I would love to have this on audio or have a movie made of this! The book is very well written it brings you there and with the maps of where every body lives is an extra touch.
At the end of the book what happens to you is awesome because you find you have falling in love with her and will miss her terribly. This is a horror story and has some parts in it that will set you up in the chair and have you looking around the room.
List price: $19.95 (that's 30% off!)
What I don't like about the book, though, is that riders wear spurs in the pictures illustrating the novice's first lessons. A novice rider shouldn't even think about needing that kind of stuff!
As one becomes serious about riding, one finds that the communication relationships (horse, rider, instructor) are what keep riding instructors employed. You will continue to find that there are differences between what your instructor tells you, what you are feeling while on the horse, and what Mike Smith (the author) writes. For example, take the canter depart--making a transition into the canter gait.
A particular horse is going to respond differently to the various aids (signals) one uses--right leg, left leg, right rein, left rein, and your seat and torso. Mike--correctly I think--has to simplify that for novices. He writes, "5. Squeeze with your outside leg." This, to him, is the "signal" to the horse to start the canter. In fact, one can discover that three out of seven "experts" agree with him. Four out of seven write that it is the inside (driving) leg that is the signal. MOST importantly, the rider will find that horses differ in their opinions. What is the fledgling rider to do?
Buy and read this book. Try to listen to your instructor while you are struggling to learn. Periodically, re-read this book. (I made the mistake of confusing the trot depart and the canter depart in my fourth week of training--a wild riding experience both the horse and I will never forget!) As you progess, get another book, so you can begin to compare and appreciate the subtleties of riding. I guarantee that you will begin to figure out what Mike is saying when, for example, he says "When you can distinguish these differences in how your hips move, you're starting to learn to really feel the horse--a definite indication of YOUR progress." (My emphasis.)
Finally, don't fall into an early trap of riding the same horse every week ("Charlie is sooo nice.")or failing to occasionally compare your instructor with another (Every instructor has their personal riding vocabulary with which they communicate; sometimes, a different phrase will produce an "Aha!". The more horses with whom you try to communicate, the more proficient you will become.
Good riding.
And I'm glad that I did. At the back end of the classical Western literary tradition of silliness, which includes such hallowed humorists as Chaucer, Bocaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes, and, in its divine form, Shakespeare, we find the one tale that may have excited them all--Lucius Apuleius's Golden Ass.
The Golden Ass is filled with adventure, suspense, humor, and nonsense. I had a grin on my face most of the way through, and I got the feeling that the author did too. Tip o' the hat to Robert Graves for delivering an authentic translation that brings us Apuleius in his bawdy best.
The only thing I found occasionally irritating was that, like Cervantes, Apuleius has a tendency to digress. Big time. He inserts the entire myth of Cupid and Psyche right into the middle of the narrative, for example. Does this add to the mythological message of the whole? Probably, but it subtracts from the fantastic flow of the story. My urgent plea to Apuleius, were he alive today, would be, "Stick to the ass!"
There are a number of reasons that traditionally bring people to this book: to study Classical Rome, classic literature, mythology, psychology... maybe you're curious about the intimate lives of donkeys. Whatever has brought you to this novel, now that you're going to read it, perhaps the best thing to do is to take the advice of the author himself, who says, "Read on and enjoy yourself!"
As to being a live recording, this is a mixed blessing. This public seems to misunderstand some lines, and there are misplaced laughs, for example when Robert Chiltern says: "I did not sell myself for money. I bought success at a great price. That is all". I'm sure Wilde didn't intend this to be a joke. Chiltern is not bought, he is not changed, it is he who buys something, therefore his character, his person, is not altered. The public dismisses this important nuance and bursts into a hearty fit of laughter.
There are three o four more like that. But on the whole, this recording by L.A. Theater Works is highly enjoyable.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan
Powersoft/ Sybase should thank Michael Barlotta for presenting this book for experience as well new PowerBuilder developers building web applications. I could easily rate this my best PowerBuilder book in the last 6 years.
Excellent book, at the right time.
List price: $13.00 (that's 20% off!)
Mike Yaconelli is former editor of "The Door", probably the only Christian humor magazine around, and is presently a lay pastor of a small church. He sees below the surface mess of people's lives and invites the reader out of a world of self-condemnation and into a land of freedom. Some may be concerned that this book gives people a license to sin. Well, most people sin quite well without a license! When we are honest before God and give up pretending that our lives are neat and tidy, that's when God can take the messes of our lives and redeem them into something beautiful. This is a little book, but it packs a big punch. Highly recommended.