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Arnold Bennett was born in England in 1867.He published many works of both fiction and non-fiction and was quite well known in his day.During the First World War he became
Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information.

In 1922, he separated from his wife and fell in love with actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he stayed for the rest of his life. He died of typhoid at his home in Baker Street, London, on 27 March 1931, after returning from a visit to France.

The Human Machine is one of Bennett's works of non-fiction based on the premise that times change bu human psychology remains same.Many people consider this book, first published in 1925 to be the precursor to Napoleon Hill's famous book entitled Think and Grow Rich.

Here is what Bennett himself said about this book:

t has never struck you that you possess a machine?That machine is yourself. You are the most fascinating bit of machinery that ever was.Considering that we have to spend the whole of our lives in this human machine, considering that it is our sole means of contact and compromise with the rest of the world, we really do devote to it very little attention.When I say ‘we,’ I mean our inmost spirits, the instinctive part, the mystery within that exists.And when I say ‘the human machine’ I mean the brain and the body - and chiefly the brain.

Two reviews from Amazon.com -

"This small text has more common sense packed in it than most epics. After reading this for the second time, I was amazed at how simple the premises are. I would recommend this to anyone who may be in search of enlightenment or just simply searching for a good read."

"The Human Machine contains all that stuff which a person needs to know to have smooth relations with his peers and superiors. That is to say it deals with your self!!! The author teaches you in a persuasive manner how to get along with people in today's world and thereby avoid many of the tensions/worries which you may have to face otherwise. The book is certainly worth buying. " ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1911. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Train your brain!
Witty, charming, and insightful. This short but succinct book has all the wisdom you need to live a fulfilling and happy life.

Far More Substance than Style
Pompous, grandiose, smug, self-righteous, verbally archaic... and ultimately truthful. THM is a "self-help" book of its day: No mamby-pamby sneaking up on the subject at hand a la John Bradshaw, Melody Beattie, Claudia Black or Eckhardt Tolle. This is strictly Teddy Roosevelt stuff: Accept your shortcomings and =do= something about them. Fine and dandy for those who can, but of course, most of us (and most of =them= a century ago) have defense mechanisms galore, and THM is anything but Freudian.

THM =is= great stuff. But anyone who's been down the human potential highway will see pretty quickly that Bennett was writing here at the milestone at which the newly aware =know= they have found The Grail and are =disgusted= with those who haven't (or won't), having forgotten that they themselves spent years or decades in the dark. If the reader can get past that, however, there's a lot of good, sort of pre-neural-linguistic programming observation, dedication and cognitive re-training here.

Bennett's method or technique is not nearly as well reduced to precise activities as, say, Wilson's (1939), Ellis's (1961) or Beck's (1976). (I'd add Dyer (1977), but since he ripped off Ellis and Beck without giving them credit, =and= he's far less methodical than either of them...) In more recent times, cognitive-behavioral therapists like Wessler et al, Young, and Garrett have refined mind retraining even further.

Bennett was on the right track, however. And for those interested in how we got from Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius through Hume, Lock, Rousseau and Voltaire to where we are now, this may be an intriguing little side trip.

Eye-Opening
This small text has more common sense packed in it than most epics. After reading this for the second time, I was amazed at how simple the premises are. I would recommend this to anyone who may be in search of enlightenment or just simply searching for a good read.

The best way to deal with your self!!!
The Human Machine contains all that stuff which a person needs to know to have smooth relations with his peers and superiors. That is to say it deals with your self!!! The author teaches you in a persuasive manner how to get along with people in todays' world and thereby avoid many of the tensions/worries which you may have to face otherwise. The book is certainly worth buying. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

a world starved of generosity
The novel, Riceyman Steps, though nowhere as successful as his bestwork Old Wives Tale, nonetheless deserves plaudits forambition and its tight focus on three expertly-drawn characters. The sentences are beautiful and give profound insights intocharacters, but lack of incident and forward action leave us with little desire to proceed. Characters don't really make choices to change their fate; instead, they live on and on, with the occasional traumatic episode thrown in for good measure.The best thing about the work is howavoids stereotypes about character types; for example, a miser may have real qualms about spending money, but can be persuaded in the right context to spend lavishly (though later he will resent doing so). I had a lot of trouble with the ending (which I'll spell out only obliquely, although there isn't much suspense); first, why did the novel give so much prominence to Joe (the housekeeper's boyfriend)near the ending? It seemed out of place.Second, the death doesn't really have any meaning except to confirm the narrator's view that people ultimately get what they deserve. Okay, fine, but did the characters really choose their fates (or were they merely burdened by their ill habits?) Bennett doesn't really present any alternatives; are any people in his world capable of living salutary lifestyles? That, I think, is a flaw of the novel; it fails to give us a glimpse into people who are avoiding the pitfalls of the protagonists.Conspicuously absent are children in this novel; there are literally no opportunities in this novel for the characters to display generosity or affection towards the outside world.How much of this penury is simply a result of the couple's being childless? Bennett seemsconvinced that these people are not particularly sinister and even deserving of sympathy; still, the book's ultimate purpose is moralistic; itexhort us to examine our hearts to see if we possess the same myopic shortcomings.

SUMMARY: Nowhere near as great as Old Wives' Tale (and much slower), but a must-read for Bennett fans.

Dire
This book is absolutely dire. Bennett, in a desperate attempt to produce literature on par with the French authors he was so inspired by, wrote this lamentably bad novel. He is often compared to Dickens, who he frankly has no right to be compared to. Dickens is totally out of the league of this author. This book is uninteresting with awkwardly drawn characters. It was a challenge to be bothered to read until the end. It is for a very good reason that Woolf called him a "little grocer" and observed "I have formed my own opinion of what Mr. Bennett is about - he is trying to make us imagine for him; he is trying to hynotize us into the belief that, because he has made a house, there must be a person living there." Exactly.

Another Bennett masterpiece
I can't beat that other review from Taipei - read the book

My Fifth Reading Was the Best Yet!
Why do I return to 'Riceyman Steps' every six years or so?Who can resist it?Arnold Bennett has created a fascinating world, one that we as readers are privileged to enter.The basic story and characters grab you immediately; you NEED to know what will happen, you want desperately for itall to turn out well.Bennett understands how fragile we all are, and yethow our passions can drive us.His understanding of the human heart is asperfect as 'Riceyman Steps.Don't miss this one!

A case-study of a miser
This is one of my favorite Bennett novels and one of the more idiosyncratic. If you ever wanted to experience the claustrophobic world of a true miser, and learn what it is like to live with one, this is yourbook. And it's vintage Bennett. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
In the Five Towns human nature is reported to be so hard that you can break stones on it. Yet sometimes it softens, and then we have one of our rare idylls of which we are very proud, while pretending not to be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An absolute gem of a book
This is a perfect little book; complete and magical.The warmth of Bennett's humanity glows from the pages. Innocent, funny and absolutely lovely.

Light, funny, quaint
If you read this book, you'll know why the Savoy in London serves a dish called Omelette Arnold Bennett. And although it's not one of his "important" novels, you'll also have read something light,amusing and quaint in a similar way to Grand Babylon Hotel. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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BURIED ALIVE CHAPTER I The Puce Dressing-gown THE peculiar angle of the earths axis to the plane of the ecliptic that angle which is chiefly re- sponsible for our geography and therefore for our history had caused the phenomenon known in London as summer. The whizzing globe happened to have turned its most civilized face away from the sun, thus producing night in Selwood Terrace, South Kensington. In No. 9 1 Selwood Terrace two lights, on the ground-floor and on the first-floor, were silently proving that mans ingenuity can outwit natures. No. 91 was one of about ten thousand similar houses between South Kensington Station and North End Road. With its grimy stucco front, its cellar kitchen, its hundred stairs and steps, its perfect inconvenience, and its conscience heavy with the doing to death of sundry general servants, it uplifted tin chimney-cowls to heaven and gloomily awaited the day of judgment for London houses, sublimely ignoring the axial and orbital velocities of the earth and even the reckless flight of the whole solar system through space. You felt that No. 91 was unhappy, and that it could only be rendered happy by a To let standard in its front patch and a No bottles card in its cellar-windows. It pos- sessed neither of these specifics. Though of late generally empty, it was never untenanted. In the entire course of its genteel and commodious career it had never once been to let. Go inside, and breathe its atmosphere of a bored house that is generally empty yet never untenanted. All its twelve rooms dark and forlorn, save two its cellar kitchen dark and forlorn just these two rooms, one on the top of the other like boxes, pitifully struggling against the inveterate gloom of the remaining ten Stand in the dark hall and get this atmosphere into your lungs. The principal, the startling thing in the illuminated room on the ground-floor was a dressing-gown, of the colour, between heliotrope and purple, known to a previous generation as puce a quilted garment stuffed with swansdown, light as hydrogen nearly, and warm as the smile of a kind heart old, perhaps, possibly worn in its outlying regions and allowing fluffs of feathery white to escape through its satin pores but a dressing-gown to dream of. It dominated the unkempt, naked apartment, its volup- tuous folds glittering crudely under the sun-replacing oil lamp which was set on a cigar-box on the staineddeal table. The oil lamp had a glass reservoir, a chipped chimney, and a cardboard shade, and had probably cost less than a florin five florins would have purchased the table and all the rest of the furniture, including the arm-chair in which the dress- ing-gown reclined, a stool, an easel, three packets of cigarettes and a trouser-stretcher, might have been replaced for another ten florins. Up in the corners of the ceiling, obscure in the eclipse of the cardboard shade, was a complicated system of cobwebs to match the dust on the bare floor. Within the dressing-gown there was a man. This man had reached the interesting age... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mediocre
This is about a painter who fakes his death and the things that happen as a result. It's OK, nothing special about it. The ending just fizzles out- some kind of a surprise would have been nice. It's short and doesn't take long to read.
... Read more

Product Description
The Regent is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Arnold Bennett is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Arnold Bennett then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

OK
I'm pretty sure that the story of Judith is in the bible, but not having read it I can't compare that version with this play. So, looking at this play simply as a play, I found it short and easy to read, with only a handful of characters that are of any significance. The characters address each other as 'thou' and they put 'st or 'eth' at the end of verbs, which authors seem to think makes things sound biblical. There's a moderate amount of religious reference such as talk about gods, prayer and obedience. I guess all of this boils down to: I'm not much enthused by this play and don't recommend it very strongly. ... Read more

Product Description
Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
From the day he first saw the smoke of the Five Towns, Edward Henry Machin was destined for fame. He forged his way into a scholarship and into the Municipal Ball. He wheeled and dealed through the length and breadth of the Five Towns and Llandudno. By the author of "The Grand Babylon Hotel". ... Read more

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People were talking to each other as they groped about in the road, and either making jokes at the expense of the new Electricity Department, or frankly cursing it with true Five Towns directness of speech. And as Mr Blackshaw went down the hill into the town his heart was as black as the street itself with rage and disappointment. He had made his child cry! ... Read more

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1910. Contents: daily miracle; desire to exceed one's program; precautions before beginning; cause of the trouble; tennis and the immortal soul; remember human nature; controlling the mind; reflective mood; interest in the arts; nothing in life is humdrum; serious reading; dangers to avoid. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Enlightening
In a word: enlightening. I find the book as applicable today as I'm sure it was back then. This is surprising in more than one way.

Time Management Explored
Quaint but interesting look at how to live life long before there was technology living a great deal of it for us.A fascinating read from a historical point of view. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Best book I have ever read!!!
How to Make the Best of Life deals with every day problems we humans have to face.The best part is it mentions what are the problems we face and gives the methods to deal with them. It is suitable for reader of every age. You will never, I repeat, never regret after buying it. ... Read more

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The piece was a West End success so brilliant that even if you belonged to the intellectual despisers of the British theatre you could not hold up your head in the world unless you had seen it; even for such as you it was undeniably a success of curiosity at least. ... Read more

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The Author's Craft
Books and Persons
Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days
The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns
Clayhanger
The Ghost
The Grand Babylon Hotel
The Great Adventure
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
Helen with the High Hand
Hilda Lessways
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
Hugo
The Human Machine
Judith
Leonora
The Lion's Share
The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories
Mr. Prohack
The Old Wives' Tale
The Plain Man and His Wife
The Pretty Lady
The Price of Love
The Regent
The Roll-Call
Sacred And Profane Love
Tales of the Five Towns
The Title ... Read more