes after it started. The storyline is excellent, the descriptions vivid, and the characters likeable. In addition, you get a sense for what it might have been like to live during those times. The narrator (Paul Ukena) is pretty good too. You can't ask for much more.

I agree with the other reviewers...this is a darned good book that you won't regret reading. I liked the book so much that I just ordered the next three in the series -- since they're available on tape too, and I can't wait for them to get here!

Of all of Shakespeare's plays that I have read, this is the most enjoyable. The characters are real and engaging - the sweetly stupid Bianca and her hoard of suitors, Baptista, who is more interested in selling his daughters to rich husbands than making them happy, the sly and masterful Petruchio, and most of all, Katherine, the Shrew. The play is full of action, comedy, and enough mistaken and hidden identities to keep the reader happily confused.

Katherine, who appears to be "tamed" by Petruchio's cruelties, learns the art of subtlety and diplomacy that will enable her to survive in a society ruled by men. Her speech in the last scene is not a humbling affirmation of the superiority of men, but a tounge-in-cheek ridicule of Petruchio, Lucentio, and Hortensio, who think that a woman can be tamed like a wild animal by a few days of bumbling controll.

The Folger Library of Shakespeare's plays are the most readable editions that I have seen. There are detailed side notes and definitions of unfamiliar words, which are perfect for the reader who is not familiar with Shakespearean English.

When drama goes hand in hand with comedy, a fantastic and peculiar pair enters the stage. It is quite difficult to achieve that strange feeling in which the reader is able to find pity in joy, as Shakespeare was able to do when writing his comedy The Taming of the Shrew.
Baptista is stubborn to let his favourite and younger daughter Bianca get married after finding a suitor for the shrewish Katherina, his oldest daughter. As a consequence, a complicated mockery is carried out and anyone displays a true identity both literally and metaphorically. Besides the humorous joke and its funny characters, compassion is clearly shown.
A classic that a reader will never forget. Furthermore than a simple play, Shakespeare also criticized the submissive role of women as well as the poor treatment of servants, always from a comic view, which is a useful way to understand the Elizabethan period, with its habits and customs. Although it may not be too realistic and the actions are sometimes extravagant to happen in true life, it does not let the reader get bored and he/ she will find that the book is easily and quickly read.
Once again, a classic that everybody should read in order to start changing those problems that have persisted for ages: women's role in society and everyone's right to have a satisfactory treatment through injustice.

The Taming of the Shrew is a play within a play. It starts out with a drunkard, Sly, and a lord. The lord bets that he can trick Sly into thinking he is a lord. When Sly wakes up he doesn't understand, but eventually accepts who they say he is. After a few minutes he becomes bored and the play, "Taming of the Shrew" comes on. It is a play that has men dressing as women, other men, and women dressing as men. I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a book that will have a geat beginning, middle, end, and will keep you wanting to read the next page.

This is Shakespeare's 2nd last play. Yet, nothing indicates that he was running out of steam. The images are beautiful. Stephano, Caliban, and Trinculo are memorable as the bumbling conspirators. Miranda and Ferdinand are fine as the two young lovers. Ariel is striking as Prospero's loyal servant. Prospero is a magnificent creation. Not only does he offer several beautiful and memorable passages, but he is well drawn as a character who was unfairly forced into exile. He also makes his prison his paradise. In addition, he is a fine representation of Shakespeare himself: "Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me / From mine own library with volumes that / I prize above my dukedom" (1.2.166-168). His speeches in 4.1 and 5.1 also reflect how Shakespeare himself was contemplating the end of his career. The story itself is very well drawn. Shakespeare grabs our attention with a storm at sea. He offers us a reflection of himself, comical touches, beautiful images, profound passages, beautiful language, young lovers, comical villains, and deep messages. If you like this, be sure to read his final play "Henry VIII."

Comedy, in the strictest sense, is concerned with ultimate forgiveness and reconciliation. In Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," the protagonist, Prospero, must come to terms with his brother Antonio, who conspired to have him driven from his duchy in Milan, and with the world of social interaction in general.

Magic, Power, and Conspiracy are the foundational thematic elements through which Shakespeare effects Prospero's reintegration into human society. Thrown into a boat with his infant daughter Miranda, Prospero comes to live on a nearly deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea. Prospero's concentration on developing his proficiency in Magic caused him to become alienated from his political and social responsibilities in Milan, leading to his expulsion. His brother Antonio conspired with Alonso, king of Naples, and seized the power Prospero forsook for book-learning.

Prospero hears of a sea voyage undertaken by his enemies, and, using his Magic, whips up a storm, a great tempest, which causes his enemies to be shipwrecked on his island. On the island, Prospero exercises total power - over the education of his daughter, his slave, the deformed Caliban, and now over his enemies. He engages Ariel, a sprite, to orchestrate the division of the traveling party, and to put them through various trials to exact vengeance and ultimately, submission from them.

"The Tempest" is a fine effort from Shakespeare, but the power relations in the play are problematic. Prospero's insistent dominance over the action of the play is extremely troubling. Although he is presented as a benevolent character, Prospero's relationships with Miranda, Caliban, and Ferdinand, King Alonso's son, complicate his overall worth as a man and an authority figure. The dynamic between the slave Caliban and the drunks, Trinculo and Stephano, is also very unsettling.

Overall, "The Tempest" remains a whimsical flight of imagination, while exploring intriguing themes of education, political intrigue, and romance. Certainly, it is still a well-constructed and entertaining play after nearly four hundred years.

One of the best works by Shakespeare and also his final full play (most likely), The Tempest draws on many elements that Shakespeare used in his earlier works and adds a comic twist. Shakespeare doesn't spend much time on character development in the Tempest, other than Prospero and possibly Caliban (e.g. Miranda is the ideal chaste woman, Trinculo & Stephano are lowly schemers). However, Prospero is extremely well developed and the simple aspects of the other characters do not detract from the story at all. There are many different levels of meaning at work in the play...some see it as a pro-colonialist diatribe, others see it as Shakespeare's own swan song, where Prospero himself is based on the Bard, and Prospero's surrendering of his magical powers is representative of Shakespeare giving up his craft. I read it as both, and a million other things, and that is one of the great things about the play...it can be read in so many different ways. The structure of the play seems almost chaotic at first, with so many things going on at once. However, if you read the play over again, or read some of the essays contained in the Signet Edition, it becomes much more clear, although still open-ended. The Signet Edition is excellent, and Signets in general are. Buy this over the Folger Library editions...the footnotes here are much easier to work with and make the reading much smoother overall.

This play can be read as anti-semitic. In fact, it's pretty hard to defend it from such charges. Shylock is a pretty rotten character and the fact that he is jewish is difficult to overlook (particularly since the other characters mention it on pretty much EVERY page). However, I think it is important to mention that the "heroes" of this play do not necessarily have to be interpreted as heroes. They are by no means perfect and there are many subtle (and some not-so-subtle) instances within the text in which their biases against ANYONE unlike them is illustrated. If one reads the play this way, then Shylock becomes more of a tragic figure rather than an absolutely heartless villain. I don't know. My feelings about this are mixed. There are a few funny parts of this play and the language is, as always, beautiful. The theme of putting a price on human beings is one which has been explored numerous times since. Overall, it is enjoyable, but perhaps not so much so as some of the other comedies. Do not read this play without having read a few others by Shakespeare first. It is an excellent play, but not his best and not his most enjoyable either.

This is a wonderful play - and unless you have seen it or read it you don't know it at all. That's because everything the popular culture tells us about this play is false (for example; how many of you think this play is about a merchant named Shylock? ;-)

The Merchant of Venice is a lively and happy morality tale. Good triumphs over bad - charity over greed - love over hate.
There is fine comedy. Portia is one of Shakespeare's greatest women (and he ennobled women more than any playwright in history). There are moments of empathy and pain with all the major characters. There is great humanity and earthiness in this play. These things are what elevate Shakespeare over any other playwright in English history.

Plays should be seen - not read. I recommend you see this play (if you can find a theater with the courage and skill to do it). But if it is not playing in your area this season - buy the book and read it.

After reading most of the other reviews here, I am fully aware that most of the reviewers didn't read carefully enough (or watch carefully enough if they saw the play.) Now, I'm not saying its not open for different interpretations, but there is one thing I would really like to get straight.

I read MoV for a Bar Mitzvah project on Anti-Semitism. Naturally, my sympathies went to Shylock. However, even if i were Christian, i still would've favored Shylock. What many people believe is that Shylock is a cold hearted ruthless person and only wanted to get back at Antonio because Antonio was a Christian.

Not true. Shylock specifically says something along the lines off, "Why should I lend money to you? You spit on me, and call me a Jewish dog!" I'm not saying that Shylock was a good guy, but I am saying that he is not the villain.

In fact, the "Merchant of Venice," in this story is actually Shylock, not Antonio, contrary to popular belief. My thoughts on the story was that Shylock requested a pound of Antonio's flesh because he did not trust Antonio. Who would trust someone that spat on him? The fact is, Antonio doesn't pay him back in the end.

Now, there's always something else we have to put into consideration. Would the judge had given the "spill one ounce of Christian blood" verdict at the end if Shylock were not a Jew?

This is the mark of a great play. A play that really gets you thinking. But I encourage you, I beg of you, that when you read it or see it, please do not hold Shylock up to being a cold hearted villain. Hold Antonio up to that image. (joking, of course, Antonio's not a bad guy, he's just not a good guy.)

Invisible Darkness : The Strange Case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka by Stephen Williams Bantam Books, 1997

I was interested in reading this book to try and understand who Paul and Karla were and how they ended up like they did. The book is truly horrifying and I don't think I understand any better who these brutal murders really are. If I had been able to read the whole book maybe I would have but after struggling through the killing of Karla's sister and the beginning of the story of the next victim, I was not able to continue.

The part I read was well written and certainly graphic. I would not recommend this book to the weak stomached.

This is the second book I've read in the Bernardo/Homolka series. Deadly Innocence was the other one I read, and found it to be a chilling account, extremely well written and comprehensive. Invisible Darkeness wasn't as well-written and comprehensive. It seemed like Williams had written up a bunch of notes and then just stuck them all together haphazardly. As a writer, I had some problems with grammar and structure in this book. Williams is not a great writer by any means. Sometimes I found myself shaking my head wondering what the heck he was talking about.

However, what I did love about this book was the fine detail and how it told the truth about Karla. The other books kind of painted her as the victim. She was not a victim, she was one of the perps. Williams was very clear in pointing that out. While the other book sometimes glossed over the details, this book got down to the nitty-gritty. Very difficult to read. I thought Deadly Innocence told the whole story, but this book told so much more. For example, the truth about Karla's parents and how nutty they were. The night Tammy Lyn died, they went to bed and had sex??? They gave Karla a going away BBQ party before she went off to jail? I mean, how morbidly inappropriate are these people? It just gave me the sense that they had NO conscience, no morals, no sense of right and wrong at all. Sick sick people. They just DO NOT CARE. I also found it very frustrating that the cops had all this evidence on Paul during the Scarbourough rapes, the plate numbers on his car and everything, and he was never arrested.

I guess I am fascinated with this case because it happened in Canada. And Leslie and Kristen were 15 in 1991 just like I was. I could have gone to school with them. They could have been my friends. Also, Paul and Karla looked so "normal" though they are actally the scariest, most evil people I have ever read about. The fact that Karla will probably be out on 2005 just baffles my mind. And I saw a picture of Paul, watching TV in his cell, relaxed as can be. He deserves no luxeries at all. When Karla does get out, I hope someone kidnaps her and tortures her. Then again, she'd probably get off on it.

This book is of course about the unbelievable horror Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla committed on countless young girls. If you are shocked by what was written in the newspapers at the time do not read this book - it contains some of the most disgusting acts that people can do to others in the name of ... pleasure. If ever there was a case for the death penalty this is one.

The book mostly focuses on Karla and the way in which she fooled and manipulated the police. It is very readable but is utterly shocking.