I liked that Merlin when he was a little boy, was very much like me. I wrote a letter to Mr. San Souci, because I really love his books. I really liked when Merlin performed his magic and turned himself into an ogre. And when he turned in to that man, and when he knew what was going to happen. This book inspired me to read more of mr. San Souci's books. I think kids should read this book because it is very exciting about medeival times and they might really like it. Brian Kelly age 7 I read all his young books when I studied medeival times.

wow.

this book gave me the creepers. i read this short novel in a class on existential philosophy, and it's the only piece except for sartre's nausea that has stuck with me all these years.

without revealing too much, the plot revolves around several young boys at a boarding school who torture a fellow student-- to see what will happen in a philosophical sort of way. disturbing, haunting, suspenseful, beautiful, profound.

not for the faint of heart.

I've always treasured every Star Wars book I could find, but when I came across these books they really fascinated me! The whole is great. If were attracted to the book, but have doubts about buying it, look no further! My opinion is that these are very good books for any time, any place!

Most concordances let you trace an English word through the Bible. But, is it really the same word? Is ``infirmity'' astheneo (weakness) or nesos (sickness) in this verse? Both Youngs and Strongs give you the Hebrew or Greek word. However, Youngs gives you all the translations of the ``original'' word, so that you can trace just that word. One English word may actually be several different Hebrew or Greek words. Likewise, one Hebrew or Greek word may actually be translated by several English words. Straighten it all out with Youngs, without having to become a language scholar.

10 year old Peter is excited when he hears his grandpa is moving in,until he moves into his room!!Peter declares war with grandpa because he wants his room back.They play many funny tricks on each other.My favorite trick is the last one Peter plays on grandpa. Since it should be a surpise I won't say what it is.It is a good book that every one should read.

The title of the book is The War with Grandpa. The author of the book is Robert Kimmel Smith. The illustrator is Richard Lauter. Grandpa took Peter's room and Peter was mad. It is a good book because it has lots of details like tellng why Peter was so sad when he stole Grandpa's wristwatch. My favorite part was when Jenny told a secret. My least favorite part was when Grandpa and Peter went to war. I would recommend this book to a friend because it's funny.

Mason and Nick Little 3rd graders rated this book five stars because of the good sarcasm in it. For teachers it means good vocabulary words for students and it means fun for kids! This whole story begins with a simple narrative story (true and real.) Peter and his Grandapa Jack fight over who's room is who's. There are lots of funny or mean tricks that are played in this book. You've got to read this book! There's your critique from third graders at Everett School.

Forget for the moment the established theory that the center of the Earth is a ball of fire, and enjoy this wonderful adventure written over a century ago that offered an alternative view. I'm a big fan of Journey To The Center Of The Earth. I've read the book and seen the movie countless times, and still never tire of it. Alien Voices attempts to tell the story in a way that would suit a modern audience, while still retaining the spirit of the original. Long, descriptive passages can be circumvented in the aural medium with a few lines of dialogue or sound effects, and tighten the pace. Projecting the fascination of the unknown and portraying science in a highly positive way is indeed very Verne, and in this Alien Voices get it exactly right. Leonard Nimoy is an unsurpassably brilliant actor who brings the crotchety and irascible Professor Lidenbrock to life with panache. This is one man whose voice is perfectly suited to audio. John DeLancie unfortunately overdoes his part way too much for my liking, being too soppy and emotive as Axel. Still, that's the way Axel was written, so I can't say he got it wrong! The acting all round is competant, though it's mostly Nimoy and DeLancie who we hear, and they are seasoned professionals in film and t.v anyway. Put this on the headphones, and the sound quality becomes most evident, and you'll soon be taken away into the past. A worthy interpretation, for the most part, certainly to be congratulated for being far truer to the novel than the nonetheless highly enjoyable 1959 film.

Reading this book is an amazing adventure, as evidenced by a century of avid readers. I picked it up on a lark and decided to read the first five or ten pages to see if it was my type. It was easy to read, enjoy and visualize, and I quickly finished it.

The story revolves around a young man and his uncle, who is a scientist. They discover a route to the center of the earth (hence the title), and the novel is about their journey. Once you get 100 pages into this book, you aren't able to stop. The things they find boggle the mind, but seem so real.

100 years from now, people will still be enjoying Jules Verne, because he captures the imagination of the young explorer.

So, what is so special about going to the center of the earth. Its fun and its a possibility!

'A Journey to the Center of the Earth', is a narration by Axel who takes a trip to the center of the earth with his uncle, a famous mineralogist. They start their journey from a mountain in Iceland and end up.....

Although, this idea is impossible(?) but the author has given such proofs that while reading the book, you actually start thinking that just may be it is possible. And come to think of it, there is yet another world miles under our feet!

The story is narrated in very simple way with very few scientific details and terminologies used unlike '20,000 leagues under the sea' by the same author, where he used so many of complex marine terms that a person not familiar with them get frustrated.

A good adventure book just like rest from Jules Verne. Stronly recommended to those who have taste for such adventures like going to the earth's center or going around the world in 80 days (with no air travel).

A friend mentioned that this was an incredible book, and being a fan of "Stranger in a Strange Land" for nearly 2 decades now, I dropped my reading list for a Sci-Fi space escape... I forgot it was Heinlien; low and behold some of my favorite stomping grounds, a provocation of social values, moral values WITH analyses, all in the sterile environment of Science Fiction. Myself, being flung left of center, Starship Troopers reminded me of some of my more conservative "core" values regarding freedom, service to man, and duty... A Klingon's paradise. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I could cite chapter and verse that which Hollywood wouldn't dare touch (Their very own "31 crash landings" by which to avoid controversy)... but, "Hey!", I'm there for the F/X. Starship Troopers will make you think... and fan the fires of disagreement; this is a good thing. The usage of Sovereign Franchise as a form of government, the challenges to our "unalienable rights" (very poignant), the forwarding of duty as the application of "survival" toward the "group", and Heinleins "59" analysis of the end of the XX'th centuries social and judicial woe's was a prophetic indictment of the status quo. I didn't agree with the RAH's whole doctrine... Then again it wasn't a doctrine was it? It was a novel. A science fiction novel... put out as a model of a utopian society, I don't believe that was RAH's point. Let Starship Troopers stir the settled detritus of your social value system and leave you feeling like your back in college spoiling for moral debate... Then ask yourself "What's the point?".

The book is not the movie. Only some elements of the book made it into film, and they were grossly overshadowed by the weight of the director's distaste for his own perceptions.

The book is not the Amazon.com review. The reviewer's words connotate apology for having to write something positive; his/her statements about the necessity of military service to earn voting rights (it was Federal Service, only some of which was military) and the stressing of "beating children in order to make them into good citizens" (Heinlen discusses the uses of unfortuneately required corporal punishment) are a view of the book through aged and broken glass.

The book is part rollicking-good military action, part esthetics, part political philosophy. It reads well (as it should for its intended younger audience) and revisits well (as it should for the political philosophy and esthetics).

I'm an individualist, and found the conformity of the characterization difficult. One has to look for signs that non-conformity is tolerated.

I'm also a realist, and believe that a balance of authority and responsibility is essential to maintain a society that remains stable and rich enought to permit individualism (which requires a non-tribal level of economic and social development). The book brings these issues to the fore.

I took a point off, for a rating of 9, because Heinlein got caught up in 'mathematically provable' social assertions, leading to a greater degree of certainty in his social engineering than would actually work. In doing this, he was reflecting a recent (when the book was written) burst of optimism about formal logic. People thought that, with appropriate premises, formal logic would allow all sorts of problems to be definitively solved. They forgot, or did not know, that the social 'sciences' work with confidence intervals that would make a physicist burn his/her results. They also did not appreciate the difficulties of formal logic. One significant problem with formal logic is the creativity required to find solutions (something seen in all higher math) that makes it intolerant of automated (computer-based) resolution. Another (and to date, the major road-block)is the non-linear increase in solution difficulty when moving from simple propositions to complex ones. Proving a few assertions might take several pages of logic. Proving many assertions balloons out from there; speaking generally, it's easy to create groups of assertions that are non-computable.

Read the book! Think about the 'universal' franchise and the problems it causes. Think about the competing alternatives to universal democracy, and how Starship Troopers stacks up.

And enjoy a good read.

While I don't agree with much of the book, but I still enjoyed it. It's a nice mix of Sci-Fi, action, and thinking. If you've ever seen the movie, you know the basic idea of this book. The book and movie follow almost two different paths, so they have quite different stories. The movie's focus seems more on action and effects, while the book is more on details and thinking. Having watched the movie several times prior to reading this book, I found the book's version of the story very refreshing.

I really enjoyed the sci-fi themes and battles described in the book, and I didn't really mind the all the debates about morality, society, and etc. The trouble is that it is simply too much too often. I found myself just skimming or completely skipping whole pages, if not chapters, simply because I was sick of the endless rambling. I don't share a lot of the views that are frequently brought up in the book, so it's grueling to keep reading about it. The book sticks to a single view of things far too often. I don't think it's going too far to say it borders on blabbing when discussing morals and society.

As for the story itself though, it is very entertaining. It is certainly very funny and witty, and almost always enough to make you want to read more. With the many nice twists and turns in the plot, great character development, and some very good humor tossed in this makes for a great book.

- Rirath.com

Dreiser describes the psyche and actions of Carrie Meeber, a young woman trying to succeed in the late nineteenth century in America, and others she meets to show the struggle of young women trying to succeed in the newly industrialized America. When Dreiser first published Sister Carrie, his publisher censored the book due to its shocking content. Dreiser unfortunately has a tendency to ramble about some topics. Although Dreiser uses lengthy descriptions at times, he still manages to get across the horrible injustices that befell many Americans during this time. The book seems to revolve around chance. Although Dreiser shows the inevitability in the characters' lives and that everything led to death, he also shows that much of the events occurred by chance. The characters meet each other by chance, and the events that lead to Carrie's downfall happened by chance. Dreiser shows the world he lived in to the reader. Everything in the book is not random chance. It accurately displays life at that time in America. Dreiser took his story from Horatio Alger. Alger told of virtuous and ambitious men, however. Dreiser took a woman and allowed her to succeed. This added to the shock value of the novel. Another novel of shock value during this industrialization period is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This novel showed the horrors of the meat-packing industry. Sister Carrie spent some time exploiting sweat shops although that was not the primary focus of the novel. However, if one likes Sister Carrie, The Jungle would be a good book to read to learn more of the lives of the working class during the industrialization period in American history.

This novel hooked me from the first page - who can forget the opening scene where the young Caroline Meeber is "spotted" by the travelling salesman Charles Drouet on the Chicago-bound train? We follow in this novel two seemingly irreversible life flows: Carrie uses her beauty and ambition to rise in life, and Hurstwood falls from his secure position of middle-aged, upper-middle-class success to utter failure, all for the love of a woman half his age. It's the stuff of melodrama to some, but not when handled by Dreiser, who takes the reader into a vividly realized urban world with well-drawn characters whose virtues and vices are equally on display. You leave the book feeling that Carrie and Hurtstwood could very easily have stepped out of the pages of today's newspapers, such is the zone of uncomfortable truth inhabited by the denizens of this brilliant novel.

I found this novel very intriguing and moving. The symbols and representations are very analytical. "Sister Carrie" causes one to think twice about oneself, and to reconsider one's own definition of true happiness and success. It shows one how society can influence one to think in the manner in which one does. The characters face good times and bad times and experience true tests of strength and survival. The results are both well developed and interesting to discover. It is difficult to put the book down. When reading this novel one must understand the sybolism and look deep into the context to acquire the meanings of it. Another interesting fact about this novel is that Theodore Dreiser actually wrote the novel in the year 1900. I am a junior in high school and I strongly recomend the reading of this novel to anyone.

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan is right up there with The Great Hunt. The book mainly focuses on Rand Al'thor, now thought to be the Dragon Reborn (if not quite sure himself), desperately making his way to the nation Tear, where he will try to fulfill a Prophecy. Until Callandor (the sword prophecised to be wielded only by the Dragon Reborn; The Sword That is Not a Sword) is in his hands, he will deny his destiny as the Lews therin reborn.

Mat Cauthon is on his way to the White Tower with Verin Sedai, Egwene, Nynaeve and the Daughter-Heir of Andor, Elayne where he will be healed of the darkness that was brought upon by the evil dagger that was found in ruined city of Shadar Logoth.

Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne are in search for the darkly rumored Black Ajah that reside in The White Tower by order of the Amrylin Seat.

Perrin, Loial, Moiraine and her Warder Lan, are in pursuit of Rand Al'thor. Perrin slowly starts to except his loss of humanity, and his fate as a wolf. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dragon Reborn is a very adventurous book, with unforegettable characters, an amazing working world, and complex story. This book is an absolute must buy!

Well I finished book 3 the Dragon Reborn and all I can say is what a great book it was. I know some people didn't like it because Rand was not the main focus in the book.( to those people I say SO WHAT) I don't know about you but I enjoyed learning more about Egwene,Elayne,Nynaeve,Mat and Perrin. I mean from what I heared and saw Robert Jordan has 8 books out and I admit I've only read 3 so far of this series but I would think he could spare one maybe two books on the secondary characters so we could learn alittle more about them,they are just as important as Rand. I want to finish by saying I recommened this book and series(but I recommend you start with the first book The Eye of the World). If any one wants to e-mail me write to me at (pperalta@feaster.edisonproject.com). I all so enjoy reading the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books.

Let me tell you how good this book is. My public library didn't have books one and two of the Wheel of Time series, so I was stuck with book three (a friend of mine had recommended the series to me). But even though I was missing out on roughly 2000 pages of material, Robert Jordan developed his characters and his world so well that I felt that I wasn't missing anything at all. I remember that I couldn't wait to come home so I could read this great book. I think the biggest thing that I liked about it was that it was ORIGINAL. No sorcerers (at least not by that name), no fire-breathing dragons. The characters treated the enemies as if they were REAL, causing me to further believe in the story. I like how RJ starts off the book by putting one of the characters in a wicked catch-22 situation. And RJ is very skilled when it comes to ending a chapter. Some authors are so boring that you have to push yourself to turn the page. Not so with this book. But most of all, I liked the part towards the end, where they're on the rooftop, which reminded me of that chimney-sweep dancing scene in Mary Poppins. Sorta. As for those of you who complain that Rand becomes the Dragon Reborn too quickly, I don't know what you're talking about. It takes him 2000+ pages to become the Dragon Reborn. All throughout the series we see how he is slowly making the transition from denial to acceptance. In this book he finally accepts who he is. Believe me, a slow transition like that is far more believable than one of those dumb books where the protagonist realizes that he's a prince on page 50 and kills the "ultimate" evil on page 300. Do yourself a favor, pick up this book and read it. I've read it FOUR times (and counting). In my mind, this is one of the top three Wheel of Time books. I'd rather read a bad (not that he's written any bad books) RJ book than read some stupid L. Sprague de Camp book who is a PASTICHE author, who can only make his living finishing uncompleted ROBERT E. HOWARD Conan stories!

...but not the worst.

After reading all the angsty and angry reviews of this book and series (the esp. nasty ones from people who've read most of the series really had me scratching my head), I decided to pick up just the 1st book and see for myself how good/bad it really was (and it was last minute decision, picked up while on vacation).

IMHO, not too bad of a decision.

I've read LOTR and The Hobbit several times over the years, plus I've read 2 of Eddings' series (The Belgariad and The Mallorean, both hilarious reads) as well as other fantasy series, so I'm no newbie to the fantasy genre.

Yes, it's a bit overlong, and towards the end I kept saying to myself, "Get on with it!" However, there were many passages where reviewers got bored and I didn't: Rand and Mat going from town to town and finding Darkfriends in them (and they DID start trying to sneak into towns after awhile; Moiraine describing Manetheren to the Emonds Field people; Perrin understanding wolves (bias: I *love* anything to do with wolves); Perrin, Egwene, and Elyas coming into contact with the Traveling People; the meeting of the Green Man. You get the idea.

Now the characters themselves.

Mat annoyed me no end, although once he got that dagger, I felt he started to get interesting (in a dark way). Rand seemed bewildered by it all, making him too goofy; humorous characters are fine, but he was too bumbling until some passages near the end of the book. Perrin was interesting from the beginning, and I thought his dealings with the wolves was one of the most interesting parts of the book. Thom Merrilin had me chuckling, and I was sorry to see him disappear (hopefully he's not dead). Lan was almost too distant for me, and I found him even more annoying than Mat (and much more boring).

The women are a mixed bag. I liked the way Moiraine used her powers and her stoic stance in the face of danger (at least that's what I got out of it). Nynaeve was too whiny and full of herself, and I have to agree with the one reviewer who wondered where the feelings for Lan came from: There weren't even any hints suggesting it! As for Egwene - what Rand sees in her is beyond me. She's petty, a tease, and stuck up, and I couldn't stand her. Maybe if there were more passages where we saw things from her p.o.v. I might have looked at her in a more positive light.

As to another reviewer saying that Egwene "lusted" after Perrin - I just don't see where this happens. She flirts with a young Traveler while Perrin is beginning to wonder about his wolfish abilities, but I don't remember reading anything about Egwene going after Perrin. Maybe that reviewer hadn't read this book in awhile.

So...all in all...a good read, and yes, I love detailed descriptions (although even I have to admit I skipped over some of it). Some of the characters were good, others were not, but overall, it's a decent story. I've already purchased the 2nd paperback, The Great Hunt.

I don't think this is something I'll read too often (unlike Tolkien), but it makes for an enjoyable read.

I decided that I would submit a review of The Eye of the World only, instead of spending the next 6 months or more trying to explain why I love this series. Simply put, it is the most amazing thing I have ever read. Yes, this first book is a little slow. I have always cautioned people to make yourself get through it, and by the time you are two thirds of the way through, you're hooked. The best thing about this series is that each book gets better by a factor of at least 10! The characters in this story have become my dear friends and my mortal enemies. I have read and re-read them all so many times I've lost count. Please believe me when I tell you that all of the seemingly useless information that Mr Jordan includes in the first volume is CRUCIAL to the storyline. Never think that just because a character goes out of the picture that they will stay gone. I have spent the last 7 years trying to figure out all the twists and turns that the author has thrown into the plot. If you love mysteries, read this book. If you love adventures, read this book. If you love romances, read this book. If you love storytelling at it's best, OWN this book. Trust me, you will re-live it over and over again.

The plot and characters are so detailed that every time I reread this series (and I must reread them all before starting the next new book), I find fresh nuances.

The basic storyline is a fairly common theme: young unwilling hero with no option but to leave home to save the world from total destruction while being pursued and persecuted by Evil Minions and sometimes by Trusted Friends, too.

What elevates this book, and the series as a whole, from being just another good read to being one of the very best reads is the intricacy and detail. There is an overall BIG PICTURE, several large plots, and many smaller ones. Characters separate (individually and in small groups) from the main hero and each other for varying lengths of time, all the while developing and growing in their own rights, then coming back together for stronger interaction and more realism.

What's the most fun part? The glossary! Worth reading in each book because the descriptions change as the characters and plot develop. You can occasionally get a little more information from it to supplement what's in the text.

Definitely looking forward to the next book, and to the eventual unraveling of some mysteries and curiosities.