William O'Brien believed in the British Parliament's capacity to give good government in 19th Century Ireland. His attempts to secure liberal reform were largely unsuccessfully, and he entered the 1840s with a growing conviction that the Irish Members were wasting their time at Westminister. In 1843, his political campaign for "justice" in Ireland prefigured the tactics of Parnell, but the effort ended in disappointment and O'Brien joining the Repeal Association in October of 1843. For the next five years he was a major political figure, and finally, a leader in the 1848 Irish rebellion. In William Smith O'brien And The Young Ireland Rebellion Of 1848, Robert Sloan provides the reader with a remarkable and informative political biography, as well as a "window in time" to the events that led up to Ireland's doomed rebellion against an unresponsive and exploitative British rule. Scholarly, informative, and highly recommended.

OK, slight admission - I've never read the book. Frankly, failed Irish rebellions (of which there seem many) are not really my interest. However, the author is my history teacher at school, and a really good bloke. He deserves to do well out of this book, so even if you don't like the subject, buy it and give him a nice supplement to his teacher's salary!

I speak from my own experience with the 3rd edition of Accounting Principles: this text comes from masters of teaching. Rather than begin with definitions, the authors first submerse you into the course of thought by describing a business problem, then deploy accounting concepts designed to solve it. They grudge no efforts making sure that you understand them correctly-and you do, because the partition between the teacher and the student is removed. Highly recommended.

The Carnival of Animals is a wonderful tale written in a warm and uncomplicated style that allows the reader to truly enjoy not only the antics of the characters, but as important, to make connections to their own life stories. It transports you to where our furry friends/family live and often rule. Too frequently we become trapped and spun about in the whirlwind of stressors from competing demands at work, school and home. As these mount, the moments spent with our "other" family members are some of the most rewarding. In the Carnival of Animals we are taken for a delightful journey across the times and lives of the Smith's family of others, discovering in their world connections back to the joy and sorrow in our diverse and interdependent family of humans, cats, fish, gerbils and dogs. There exists another dimension to life that tracks along with the too brief existence of our other family members, one that has a different rhythm, a different beat to its clock. The Carnival throws open a window to that other dimension and in so doing opens a vital channel into our hearts.

If you like crazy metaphors worked into the pages of a book like spillt lunch, you've got to give Rob Smith's stuff a gander. He writes well, he conceives interesting plots, and he throws it all together like a thousand monkeys banging on a thousand typewriters. I love all of his books, and seeing as I've met the author, I can vouch for his character and his good taste in cologne.

I first met Robert Smith while serving a mission for the LDS church in Albuquerque. He is a great guy. I bought an autographed copy of his first book when I left and I have been hooked ever since. Rob is a gifted writer with a creative flair for metaphor. If you are frustrated with the trashy humor taking over out there, then read this book and all of his others. If you love small towns, live in one or know somebody from hickville, this is for you. If you are Mormon, or if you even know any Mormons, you'll love it.

Thoroughly researched and documented, this book does an outstanding job of comparing previously written information (specifically Passmore manuscripts). The source notations are outstanding which makes it very easy to confirm information back to the original source. Wills, deeds, probate records and other sources are included completely. For anyone related to William Passmore, this book is a must. Although expensive, the volume of original source information well pays for itself. The years of research taken to compile this book is very evident.

This was one of the few books by blackmen that had good storys that reflect on black culture and done from a spiritual tone. It also reflected the ability of American Baptist to step out and pull something like this together. This is the kind of work that should be done on a yearly bases.

Relevent stories for African-American men. Definitely not fiction.

Ward and Smith present a very thorough overview on developing your own custom controls under Windows. Written for the 16-bit Windows interface, they cover static & dynamic controls, subclassing and virtual memory controls. I liked the chapter devoted to writing Dynamic Link Libraries (Dlls). Over 70% of the book is source code examples. A fantastic look at the inner workings of custom control interfaces. A must have reference.

This is a very well written, code-rich book. It is 16-bit based, but most of it (if not all) is directly useable under the 32-bit environment, I have it and use it all the time even though it's rather old now. In fact, it's good it's old, because there's none of the ActiveX/OLE/MFC etc., junk in there, it's all about good old C-API-based development.

OK, that said: what's that Booklist review up there doing on this page? Obviously it's not about this book; it's, I suspect, about a very nice Hammond organs book, which I happen to have as well -- and it's, no doubt, very good -- but why on this page?

Once again, Smith has created as a hero, an inarticulate Mormon young man. This time he's a missionary, leaving the typically atypical mom and dad for his two year mission in Tennessee. Those he encounters are universally physical and mental oddities without a normal human thrown to stabilize the too-thin plot and teen-age dialogue. This should set back missionary work in the Volunteer State by fifty years, if Tennesseeans make the connection.
And I am further left to wonder if the red Kool-aid sect behind the Wasatch Front really believes that the rest of the country is populated by this type of characature.

i thought that this book was a fun look at a small town and the missionary experience

If you ever want to sit down and laugh, you need to read this trilogy. They are sooooo FUNNY!! The author has a wonderful way of making small town life seem not so small. The characters are people you know, people that you can relate to. These books are great!

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.

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.)

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.