Review:If you like stories where something happens, characters find fullfillment, love and success, characters talk things out and get somewhere----this book is not for you. I like those books, but I like this too---in certain moods, usually when I'm taking things a little on the dark side. Carver is a master short story writer, but these are minimalist, very sad stories about people at the end of some tether or other. I can only read a few a night, and often reread them so I can stop reading for the a... 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:Morrison never ceases to surprise me. She is an American treasure. Her writing is lyrical, powerful, poetic, complex, and heart-wrenching. You will not be able to put this tale down once you start. One word of advice: Pay attention to every single detail, no matter how minute it might seem at the time. Even something like a look or a off-hand comment can later be of utmost importance. Enjoy!!! Read more

Review:A great Russian classic but in the traditional Russian genre. Very descriptive writing of people and places with the "normal" tragic Russian ending. Turgenev easily captures the soul of Russian writers of the 18th century. 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: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:Published in 1937, George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier documents the grinding poverty of northern England, namely Lancashire and Yorkshire. As with Orwell's better-known and somewhat similar Down and Out in Paris and London, the author sets out to investigate the conditions of the poor by living among them and writing about his experiences. There is a chapter on coal miners and mines, and Orwell elucidates on the culture and mechanics of the industry; he goes down a mine to report, taking the... 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:Well written and set in a very interesting period of the western world. The people had great difficulties with close interpersonal contacts except with one disabled person who did not give them any response but they all saw different reaction to their tales from him. Read more