Used price: $1.24
Collectible price: $5.28
Buy one from zShops for: $1.99
Used price: $2.24
The joy of the novel is watching Dr. Wortle deal with these crises. Will he stand by Mr. Peacocke in his time of need? Will he allow his daughter to become engaged to the very young Lord Carstairs? The answers to these questions and the reactions of the other characters are handled in the typical Trollope fashion, with compassion and common sense. Sprinkle the whole thing with deft strokes of humor and you have what is Dr. Wortle's School.
As I mentioned in my review of Castle Richmond, I am amazed what a modern thinker Trollope was. His reputation as a "old-fashioned" author is entirely undeserved. In a day and age (late 1870s)when actions and image were everything, where a hint of scandal could ruin a person, it must have seemed radical to stress that persons should be judged as much on their "nature" or character as anything else. This is one of those general notions that could be applied just as well in 2000 as in 1878.
You might wonder, given what I have already said, why I give Dr. Wortle's School four stars. When you compare them to his towering Last Chronicle of Barset, Orley Farm and The Way We Live Now, it seems a slight injustice to those five star books to give all the others five stars. Dr. Wortle's School is very readable certainly, but it does not quite obtain the status of "masterpiece" that these other novels can claim. As always, Trollop's humor, dialogue, and characterizations make this an enjoyable novel that can be recommeded to anyone.
Used price: $32.50
Collectible price: $9.53
List price: $25.00 (that's 52% off!)
In the case of older speeches, the selection is very good, considering the restraints of time, and the readers are uniformly excellent.
As for the modern speeches, it is a marvel of technology that we can hear these speeches as delivered. It is incredible that we can hear the voice of William Jennings Bryan. I can listen to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" a thousand times and never tire of it! How I wish I could listen to the voice of Patrick Henry! But this selection is too heavily weighted to the modern, and many of those do not deserve billing as the GREATEST speeches of ALL TIME. Also, some of the modern speeches which are included are abridged, e.g. Reagan is cut off in the middle of a sentence, while lengthy and undeserving speeches are played out in their entirety.
Also, with only a few exceptions, the selection is almost entirely American. It is hard to understand why Jimmy Carter's lengthy speech on energy policy is included, while Pericles' funeral oration is not; or why only a small portion of a single Winston Churchill speech is included; why while Bill Clinton's complete 1993 pulpit address, in excess of 20 minutes, is included.
It would be helpful if the complete list of speeches were available to online buyers, as it would be to shoppers in a brick and mortar store.
Used price: $31.76
I have been playing the alto recorder for a year now. This book taught me a great deal about the instrument. What's even better,
the book carefully introduces the repertory and where to find and read about it.I am delighted to learn that I will never run out of material to play.
The book is written with care, verve, and love. However, the reader is assumed to have considerable knowledge, to know without explanation, for instance, the implications of wide windways and bores, and narrow windways (p178). The history of the 20th century recorder revival, of great interest to contemporary enthusiasts, is brushed off twice, as "described and discussed in several publications." Fine, then why not this one? This should have been dealt with more carefully. The illustrations are very poorly reproduced. I am still suffering from eyestrain from trying to find the recorder in Plate 27.
Overall, though, this is a book any recorder player will want.
Buy one from zShops for: $23.95
In light of world events there is an appropriate timing of the lessons taught be these characters, as well as a no nonsense way the message comes forth. Do not read this unless you are ready to ask yourself: "what can i do for my community?"
Used price: $15.87