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Conrad Ekstrom WB1GXM/KB1CCA(GEARS) ADVISOR GOSHEN-LEMPSTER EDUCATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY EST 1989
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A couple of quibbles: It would have been great if there was a map included with the book that showed the route traveled. Mitchell writes eloquently about the geography and it's hard to visualize it without having a map handy (unless of course you are very familiar with the regions he's writing about). I also found it somewhat disturbing that it wasn't clear when exactly this journey took place. The book came out last year or the year before,but it seems that the actual trip took place long ago.
Following the Sun is so rich--a journey on two levels; a review of virtually everything under the sun, from myth to bird migration to the solar origins of Christianity. But it's also a delightful bicycle ride--all the way from the south of Spain to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland with journeys throughout the vineyards of Bordeaux, the chateaux of the Loire in France and the stone circles of the British Isles in between. Mitchell always has a way of falling in with eccebntric types, as I've seen in his other books eg. Ceremonial Time (a 15,000 year history of one square mile of land)and The Wildest Place on Earth (about Italian gardens and the American wilderness). He seems to be able to mix arcane facts about the setting of sugar in winegrapes, and the perversities of Roman emperors and the like with a sharp ear for story. There are some great ones here with some rollicking Old World characters. The author followed back roads all the way, and he did it before the establishment of the European Union when all the food was better, the wine sweeter, and the stories deeper. And Mitchell's writing style, lyrical and smooth, is a salve for whatever ails you. What a pleasure!
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The sequencing of this book is well thought out. Each chapter focuses on a different kind of tactic (such as discovered check, double attacks, zugzwang, removing the defender, and so on), and the problems often are paired so that once you've solved one problem in 2 moves, the next one is a related problem in 3 moves that might have seemed insoluble before. A final chapter combines all the tactics and asks students to figure out what approach is the best for a given position.
It only took me about a week to pass through this book, but I enjoyed filling it in. The enclosed Answer Key was easy to use, as it reproduces the move sequences in their entirety, rather than just providing the answers to the blanks. Worth the money for beginners of any age.
After finishing this book, I immediately played a game where I was able to move a knight into a royal fork that was simultaneously a discovered check. I don't think I would have "seen" this possibility before reading this book.
Having said that, this book is a great way to start to practice seeing tactical motiffs (mostly forms of a double attack: pins, forks, skewers, and so on). It is divided into chapters with each chapter focused on a different kind of tactic. After a very brief explanation about what the tactic is, there are a number of exercises in which you have to find the tactic for yourself. There are also hints if you are stuck. I found it helpful to make a little cut-out from some paper to cover the hints and only show the board instead. It is too easy to inadvertently see the hints and ruin the challenge.
The book has some very useful advice about how to study: do the first few exercises of each chapter to get an overview of all the tactical motiffs. This will help you start to use and see them in your games. Later, go back and do each chapter thoroughly. Also, chapters are arranged in order of importance; motiffs that occur most frequently are handled first.
This book has a couple of limitations. Although it helps you see a tactic, the very nature of an exercise book is that you know one is there. How do you find them in a real game? You have to know when to look for them. There are certain board factors where you are likely to find tactics (an exposed enemy king often means there are great tactical opportunities). This book does nothing to help you realize this. Look at Silman's "Reassess Your Chess" for a very short, but extremely useful discussion of this issue.
Also, most of the exercises fall under one of the categories, so you know what kind of tactic to look for, making it easier than a real game situation. The last chapter helps because it is a mix of all tactical motiffs, but there are relatively few of these. Reinfeld's book of 1001 problems is probably a nice supplement in this regard.
These are limitations of the book, but not really criticisms. The book does a very good job doing what it is meant to do. The reader should simply realize that there is a bigger picture to look at and supplement accordingly.
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Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a really fabulous off-Broadway show, though I don't think the script on paper will quite capture the experience and power of it. Still, as it is a most worthwhile production, any marketing tool behind it is assuredly for the bet.
If you haven't seen it, I'll admit, reading the script isn't going to do it for you, but if you've at least heard of it, go out and get yourself the CD and read along between the songs. There's also some incredible photography to look at, many of which haven't been seen before. You get a semi-decent idea of what's going on on stage, anyway. It's quite a show by some extremely talented people. I will never forget Hedwig or her brain parents as long as I live.
Buy the soundtrack, and if you are at all moved, the next logical step is to buy the book. You will not be disapointed.