This is an interesting book in several ways. It starts in a world which is entirly run by tests. At the beginning you see how this affects the people in this city and how one girl rebels. The story then centers around her, her twin brother, and their "friend", who they really didn't like at first. There is an interesting sub-plot with him. The three go on a journey to recover the voice of the wind singer, and release the town from the mysterious force which brought about the tests. As the adventure continues you see other exagerrated aspects of soceities flaws in the different places the characters go. One of the problems I see with this novel, is it is never explained WHY the solution worked. However I haven't read the sequel yet, so don't judge based on this fact. The book is very well written. The descriptions are intense and the writing leaves nothing to complain about. In fact William Nicholson's style is slightly different form the norm, but very enjoyable. I highly recommend reading this book. It's a fantasy, but not written the way you expect a fantasy to be.

I absolutely loved this book. It's thrilling to the end, and scary, too!
The story is about the Hath family, who live in Aramanth, a town where tests really do matter. They determine your job, your social status, where you live, your life. Kestrel, aged ten, has had enough of these, and rebels atop the city's mysterious centerpiece- the wind singer. It once sang and brought the city peace, but its voice has been missing for many years, and so has the city's peace. Back to the rebellion! Kestrel puts down Aramanth, and all it supports, and her family, especially herself, is put in danger. Kestrel and her twin, Bowman, escape the city, off on a mission to retrieve the legendary wind singer's voice, which will bring peace back to the city. They are joined by a stupid, disgusting, but innocent classmate, Mumpo, and the 'three friends' start off on an exciting adventure to save their city.
The characters you meet are amazing and well developed, and you really fall in love with them, hate them, or fear them. My favorite was no doubt the emperor...
There were some parts that chilled my bones, and some parts that just made me laugh (provided mostly by Mumpo). This novel has it all, I highly recommend it! And when you're done, read the other books in the trilogy!

I randomly picked up this book at the library one day because of its beautiful jacket illustrations. Reading the brief summary inside I was only slightly interested, but thought I'd try it just the same. Once I started reading I was partially confused, but soon had a grasp on the plot. It is about twin brother and sister, Bowman and Kestrel, whose mother is a prophet, causing them to be the chosen ones to save their city Aramanth from the evil force, the Morah. While on their quest the twins are joined by their city's reject child, Mumpo. I grew to love Mumpo's character because of his complete innocence. Personally I really enjoyed this book because it has the everlastingly perfect plot: "Good vs. Evil" and for the Good to overcome they go on a journey. I am an avid fan of Lord of the Rings which has a simalar plot. This is a great read, try it sometime...and don't forget to read the other two books in the Wind on Fire trilogy: Slaves of the Mastery and Firesong.

This is a nice book, though a bit tough for the unknowledgable person. This is supposed to be a general biology book, used by people without any prior knowledge of biology too, but I somehow don't know if they'll find it too easy. But other than that one drawback, i think that the rest of us will appreciate this book for what it's worth. It's nicely written, with a lot of illustrations and explainations. There are also many references to websites and stuff, so it's additionally useful. Depending on the book bought, there are some nice extras too. My version had a nice and very useful CD-ROM, with a lot of pictures and animations, and practice tests and etc. It also came with a free one year subsciption to an online biology website that was one of the best I've ever seen. Otherwise the subscription costs a lot. The text book by itself was good too, and I really had no need to read any outside material, I found it perfectly good. Everything considered, I really liked this book.

The title I give to my critique of this book is not a joke. I'm really serious about the phenominial ability of this fine textbook to be able to explain the concepts of biology so clearly. This wonderful textbook from Neil A. Campbell is a great biology textbook that explains the concepts of basic biology clearly and throughly. I love the way it touches on various subjects such as DNA,transcription, translation etc... in preparation for the student when he gets to higher level biology classes.

If a student uses this textbook he\she will be very prepared for other classes such as biochemistry, ecology and even some organic chemistry because this book is SO good in expressing the fundementals of basic biology and relating those fundementals to other sciences and disciplines. Additionally this awesome textbook has clear, colorful and beautiful art and photographic illustrations with EXCELLENT explanations underneath them that can help the student understand biological processes and mechnisims. I'm in pharmacy school right now and I still use this book as a reference guide for some basic concepts in biology that I may have forgotten.

It is big, fat and chock-full of great information on the basic concepts of biology. Don't let the large size of this book intimidate you. It is big for a reason. It is big because Neil Campbell and his collegues care about the making sure the student is exposed to what he needs to know in order to advance into higher levels of biology, chemistry, medical and pharmacy school.

An EXCELLENT BOOK!!! This book explains the hardest concepts of fundemental biology so well that even a drunk in a bar can understand it throughly. A great book.

It's a 5th edition book. From the looks of it, I don't think these guys need to make a 6th edition book unless they need to update it with new biological discoveries.

I'm a biology student from Germany, main subject is genetics. Really, I can't understand all the discussion about the book, if you take it as it is - this book tells you about BIOLOGY!
It's NOT a detailed textbook, which - if including all the topics mentioned in Campbell - definitely would have 100.000 pages and more!! It's NOT a textbook about biochemistry, nor about genetics, nor about any other special subject!
It IS a wonderful illustrated (even in the german version), colourful, widespread and didactical brilliant written book about its topic: biology.
I bought the book and look upon it with a crying eye, because I'm not able to read it in an appropriate time, I'm quite busy with exams and the book is not useful for preparation for diploma or other university examinations.
But there's something I learned: as a student you learn so many things in detail out of more or less sterile books, so it might be possible that you lose the thread to the real beauty your subject consists of! What means detail without the whole? It feels good, it really feels good to reflect about the deep beauty and expanse of biology with this book; just take an hour or two a week, put your Stryer, Voet, Alberts, Griffiths and whatever textbook DOWN and open the Campbell. You will see, you breath again. And you'll get some power back - for studying the real detailed things. ...

Slavery was known as a "peculiar institution". By broadcasting such labels for slavery, the southern slave owners were able to downplay the severity of the subjugation of slaves in this "peculiar institution". However, in 1845 a runaway slave by the name of Frederick Douglass was published his narrative which showed the extent of the cruelty within of the oppressive the institution of American slavery. Douglass gives a powerful portrayal of his personal struggle against the tyranny of himself and his fellow slaves. By depicting his personal story regarding the horrors of slavery, Douglass testified to the injustices of the slave institution and conveyed an urgent message of the time for prompt abolition.
Douglass leaves out no detail as he portrays the brutal means in which slaves were forced into subjugation. In order to maintain order and to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity from his slave, an owner used the fear of the ever-present whip against his slaves. Over, and over again throughout the Narrative, Douglass gives account of severe beatings, cruel tortures, and unjust murders of slaves. The message is evident. Slavery dehumanized African Americans.
From the introduction of his early experience, Douglass portrays the burdens of slavery. The reader is forced to cope with the fact that he has no tangible background. Slavery has robbed him of the precious moments of his childhood. He was raised in the same manner as one would raise an animal. In his early years he had no knowledge of time-he did not even know when he was born. He is also forced to scrounge for food in the same fashion as a pig digs for slop. The saddest insight is the alienation of Douglass from his family. He has no connection with his parents and when his mother dies he was untouched. On hearing of her death he states, "I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (19). The bond between mother and child is the strongest bulwark for children and to be robbed of this and to not care demonstrates just how severe slavery was to Douglass and countless others who faced the same fate. In the entire slave experience, the only escape from the repression was through sorrowful singing. As Douglass states, "every tone was a testimony against slavery..." and "slaves sing the most when they are unhappy" (29). Only through music could slaves find comfort in dealing with their anguish.
Douglass's first witness of brutality is the telling of his Aunt Hester's beating. The narration is powerfully effective through terrible detail. The cursing of the overseer, the shrieks of his aunt, and the horrible effects the whip upon her flesh is almost as agonizing the reader of the Narrative as it was to his unfortunate aunt. The fact that this terrible instance is a common occurrence makes it a heavier burden upon the reader's soul.
As if the beatings were not enough, slaves were also murdered on a whim. Douglass tells of Gore, a meticulously cold taskmaster who blew out the brains of a poor slave by the name of Demby. The chilliness of Gore's is terrible due the fact that he kills with the sympathy of a butcher.
Upon hearing about this, one would speculate that the authorities would deal with such barbaric acts justly. However, as Douglass recounts in the story Mrs. Hicks, the murderess that killed a slave girl for not moving fast enough, the law officials were hesitant to enforce the rights of the slave and would intentionally overlook such matters. This is primarily due to the fact that a slave owning society could not allow the rights of the slave to be upheld to the same level as a white man. To do such a thing would threaten the stability of their superiority. This is further illustrated in Douglass's struggle against the shipyard workers, when he fled to his master and told him of the attack his master stated that he could not hold up Douglass or even a thousand blacks testimony. The lack of protection under the law and the unwillingness of the whites to give the slaves a voice allowed the whites to completely dominate the slaves without the fear of accountability for their actions.
The worst aspect of slavery is found in the religious nature of the subjugation of slaves. The cruelty found in slavery was even more intense when placed under the pretense of the slaveholding religion of Christianity. Through Douglass's deconstruction of Christianity, he learns that the white oppressive version of Christianity is much different from his own beliefs of Christianity. The incident that shaped Douglass's understanding of the mentality of religious slaveholders was when he was placed under the authority of Mr. Freeland. In this situation, he was able to see the difference between the so-called "religious slave-holders" and "non-religious slave-holders." Douglass felt that the "non-religious slave-holders" were less brutal because they did not reprimand their slaves based on a Divine command. Instead they were more concerned about reprimanding the slaves when the slaves did wrong as opposed to whenever they felt that the Lord professed a beating.
The Narrative and Selected Writings is a powerful testimony to the struggles American slaves faced. Through the writings of men such as Frederick Douglass, abolitionists were given fuel to the bonfire of the Abolition Movement. Douglass honest testimony helped to bring out the truth about slavery. Abolitionists now had evidence to back their claim that the "peculiar institution" was in fact an institution of evil.

In his work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass outlines his purpose in writing the piece:

"Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds - faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts - and solemnly pledging my self anew to the sacred cause."

Certainly Douglass' "little" book shed tremendous light on the slave system that existed in early American history and he successfully accomplished his purpose. The description of how slaves were treated was interesting and enlightening, and provokes compassion in the reader. Additionally, Douglass wonderfully explores the issue of knowledge and power, as he describes the many occasions in which slaveholders tried to keep slaves from learning to read. Finally, Douglass raises a concern about the hypocrisy among southern Christians based on the way that they treat slaves. True Christians treat all humans with love, respect, compassion, and indiscriminately. This final point raises a relevant issue in today's society - does this hypocrisy still exist?

Several statistics indicate that although the problem that Douglass addresses is not as drastic, it still remains a serious challenge that the United States must wrestle: 16.2 percent of American children are living in poverty (United States Census); 54 percent of African American families say underachievement among black students represents a "crisis," 33 percent of white parents agree (Public Agenda); 10.8 million children in the United States have no health insurance; 1 in 4 Hispanic children are uninsured; 1 in 11 Caucasian children are uninsured (Children's Defense Fund); 3/4 of teachers in public schools do not believe that schools should expect the same from students in low-income areas as students in high-income areas (Education Watch); in recent years income has decreased in the bottom, second, and middle 20% sectors, while increasing slightly in the fourth sector and substantially in the top sector (United States Census). . If American Christians were truly loving and sharing like Jesus teaches, the social stratification that is prevalent in the United States would not be nearly as extreme. The Christian Church should not allow such tremendous economic and educational differences. Although this is not nearly as glaring a problem as slavery, Douglass' narrative is applicable even to today's social problems and is well worth the read for that and many other reasons.

Perhaps more so than any other account, Douglass gives us a look into the life of a slave. I enjoy this book on many level. Douglass writes honestly and in a factual tone. He does mince his words when he describes the brutality of slavery. Douglass demonstrates that he is an intelligent man despite his lack of education. He taight himself to read. To our youth, this demonstrates the value of education. Douglass also show Americans manipulated the work of God even in his time. Yet, Douglass found strength in that God. I think the quality I enjoyed most about this book is the fact that Douglass does not see himself as a hero, but as an average slave. This is not a typical characteristic of an autobiography. I read this book for the second time coming and going on 3 hour flights. The book is a short read, but well worth your time to read of atriumph of the human spirit.

This book was pretty good. It's about a boy named Barney that spends a vacation at a beach cottage. There's nothing to do until some weird neighbors move in. The neighbors are obsessed by a strange game called Interstellar Pig. What is really the link between the game and real life. What mysterious thing does the piggy actually do. Find out, when you read Interstellar Pig.

I just read Interstellar Pig over the summer of 2002. I am 31 and thought that it would be a poorly written kids sci-fi book. Boy was I wrong. This is one of the most imaginitive sci-fi books I have ever read. I was surprised by the writing style and the ideas. There were numerous twists and turns. It's not just about aliens but about choices, about making quick snap decisions. Not necessarily a guide for life but still a good book for anyone to read. I really could not predict what was going to happen next. It has supsense, action, and at times it just makes you think about life, and about what it is we are here to do on earth. I wish it were longer, I wish he would have went more in depth but I was still very pleased.

Probably the most renowned Sleator book "Intersteller Pig" really does deliver as much as it suggests and much more. Although sometimes other of Sleators works seem more serious. I quickly change my mind after re-reading it. (I have all of his stuff several times, especially his earlier stuff which now is getting up into teen amounts of time I've read them.) The idea may at first seem less serious BUT as always Sleator's delivery is hardcore and realistic. This is how a real person would react under these circumstances.

There are some really great scenes in this book. All the gibberish language the piggy uses. When Zena, Manny, and Joe all have something to offer Barney.

I can't get over the AWSOME IMAGERY. When Zena is trying to sell something to Barney and Joe walks in from the Rain dripping wet from head to toe and knowing full well what they were up to. It's just amazing. AND THE BATTLES, THE BATTLES ARE GREAT! YOUR ARE THERE. And the COOL Names Sleator gives different items talk about an imaginative vocabulary. "Portable Access to the Fifth Dimensional Matrix" There are a couple others I can't remember of hand. After reading the book 12 times I have to wait awhile before gorging myself on it again.

And then there is THE GAME. Before it everything else is paled. I could never explain it to you without you having read the book. But suffice it to say I remember being a kid and staying up all night with my best friend making up cards and a board for Intersteller Pig. We never finished it but man did we have fun.

Please do not miss this book, young child or old adult it doesn't matter, you will love the things that it does with your imagination.

Enjoy

LIfe on the Color Line was about a child who grew up with the knowledge of thinking that he was white but was really black. He experienced several difficulties throughout his life because of this. Gregory Williams was forced to choose between black and white friends. Gregory's father was in the picture but never really set any good examples and his mother left him at a young age. Growing up with someone else being the mother figure in his life was very difficult for him. Miss Dora treated him and his brother as though they were her own flesh and blood. Even with all the bad experiences and wrong decision making, in the end Gregory completed the novel with a very successful life. He became married, had two children of his own and had a degree in law. I did not give the book 5 stars because throughout the book it talked about his brother's life as well as his. Towards the end of the book, they never spoke on how he became blind in very much detail or how his life ended like they talked about with Gregory.

Very few people in America could have imagined a life like Greg Williams had. His life and experiences were so unique that there couldn't have been a more appropriate title than "Life on the Color Line." The blatant racism he encounters all through his childhood and teenage years while trying to just grow-up and be a normal kid is something that American should be ashamed of when remembering this time in our history. Anyone that thinks racism wasn't THAT bad back then should read this book, reading about his perspective should definitely change their mind.

Greg started growing up as a young white boy in Virginia. His life was pretty normal for him and his "white" family at that time. His father successfully passed as white, even though he had black blood running through his veins. He had a couple of successful business ventures, the most notable of which was a booming cafe/diner, which of course adherred to the laws of segregation. Greg's mother was white in the true sense of the term, and she seemed to care for her children deeply as any mother should.

Everything was perfect for Greg and his family until misfortune hits and the veil is pulled off the charade of his father's false life. In a poetic justice type of moment the father's life in Virginia is devastated and shaken literally back to his roots. It looks initially like Greg and his brother Mike will stay with their mother in Virginia, but they have to tag along with their father back to Indiana where all 3 of their lives are changed forever.

Back in Muncie, Indiana, the book almost splits into 3 separate interesting stories: Greg's life, his brother Mike's life, and the father's. Their struggles bring a new meaning to tough times. Greg and his brother now have to blend into the black community which isn't easy, all while they are summarily rejected by the white community, and most painful of all an apparent rejection by their mother.

There are a lot of negatives in their lives now dealing with their living situation, and ... people which are almost laughable. One situation that stands out are the two school officals that get upset at his expressing any interest in white girls, but then the same people are angry when he is marching with a black girl during graduation. However, through all the negativity there is one person that shows how powerful Christian love can be as she adopts them and tries to keep them on the right path.

Greg and Mike's experiences and ongoing fight with racism hardly let you put the book down. I couldn't wait to see how they were going to handle each new situation. Once in a while there is a true story comes along that rivals any fiction, this is one of them!

This is one of those stories that stay with you, long after you read it. It is a book that everyone should read - no matter his or her age or background. Gregory Howard Williams writes a riveting story of his childhood experience, when society sees him as a White, then black person.

The personalities in this memoir are touching, from Williams's father who was unable to deal with demons of his own, to the author and the rest of his family. Most especially, I loved reading about Miss Dora, the elderly woman who opened her heart and home to the author and his brother and played an important part in helping Mr. Williams become successful despite all the odds against him.

Gregory Howard Williams has led a harsh, mesmerizing, sorrowful, incredible, yet triumphant life on the color line.

Fafa Demasio

Tennessee Williams's masterfully written drama explores the extremes of fantasy versus reality, the Old South versus the New South, and primitive desire versus civilized restraint. Its meager 142 page spine is no indication of the complexity and significance that Williams achieves in his remarkable work. A strong aspect of the play is Williams's amazingly vivid portrayal of desperate and forsaken characters who symbolize and presumably resolve his battles between extremes. He created and immortal woman in the character of Blanche DuBois, the haggard and fragile southern beauty whose pathetic last grasp at happiness is cruelly destroyed. She represents fantasy for her many outrageous attempts to elude herself, and she likewise represents the Old South with only her manners and pretentions remaining after the foreclosure of her family's estate. The movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire shot Marlon Brando to fame as Stanley Kowalski, a sweat-shirted barbarian and crudely sensual brother-in-law who precipitated Blanche's tragedy. He symbolizes unrestrained desire with the recurring animal motif that follows him throughout the play. A third major character, Stella Kowalski, acts as mediator between her constantly conflicting husband and older sister. She magnifies the New South in her renounce of the Old pretentions by marrying a blue collar immigrant. Conflicts between these and other vividly colorful characters always in light of the cultural New Orleans backdrop provide a reader with a lasting impression and an awe for Williams's impeccable style and intense dialogue.

Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece has been the source of controversy since it was written five decades ago. It is the story of the fallen Southern belle Blance Dubois, whose desperate illusions of grandeur are rent to shreds by her earthy and realistic brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Touching on issues of prejudice, sexual codependence, mental breakdown, and rape, A Streetcar Named Desire is at times disturbing in its brutal honesty. Readings of this sultry play have found it to be anything from a critique of the conflict between the North and South in post Civil War America, to a subtle commentary on the struggles of Williams' life as a homosexual. The image of Stanley bellowing drunkenly to his wife Stella, as well as lines such as Blanche telling how she has "always depended on the kindness of strangers" have become so much a part of the American consciousness that they are recognizable even to those who are unfamiliar with Williams' work itself.

The play shows us that what we have always dreamed is not always what we are. More importantly, it shows us that we cannot escape who we are, lest we devolve into a state of fantasy, living a beautiful dream when the world around us is a nightmare. Williams is one of the premier playwrights of our time. And yet he is seriously underrated in modern courses in literature and on the modern stage. His themes are universal and ageless in that they center upon the fall from innocence that all human beings suffer upon learning that humanity is not beautiful. It is brute and desirous and akin to the raunchy yet realistic world of Stanley Kowalski. Blanche Dubois cannot live without embracing desire, embracing Stanley. And yet, she can never accept that she must desire. For that reason, she descends into madness, more content with the illusion that life is a beautiful dream, a belle reve, instead of an imperfect lesson in death and loss.

I like this book because the creatures are interesting on how they have a type of lord, and they do what they can to please him. I also like this book because this man leaves these boxes for his nease to hide and don't open them. Even with so much love for her Uncle she chooses to disobey and opens them anyway. This book keeps you guessing on what will hapen next.

The best parrt of this book is when the mistirious Uncle Marco comes back to find out what just happened when he was gone.He comes back and the creatures have already built their cities in the basement. Uncle Marco finds out this big developement is trying to buy out the whole town to build a mall, steals the creatures lord because they think it wil make them rich. So Marco's nease and her friend get it back to take it to the creatures in time.

One of the most vivid parts of the story is in the begining when Uncle Marco gave Annie the boxes becasue he is a mistiriuos man he alwayshas something to bring home or hide from other people. For a man so mistirious what could be in the boxes? Anthor vivid part would be why Aunt Ruth thinks they are hiding something that she just does not know yet. But does Aunt Ruth ever find it?

William Sleator is one of my favorite authors. Although this is not one of his best, I couldn't put it down. Annie is an orphan who is sent to live with her Aunt Ruth--not a very pleasant person. Annie's only bright days are spent with her Uncle Marco, when he returns from his frequent mysterious trips abroad. When Marco entrusts his niece with two mysterious boxes and the warning never to a) open them or b) put them in the same room, Annie's resolve to keep them safe lasts for only one day as her curiousity gets the better of her. Once the boxes are opened, there is no going back. This is not a book to read before you go to sleep! The ending was not as satisfying as his other books; it seems like Sleator left it open for a possible sequel. Well-drawn characters let you step right into the story! When will the movie-makers (e.g. Disney) see that Sleator's books would be great for the screen!!

The boxes was an excellent book that I wold love to explain to others. I am giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars. This was a terrific science fiction book. The author wrote great detail on the creatures. Some examples from the book about the description of the creation were when Annie says, " I could see what it really looked like. I felt sick. And yet, even though I wanted to run from it, I couldn't. It legs, planted firmly on the floor. It was rubbing the front two legs totally diffferent personalities. For example, each of Annie's (main character) friends acts differently at things. William Sleator also explains how a money craving company, tries to get what they want if they cam't make a deal. For example on how thhe Crutchley Development Company can't get Annie's family to sell the house so they try to brake in the hose, and follow the family mambers. The book is about Annie, and how she opened the boxes that lead to the opening of a new life in which she has not seen. These new creatures aren't the prettiest things in the world and nicest. Thing that make Annies want to get help. I would do the same thing to. Her Uncle Marco told her not to open the boxs, but Annie thought that there was nothing bad in them, just an artifact or something. So she opened it. I think you whould to. As much as I think this book was good, the ending left you hanging. an example would be how did Annie save her house from being bought by the big company, and what happened to the creatures? The ending was pretty much stated badly. You can't have a perfect story and have a bad ending. It's just can't work. Besides that, it had a wonderful beginning and middle that entrenches you. I would really recommend this book to someone who wants to expand his or her mind or ideas. This book is also realistic. Annie goes to school like a normal day person, has freinds like everbody eles's, and goes through things that you and I would go through at school. In fact her main freinds are so cought up in love that they don't even help Annie out of the problem that she has. The growninups in this book were really out there. You have the company's manerger throwing fits, an uncle joking, making a teen- ager not believing her, and so on. This book also shows how a small community try's to push awway a big company. With a book that expands your mind, and fun to read, I think you should read this. Enjoy!

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's more gloomy plays. It is downright grim. It starts grim and only gets blacker... ...It is one of Shakespeare's better plays

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's more ambiguous main characters. Motivation is always a big question with him. Sure, he is hungry for power. Yet he also needs prodding from several quarters to take most of his actions.

Lady Macbeth is really no different. She comes off as eager for evil early on, but is utterly shocked by its repercussions. Her attempt to go against nature leaves her absolutely unhinged and thirsting after guidance--only to find despair. In this regard, Shakespeare anticipates the psychology of Dostoevsky.

Macbeth is also one of Shakespeare's most supernatural plays. Regardless of whether one wants to debate the reality of Banquo's ghost, there are forces at work in Macbeth that are often unseen, but which drive the plot. The witches and all the unnaturalness come up against the forces of nature (the trees) and the divinely appointed King.

The most remarkable thing about this play is, for me at least, that it becomes a true tragedy only in its last moments. Only when all the stuff has hit the fan, and he has realized his doom is eminent, does Macbeth show the courage and nobility of a true tragic hero.

Macbeth is a great place to start if you are new to Shakespeare. It is a fun place to return if you're not.

While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Noble Macbeth and the story of his decay due to the seduction of the forces of darkness - I liked it. The play sets off with an impressing scene, the chant of the three witches, a perfect use of language, I dare say. It takes only about a page and I knew it by memory after two times reading. We used to quote it during the breaks, and actually still do so sometimes. "When shall we three meet again...and so forth. After this promising start the language gets quite hard (I'm not any native form Enland, the US or any other english speaking part of this planet). One can follow the action though and every five or six pages there's a reward for your patience, at least for anybody who likes the power Shakespeare's language is able to display in their good or best moments: "Have we eaten on the insane root?" and the likes. Of course there's also the famous "It is a tale, told by an idiot...". It's for these moments, where Williams knew how to transfere a feeling of one of his caracteres into the realm of a universal significance, that I enjoyed the play...

Shakespeare's Othello is an interesting and dramatic tragedy. If you like imagery and irony, you will like Othello. Shakespeare uses the power of imagery skillfully to develop themes throughout the play. For example, recurring animal imagery is used to sharpen the contrast between people and beasts, showing how Iago and Othello begin to act more like beasts than human beings. Irony also adds much to the plot of Othello to make it interesting and exciting for the reader. Much of the irony used is dramatic irony because the reader knows of Iago's plot, while the characters in the play have no idea what is about to unfold. The relationship between men and women in Othello is another aspect of the play that makes it interesting to read. Iago's wife Emilia, for example, is very cynical towards men, probably from years of living with Iago. Othello and Desdemona's relationship is also intriguing. In the beginning of the play, Othello and Desdemona are seemingly deeply in love with each other. Othello, however, is rather easily convinced that his wife is cheating on him and becomes angry to the point where he cannot forgive Desdemona. He decides to kill her. As she is being murdered, Desdemona tries to protect her husband's innocence in her own murder. Another interesting aspect of the play which makes it stand out from other Shakespearean plays is the race of the main character. Othello is black and a Moor, or Muslim. This fact brings up issues to be explored in the play. Shakespeare shows the characters being separated not only by status and rank but also by their place of origin and their religion. Overall, Shakespeare's Othello is dramatic, well-written, and thoroughly explores how evil a human being can become.

Othello relects the true meaning of a tragedy both in its content and its structure.Tragedy is 'a story of exceptional calamity produced by human actions, leading to the death of a man in high estate.'The downfall of Othello is caused by his own actions, rather than by his character, or rather the two work in unison to create the stage for his downfall.
This is what captured my attention when I read this play.It is very profound to realize the fact that Shakespeare uses Iago to set this stage on which Othello is a mere player.
I love the character of Iago. His total confidence, the superiority that he feels when psychoanalysing human nature, his rational thinking and intellectualism sways the reader to think: 'Wow, this is a compelling and sophisticated man we're dealing with here!'
However, my admiration of Iago does not in anyway undermine my love of Othello. His poetic and calm demeanor makes the reader feel the pity and terror for him when he falls from grace (catharsis). Yet, we are made to understand that the reason why he is made to appear a gullible and ignorant fool to some readers is that he does not have any knowledge of a delicate, domesticated life. Venetian women were foreign to him. This tragic flaw in Othello added to the circumstances used by Iago to destroy him.
The meaning, and hence the tragedy of the play is conveyed through the use of Shakespeare's language, style, literary devices and imagery. Without these dramatic effects, readers would never be able to enjoy the play as much, although the dialogue is at times difficult to decipher.
I thoroughly enjoyed Othello and it is my hope that more people find it enticing as I have. I would be delighted to contribute more of my reviews to that effect.

As a play, "Othello" encompasses many things but more than anything else it is a study of pure evil. Although Othello is an accomplished professional soldier and a hero of sorts, he is also a minority and an outcast in many ways. As a Black man and a Moor (which means he's a Moslem), Othello has at least two qualities, which make him stand out in the Elizabethan world. He is also married to a Caucasian woman named Desdemona, which creates an undercurrent of hostility as evidenced by the derogatory remark "the ram hath topped the ewe".

Othello's problems begin when he promotes one of his soldiers, Michael Cassio as his lieutenant. This arouses the jealousy and hatred of one of his other soldiers, Iago who hatches a plot to destroy Othello and Michael Cassio. When Cassio injures an opponent in a fight he is rebuked, punished, and subsequently ignored by Othello who must discipline him and teach him a lesson. Iago convinces Desdemona to intervene on Cassio's behalf and then begins to convince Othello that Desdemona is in love with Cassio.

This is actually one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to watch because the audience sees the plot begin to unfold and is tormented by Othello's gradual decent into Iago's trap. As with other Shakespeare plays, the critical components of this one are revealed by language. When Othello is eventually convinced of Cassio's treachery, he condemns him and promotes Iago in his place. When Othello tells Iago that he has made him his lieutenant, Iago responds with the chilling line, "I am thine forever". To Othello this is a simple affirmation of loyalty, but to the audience, this phrase contains a double meaning. With these words, Iago indicates that the promotion does not provide him with sufficient satisfaction and that he will continue to torment and destroy Othello. It is his murderous intentions, not his loyal service that will be with Othello forever.

Iago's promotion provides him with closer proximity to Othello and provides him with more of his victim's trust. From here Iago is easily able to persuade Othello of Desdemona's purported infidelity. Soon Othello begins to confront Desdemona who naturally protests her innocence. In another revealing statement, Othello demands that Desdemona give him "the ocular proof". Like Iago's earlier statement, this one contains a double meaning that is not apparent to the recipient but that is very clear to the audience who understands the true origin of Othello's jealousy. Othello's jealousy is an invisible enemy and it is also based on events that never took place. How can Desdemona give Othello visual evidence of her innocence if her guilt is predicated on accusations that have no true shape or form? She can't. Othello is asking Desdemona to do the impossible, which means that her subsequent murder is only a matter of course.

I know that to a lot of young people this play must seem dreadfully boring and meaningless. One thing you can keep in mind is that the audience in Shakespeare's time did not have the benefit of cool things such as movies, and videos. The downside of this is that Shakespeare's plays are not visually stimulating to an audience accustomed to today's entertainment media. But the upside is that since Shakespeare had to tell a complex story with simple tools, he relied heavily on an imaginative use of language and symbols. Think of what it meant to an all White audience in a very prejudiced time to have a Black man at the center of a play. That character really stood out-almost like an island. He was vulnerable and exposed to attitudes that he could not perceive directly but which he must have sensed in some way.

Shakespeare set this play in two locations, Italy and Cypress. To an Elizabethan audience, Italy represented an exotic place that was the crossroads of many different civilizations. It was the one place where a Black man could conceivably hold a position of authority. Remember that Othello is a mercenary leader. He doesn't command a standing army and doesn't belong to any country. He is referred to as "the Moor" which means he could be from any part of the Arab world from Southern Spain to Indonesia. He has no institutional or national identity but is almost referred to as a phenomenon. (For all the criticism he has received in this department, Shakespeare was extrordinarlily attuned to racism and in this sense he was well ahead of his time.) Othello's subsequent commission as the Military Governor of Cypress dispatches him to an even more remote and isolated location. The man who stands out like an island is sent to an island. His exposure and vulnerability are doubled just as a jealous and murderous psychopath decides to destroy him.

Iago is probably the only one of Shakespeare's villains who is evil in a clinical sense rather than a human one. In Kind Lear, Edmund the bastard hatches a murderous plot out of jealousy that is similar to Iago's. But unlike Iago, he expresses remorse and attempts some form of restitution at the end of the play. In the Histories, characters like Richard III behave in a murderous fashion, but within the extreme, political environment in which they operate, we can understand their motives even if we don't agree with them. Iago, however, is a different animal. His motives are understandable up to the point in which he destroys Michael Cassio but then they spin off into an inexplicable orbit of their own. Some have suggested that Iago is sexually attracted to Othello, which (if its true) adds another meaning to the phrase "I am thine forever". But even if we buy the argument that Iago is a murderous homosexual, this still doesn't explain why he must destroy Othello. Oscar Wilde once wrote very beautifully of the destructive impact a person can willfully or unwittingly have on a lover ("for each man kills the things he loves") but this is not born out in the play. Instead, Shakespeare introduces us to a new literary character-a person motivated by inexplicable evil that is an entity in itself. One of the great ironies of this play is that Othello is a character of tragically visible proportions while Iago is one with lethally invisible ones.

Katie (my name sister :-) ) is the mother of three children who believes in her work. She left professional school to be at home with her children and write. (If she didn't respond to some personal email, it likely is because she just hasn't had time yet.) I've enjoyed reading Katie's writing for years now- do a search on the web for her essays- and this book is no exception. I didn't really learn much from it, since I've read all this elsewhere- but for someone who is adrift in the sea of mainstream parenting, and harsh criticism for your choices, this is an essential manual. It might even convince someone that they can parent well in spite of being badly parented themselves- Katie will help you understand what you need to do to tune into your baby and not follow blindly what "everyone else" is doing. She tells you why you should breastfeed, consider sleeping with your child (in spite of the *consumer products* safety commission), how to share sleep safely, why you shouldn't give a "relief" bottle (sic), and how you might be feeling with a new wonderful addition to your life. As to parenting multiples- Katie hasn't had twins- most of us haven't. All twins are different, and parents really have to rely on their instincts and like-minded parents of multiples. Search them out- they are out there! And I hope you gain enough confidence in parenting to learn to parent instinctively with twins.

This excellent book fills a gap in parenting literature, by providing a comprehensive yet easy-to-read introduction to attachment parenting philosophy and practice. Written in a breezy, conversational style, Katie Granju's book feels like advice from a friend: an amazingly knowledgable friend who draws on a wealth of professional research as well as her own experience as a mother of three. Granju's guide directs the reader to the best resources, techniques and even products available to parents wishing to raise their children secure in parental love and attachment. She distinguishes herself from other authors in the field of attachment parenting and breastfeeding by providing practical help for a great variety of situations, including that of the full time working breastfeeding mother.

The only thing I felt was missing in this enormously helpful book was an index. There's so much information here and it is a book readers will return to again and again, so it would have been nice to make it easier to find specific topics. That said, the detailed table of contents was very helpful.

I wish every expectant parent would read Katie's book. I can't remember how old our son was when we discovered that there was a name for the method of parenting that my husband and I had adopted. We just "knew" not to let him cry himself to sleep, to share sleep with him, to let him breastfeed as he needed to, to hold him and wear him and love him 24 hours a day.

And then I discovered Katie's book and she reinforced all of our instincts! Whenever I have doubts (sometimes put upon me by society), all I have to do is re-read certain chapters or pages and it all comes clear to me again: my husband and I are the experts when it comes to our son. We should and will follow our instincts.

Yes, before reading this book, we had all the mainstream purchases: crib, swing, baby bucket, baby bouncer seat, stroller. And we did use those items a few times, but not to the extreme that we've seen other parents, leaving baby alone for long periods of time. Our son has grown into a happy and healthy toddler and we owe a lot of it to being so Attached!