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Author: Arthur Miller
ASIN : 0802100155
Sales Rank : 526740
Brand : Grove Press
Studio : Grove Pr
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780802100153
ISBN : 0802100155
Number Of Pages : 614
Publisher : Grove Pr
Manufacturer : Grove Pr
Label : Grove Pr
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December 30, 2007.
SNAP.
Rating: 5
The book is about a girl name Edwina Becky that does lists. Like grocery lists, homework lists, New Years resolutions, Books read , Books to be read, best friends,
next best friends, favorite names, favorite nicknames, favorite movies, favorite foods. Also that she is 11 years old. And Edwina has a friend to that is name Sally Hobart. Well
Edwina does wear colored rubber bands on her wrist. That each all of the rubber bands represents something she did or has already. And that her friend Sally wants to know about her life, friendship, and wants to know about the future also. But Edwina does not know the answers to Sally's questions. Edwina's favorite activity is making a lot of lists of any kind. Also that it's about the friendship of them being friends forever. But mostly it's about the color of rubber bands that have personalities. Like the red one: has is putting food in her cheeks. And the blue one: is thinking of my best friends. Also the yellow one: is for tipping back in chairs. But the white one: is for covering my mouth when I laugh a lot. The pink one: is for whistling under my breath so that it drives other people crazy. But the purple one: stands for "remembering to wear your glasses". The rubber bands all mean something that involves with Edwina's life. Also that Edwina and her friend Sally eat a lot of doughnuts. But they do enjoy having fun being good friends, until one of them could snap one of their rubber bands.
December 28, 2007.
Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Pink & Purple.
Rating: 5
Jazlyn Halberstadt
02/19/07
Snap by Alison McGhee
ISBN- 076362617-1
Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Pink,& Purple.
"I have six of them ( rubber bands ), in all different colors, on my left wrist, to be snapped when necessary." My book Snap is a realistic fiction book. It takes place in present day America..There are three main characters; Eddie who is telling the story, Sally her best friend, & Willie who is Sally's dying Grandma ;Willie is the guardian of Sally. The book is mainly about Eddie trying to help Sally through this very hard time and the inner struggle of keeping the friendship together & strong. All the struggle comes from Sally watching & knowing the one person she really loves is leaving & will never come back.
This book was an amazing story. It had a suburb moral and point. It really put in perspective what friendship means. Another reason it was fantastic is how it kept you hanging at the end of a chapter. I would definitely recommend this book. I would recommend it because of the values you can grasp from it. Also, it teaches what a friend should really do. It displays the friends you want in life and want to be. This book will be enjoyed by girls of ages ten to fifteen. Also, the type of girl who enjoys a touching story or event. It was such a page turner. It left you off with phrases that really made you think to yourself why or what, and you keep reading to get your questions answered. My mind during the novel did not wander at all. It didn't because of how captured I was from the interesting plot and action filled events. I really connected with the main character Eddie because she had a friend who resisted help from her and yet still stayed friends to comfort her. Eddie didn't know how exactly how to help but what helped was staying friends can relate to this because my sister went through a period of time when friends were dying and I didn't know how to comfort her and in the end she said it helped just knowing I was there for her to talk to.
December 13, 2006.
Pretty good.
Rating: 4
I think this book was well written. The main character is a girl who is realistic and believable. She deals with realistic issues that I can understand and relate to. The problem with this book is that it's too short. If only it had been 80 pages longer, and I probably would have given it five stars. I like how this book describes relationships between different people and how these relationships change over time, due to the fact that people grow older. Personally, I like Books like this, that discuss topics such as relationships and death. However, I think that this book only skimmed the surface of these topics. If it was 80 pages longer, it could have gone more into these concepts and been a more satisfying book.
December 01, 2005.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Rating: 5
This book is about a girl named Edwina she really likes lists she makes them for every thing. She has a best friend. Her best friends grandma is her friend to. Ed ,her nickname, and her friend really like sprinkled doughnuts. She has 5 braclets that she wears onher wrist and they mean different things. Like one means dont tip back in your chair but if she does she has to snap it.
December 22, 2005.
Poetic.
Rating: 5
This is a beautifully written, lyrical book that deals with the effects of impending loss on friendship in an emotionally sophisticated way. Highly recommended.
December 13, 2007.
LOVED this book.
Rating: 4
I really enjoyed this book. I was hard-pressed to put it down. I am an avid reader and politics/history person yet at times I still found my self appauled that some of the things discussed in the book never made it to light in the media. We all know how the media is - they report locally not globally. It was so refreshing to hear the personal accounts of 3 individuals about what their lives were really like living in these war-torn areas. Average citizens should be so lucky to be informed of these unfortunate events. It's a huge wake up call....
December 09, 2007.
5-star stories. 3-star writers..
Rating: 4
I picked up this book and read it, almost compulsively, during a trip to Cambodia earlier this year. Structured as interspersed diary entries of three people who become involved in one way or another in the big moments of UN interventions from 93 on -- democracy to Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia...
Although lacking the narrative skills of more accomplished writers or the insightful introspection of truly self-aware diarists, you cannot help but develop an understanding (no matter how objectionable) to the different characters, their motivations and the different ways they choose to react to and cope with the overwhelming reality of the horrors that surround them.
Andrew is a doctor driven by a genuinely humanitarian streak; all the more poignant for his painful shyness which seems to make him unable to relate to others as strongly as he relates to humanity as a race. Ken's motivation seems to be a desire to live up to quixotic ideals which he wants others to acknowledge -- feels can best be served through his involvement in the humanitarian work. Heidi appears a shallow narcissist who deals with her own insecurities with a dominating personality and a self-destructive hedonism and abandonment that seems to be only heightened by an impending feeling of doom.
Overall, the stories are riveting. Deeply personal moments sprinkle what little gems of unexpectedly prescient insights -- the mistakes of the "international community" and NGOs in handling the crises, the lack of many shades of gray and the impersonal amorality and frailties of many of the people who we would hold to a higher standard.
But perhaps what I found most powerful was the creeping realization -- almost imperceptible -- of the futility of the whole thing. Spirits are high at the start of the book, the sense of purpose almost messianic. But as the stakes climb and the disappointments become harder to justify, the very real limitations of human interventions and the personal toll they take on those who are asked to be involved become apparent. There is a numb feeling of nothingness as the book draws out and the reader is left with a numb emptiness as he realises how little there is left to hope for.
The ending of the book is an awkward attempt at closure (with some interesting words by Ken) but overall suffers from the limited skills of the authors. However, purely for the benefit of the experiences they lived and the lessons they learnt, the book is worth a read.
Oh, and as most others point out, Heidi's sexual exploits (from where the book gets its title) are as sordid and pitiable as they are unnecessary.
December 29, 2006.
Intense Reality Check of History in Our Lifetime.
Rating: 5
This book was absolutely amazing. Written as a memoir from three different perspectives (twenty-somethings working for the UN with widely various backgrounds), the use of point of view is incredible and adds significant insight into the characters and the different aspects of world conflict through the nineties.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in world events or anyone who hates history because it's boring. The detail of character and plot development provide such an interesting foreground for the tumultuous, wartime background that you almost don't even realizing you're learning about real historical events.
Please read this book. It will open your eyes and entertain your socks off.
December 13, 2006.
A gripping, candid story of wartime events which refutes popular myth..
Rating: 5
Here's a winner: a book which reads with all the high drama and action of fiction, but which is a nonfiction first-person story of three U.N. Peacekeepers who exposed atrocities during a decade of peacekeeping missions. This book received much acclaim in hardcover: its paperback rendition includes a new afterword by the authors and provides readers with a gripping, candid story of wartime events which refutes popular myth.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
December 15, 2006.
Book with no Essence.
Rating: 1
This book is a huge disappointment. it is void of anything that is even close to interesting. I was hoping to get a glimpse of the world of the United Nations and the people who work there but instead I got the boring story of three dillusional people 2 of whom worked for the United Nations because they had no other choice available at the time.
One of the characters is so dillusional that he goes soul searching in Israel after he learns about the Apartheid in South Africa but he neglects to mention that Isreal was one of the few countries that supported the racist government in South Africa at the time.
The second one is a wife who was so dependent on her husband that when they got divorced she struggled until she somehow ended up in the UN looking for money.
it was hard to read this book since it follows the lives of the three characters in a Diary style without really anything interesting that keeps the reader going.
I would not recommend this book
December 10, 2001.
A Fun and Motivating Method to Teach Reading and Writing.
Rating: 5
Katie Johnson has demystified whole language with this practical and fun method of teaching young children to read and write. I have had the pleasure of using this book (based on Sylvia Ashton-Warner's philosophy)in a classroom with four and five year olds. My students were delighted to "do their words" every day and they were on the road to becoming literate at an impressive rate. Now I have a four year old of my own, and I am "doing words" with her at home. With Johnson's simple method she is now learning words by sight along with letter sounds, and is learning how to form letters properly. I never have to coax my daughter to "do her words". She comes to me every day and asks, "Can we do our words now?"
December 15, 2006.
Great Mother's Day Gift.
Rating: 5
Ms. Bedford is one of those women who make life a joy for all those who come into contact with her or her writing. To have had her as a mother or grandmother must feel like a gift from God.
Through her short and emotionally charged stories, I found myself carried back into my youth when my Mom would work endless magic by making things herself.
The book contains three sections of stories, ones as a child, as a mother and as a grandmother. The last section is the skimpiest because Ms. Bedford hasn't been a mother as long as she has lived the other two roles.
Her stories capture and build on common elements of healthy relationships like family rituals, special places, shared experiences, favorite tokens, and powerful lessons learned together.
Often, you'll have the urge to do something similar for your children or grandchildren. Go for it! To make that easier, Ms. Bedford has included how to do various simple projects like making a pincushion, baking barefoot cookies, filling a dress up box, decorating plates, and turning clothespins into dolls.
There may also be days when you could use a little mothering. Just read this book and feel embraced by Ms. Bedford's all-encompassing love of life, people and nature. Is it any surprise that she's an enthusiastic bee keeper?
Heart warming is an overused description for books. I felt like any review of this book would be incomplete without that reference. I don't remember a more heart-warming non-fiction book.
December 12, 2005.
So warm!.
Rating: 5
Takes me back to my own childhood, reminded me of things I had not thought of in far too long. Wonderful!
December 04, 2005.
Bedtime Reading.
Rating: 5
A friend gave me this wonderful book and, now that I have read it, I have bought it for my two daughters, my mom and my aunt. The stories create such a wonderful peaceful quality that it is now my preferred bedtime reading. I read one or two stories before falling asleep and, thus, easily settle into gentle slumber. The world Faith writes about may have happened twenty or ten years ago but it still exists if we only care enought to make it happen. She has inspired me to create quiet times of appreciation of nature and family and tradition. I cannot recommend this enough.
December 28, 2005.
Teacher finds wonderful ideas in this book.
Rating: 5
As a long time reader of Country Living I have enjoyed Faith Andrews Bedford's stories very much. But not until I bought this book did I realize how many wonderful ideas for projects for children she incorporated into her stories. I did not begin to subscribe until 2000 but realize that her column "Kids in the Country" has been a part of that magazine for many years. And, obviously, I'd missed some great stories. Her essays are warm and witty and so very true to life. I was deeply moved many times. She taps into the world of children perfectly.
December 24, 2005.
Country Living Barefoot Summers.
Rating: 5
A wonderful, warm book! It shows that life can be good and pleasures found all around us for free.
I was born and raised in Switzerland; nevertheless, my childhood was not dissimilar to Faith's growing up in the United States. No matter what the continent, children remain children and life's delights are equal all over. One just has to open his/her eyes and hearts and savor what is given to us.
December 13, 2006.
More than espionage.
Rating: 5
The three central questions of this trilogy:
1. How do you retain your humanity as your innocence and illusions die?
2. At the end of the day, are you any different or any more right than your enemy?
3. Do the ends justify the means?
See how George Smiley, a titan in the guise of a downtrodden, inconsequential man, learns the answers.
December 22, 2006.
I'll take great trilogies for $1000, Alex....
Rating: 5
Seldom do trilogies work out... for the reader, that is. Most of the time they seem to be some a kind of perverse sandwich, with a bland slice of white bread stuck between the real meat of character and plot (See the Dune Trilogy, for instance).
This is not the case with Le Carre, who deftly uses the Honourable Schoolboy to set us up for the conclusion of Smiley's People. There is no neat linear progression of plot from Tinker Tailor to the denouement, the apprehension of Karla and the triumph, however muted or understated, of George Smiley, but a finely-varied panorama of character, setting, and action, well-paced and well-presented.
Le Carre seems capable of creating fully-realized characters at will, without ever falling into the trap of predictability or homogeneity. His people reveal different facets of their personality from novel to novel. For instance, the Toby Esterhazy of Smiley's People, selling fake Degas bronzes, is a more rounded, more human, but identifiable and convincing extrapolation from the haughtily dismissive Toby of Tinker Tailor.
And such character development takes place within the framework of themes set forth in the first novel, e.g., the stretch between the spy as public servant and as a civilian with very human wants and needs, the gulf between the liberal Smiley who attempts to see the world through the eyes of others - such as when he meets Karla in India - and the fanatical Karla who pays the price for his "lack of moderation", the tension between ideology and personal loyalty - symbolized by the mole's betrayal of his best friend, on the orders of Moscow Centre.
No one is better at creating the milieu of the cold war as a backdrop for the exploration and interplay of personalities.
In short, three great reads.
December 16, 1998.
Le Carre is simply the best !.
Rating: 5
When I make my fantasy list of the best Books I've ever read, Le Carre's trilogy about George Smiley is near the top. The author is difficult reading. You have to pour over most paragraphs, so as not to miss each nouance. Smiley is the ultimate father figure in espionage literature. You are comfortable when he is there and figuring things out, but you marvel at the complexity and difficulty of what he has to do, and how he does it. I commend this to anyone who loves rich characterization, and wants a book he or she will come back to again and again.
December 08, 1998.
Outstanding modern fiction.
Rating: 5
I was interested in the espionage story but what I found most compelling were the characters and how much i grew to care about them over time (especially Smiley). The conclusion, that if you choose the methods of your enemy you are no better than your enemy is quite true. I do not like much modern fiction but found these three novels completely compelling, and have read them twice.
December 08, 1998.
Outstanding modern fiction.
Rating: 5
I was interested in the espionage story but what I found most compelling were the characters and how much i grew to care about them over time (especially Smiley). The conclusion, that if you choose the methods of your enemy you are no better than your enemy is quite true. I do not like much modern fiction but found these three novels completely compelling, and have read them twice.
December 05, 2007.
For Simple Minds.
Rating: 1
If you are already a Pat Robertson type Christian looking for a warm and fuzzy then this book is for you, if you are looking for substantive and meaningful reading then save your money.
Good grief !!!!! This is the same Crack-pot that claims that god talks to him.
Reports have shown that "Predicting events for the coming year is an annual tradition for Robertson."
In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America's coastline in 2006. Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring's heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction.
"I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."
What dose it mean "sometimes I miss" didn't he assert that god was talking to him??? It must have been a bad connection.
There is no way anyone can make Pat Robertson look worse than he already does to himself.
December 26, 2006.
get pumped.
Rating: 3
From the host of the 700 Club comes Miracles Can Be Yours Today, a complete motivational how-to guide based on Pat Robertson's immensely popular television show. Covering everything from nutrition basics, common training mistakes, and powerful mental strategies to specialized training for your body type and the 22 best machine exercises, Miracles Can Be Yours Today appeals to men and women of all ages, from beginner to advanced fitness enthusiast--anyone who desires a stronger, firmer, and shapelier body but does not have the know-how to achieve it. In order to help explain exercises step-by-step, Miracles Can Be Yours Today contains more than 200 photos by the best physique and exercise photographers in the industry. Pat Robertson is a true fitness and motivation authority who has helped thousands reach their absolute best. Let him show you the way to achieve incredible, lifetime-lasting results in the quickest way possible. Pat Robertson lectures throughout the world on fitness, motivation, and high-level success principles. He has worked with such fitness legends as Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Steve Reeves, Lou Ferrigno, Charles Taylor, and Mobutu Sese Seko.
December 28, 2006.
Who couldn't use a miracle?.
Rating: 5
I'm not a person who likes to read, but I couldn't put this book down. It was very insightful and encouraging!! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to see miracles in their lives. The Lord has not stopped performing miracles!! I plan to read this book by Mr. Robertson again very soon.
December 25, 2006.
Captivating Read.
Rating: 5
The book is hard to put down as it leads us through countless examples of how "nothing is impossible for our God!" I loved it especially for reminding me of the years I grew spiritually along with Pat and his ministry. The best chapters are the last where he details how the power of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer.
December 24, 2006.
You really need to read this book!.
Rating: 5
This book is incredibally up lifing and meaningful! I re-read several chapters so the impact and truth of what I was reading could soak in! This is an easy read and tremendously encouraging. I found no fault with Robertson's use of Scripture. This book should not be looked over!
December 18, 2007.
a great work / utter garbage.
Rating: 1
I see there's a few used copies of this one selling for a penny - and rightly so in my opinion. Keeping in mind that I am NOT fanatical about Miller, I say with no doubt that this is quite possibly the most boring book I have ever read - and I love to read. I had to read it for a class, and it was utter torture - so long and drawn out. Beyond boring.
On the other hand, if you ARE a fan of Miller, you'll likely love the book. He wrote 600+ pages on himself, so it's all pretty much in there and in fine detail. And he does deserve respect as a writer.
December 13, 2004.
A long haul very illuminating at times .
Rating: 4
This is a very detailed autobiography. I think the very best parts of it relate to the period of Miller's life when he was a young and eager playwright. The whole story of the first stagings of ' Death of a Salesman'is a truly fascinating one. One of the major problems of the work for me however was that Miller could supply tremendous detail and also insight about people without really probing inwardly very deeply . I also believe he held back a lot of punches, a lot of bitter truth in writing about people closest to him.
A great playwright it turns out may be a very good, but not a great autobiographer.
December 11, 2001.
a useable past.
Rating: 5
In an interview conducted before he wrote this book, Miller said, "I think memoirs, autobiography...can help to translate chaos into something that is a useable past. Give an image where there was only a blur." He suggests the kind of autobiography he would be interested in writing would be more about the time he was living rather than his life, so a reader would "come away from it somehow a little heavier than he went into it." In all of this, TIMEBENDS succeeds wonderfully. I learned a great deal more about the textures, realities and signficance of the 1930s, 40s and 50s through his observations and images than through any linear professional histories. A bonus for those who enjoy seeing and reading Miller's plays is his deliberate selection of significant events and people in his life that show up in the plays in one way or another. And he does have great stories and observations about famous people--Olivier, Clark Gable, etc.-- that are the more conventional pleasures of show biz autobios. Even if he wasn't among the most important American dramatists of our time--perhaps the most important--this book would be a significant literary accomplishment. Miller is a careful writer, so readers perhaps unused to tact and understatement in memoirs are advised to look beyond their expectations to what he actually says. Yet his chapters on Marilyn Monroe were vivid and gave me more of an impression of her as a person than anything else I've read. Miller's voice brings all of this varied material together, and so the reader might approach this book as if listening to a great storyteller. This is a book full of heart, humor, wisdom and perspectives not found elsewhere. It is a treasure and a gift.
December 04, 2001.
jumpy and tiresome.
Rating: 3
After having read 'Timebends,' I can only say that I am grateful that Miller decided on drama rather than the novel as a form of expression. While this autobiography does give us glimpses into a very interesting life, the author, without warning, often abandons his discussion and jumps into some other person he has bumped into along the way. Meanwhile, his family, his wives and children remain shadowy figures at best. At any given point it is anyone's guess to whom Miller is married. I would gladly have exchanged much of the anecdotal material, some of which seems to drag on endlessley, for the more important influences in his life, specifically the women. Only Marilyn Monroe gets the thorough treatment, although I suspect strongly that the mother and the wives were more than simply 'props' in this colorful career. Only toward the end does the mother appear more sharply defined but, sadly, it is at the moment of her passing. I found a great deal of trivial detail which I would have exchanged gladly for insights about the impact of having a family and familial responsibilities while trying to be a writer. The treatment of his marriage to Monroe and his insights into her personality are very worthwhile, as are the discussions of his plays, particularly "Salesman." However, the reader could easily have been spared much of the tedious detail that dominates much of this great tome.
December 04, 2001.
jumpy and tiresome.
Rating: 3
After having read 'Timebends,' I can only say that I am grateful that Miller decided on drama rather than the novel as a form of expression. While this autobiography does give us glimpses into a very interesting life, the author, without warning, often abandons his discussion and jumps into some other person he has bumped into along the way. Meanwhile, his family, his wives and children remain shadowy figures at best. At any given point in the book it is anyone's guess to whom Miller is married. I would gladly have exchanged much of the anecdotal material, some of which seems to drag on endlessley, for the more important influences in his life, specifically the women. Only Marilyn Monroe gets the thorough treatment, although I suspect strongly that the mother and the wives were more than simply 'props' in this colorful career. Only toward the end does the mother appear more sharply defined but, sadly, it is at the moment of her passing. I found a great deal of trivial detail which I would have exchanged gladly for insights about the impact of having a family and familial responsibilities while trying to be a writer. The treatment of his marriage to Monroe and his insights into her personality are very worthwhile, as are the discussions of his plays, particularly "Salesman." However, the reader could easily have been spared much of the tedious detail that dominates much of this great tome.
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