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Customer Reviews (123)

Tinkers by Paul Harding
Tinkers came out of the blue to win the Pulitzer, much to the surprise of countless award prognosticators. Up to that point it seems to have been the small, quiet, special book known only to a select few. If you strip away its sudden fame, you have a lovely story told with obvious talent and a spiritual sense of precision. George's life and impending death is told in snatches of human thought; sounds, feelings, and random memories come up to the surface and leave as quickly as they came. As one man's take on human consciousness in the midst of suffering it is incredibly successful and moving. For a novel, however, there felt like there was something ever so slightly missing that connected the threads together to make the book as powerful as its opening suggests. Still, it is serious American literature, and a welcome release from books which tell instead of show, and filled throughout with a transitory sense of familiarity which is too rare in modern fiction.

Too many laborious descriptive and philosophical ramblings
Marilynne Robinson, author of GILEAD, describes Pulitzer Prize winner TINKERS as"truly remarkable," and as conferring "the illusion of ghostly proximity to other human souls."

Robinson's book is about a minister, and there's one in TINKERS. I had trouble with both of them, namely the long descriptive, philosophical and sermonizing passages that I had to read twice or more to figure out what the heck the characters were trying to say. There just isn't a whole lot of plot.There are also long, monotonous descriptions of clock works, which really didn't tell me much about how a clock works. I guess there's also supposed to be a connection between making a clock and nature. There's a description of building a bird's nest, which seems to require the same amount of patience as fixing a clock. Paul Harding is really good at description, which might be why he employs it so much, but that's no reason to ignore plot.

The book jumps back and forth between a grandfather (the minister), a father (a peddler or tinker) and the son, an antique clock repairman, who is dying on the first page of the book.

Howard Crosby, the peddler, has epilepsy, and there was also mental problem with his father, the minister, although we never specifically find out what it is. All of this affects George: the lack of a father, the lack of money as a youth.

Howard is probably the main character of the book as his epilepsy and amiable nature get him in all kinds of trouble, with his wife especially. I cared about Howard and worried about what would happen to him and wondered why he did certain things, some of which might be unforgivable to certain people.


The ending is so ironic some might say author Paul Harding wrote it first and tried to make the rest of the book fit.

good story entwined with boring lapses
This was a book club selection. I donated the CD set to our local library as I would not give it to family or friends (that would indicate I liked the book). I did enjoy the people and the stories but there were too many confusing times where the characters went off into a poetic universe. I found it terribly difficult to follow.

Beautiful
This novel is a kaleidoscope of beautiful views of life.Often startling, always touching, it draws the reader into a unique way of seeing the world we live in.

Coffee and tobacco stains

Very strange. Focus on prose descriptions of details of various New England environments, almost a stream of consciousness from the view of those dying or reflecting on the dying of Howard, Howard's father, and George (Howard's son). We note the smells or lack thereof, the flowers, to room arrangements, dust, and spend hours sitting in ponds wondering about Indians. Two wonderful tidbits for me included visits with a hermit and the gradual disappearance of a minister who clearly entered the world of books.
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Customer Reviews (2)

The 5th Book in the Series
This is the fifth book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. This novel combined with the early books in the Hugh Corbett series is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty has found another winner with the Brother Athelstan series.

This books charts a mysterious happening on the river Thames, the life blood of the City of London in medieval times. An event that calls for all the skill and aptitude of the Sir John and Brother Athelstan. The pairing who have solved many of the more recent crimes, mysteries and murders in the London streets.

A ship of war has dropped anchor in the murky waters of the Thames and during the night, the entire watch of the ship, God's Bright Light, disappear, apparently without any trace. After a series of unaccounted for deaths and strange happening the Coroner and Brother Athelstan find themselves drawn into the thick of a bloody battle . . .

This riddle's worth solving (and reading)!
It's no riddle as to whether the seventh--and possibly final--episode of Paul Harding's "The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan" is an exciting read or not. It is!

In "The Assassin's Riddle," Harding continues the escapades, adventures, and good deeds of Brother Athelstan, the Dominican friar of St. Erconwald's parish in Southwark in fourteenth century London. Harding forwards his usual cast of characters in this medieval mystery and, once again, we find them abroil in yet another set of mysteries.

Someone is killing off the clerks at the Chancery of the Green Wax; someone has stolen a fortune in silver from the Crown, committing murder at the same time; there has appeared a holy mystery at the church: a crucifix that bleeds; and the Bishop is thinking of transferring Athelstan to Oxford. And who is better suited to solve these mysteries than Brother Athelstan, parish priest and secretarius to Sir John Cranston, the King's Coroner for the City of London! Naturally, pressure is applied from the Crown, in the form of the Regent, John of Gaunt, to have the killings stopped and (most important to John) to get the silver back.

These murders are always accompanied by a riddle, the solution of which, as the good friar knows, will reveal the murderer....The relationship between Athelstan, who loves riddles and other cerebral conundrums, is the alter ego of Sir John, whom Harding describes as a man who loves "his wife, his twin sons, his dogs, and especially this gentle friar with the sharp brain and dry sense of humor." As Cranston tells his wife, "I can number my friends on one hand and still have enough fingers left to make a rude gesture at the Regent. Athelstan's my friend." And it is this relationship that is one of the major attributes of Harding's series.

As in the previous two books, there is a question as to whether Athelstan will stay at St. Erconwald's (for one, he is immensely popular with his parishioners, and both the Bishop and the Regent fear this popularity; for another, the Bishop feels his brilliance would be better served lecturing to the students at Oxford). Another strong point of Harding's writing is the authentic description of the times, from the grime and refuse of the city's streets to its inhuman treatment of its poor and criminals to addressing health problems of the time, particularly the plague. He also scores points with his sensitivity of character construction: Benedicta the widow, Ursula the pig woman and her pet sow, the Fisher of Men, and Athelstan's devoted horse Philomel and cat Bonaventure. The author does not hesitate to put forth the goodness in Athelstan, who has the ability to see goodness in others, often in the least expected places.

"The Assassin's Riddle" may well be the last of this series (one hopes not), but it is not a puzzle that goes unsolved. It's a quick read--as is the entire series-- but it is not a puzzle that goes unsolved. It's well worth the little effort it takes to read it. ... Read more

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The untimely death of King Edward III spurs a battle for the throne reserved for ten-year-old Richard, and Dominican Brother Athelstan is sent to investigate the death of the king. Reprint. PW. ... Read more

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The Nightingale Gallery
Very well written and enjoyable to read. It contained a lot of actual history and a lot of humor. Right up there with Brother Cadfel.

First in the Series
This is the first book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. This novel combined with the early books in the Hugh Corbett series is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty has found another winner with the Brother Athelstan series.

This book brings together an unlikely pair of medieval detectives in Brother Athelstan, a friar at one of the many impoverished churches in London and coroner Sir John Cranston. They are called upon to inquire into the death of a powerful London merchant. The man has been poisoned and their inquires bring the pair into contact not only with secretive nobles crafty priests and the assorted dregs of London's gutters.

The book is set in 1376, at a time when the English crown is in the hands of a young boy, the future Richard II. ... Read more

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An Assassin on the Loose
This is the seventh book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. This novel combined with the early books in the Hugh Corbett series is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty has found another winner with the Brother Athelstan series.

Sir John Cranston, the Coroner for the whole of the City of London, is well liked by the people of the city and few will stand in his way when he is trying to solve a crime in the city. But the case that he is involved with at the moment, with the help of is secretary and friend Brother Athelstan appears to have no witnesses and no one who can throw any light onto why the murders are happening.

Sir John had been call to watch the corpse of one Edwin Chapler, pulled out of the Thames. Normally the river men would have some idea of what had happened, but nobody knows, or if they do they are not saying. When more clerks are murdered Cranston and Brother Athelstan know they are up against something far more sinister than a drunken brawl. ... Read more

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A timely updating of the only accessible single volume guide to the agreements and contracts used by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

Customer Reviews (2)

Worth Buying
The book comes in with good condition. Thanks Amazon. This book is good for those novice and professional who works in the financial industry who require a good understanding on the terms of ISDA Mater Agreement. I would strongly recommend this book as the bible of ISDA Agreement.

A good guide to ISDA MA
If you are a law school student eager to be a finance lawyer, a lawyer practicing in the finance, or a businessman who deals with financial derivatives, you probably need to read this book to know what the ISDA MA and Schedule is. The ISDA MA and the relative documents family are a kind of very 'Specified' matters so it is hard to find some appropriate information via online even on Google. This book is suitable for someone who is interested in, or needs to know the wordings and statements used in financial derivatives field. This book uses easy English and easy phrases so that a foreign reader like me can read without difficulties. I would give 5 stars unless my book is incorrectly collated. The pages from 243 to 274 has gone. I have no idea whether it is just my problem or not. I recommend you to buy this book if you have enough luck to choose a normal one. ... Read more

Product Description
An old man lies dying. Confined to bed in his living room, he sees the walls around him begin to collapse, the windows come loose from their sashes, and the ceiling plaster fall off in great chunks, showering him with a lifetime of debris: newspaper clippings, old photographs, wool jackets, rusty tools, and the mangled brass works of antique clocks. Soon, the clouds from the sky above plummet down on top of him, followed by the stars, till the black night covers him like a shroud. He is hallucinating, in death throes from cancer and kidney failure.A methodical repairer of clocks, he is now finally released from the usual constraints of time and memory to rejoin his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler, whom he had lost seven decades before. In his return to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in the backwoods of Maine, he recovers a natural world that is at once indifferent to man and inseparable from him, menacing and awe inspiring.Tinkers is about the legacy of consciousness and the porousness of identity from one generation to the next. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, it is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature. ... Read more

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Times are Getting Difficult for John of Gaunt
This is the sixth book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. This novel combined with the early books in the Hugh Corbett series is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty has found another winner with the Brother Athelstan series.

The year is 1380, John of Gaunt, Regent of all England and becoming more and more unpopular by the day, sends the coroner of London, Sir John Cranston and his friend and associate Brother Athelstan toinvestigate the murders of the Shrewsbury representatives. The assassin must be found before the parliament suspects him of ordering or doing the deed himself. Unfortunately brother Athelstan and Sir John both have problems of their own to contend with. ... Read more

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Your complete, line-by-line guide to the TBMA/ISMA Global Master Repo Agreement, the US Master Repo Agreement and the European Master Agreements. ... Read more

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In response to the continuing and growing use of collateral by banks and other financial institutions, this is the first comprehensive book on the subject.This practical guide provides negotiators with a clear, concise explanation of the topic, from an operational perspective and with particular focus on the five ISDA Credit Support Documents. Collateral is now big business. In January 2001 the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) calculated that between US$175-200 billion was pledged as collateral to protect credit exposure in the derivatives market. The authors estimate that 20-25% of interest rate and currency swap trades are now covered by collateral. This book describes collateral documentation in jargon-free, concise terms making it the must have book for all junior and experienced negotiators in this field. ... Read more

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The murder of the Tower of London's tyrannical constable and a string of grave robberies suggest a conspiracy to the medieval friar and his Falstaffian companion. By the author of The Nightingale Gallery. Reprint. AB. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

series is great but needs more titles
i read the first and second in this series this weekend-these are must reads for those who like medievil mysteries.^The plots are outstanding and you find yourself identifying with athelstan and the widow benedicta.There is romanse mystery and terrific plots.Not to downgrade ellis peters but i am not sure his novels are quite as good as these.These are books you cant put down and after reading them you will wonder as i did why the author stopped writing them.Read these and you wont be disappointed ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Wordsworth Circle, published by Wordsworth Circle on September 22, 2009. The length of the article is 1621 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Paul Hamilton, Coleridge and German Philosophy: The Poet in the Land of Logic.(Book review)
Author: Anthony John Harding
Publication: Wordsworth Circle (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2009
Publisher: Wordsworth Circle
Volume: 40Issue: 4Page: 145(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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A simple biography of the popular Senator from Ohio who was elected as twenty-ninth president of the United States in 1920. ... Read more

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Note from Publisher: This is the old edition of Lonely Planet's guide to Scandinavian Europe.

Lonely Planet's new edition of Scandinavian Europe may be found by typing the ISBN number, 174059925X, into the search box.

The fantastic new 7th edition has new excursions to St Petersburg and Tallinn, complete with excellent maps, unmatched regional itineraries for maximum experience, and a Getting Started chapter and Directory which make practical information handy.

Lonely Planet's new guide to Scandinavian Europe covers Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, plus gateway information to Tallinn and St Petersburg. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Unreliable information. Very disappointed.
Sometimes I wonder if LP is getting complacent because of their brand name and is not doing as good a job validating the information published.I used this guide in my recent travel to 4 countries in the Scandinavia.For every country, at least 50% of the information on cafes/restaurants/hotels were incorrect.Eg. in Helsinki, I went to 4 restaurants listed on the book. Out of 4, only 1 is correct.The other 3 have either closed down, moved or changed owners and is no longer serving what the guide describes. The friend who was travelling with me even asked me to toss the guidebook away, after the time we've wasted getting to all the restaurants/cafes that no longer exists.In my final stop, Norway, I was really hesitant to use the guide further, as it made so many mistakes. I did use it one more time to book the Norway-In-A-Nutshell package as per the book's recommendation and directions.What I found out later, through other travellers, was that it is better to book this at the train station and each leg separately, rather than as a package.By booking each leg separately, you can easily save up to Kr 400 (which is ~ USD 65, Euro 50).The amount of effort and time to do either is the same.I am hugely disappointed by LP's efforts in research and updating the information they publish.

Hostel Listings
Lets face it this book is for backpackers trying to sqeeze by in an expensive place like Scandinavia.If you want to read about the region than your going to need another book.Outside the major citites this book probably lacks coverage but in the cities it is a completely different story.I did some major hosteling in Scandinavia due to budget constraints.Many of these hostels were the nicest ones I have ever seen.If you want to hostel around Scandinavia this book is the most useful lonely planet I have yet to purchase out a dozen or so.

do not get this guide. no details
After using several Lonely Planet books, I was thoroughly disappointed with this guide. The guide stuffs Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Do that many people hit Greenland and the main Scandinavian countries in the same trip to justify putting it in the same book? The result is that the book is short on detail, even the basic "Things to Do" that you can find in a competing Scandinvian guide. The guide is about 1/3 the size of just the Finland book, but about the same price. ... Read more

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AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome) is one of the most perplexing health problems confronting everyone today. The Essential AIDS Fact Book can help you to protect your health now -- while scientists work toward developing a vaccine and better treatments.

TRANSMISSION ROUTES -- the infection that causes AIDS is transmitted only through the transfer of infected blood or sexual fluids, or from mother to fetus

RISK REDUCTION GUIDELINES -- how to assess the risk of specific sexual activities; how to make your sex life safer, including proper use of condoms; what intravenous drug users should know about AIDS prevention

THE TRUTH ABOUT CASUAL CONTACT -- no danger from ordinary nonsexual contact with infected people, according to scientific studies

ANTIBODY TESTING -- why new developments in treatment mean that all those at significant risk for being infected should be anonymously antibody tested; why a positive test result is not the same as a diagnosis of AIDS; the importance of counseling

NEW TREATMENTS -- how infected people can stay healthier longer; immune function monitoring with T4 cell counts; the most dangerous infection in AIDS is now preventable; use of antivirals can slow the disease

INSURANCE AND LEGAL INFORMATION -- how to get and keep your health insurance; how to fight discrimination and preserve confidentiality

RESOURCE GUIDE -- hot line numbers, AIDS education, counseling, anonymous testing sites, medical information, legal advice.

A portion of the proceeds from this book will be contributed to AIDS education and research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well written medieval mystery
It is sad but inevitable that Paul Harding's novels about Brother Athelstan havebeen overshadowed by the Cadfael series by Ellis Peters .The series heroes have much in common --both are medieval religionists with military backgrounds who have the uncanny knack of getting involved with ,and solving ,criminal cases .Both are partnered by the "official wing " of the law -Cadfael by sheriff Hugh Beringar ,and Athelstan by the mountainous and wine loving Sir John Cranston .
Yet they are not really alike -Athelstan is a friar ,not a cloistered monk .He is free to wander the filthy ,grime encrusted streets of London rather than while away his time in a rural herb garden ,behind monastery walls .Indeed it could be argued that in the Athelstan books we have the equivalent of a middle ages " hard boiled " novel to act as counterpoint to the "cosies " of the Cadfael series .Certainly, a great asset of the books is the evocation of place namely late fourteeenth century London ,here in the grip of a bitter ,bone chilling winter .The Thames is frozen ,and death from exposure is evidenced on every street corner .Unrest is in the air -and signs of what soon became open revolt ( the Peasant's Revolt )are in the air
Murder has been done in the Tower of London ,the Constable ,a man named Witton ,having had his throat cut in a locked bedchamber having just four days previously received a death threat seemingly from Islamic "hashishi" aka "assassins".They are not the only suspects however as he was widely disliked and feared .Soon another knight is killed and the deaths prove to be linked to acts of theft committed in Egypt during the Crusades

Athelstan also finds time to investigate another bizarre crime -grave robbing ,

It is quite a dark book ;there are several deaths ,every street corner groans with the bodies of executed criminals and London emerges as a cesspit of disease ,ignorance and poverty .Yet it is withal a book with its share of humour and compassion .Athelsatn is a convincing hero and a human one ,still grieving for his deceased brother Francis ,and nursing a unrequited and undeclared passion for a member of his congregation ,Benedicta .There is also the splendid and very Falstaffian creation of Sir John- roistering ,vulgar from time to time ,but a charitable man and head over heels in love with Maud his wife and ruler of the household

This is one for those who enjoy their history with mystery in darker shades than most

... Read more