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Book reviews for "Williams,_Michael" sorted by average review score:

King Lear
Published in Audio CD by Naxos Audio Books (2002)
Authors: William Shakespeare, Paul Scofield, Alec McCowen, Kenneth Branagh, and Michael Maloney
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Lear
Although the liner notes describing portions of Act 4 in the boxed set I received were a little amiss, it would be hard to see how the performance itself could be improved. Paul Scofield is absolutely extraordinary as Lear as is Alec McGowen as Glouster and Kenneth Branagh as the Fool. Five stars isn't enough! It's rare that a story like this, which can become quite complex if one isn't familiar with the action, can literally jump off the recording and present us with visual images all along the way. Every actor deserves the highest praise for his/her performance!

Scofield's second recording after 36 years
Is there a need for yet another recording of "King Lear"? If it is a superlative reading, then one would quote "Reason not the need" and accept it for a great addition to a swelling library of complete Shakespeare on recordings. We still have available on Caedmon audio tapes the 1965 "Lear" with Paul Scofield in the title role with Pamela Brown and Rachel Roberts as that particularly nasty pair of sisters, Goneril and Regan. 1988 brought out the BBC Audio Book (Modern Library) with Alec Guiness, Jill Bennett and Eilen Atkins in those roles. In 1994 there was a BBC Radio set with John Gielgud, Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins (again) in those three roles; while a late addition to the Arkangel Complete Shakespeare series gave us Trevor Peacock, Penny Downie and Samantha Bond, Peacock giving a more domestic, less grand reading of the role.

Now Naxos Audiobooks has released on tape and CD yet another version with Paul Scofield again, Harriet Walter (Gonerill, as it is spelled on this set), Sara Kestelman (Regan), Emilia Fox (Cordelia), Peter Blythe (Albany), and Jack Klaff (Cornwall) as the dysfunctional royal family. As the parallel set, we have Alec McCowen (Gloucester), Richard McCabe (Edgar), and Toby Stephens (Edmond).

While Kenneth Branagh played the villainous brother in the Gielgud set, he is assigned the Fool in this production with David Burke (Kent) and Matthew Morgan (Oswald).

The reading in the Caedmon recording is in the grand manner, more poetical than is the most recent; but this Naxos effort seems to move faster, is more dramatic (as should be no surprise) in our sense of the word in that it is more realistic, more "modern" sounding. But I would not dismiss the older set by any means.

I found Scofield less earth-shaking in this production, sounding a little more reasonable and vulnerable than in the earlier one--but after 36 years and under a new director (Howard Sackler in 1965, John Tydeman here), an actor must rethink the role. What I do appreciate is that every word in the storm scene is spoken clearly and not drowned out by the sound effects.

All Drama departments should own both Scofield versions. This Naxos release is available on tape (NA324414) and CD (NA324412). It is also the best buy since Naxos is the supreme budget label.


Land Without Justice
Published in Paperback by Harvest Books (1972)
Authors: Milovan Dilas, Milovan Djilas, William Jovanovich, and Michael B. Petrovich
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neglected classic of yugoslavia
Having just read Halberstam's latest book, mostly on Yugoslavia, I was tempted to look into the history of that former country. I found this book on my shelf and gobbled it up in one sitting.

It is the story of Djilas' family in Montenegro, from before the 1st World War until after the revolution that brought Tito to power. It is truly brilliant autobio and also give great insights into the passions that Tito's death helped to unleash in the region.

First, Djilas' family was a kind of local gentry, with leadership responsibilities as well as blood debts to pay. As a child, Djilis had to worry for his father's life, which was threatened by retribution. It is hard to imagine how a grade-school kid survived that psychologically whole and in the end was the one to end the cycle of revenge-feuds. He brings these anxieties to life in chilling detail.

Second, there are the destructive impulses - pathologies, really - that infected everything in Baakan life. This included his father's shame in the memory that he was called on to participate in the massacre of a peaceful muslim village nearby, which is horrifically described, as well as the long discussions with his would-be killers who staked out his house at night. You will really feel them when you read this.

Third, there is the death of Montenegro's independence as a nation, which forms the backdrop to the book. It demonstrates how shaky the foundation of the nation was and how little Tito did to help overcome these divisions in spite of his caudillo-like rule over almost 40 years.

What emerges in this book is how truly great a writer Djilas was, one of the best European writers of the 20C in my opinion. I could not read it in the original, but the translation is simply wonderful. SO many phrases combine wisdom and elegant succinctness, such as: "the story of a family is the story of a land." While he might have been a bit self-serving - he was a dissident who started out as Tito's propaganda minister - Djilas portrays himself as a tolerant humanist and democrat in this book. His voice will be missed as one of reason for that troubled region.

Highest recommendation. You enter a world long departed and yet, as recent events show, still determining the tragedies of the present.

Land Without Justice
Born in Montenegro in 1911, Milovan Djilas saw his homeland folded into the communist built nation of Yugoslavia. In deceptively simple, yet lyrical, prose he explains the political, religious and racial feuds that play a crucial role in the region's history. Rising to leadership in the communist party, Djilas was later expelled from the party and imprisoned for "slandering Yugoslavia" a.k.a. speaking his mind. This is a rich, intense and unforgettable book that sheds light on the past as on the continuing saga of the Balkans.


Living Heart Diet
Published in Paperback by Simon & Schuster (Paper) (1986)
Authors: Dr. William Debakey, Lynne W. Scott, John P. Foreyt, Michael E. Debakey, and Antonio M., Jr. Gotto
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Excellent book for everyone ....
This review is for the book: Living Heart Diet
by Dr. William Debakey, et al.

This is an excellent book for those who have had heart problems and for those who do not want to develop heart problems. Poor diet (high fat/cholesterol) is one of the main risk factors for heart disease -- excess cholesterol lays a foundation of plaque in your arteries that can eventually cause heart attacks and/or necessitate heart surgery. This book was developed to help us all eat right and help avoide disease. This book contains recipes, education about heart disease, and nutrition and sodium tables for most of the foods you eat. This is an excellent resource! Use it in good health!

Most complete book on the subject.
I'm a diabetic and recently had a quadruple bypass. After being introduced to this book, I devoured it and now live it.


Nation of Nations Vol. I w/ Interactive E-Source CD; MP
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages (20 July, 2001)
Authors: James West Davidson, Christine Leigh Heyrman, Mark H. Lytle, Michael B. Stoff, and William E. Gienapp
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Nation of Nations is a history book that reads like a novel.
Nations of Nations tells the history of our country in a very tangible way that is accessable and interesting. It is a rare history book that focusues as much on the culture and the people from different time periods as the country's leaders and law makers. Which, when studying American History, is of the utmost importance.

AN EASY TO UNDERSTAND BOOK THAT HELPS OUT THE READER!
NATION OF NATIONS VOLUME TWO: SINCE 1865 WAS A FABULOUS TEXT BOOK. THIS BOOK HELPED ME TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ALL ASPECTS OF THE INFORMATION WITHIN. AS A FRESHMAN THIS YEAR I HAD A HARD TIME ADJUSTING TO MY CLASSES BUT WITH THIS TEXT I HAD NO PROBLEMS UNDERSTANDING MY READING ASSIGNMENTS AND ENDED UP DOING VERY WELL IN THE CLASS. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME PICKING OUT THE IMPORTANT PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH BECAUSE IT HAS GOOD OUTLINES. IT WAS A FANTASTIC TEXT BOOK!


The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (2002)
Authors: Anthony Blackshield, Michael Coper, George Williams, and Tony Blackshield
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Everything you will need to know... and much much more!
This is undoubtedly the best analysis of the High Court of Australia ever compiled. It is easy to use, being fully indexed, and it covers every aspect of the court from biographical details of Judges to analysis of important decisions. It is a great mixture of history and information.

The individual entries have been written by eminent judges, jurists and lawyers in Australia. It was edited by 3 of the most well regarded legal academics in Australian history and is a terrific reference source. I can recommend it to anyone with an interest or need to look in detail at the Australian legal system. There is no other work with such detail and information in one volume.

Very Impressive!
This volume represents the most comprehensive bank of information on the High Court to date. With no less than 800 pages dedicated to the various aspects of the Court's history, personalities and institutional structures, it is a must-own for the students of the High Court.

The book is organized encyclopedia-style, with entries arranged alphabetically from the AAP Case (1975) to Ziems v. Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of NSW (1957). The entries are contributed by various Australian legal scholars, and cover a very wide range of interests. My personal favorite entry is the one on 'Jurimetrics' by Tony Blackshield.

Despite the hefty price tag (to match such a hefty book), this is one book that is well worth owning. Toting it around may give me permanent back problems, but I'm willing to risk it.


The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs, Second Edition
Published in Hardcover by CRC Press (27 July, 1998)
Authors: Kee Chang Huang and W. Michael Williams
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Concise guide to the scientific base of major herbal drugs
Very outstanding among the books on chinese herbs written in English (to be fair, many better books in Chinese exist but not well translated!)

Starting from the chemistry and ending with the toxicology, each important herbs included are presented in a well-balanced format; the therapeutic values are thus projected clearly on the empirical grounds.

The new edition is an updated gist of those related scientific works done but could not be tracked on the great MedLine due to the language barrier.

Thorough...a bit pricy, but well worth the expense.
As a Ph.D. student in biochemistry I have sought out critical references that would be accurate and legitimate treatises on the biochemistry and pharmacology of herbs. If one is truly interested in understanding the biochemistry and pharmacology of Chinese herbs, then this is the reference to purchase. Very intelligently presented in a concise scientific journal format, presenting critical and relevant studies on the herbs as they are currently understood with many references to the original research papers. I would certainly purchase other titles similar to this if their coverage of other herbs (e.g. South American, Ayurvedic) were as comprehensive, relevant, and credible as this one. Not for the herbologist interested in a hokey metaphysical distortion of truth. Ideal for the intelligent and/or educated layman that really wants to know what compounds are present in various Chinese herbs and what their activities are.

Pitfalls: Some listings are very brief (less than a page) For instance the discussion of Centella asiatica is only 1/2 page and listed under antipyretic herbs and makes no mention of nootropic effects if they, in fact, exist-Nobody's perfect.


Pooh Invents a New Game: And Other Stories
Published in Audio Cassette by Hodder & Stoughton (2000)
Authors: A. A. Milne, David Benedictus, Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Jane Horrocks, Geoffrey Palmer, and Michael Williams
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Say "Ho" for the wonderful Pooh!
This amazing dramatization of the Pooh books is performed by a marvelously talented group of British entertainers who truly bring the Pooh characters gently and lovingly to life. As for this tape, I finally got this figured out. This is part of a four-tape program that represents the complete two-book Winnie-the-Pooh story collection, except the stories are out of order (probably so that they would fit equally on the tapes). Book 1, "Winnie-the-Pooh," is represented by "Pooh Goes Visiting" (stories in order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10) and "Piglet Meets a Heffalump" (stories: 5, 6, 7, 8). Book 2, "The House at Pooh Corner," is dramatized by "Tigger Comes to the Forest" (stories in order: 1 2, 4, 3, 9, 10) and "Pooh Invents a New Game" (stories 5, 6, 7, 8). When stories that depend on previous information are out of order, it gets confusing. My suggestion: Get the "Winnnie-the-Pooh" / "The House at Pooh Corner" gift pack, which is also four tapes (the same recordings), but in the proper order.

The finest Pooh audiotapes ever recorded!
[This is a review of the Hodder/Headline audiocassette version] I learned to read by listening (again and again and again and again) to a pair of well-loved and well-worn LPs of the Pooh stories read by Maurice Evans. I always considered them the finest Pooh audiobooks ever recorded. Up until now! Now there's this wonderful series of fully-dramatized adventures of Pooh featuring a brilliant cast of wonderful British actors: Stephen Fry ("Jeeves and Wooster") as Pooh, Geoffrey Palmer ("The Madness of King George") as Eeyore, Judy Dench ("Shakespeare in Love") as Kanga...and best of all, the *incomparable* Jane Horrocks ("Little Voice" and Bubbles from "AbFab") as a squeaky, alarmed, and altogether adorable Piglet. You don't have to be a kid to appreciate these fine recordings (and there are plenty of adult Pooh fans out there who will *love* these versions). Accept no substitutes: this is simply the finest Pooh audio series yet created, beating by a *far* distance the Alan Bennett and (ugh!) Charles Kuralt versions. There's more than just this one tape in the series, too. The series includes "Tigger Comes to the Forest" (ISBN: 1840322195); "Piglet Meets a Heffalump" (ISBN: 1840320524) and "Pooh Invents a New Game" (ISBN: 1840322268). Type the 10-digit ISBN number into the Amazon search field to go directly to the webpages for these cassettes.


Selected Writings: 1913-1926
Published in Hardcover by Belknap Pr (1996)
Authors: Walter Benjamin, Michael William Jennings, Howard Eiland, Gary Smith, Rodney Livingstone, Michael W. Jenning, and Marcus Bullock
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An Excellent Introduction
Walter Benjamin has progressed over the years from an obscure lesser member of the Frankfurt School to a widely read leading member of that obscure school. Aided by such as Hannah Arendt, who introduced him to a wider audience in her writings (and also to me), readers have come to appreciate Benjamin for the beauty of his writing as well as his sharp insight.

This volume, along with its companion, is an excellent introduction to the style and thought of this man who, while out of step with his times, possessed the insight to give those times an original critique.

Possessed of a lively style and free from the Marxist bagge that weighs down his Frankfurt School colleagues such as Adorno and Horkheimer (I think Benjamin owes much more to Heidegger than Marx), Benjamin will hook any reader who takes the time to spend an hour or two with this book. From here it's an easy step to purchase other Benjamin writings, a step I can almost guarantee.

Endlessly fascinating...
While his work is as important as Barthes, Foucault, or Derrida, or any other critic of the 20th Century, Benjamin's work has a mystical quality, a kind of enchantment, that resonates much more than any other critic I have read. It is always human and sensitive, even despite his determinedly impersonal tone.

When I think of Benjamin, I think of Emerson's famous line about Hawthorne - that he was a greater man than any of his works betray. The integrity and character of Walter Benjamin shines through his works, and is an inspiration to anyone who takes literature seriously.

This first volume of Bejamin's complete works is very attractive and welcome. Some of my favorite essays are present, such as his essays on children's literature, and the nature of language. I eagerly await the other two volumes.


Shakespeare as Political Thinker
Published in Hardcover by Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) (01 June, 2000)
Authors: John Alvis, Thomas G. West, John E. Alvis, Laurence Berns, Allan Bloom, Paul A. Cantor, Louise Cowan, Christopher Flannery, Robert B. Heilman, and Harry V. Jaffa
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Fantastic book on Shakespeare
This winter break I went on a Shakespeare buying spree, and this book is one of the fine gems I found. A large, but fascinating book, this work of great scholarship and excitement takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Shakespeare, even into rather obscure corners of his works (Trollius and Cressida, Timon of Athens). This book is a must read for any would be deep thinker about Shakespeare.

The New Shakespeareans
Shakespeare as Political Thinker is a must for everyone interested in the political thought of William Shakespeare. This reprint will finally allow new comers to become familair with a commonsensical approach to Shakespeare's plays. The introductory chapter by John Alvis is worth the price. Perhaps the best Shakespearean critic alive, Alvis has an uncanny ability to show Shakespeare's moral seriousness without making the bard an unquestioning adherent to any political school or theological creed. Many of the essays that follow are also well done: Jaffa's chapter on Shakespeare's entire corpus, Laurence Berns' meditation on Lear etc.

The second printing of Shakespeare as Political Thinker gives hope to those interested in relearning ancient wisdom and pays tribute to its inspiration, Shakespeare's Politics (Allan Bloom).


Ted Williams: A Baseball Life
Published in Paperback by Bison Bks Corp (2003)
Author: Michael Seidel
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A Flawed Hero
I am not the type of person to pick up a book about a sports figure even if I am a fan. I love history books especially Civil War, Napoleonic history and biographies of great leaders. I surprised myself by taking the time to read this book. If you are interested in Ted Williams or baseball especially during the era in which he played 1939-1960, this book could not be rated higher. The author has an introduction of Teds early life and then the remainder of the book is broken down so that each chapter covers a year of his career. This puts Teds life in context of World events which the author neatly weaves within its pages. During his career Ted Williams displayed and developed his hitting skills with the desire of becoming the "greatest hitter who ever lived". Hitting the ball was his obsession. His great desire to excel however was balanced by a contentious personality which was easily set off by the goading of the Boston media. Looking at his stats and realizing that almost 5 years of his life during his prime was spent in the military, I have no doubt that he would have broken Ruth's home run record. Ted Wiliams was both an artist and a scientist at hitting. He studied pitchers, strike zones, handling the bat like no other player. When Mickey Mantle was asked about converstaions with Ted Williams on hitting he said "He makes me crazy." Mickey Mantle did not understand the science of hitting.
Ted Williams probably was the greatest hitter that ever lived, but his personality marred his relationships with the Boston media, sometimes his team mates, and his own family.

I do have a few criticisms however. The book is called A Baseball Life, and that is the authors focus. Ted Williams was an intensely private man whether the author out of respect for Ted Williams or lack of investigation gives very little information on his private life. We learn some things about his family such as his mother was an ardent salvation army worker, yet we know nothing of how Ted Williams felt personally about spiritual matters. We also are denied any information on his relationships with his wife Doris or his daughter. The last chapter stops without little mention of his business interests or his managerial stint in the late 60's. Despite these ommissions, Ted Williams A Baseball Life is an exciting, informative look at perhaps the greatest hitter that ever lived yet at the same time considered by others a selfish egotist. When Joe Dimaggio was asked "what do you think of Ted Williams?" His reply was "greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived?" " "What do you think of Ted Williams as a ballplayer?"
"greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived".

so awsome
this is the best book i have ever read if i had the time i would read this book a hundred times. The reason i bought this book is because ted williams is the best hitter in baseballs long history.


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