Review:I have to admit, I found this book a slow go when I had to read it as a Freshman in prep-school. But the fact that it was set in New England and that it dealt with a depressing winter landscape and a remorseless cast of characters, such as I was then encountering made it unbelievably relevant at the time. I can relate, however, to the preponderance of young readers at this site who have expressed their displeasure at having to read it. I would not wish this vision on a young audience unles... Read more

Review:Ladinsky reinvents poems, songs, and even prose passages from twelve renowned saints, imposing modern idioms on the original material. This sounds sacrilegious, yet surprisingly it actually works. The saints' words come back to life, perhaps not always in forms the original author would recognize, but in ways that speak eloquently to today's reader. Read more

Review:Well written, amusing, interesting, observant and very true to life. I am a resident in
a retirement village and it could have been written by a resident here, as such a lot
of the characters were similar - you just have to have a sense of humour when you
live in a place like this!!!! Read more

Review:Translation: C.J. Hogarth, 143496 words

The first 10 chapters (half the book) have everything that makes a picaresque novel: funny characters, funny adventures and travels. It rolls along at a perfect pace. Gogol is witty and smooth, a suave motor mouth. I wouldn’t say that as a narrator he’s in the way, but he is crowding the reader.

Gogol’s deadpan narrative style is suitable for comedy. The main character, Chichikov describes an acquaintance, Sobakevitch, as “a bear, and not... Read more

Review:I bought this book basically for the title. Wasn't expecting much. It is a fun book to read, but it is a little to thin. Although it has a lot of photos, it wasn't full color printed. So some of the good pictures got unclear when it printed black and white. Read more

Review:I was slightly disappointed overall. I was really excited about this book after reading a few poems by Faudet on tumblr, but as it turned out, those few lovely gems I had found before actually buying the book were the only bits worth reading. I found myself flipping through page after page, wishing I'd read more material along the lines of Stars:

Magic tumbled from her pretty lips, and when she spoke the language of the universe, the stars sighed in unison.

What beautiful, sweeping... Read more

Review:I left a bookstore without it and literally bought as soon as I got home. I'm not much of a literary person, but these poems are clever and speak to me on a personal level. I particularly enjoy when she personifies characteristics or words. Read more

Review:This would be my first introduction to Pablo Neruda, and I must say I'm a bit disappointed. Not that Neruda isn't a great poet, the Nobel Prize and critical acclaim prove the contrary, but perhaps the translation could use some more work.

I picked this copy up noticing the name of Robert Hass', the translator and author of the Essential Haiku, on which he did a great job. Unfortunately, Eisner is the editor of the majority of the poems. The analogy to Eisner's translation would be like wh... Read more

Review:I am only familiar with shirley Jackson's from elementary school the two stories I listed . I 're-read theses stories and got a new prospective. She is definitely a very interesting writer.I am enjoying her writing Read more

Review:There have been several excellent translations of Dante in the past few years, all worth reading in their own right. But I retain a special affection for John Ciardi's version, as it's the first one I ever read, at the unprepared & overwhelmed age of 15. I knew of its reputation as a major classic & I was ignorant enough to be unfazed by the prospect of reading it.

Well, to say that I was soon in over my head is an understatement! But Ciardi's fine, lyrical translation, as well as... Read more