I am just starting to make caft projects. I am interested in paper cutting, but I have to say that I am a bit daunted by the intricacy of cutting that is required by almost all of the projects in this book. I think the key is to have the right tools, which are conveniently listed in the book. You really do need several different sized scissors. So, in order to do many of these projects, unless you have already invested in paper cutting tools, you will need to buy some good scissors. Most likely you can't just use what you have around the house. However, an initial outlay of cash is almost always required whenever you begin any handmade craft.

The authors describe basic technqiues, and present a few basic projects, but quickly move to what I would consider more advanced projects. I did enjoy the silhouette and paper flowers projects, which I consider to be two of the easier ones. Furthermore, the authors are good about providing detailed instructions and step-by-step photos. I think as I gain experience, I will attempt more elaborate projects, but I think this book would be best for those who have already mastered the techniques of paper cutting.

Because the book never claimed to be for the beginner, the only reason I took one star off was due to the lack of variety in the style of projects. They seem to be geared toward people who like crafts with a Scandenavian or country feel to the design. However, the cutouts are applied to a variety of objects such as lampshades, tins, place mats, clocks, cards, shelf edging, picture fames, etc.

I think the Waltons do a good job of presenting instructions and providing templates. The only limit is one's experience with paper cutting.

The Waltons have written a variety of craft and interior decoration books over the years. This book is a great example of their work. They give easy to understand instructions with photos of the projects at every step of the way. They also give templates to photocopy for each of the projects at the end of the book. Although the design style of the projects are primarily country, the techniques can be applied to other styles as well. Projects for all levels of experience are represented. The Waltons start off with a list of basic techniques, equipment, and materials, but move on to more advanced projects later in the book. You will need the different sized scissors listed because some of the projects require intricate cutting. The projects range from embellishing tins to frames to giftbags to cards.

This is an excellent book for the pathologist and the surgeon. The primary goal of the book is to encorage communication between physicans and provied improved pt. care. It dose this very well.

It was a tremendous relief to discover this extensive, thorough,and exquisitely articulate text that offers solutions to the conspicuous absence of effective communication in one of the most crucial relationsips in the medical community: that between the pathologist and the surgeon. I found it well written, well organized, and immediately applicable to my work as chief of general surgery. It has proven particularly useful in the instruction of my residents.

This is a fabulous collection representing the beginning of Gothic fiction. Otronto is the very first such work, and is a perfect illustration of the basic themes and plotlines predominant in Gothic. Although not the most polished work of fiction, it's often so bad it's funny, and definitely worth reading. The other stories are much more professional, albeit a bit drier reading. I'm especially fond of Vathek, as it more clearly represents fear fiction as it was to become. Dr. Polidori's piece is particularly intersting as he was a physician and present at the famous ghost-story-telling session(s) of Byron and the Shelley couple.

On the whole, this collection is the ideal glimpse into the genre at its rudimentary level.

This volume is an excellent introduction to four
works of the Gothic mindset, which hit England at
the end of the 1700s and lasted on into the early
Romantic period, all the way up to the late decadence
of the 1890s, winding up in Robert Louis Stevenson's
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1886),
Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1891), and
Bram Stoker's DRACULA (1897).
These are four of the earliest of this Gothic genre.
The volume includes Horace Walpole's THE CASTLE OF
OTRANTO (Christmas Eve, 1764); William Beckford's
VATHEK (1786); John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819); and
a Vampire Fragment by Lord Byron (1819), "which was
published at the end of MAZEPPA in 1819."
The list of Gothic NOVELS (rather than stories)
in chronological order which make the grade are:
Horace Walpole's CASTLE OF OTRANTO (1764), Clara
Reeve's THE CHAMPION OF VIRTUE (1777), William
Beckford's VATHEK (1786), Ann Radcliffe's THE
MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO (1794), Matthew Gregory Lewis's
THE MONK (1795), Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1818),
John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819), Charles R. Maturin's
MELMOTH THE WANDERER (1820).
There are excellent introductions to each of the
writers and their works at the beginning of the book.
In speaking of THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, Bleiler says:
"This novel has been called one of the half-dozen
historically most important novels in English. The
founder of a school of fiction, the so-called Gothic
novel, it served as the direct model for an enormous
quantity of novels written up through the first
quarter of the 19th century.... It was probably
the most important source for enthusiasm for the
Middle Ages that suddenly swept Europe in the later
18th century, and many of the trappings of the early
19th century Romantic movement have been traced to
it. It embodied the spirit of an age."
There is included a series of impressive "Notes"
to the novel VATHEK: An Arabian Tale. The novel
begins in an interesting fashion: "Vathek, ninth
caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son
of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun al Raschid.
From an early accession to the throne, and the talents
he possessed to adorn it, his subjects were induced to
expect that his reign would be long and happy. His
figure was pleasing and majestic: but when he was
angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, that no
person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon
whom it was fixed instantly fell backward, and
sometimes expired. For fear, however, of depopulating
his dominions and making his palace desolate, he but
rarely gave way to his anger."
And here is a sample bite from John Polidori's
VAMPYRE: "There was no colour upon her cheek, not
even upon her lip; yet there was a stillness about
her face that seemed almost as attaching as the life
that once dwelt there: --upon her neck and breast
was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth
having opened the vein: -- to this the men pointed,
crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "A
Vampyre! a Vampyre!"

It's not too often that you get a Civilian view of the Civil War. This book shows how Seccesh and Unionists acted towards each other in a border state, depending upon who's troops were occupying the town of Lexington (Home of John Hunt Morgan). The diary was written by a homebound girl (she had epilepsy) with Union leanings. The area that she saw from her window still exists today, including her home and others mentioned and also show up on a hand-drawn map that is in the book. A very good book for those seeking something besides the same old worn out War stories.

A very good diary of the occupation of Lexington KY by both CS and US troops during the Civil War. Since the city was home to both Unionist and Secceshionist Civilians, it shows how each acted depending on who occupied the city at the time. It is a good illustration of Home Front activity.

Excellent research & story telling, interesting subject matter, frightening & informative.

One of the earlier works on Unit 731. Written by investigative journalists after they worked on a television series for BBC.

The first part of the book covers the beginning of Japans BW efforts by focusing on LTG Shiro Ishii. It describes the man, his achievements, and how he progressed into managing a BW empire.

Following this third of the book is how the US investigated Japan's BW efforts, and then followed by the data swap for immunity from war crimes.

The story is fast past, interesting, and well researched. It is not a true historical study, but a well written investigative report. Along with BW, the book also covers Balloon attacks, and the possibility that US POW's were used in experiments.

I've had the experience of reading various modernistic novels written by authors ranging in times and settings. Yet never have I read a novel quite like that of Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. The novel is a brilliantly crafted story which guarantees surprises and an inevitably enjoyable reading experience. The novel is written in a form, style, and structure all its own in that it doesn't follow any set pattern or formula except that of taking the reader of guard with its highs and lows. The novel is essentially comprised of the first chapter of ten different novels to which the reader both in the story and in actuality is never given the opportunity to complete. This is set against the backdrop of a love story between Reader One and Reader Two both of whom are victims of the same fate; a botched novel. In what appears to be a comic pursuit both readers one and two continue to hunt down the original novel in order to rest their minds and progress through the work as a whole. Throughout they encounter chapter after chapter of what they believe to be the next part of the novel in pursuit but then realize it is but another botched chapter. Yet through the course of what can sometimes be viewed as pure madness, both reader one and two find each other and are married at the story's end. The novel seems to make an interesting statement regarding literature, which can be taken one of two ways. On one hand the reader may question whether or not the characters in the novel are genuinely concerned with the literature they are pursuing or are using the pursuit for the novel as a catalyst to develop their romantic relationship. On the other hand perhaps their relationship is second to the love they share for the literary experience and attaining the knowledge that one receives through the power of reading is reward enough. In addition there is a certain escapism that can be attained through the pursuit of literature. In If on a Winter's Night... each new chapter of "the" novel represents an escape from perceived reality. In the flip flopping of chapters between the perceived reality and the alleged next chapter of the novel in question I know I found myself longing to enter the next phase and escape. This is in fact the greatest joy of the reading experience; the ability to experience the illusions that you mold into reality. The most ingenious element of If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is the dynamic and intriguing style in which it is written. Each chapter has a different movement and structure and style and gives the illusion that each chapter may indeed be written by one of the supposed authors mentioned. The telling of the story is what defines this essentially wonderful novel.

We recently read this book for a literary theory class, and it fascinated me so much that I found myself rereading it after having just finished. For anyone interested in theory, in language itself, in the origin of thoughts and ideas and how our perceptions shape the world, YOU MUST OWN THIS BOOK.

While other reviews I've read have ranked this as equivalent to a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, it is most likely because the effort wasn't prolonged enough to grasp Calvino's point, which is this: That we are taught what to expect and what to ask of our authors, and anything we read is falsified in an attempt to appeal to our tastes. The book consists of 10 novels, each begun, and never allowed closure, with a connecting story that ties in the search for the original authorship of these books, and the frustration at never being able to arrive at who the author is and discover the true meaning. Each attempt to begin anew ends with narrator yanking you from the story; by doing this Calvino steps out of the authorial role--he denies the book categorization by changing what is happening each time we expect something to specific to occur. He does this specifically because he does not want us to be in the mode of simply surveying information that we already have figured the path of. The book has no genre--it becomes its own, and our understanding of what we read, why we read and how we read is forever impacted. By denying himself access to shaping the novel, he requires the reader's complete attention in determining the ultimate outcome of the book.

I bought a used copy and ripped it to pieces rereading and underlining and now have to buy a new copy. If you have an open mind, this will definitely be a book you will not regret.

This book is a must-read. Borrowing structural elements from a lifetime of close reading, Calvino puts together an anti-novel which addresses itself first and foremost to the reader. In these pages, you will meet people who read like you do, however you read.

Calvino is one of those writers who tells us things we feel we should already know, but in a way that takes us by surprise and makes us laugh. In other words, he does what a novelist should do; he shows us how we work, and he does it as a friend.

What separates "If on a winter's night a traveler" from so many other Postmodern books is a seeming absence of bitterness. In this book, we get none of the doom and gloom which has become the calling card of the Postmodern. This is no apocalypse, and Calvino is no prophet. All the better for us.

Calvino teaches us what we have forgotten; that the book is a book. That we have something in our hands that is made out of paper and ink and glue, and that on its pages are ideas and words and letters. He invites us to lose ourselves in a series of embedded stories with no ending, and he challenges us to think deeply, not about the nature of reality or the fate of mankind, but about what it means to read a book.

Refreshing, fun, and highly recommended.

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.

What would you do if you fell in love with the wrong person? Well Romeo and Juliet are in this same situation. The scene is set in Verona where two household families share the same social status. From the birth of these two enemies come Romeo and Juliet....P>This book was amazing. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. I felt as if I wanted to get in the story and try to fix all their problems. Shakespeare is a creative writer. He put in true life problems that teenagers deal with today. Shakespeare taught me never to give up and to accomplish my goals. In this book, Romeo and Juliet are not allowed to fall in love. Their parents band them from seeing each other and they wouldn't allow them to following their hearts. But they did it anyway. This book taught me to follow what I believe in and to think for myself, not to listen to what other people want me to do. If I did, then my life would have been miserable. The only thing I didn't like with this book was that it was so hard to understand because it was written in Old English.

I recommend the book, Romeo and Juliet, to anyone who loves to read tragic love stories, who is interested in reading Shakespeare's writings, or who is interested in reading an outstanding book.

Romeo and Juliet are the two most known lovers created by William Shakespeare. Their love story is one to be cried for, and it really shows the true meaning of what love is. Many people have claimed and agreed it is the most sad but romantic play ever written, and it really is.
They're a pair of star crossed lovers, who fall in love at first site. Their hopless love is denied from the very beginning: their families have an awful hatred towards each other which has been everlasting. They go through many tests for them to prove they really love each other: Romeo's best friend dying; Romeo's exile after murdering Mercutio, Juliet's cousin; and finally Romeo learning his dear lover's "death".
Although it has a tragic ending, many people say this story is actually happy, for they both die at the same time, and their love is kept together, for eternity.

Romeo and Juliet is a great tragic romance. The story is full of love, violence, passion and hate. It's an excellent epic poem in which Shakespeare tells this tragic story using a beautiful language, very poetic and lyrical. Try it, you'll never forget it.
This story is about a pair of two star-crossed lovers, which take their life in Verona. For years, the feuding of the Montagues and the Capulets has disturbed the peace of Verona.
It all began in a party in the Capulet's house in which Romeo and Juliet made their love vows, and Romeo proposed marriage to Juliet. After this marriage, everything was tragic.
Deaths and fights were constantly a problem in the two houses. So Romeo and Juliet would leave Verona to stop the quarrels, but this plan failed when Lord Capulet told Juliet to marry Paris.
Friar Laurence would make a new plan, to skip this ceremony. Juliet would pretend to be dead and afterwards, when wake up, leave Verona with her love.
This plan also failed because Romeo didn't get to know about this and killed himself when he saw Juliet lying on her grave. Juliet did the same when she saw Romeo lying beside her.
After these deaths, both families realised that hate between them caused lots of deaths. Capulet and Montague made up their quarrel. They promised not to fight again and make a golden statue about the two beautiful star-crossed lovers.

Almost all (with the exception of a few) of the things in here are accurate in the sense that they show you BASICALLY how to do something, but also in the sense that the way it tells you how to do it is so dangerous that it will most likely fail. This is not really a true guide on homemade exploseives and such, this is more of a book for entertainment. If you really want to know how to make homemade exploseives try "HOME WORKSHOP EXPLOSIVES" by Uncle Fester, now that book is the real deal. This books techniques are tooken from military handbooks that date back to about 30 years ago! I wouldent trust any of the techniques in this book unless I was 100% positive that it would work.

This book is an oldie but a goodie, a must buy for haveing on your entertainemt shelf on your bookcase just to show off to everyone that you have the legendary "ANARCHIST COOKBOOK".

This book is a great piece of history. Nice to read if you are planning on losing a limb or poisoning yourself. The Anarchist Cookbook was an interesting thing to stumble upon in the 60's and 70's, but in '03, the average Joe-Anarchy isn't going to have much use with it.

This book is great for just general information, and it's also good for a laugh! I only made smoke bombs and other harmless stuff, but I benefitted greatly from the information contained. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a little swearing and a few violent concepts.

Let me preface this by saying that I love William Gibson. I think he is a phenomenal writer who is wonderfully intelligent and imaginative. In every one of his books, he spins fanciful, thought-provoking yarns that are utterly absorbing and linger long after the last page has been turned.

So if this is true about Virtual Light (and it is), why three stars? Well, unfortunately VL felt to me like Gibson spent a lot more time worrying about some of the really neat ideas in the book (the homeless community on the Golden Gate Bridge, which was wonderfully described, the Costa Rican data havens, the TV Christian cult, etc.) than about the story.

Several of the characters felt quite underdeveloped, a few even unnecessary. This is not uncommon in Sci-Fi, even in Gibson (though his characters are usually very good, and several here are, too), but here it felt like it detracted from the story significantly rather than being a minor nuisance. Additionally, the plot, though interesting, didn't actually go far until the end of the story. Things you might expect to happen in the first 100 pages weren't happening until 250, and the horribly deus ex machina ending occurred so quickly that I could hardly believe the book was over. Not that what Gibson did in the end was bad, necessarily (minus the "divine" intervention that allowed it to happen). It's just that he took 100 pages worth of plot and condensed them into about 10.

Having said all that, though, the book wasn't that bad. I was very absorbed in it while I was reading, and almost all of the ideas in the story were very interesting. However, I'm glad this wasn't the first or even the third Gibson novel I read. I'd recommend you start with Neuromancer or his new one, Pattern Recognition, if you are new to Gibson's writing. If you aren't, this is still a worthwhile read, as long as you can forgive its flaws.

Chevette, the heroine in Virtual Light, is one of Gibson's finest creations, a bicycle messenger who lives on the Golden Gate bridge with a lot of other homeless people. She's a spunky, streetwise kid, sexy and vulnerable, who hasn't yet lost her innocence. Gibson is obviously a little bit in love with her, as any male would be who reads the novel.

Rydell, the hero, is a security cop assigned to San Francisco to help recover a pair of what appear to be sunglasses stolen by Chevette from an obnoxious masher who had been entrusted with them. Like all Gibson's heros, Rydell is both tough and sensitive, a kind of street samurai of the future.

Despite the charm of the leading characters, the central gimmick-dark glasses that show the wearer where new developments will be built in San Francisco-seems rather mundane in comparison with the cornucopia of technological wonders he created in earlier novels. Plus, the plot is the old one where villains, trying to learn where the city will build next, will kill anyone or do anything to get inside information because it means a lot of money.

The novel is a bit of a disappointment, though not a total loss. Gibson seems to have trouble with conclusions. The one to this novel involves an air strike by characters difficult to tell who they are, what they are doing, or why they are doing it. Yet, it's no worse than other popular thrillers, and it contains a fine cast of fascinating characters.

Virtual Light is very much a departure from the world of Neuromancer, showing instead an insidiously closer-to-home look at a possible near future. The grittiness and vivid bleakness are still there, but they make up a different picture: our own society, just a little bit worse. The result is a bit more believable, but neither better nor worse; it's just a slightly different perspective.

Similar in style to Neuromancer's sequels (yet with a bit more substance), the story is actually composed of several stories that meet up throughout the course of the book; each is important. Gibson manages to get a strong feeling of tension going as the characters become more deeply mired in their plight. The story's villain, Loveless, is creepier and more dangerous than expected, adding a sense that the stakes are higher than they seem and that nothing is predictable.

Idoru, set in the same universe as Virtual Light, I'd say is slightly better, but Virtual Light shouldn't be missed. No Gibson fan should pass this up; anyone new to his work should start with Neuromancer and read Virtual Light next.