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Review Date: 3/18/2009
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent memoir.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 1
Very enjoyable, a quick, easy read for anyone interested in literature's role in the lives of Chinese peasants during the Cultural Revolution. It shows Western literature as having great power for enlightenment of the individual.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Joel Backman was a high-roller D.C. lawyer sent to prison for trying to broker a secret satellite system. When he's pardoned and sent by the CIA to Bologna, Italy as a decoy to draw out the owner of the satellite system--Israelis? Russians? Chinese?--he rebuilds his life while learning to speak Italian with a beautiful & mysterious tutor. Great travelogue, as well as a fun read and good mystery.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 2
Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders) of novels of myth, history and magic. Very enjoyable. Part 2 is an especially fascinating look at Jungian therapy.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 6
This three part historical novel, set in Provence at the end of the Roman Empire, during the Black Death and during WW II, debates the theme of honor through the actions of the 3 characters in each era who were confronted with catastrophic threat to their civilizations. Each was forced to compromise one or more of his cherished values in an attempt to save something he held dear. Sometimes doing the honorable thing may lead to disaster. Can one act bodly, sacrifice himself, knowing the consequences?
My favorite quote: "The evil done by men of good will is the worst of all." Interesting reading lead me to further read about Platonism, neoplatonism, gnosticism, Cathars and Avignon.
My favorite quote: "The evil done by men of good will is the worst of all." Interesting reading lead me to further read about Platonism, neoplatonism, gnosticism, Cathars and Avignon.
Flagstaff Hikes : 146 Day Hikes Around Flagstaff, Arizona (Revised 5th Edition) (Hiking & Biking)
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
1
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
1
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Great, easy to use guide for day hiking around Flagstaff, AZ and the surrounding region including Sedona and The Grand Canyon. Clear, concise descriptions, maps, and details about how crowded and which time of year is best to go. Great variety, sorted by difficulty, location. Not too big to carry in a back pack.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 1
A terrific mystery-thriller set in modern China. The author includes good background about China and Chinese/U.S. relations. Part of the action takes place in Los Angeles. Lisa See is an excellent storyteller, bringing her tale alive with interesting details and suspenseful plot twists.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
This nonfiction book is an excellent history of the independence of India and the creation of Pakistan, partly used in the film script of Ghandi. Fascinating details about Lord Mountbatten and the wealth of maharajas, and the horrific brutality which accompanied the division of territory.
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
103
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
103
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 1
Very compelling narrative. Even if you think you already know the story of the Bataan Death March during WWII, you have never experienced it like Hampton Sides takes you. It's actually 2 stories: the American POWs who survived the Death March and the Japanese Prison Camp on Luzon Island in the Philippines, and the story of the 121 men of the U.S. Army's 6th Ranger Battalion who were sent 30 miles behind enemy lines to rescue the last survivors. A daring raid in which they were assisted by villagers and Filipino guerillas. More than an account of their bravery, sacrifice and suffering, the author's descriptions and narration pull you into this amazing true story.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 1
This novel is a classic, the family saga of 3 generations in Chile, which is timeless and universal, as relevant to current times as the time written about. "...[those] who had favored the coup were euphoric. At first they were a little shocked when they saw the consequences of their action....They thought the loss of democratic freedoms would be temporary....because it seemed a small price to pay for the defeat of Marxism."
No matter what level you read this story on, the author's magical writing style takes you to a place worthy of exploration and dreams.
No matter what level you read this story on, the author's magical writing style takes you to a place worthy of exploration and dreams.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 3
Great mystery. Author's details about an unfamiliar world bring modern Bejing to life. Revolves around China's social/economic problems and slave labor. As always, it's never clear who to trust, and dangerous decisions can cost the protagonists their lives.
Review Date: 9/30/2007
Helpful Score: 1
Includes a CD
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Autographed copy! Sensitive and insightful account of a teenage girl who was murdered by a neighbor. Suzy narrated from heaven the story of her life and death, expressed her regrets, and watched her loss and its effect on her remaining family on earth. Her father, mother, sister and brother all were impacted by missing Suzy in their own ways, their lives shaped by her absence. Unorthodox and thought provoking novel.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 1
Very evocative little story of time and place and events which forever change the view of 12-year-old the narrator. It is a tale of love and courage and, of power abused, and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 2
Interesting story of the lives of 2 Chinese sisters growing up in Hong Kong in the late 1930's through the 1960's. Exiled to Macao during WWII, they returned and grew up in Hong Kong. Older sister dreamed of becoming an actress, while her mother plotted to make her a "suitable marriage." Generational differences within the family are well-drawn. Younger sister, with the support of her Auntie Go, left Hong Kong to attend school in San Francisco during the 50's and 60's.
On Gold Mountain : The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
36
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
36
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Helpful Score: 4
Outstanding author's first published book, a memoir of her Chinese-American family. Includes interesting stories of Los Angeles' Chinatown. See gives a very honest examination of family secrets, interesting historical details of the lives of immigrants, fascinating family anecdotes, and the meeting of two cultures.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Wonderful characters and their relationships. Family conflicts and remaking meaningful connections, self-discovery and redemptions are the strengths of Anne Tyler that make me return again and again to enjoy her novels.
Review Date: 9/19/2007
Wonderful description of a modern-day river journey across the U.S. The author focused more on the journey itself, but he also described interesting encounters with people along the way too. He really made me appreciate the effort, the trials and tribulations of his journey, as the things that made it satisfying. Inspirational and great travelogue too.
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