Do not fret. Within a few pages both the initiate and the expert will be won over. This is a superb book in the Wooster-Jeeves series, full of Wooster's malapropisms, preposterous schemes, boggled literary quotes ("the snail was on the wing and the lark on the thorn--or rather, the other way around . . . ") and memories of hi-jinks at Eton and the Drones' club. Then there is Jeeves, the gentleman's gentleman, aware of his subordinate position to Wooster, but--as admitted by all-- possessing a greater knowledge of "the psychology of the individual." Consider the following exchange between Bertie and the ever-troubled Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle: "this is frightful, Bertie." "Not too good, no." "I'm in the soup." "Up to the thorax." "What's to be done?" "I don't know." "Can't you think of anything?" " Nothing. We must put out trust in a higher power." "Consult Jeeves, you mean?"
The book's events appear to take place soon after those described in "Right Ho, Jeeves," and before "Joy in the Morning." As mentioned above, one is easily drawn into the humorous misadventures of our protagonists and their screwball plotting against Gussie's fiancé's father and his neo-Fascist friend, Spode, modeled after England's Sir Oswald Mosley. Written in 1938, even the humorous hand of Wodehouse touches on the threat of the fascist "black shorts" (the shirts, apparently, had already been taken).
Lighthearted fare, but perfectly crafted by a master of modern farce. This book is simply a delight, a compote of impossibly funny personalities sweetened with a meringue of wit and satire. P.G. Wodehouse, along with those other two-initialed humorists of the early to mid-20th century (E.B. White, S.J. Perelman, A.J. Leibling) is one of our most treasured writers. Give "The Code of the Woosters" a try; I think you'll soon join his legion of fans. Most highly recommended!
The main story is about how Bertie has to steal a cowcreamer for Aunt Dahlia or else he'll never eat from her godly French chef Anatole's dishes again!
Along the way, he meets Sir Watkyn Bassett, who once fined him a fiver on Boat Race Night for pinching a policeman's helmet. With Sir Watkyn is his friend and soon-to-be-nephew Dictator Roderick Spode.
Sir Watkyn, showing Bertie's Uncle Tom lobster, upsets Uncle Tom's stomach, and takes the cowcreamer. Meanwhile, Bertie gets a message from Gussie Fink-Nottle, who is going to marry Sir Watkyn's daughter Madeline. Gussie screws up the engagement, and it's up to Bertie to fix it.
Then Spode says if Bertie pinches the cowcreamer, he'll beat him to a pulp, and, as I've said too much, you should go buy it! It's a great book! Pip-pip for now!
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The book is beautifully illustrated and has become a modern Christmas classic.
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Before the book even gets into "this is how you should define a number field" or "this is what's up with calculated validations" there are two whole chapters devoted entirely to planning your database system before you click one mouse button or hit one key on the keyboard. You are shown by a seasoned developer who has already made many mistakes and learned from them how to estimate what your database system will need (and what it doesn't), how long it will take, even how much it might cost. And it covers the all important issue of how to interview your client (or your boss) and get, in layman's terms, the vital bits of information you'll need to turn these users' hopes and dreams into a powerful, dynamic database system.
Other topics that are especially useful are plenty of great portal techniques, how to keep your data healthy, and effective user interface design.
I have to admit, I had been anticipating this book for a long time and was slightly disappointed that some of the very advanced topics that I've been looking for help and guidance with were not covered that much (or at all) such as the use of plugins, advanced ODBC connectivity, advanced Web development, or Applescript/Active X automation. Thus only four stars. But these are relatively minor issues and specific only to an advanced developer like me.
The CD-ROM has tons of great technique files on it, too!
If you had to get only one FileMaker book right now, this is the one you should get.
When I started my project, I had been using FileMaker as a user for years. I simply used databases that others had built. When I decided to start my own business, I chose FileMaker because of its ease-of-use reputation. I struggled for about a week before I decided that for some things this reputation holds. But, if you really want to make the most of FileMaker, the manual and help files just aren't enough.
Then, I bought Using FileMaker Pro 5.
I put my development efforts on hold for a long weekend and read the first 60%, re-reading the pieces important to me and skimming the rest. As the authors suggest, I then started out by planning my project on paper. I didn't go into all the detail they suggest but I did map out my files, records, and fields. I eventually purchased Microsoft Visio software for this task but that's another review...
Then, I sat down at my computer and started over.
Within 2 hours, I had recreated the clumsy work of that first frustrating week. Within 2 days, I had a workable customers database, products database, and order-entry system. Now, many weeks later (and a lot more development), I've automated tasks for my business that save me time and money. Things that used to take 30 minutes now take 3. I've got FileMaker picking the low price from amoung multiple suppliers, creating orders, invoicing customers, calculating profits, and reporting it all back to me. It makes me feel POWERFUL!
One area that I wish they had taken more time in is using the built in password and groups security. They touch on it, and even after reading it several times, I'm still not sure the best way to set up my files. Another good item would have been a succinct list of all the scripting functions and what they do. In their defense, it is available in the built in help screens but I like having it in a hard format.
The bottom line is simple: If you want to create some easy databases that will help you get the job done, FileMaker is the answer. To get the most out of FileMaker and turn it from an information storage application into a powerful tool to run your business (or other projects), Using FileMaker Pro 5 is the book you need.
Thank you, Rich and Jonathan, for this impressive volume of information and tips. You 'splain things so well!
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Yet ARCTIC CROSSING isn't just a travel narrative. It yields a treasure trove of carefully researched detail about everything from polar bears and seals to Inuit politics and the latest in survival and wilderness travel technique. Read it.
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This one has been very helpful to me as it gives precise yet comprehensible definitions. This is maybe the most important point of all.
I found it very easy to look up a word i did not understand and gain a conceptual understanding of that word after a short period of time. The definitions just make sense and are not too complicated and confusing.
It also includes example sentences and idioms and information for the further usage of a particular word.
It also has a section with colored pictures (maps, categories such as clothing, food, animals etc.) that provide a picture of the real thing that the word represents - a quite useful tool for foreigners and non native speakers like me.
If you are currently studying english, reading english texts (but have a limited vocabulary) or just don't want to run into too many complexities when using a dictionary and don't want to be too confused but you just want to know the meaning of a word and understand it, then this is the right dictionary for you.
As it is a dictionary for "learners" it does not include things like etymology and syllables (the only negative points), technical definitions (although it includes some where their appearance is reasonable) etc.
But it includes phonetic symbols at the bottom of each page and has, as all dictionaries, a section wich explains each symbol and abbreviation that can appear in an entry.
If there would appear some symbol or abbreviation in the entry that you wouldn't understand, you would find it easy to find its meaning as everything in this dictionary is exactly where you would consider it to be.
So you don't fool around loosing time and getting frustrated. I think the editors of some dictionaries assume that you already know all these symbols but include their definitions anyway in a very complicated way.
Not with this one.
I highly recommend this dictionary. You can buy it without reservations.
But...you should have a second one with etymologies at hand.
The dictionary has lots of pictures (over 1700) for words that can be explained but for which a picture is much more effective like "hinge". The words have a pronunciation guide with a mark (') showing the main stress. There are many useful appendixes like irregular verbs conjugation, usage of numbers, punctuation, family relationships and a few colorful maps.
Over 220 usage notes clarify the subtle differences among words such as dealer trader and merchant. Although it's mainly a British English dictionary the differences in spelling, use or pronunciation between American English and British English are stressed.
By far the most interesting feature is the extremely reduced defining vocabulary constituted of 3500 words. The great majority of definitions are written using that reduced defining vocabulary. This simplifies the definitions and it's a great starting vocabulary for the beginners. The use of such a small defining vocabulary rules out the use of this dictionary as a thesaurus but the advantages compensate this drawback.
My copy is a paper back that has been reinforced with adhesive tape. This makes the dictionary lighter and handy. I used to put it on my back pack and take it to all my classes when I started college in USA.
The drawbacks are the need of an additional thesaurus and the fact that the entries are not syllabified. Nevertheless I would give it 10 stars if I could.
Leonardo Alves - December 2000
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Tucker introduces the reader to interesting but little-known facts about smallpox in history. For example, during the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold laid siege to Quebek City. The commander of Quebek sent smallpox-variolated civilians to mingle among the Continental Army troops, and within weeks a massive epidemic broke out. The Continental Army burried its dead in mass graves and retreated in disorder. The author concludes that "Were it not for that epidemic, Quebek and perhaps all Canada might be part of the United States today."
The discussion of smallpox as an instrument of terrorism is chilling. For example, Tucker reports a Pentagon adviser's concern that "if a ruthless tyrant like Saddam Hussein had his back to the wall and nothing left to lose, he might consider unleashing smallpox against his enemies as a final instrument of revenge." Indeed, Iraq is suspected of harboring secret smallpox stocks, based on circumstantial evidence discussed in the book. Another expert characterizes the threat of a smallpox attack as a "low probability, high impact" risk.
"Scourge" is relevant, timely and a pretty good read.
Well written, concise, and chilling. I am surprised that copies are still readily available.
This is a fascinating book! Unlike some books I've read recently, this one dragged me along, keeping me up at night when I could not put it down. As I know little about the topic, I appreciated the way the author made the whole subject clear to me, educating me while keeping me entranced. Overall I would say that this is a great book, one well worth the cost. I highly recommend it!
Two things the critics generally agree on are that : (1) P. G. Wodehouse is one of the funniest writers in the English language; and, (2) it's almost impossible to explain why. Among the various authorities cited for the difficulty in analyzing humor are Evelyn Waugh and Sigmund Freud, themselves authors of hilarious fictions. Suffice it to say, and I mean this in the very best sense, the enjoyments of the Jeeves and Wooster stories are much the same as those of the great TV sitcoms. Wodehouse created these two great comic characters, surrounded them in each story with oddballs, plunked them all down in trying situations, and then had the inimitable Jeeves extract Bertie and his upper-class nitwit friends from their difficulties through various stratagems and diversions. Though Andrew Ferguson and others deny that there is any deeper meaning or political content to the stories, it is at least notable that the finest young gentlemen in all of England are hopelessly overmatched by life unless Jeeves steps in to save them. The resulting stories have a certain sameness to them--of course, just try watching ten episodes of Cheers in a row and see if it's still fresh and amusing in hour five--but read in moderation they are immensely enjoyable and their very familiarity becomes quite comforting.
GRADE : A+
But, these "episodes" still aren't as stale as some of those viewable today in primetime. Most are unpredictable, and the situations are unique (somewhat due in part to the time period, but also because they are realistically presented.) All the characters are likeable, even though they each have a teeny bit of deviousness, but that makes them more human. Their funny and they aren't plastic. They aren't completely real, but they aren't completely paper-made either. They're just plain entertaining.
The last chapter of this book is the tip-topper of the whole novel. Just like a good show, it brings everything together. You wonder throughout just what Jeeves' angle really is, and in the end you find out. I can't wait to read another installment!
Carry On, Jeeves contains eight of the ten stories available in the print version (the remaining two stories appear on My Man Jeeves), so completists will want that, but for pure enjoyment, you can't go wrong with this. Even the titles Wodehouse writes are funny, my favorite being "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy." They simply roll off the tongue.
The stories here include "Jeeves Takes Charge" (chronologically the first as it tells the story of Jeeves' entry into Bertie's life). The others, namely "The Artistic Career of Corky," "Clustering Round Young Bingo," "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" (about a young cousin of Bertie's who goes wild under his wing), and "Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg" are all classics of the Wodehousian genre and show Jeeves at his problem-solving best.
This would easily appeal to the casual Wodehouse fan, and is perfect for long road trips or any other situation where a laugh is needed. Wodehouse exceeds all others in humor and, one assumes, will remain that way for centuries to come.
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Do not think that all "The Decameron" deals with is sex. The mostly illicit sexual encounters depicted are some times funny, sometimes sad, but they share a common trait with the stories from the Tenth Day, for example (these ones are mostly about sacrifice, abnegation, and servitude), or with those of the Second: Boccaccio's concern for his society and the terrible tensions that had reached a breaking point by the 14th century. The Plague, in Boccaccio's universe, acts as a catalyst of emotions, desires, and changes that had to come.
Read, then, about Alibech putting the Devil back in Hell, Lisabetta and her pot of basil, Ser Ceperello and his "saintly" life, Griselda and her incredible loyalty in spite of the suffering at the hands of a God-like husband, Tancredi and his disturbing love for his daughter, Masetto and the new kind of society he helps create with some less-than-religious nuns, and then it will be easier to understand why Boccaccio is so popular after 650 years. And although it may be skipped by most readers, do not miss the Translator's (G. M. McWilliam) introduction on the history of "The Decameron" proper, and that of its many, and mostly unfortunate, translations into English. This book is one of the wisest, most economic ways of obtaining entertainment and culture. Do not miss it.
Second-hand opinions can do a lot of harm. Most of us have been given the impression that The Decameron is a lightweight collection of bawdy tales which, though it may appeal to the salacious, sober readers would do well to avoid. The more literate will probably be aware that the book is made up of one hundred stories told on ten consecutive days in 1348 by ten charming young Florentines who have fled to an amply stocked country villa to take refuge from the plague which is ravaging Florence.
Idle tales of love and adventure, then, told merely to pass the time by a group of pampered aristocrats, and written by an author who was quite without the technical equipment of a modern story-teller such as Flannery O'Connor. But how, one wonders, could it have survived for over six hundred years if that's all there were to it? And why has it so often been censored? Why have there always been those who don't want us to read it?
A puritan has been described as someone who has an awful feeling that somebody somewhere may be enjoying themselves, and since The Decameron offers the reader many pleasures it becomes automatically suspect to such minds. In the first place it is a comic masterpiece, a collection of entertaining tales many of which are as genuinely funny as Chaucer's, and it offers us the pleasure of savoring the witty, ironic, and highly refined sensibility of a writer who was also a bit of a rogue. It also provides us with an engaging portrait of the Middle Ages, and one in which we are pleasantly surprised to find that the people of those days were every bit as human as we are, and in some ways considerably more delicate.
We are also given an ongoing hilarious and devastating portrayal of the corruption and hypocrisy of the medieval Church. Another target of Boccaccio's satire is human gullibility in matters religious, since, then as now, most folks could be trusted to believe whatever they were told by authority figures. And for those who have always found Dante to be a crushing bore, the sheer good fun of The Decameron, as Human Comedy, becomes, by implication (since Boccaccio was a personal friend of Dante), a powerful and compassionate counterblast to the solemn and cruel anti-life nonsense of The Divine Comedy.
There is a pagan exuberance to Boccaccio, a frank and wholesome celebration of the flesh; in contrast to medieval Christianity's loathing of woman we find in him what David Denby beautifully describes as "a tribute to the deep-down lovableness of women" (Denby, p.249). And today, when so many women are being taught by anti-sex radical feminists to deny their own bodies and feelings, Boccaccio's celebration of the sexual avidity of the natural woman should come as a very welcome antidote. For Denby, who has written a superb essay on The Decameron that can be strongly recommended, Boccaccio's is a scandalous book, a book that liberates, a book that returns us to "the paradise from which, long ago, we had been expelled" (Denby, p.248).
The present Penguin Classics edition, besides containing Boccaccio's complete text, also includes a 122-page Introduction, a Select Bibliography, 67 pages of Notes, four excellent Maps and two Indexes. McWilliam, who is a Boccaccio scholar, writes in a supple, refined, elegant and truly impressive English which successfully captures the highly sophisticated sensibility of Boccaccio himself. His translation reads not so much as a translation as an original work, though his Introduction (which seems to cover everything except what is most important) should definitely be supplemented by Denby's wonderfully insightful and stimulating essay, details of which follow:
Chapter 17 - 'Boccaccio,' in 'GREAT BOOKS - My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World'
by David Denby. pp.241-249. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 0-684-83533-9 (Pbk).
But one doesn't need to focus on the revolutionary aspects of the Decameron to enjoy the book; each of the stories delights the reader with a different tasty morsel, and, you can read as much or as little at a time as you please. Once you get past the introduction, (and that's probably the most serious part of the book, so be sure not to give up before you get to the first story) the stories will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you sit on the edge of your seat. Inspiring authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare and entertaining audiences for over 700 years, the Decameron continues to delight.
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'What a Carve Up!' is a thoroughly post modern romp through the decades from World War II through to the early 90s. Coe uses the villains of the piece, the Winshaw family, to explore various aspects of British society during the period with humour and compassion and without resorting to diatribe. Most notably, he takes numerous broad swipes (not always effectively or fairly) at the 'greed is good' ethos of Thatcherite economics.
The finale sees justice meted out to those who deserve it - and justice is not always a punishment in Coe's world - in a thoroughly Biblical manner.
You will read Coe's work for the characters and the up-all-night-reading plot. But what you will remember is his apparent message: 'Watch out, hold on to your integrity....but keep on laughing.'
As for the charge that Coe unfairly makes greed out to be a bad thing, what Thomas Winshaw does to Phocas Motor Services in the book (pp 322-24 of my edition) was played out in many much worse factual scenarios that I know of in the US throughout the 1980's. (Look at what US Steel did to southeast Chicago, for starters.) And his analysis of this sort of capitalism couldn't be any more relevant with all the short-sighted and criminally dishonest market manipulations by politically connected that are coming to light Stateside in 2002 (Enron, Harken, Halliburton, Dynegy, Worldcom, Global Crossing, Adelphia...). Think of the havoc that these scandals have brought to individual lives among employees and fundholders who counted on these 'businessmen' - really a network of interconnected charlatans - to be running sustainable companies, not inflating the value of their options to whatever unsustainable level would maximise their personal wealth. Lack of subtlety should be the last criticism pinned on someone who addresses this sort of outrage head-on.
In short, you don't need to be British to get this book, not even to appreciate the parts devoted to the National Health Service. The points he makes are just as relevant to what's happened in America under Reagan and Bushes I and II. I agree with the critcism that Coe panders to upper-class resentment by attributing all these various corruptions to one aristocratic family, when it's untitled corporate conservatives throughout society who need blaming. But he is doing a satire, and the aristocratic trope serves as the novel's framing device.
The unfashionable clarity is a result of the book's overt politics. I find that Amis and Self bury their political commentary in stories that focus on how tormented their characters feel by the unexplained vagaries of life and how irreversibly complex it's all become. Coe, on the other hand, is willing to identify and blame the forces that have made society such a mess and living so hard to figure out. It's not some Fat Controller with supernatural powers, nor a mysterious seeming-friend doing improbable things with the money system to play out a personal grudge. It's right-wing politicians and businesses who, among other things: control our news sources and fill them with meaningless gossip or misleading agitprop, stoke up wars and profit on arms sales, industrialise food production at the expense of the ecology and consumer health, and intentionally ruin our public services to serve their theological devotion to laissez faire economics. In this way, Coe actually has more intellectual heft than the authors who imply that the world is just cosmically, unfathomably unfair and unpleasant. He's telling us that the malignant forces are entirely within our control, were we willing to stand up to the bent plutocratic filth that are allowed to run our governments and economy.
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The book begins as a biography to the creator of Rent, Jonathan Larson and his original vision of the play and of life itself. Reading his story was quite inspirational. If only he were alive to see his success and how he has touched many people's lives.
The remainder of the book is the whole libretto for Rent complete with pictures from a stage performance. The presentation of the libretto and pictures is wonderful. Honestly, I was in complete awe the first time I saw it.
There are also in-depth interviews with the cast and people behind the scenes, and some rare photos.
This book is the Rent fan's necessity. And, as I said before, could be seen as a true inspiration thanks to Jonathan Larson.
The pleasantly bewildered Bertie Wooster and his Vulcan valet Jeeves return to Totleigh Towers, in Totleigh-on-the-Wold (now Wodehouse KNEW how to make great names) to the house of the Bassets. They must contend with enormous curate Harold "Stinker" Pinker, his devious fiancee Stiffy Byng, the perpetually creepy Sir Watkyn Basset, his wannabe-Nazi friend Roderick Spode, fish-faced Gussie Fink-Nottle, and--worst of all--the soppy Madeleine Basset, who constantly believes that Bertie is madly in love with her.
With a cast like that, things are bound to go wrong. To steel up his courage for fiancee Madeleine, Gussie writes down degrading things about Sir Watkyn and Spode in a leather notebook--and promptly loses it. The blackmailing Stiffy Byng takes the notebook and will give it to Gussie if Bertie convinces her fiancee, Stinker Pinker, to steal a policeman's helmet.
Still here?
The characters are caricatures, but they're GOOD caricatures! Stiffy is almost amoral, the yin to the conscientious Stinker's yang. Spode is his usual blustering, swaggering self. Sir Watkyn reminded me of a small yipping dog just waiting to be squished. Madeleine is still mooning about fairies and bunny rabbits. And poor Bertie is mixed up with them, an innocent soul in a world of very strange people.
Read the book, and for heaven's sake watch the TV adaptation!