Product Description
Tired of always being cold, Pablo, a penguin, decides to move from the South Pole to a warmer climate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Great Book!
This is wonderful story that is timeless & classic.I read this book to my daugher almost every night & wanted to give this as a gift recently at a baby shower.Unfortunaltely, it is no longer in print.Here is yet another case of Disney ruining a childhood memory like they did with their control over the Muppet movies and shows.I am so glad I found it, even though it is used, and hope it will bring many more happy memories to the next generation -- despite Disney's megalomanic need to control everything.

My child's favorite book
My 18-month-old loves books - she will pick a book out of her stack and will hand us the book to read to her .... usually her attention will last for one page and she will get up to get the next book. Not when she sees Pablo. She will snuggle up closely and is very attentive throughout the book. When we point to Pablo sipping a drink in his hammock on the last page, she closes the book and opens it up to the beginning and we start again. There is something about Pablo and his story that she can relate to, or maybe we are so into the story as well that gets her attention.

Just The Best
It is a shame the book is not available. When I was 4, I had it all planned out. My Grandmother had the perfect bathtub. It is sad that I never got it to work. Long Live Pablo.

And where is Benny The Bus. Another great kids book. The story line has Benny being sick of the same old routes and the same people so he takes off without his driver. Everything is great for awhile then Benny needs maintenance and water. Benny never thought of these problems.

Of course in the end Benny shows up at the Bus Depot and he and his driver live on in infamy.

I love this book !!
This has been my favorite book ever since I was a kid.I read it until the book literally fell apart.Now, 30 years later, I was thrilled when my Aunt found a copy of this book for me.I just recently learned that this book was re-released in 1996 under the name "The Penguin WHO Hated the Cold" (as opposed to the name "The Penguin THAT Hated the Cold"). I am sure that anyone who reads this book will fall in love with it.

Pablo the Penguin
Surprisingly enough, this book is about a penguin named Pablo who hates the cold. One day Pablo decides that he has had enough of this cold weather. "It is silly to be chilly. I will go where I can be warm all the time." Pablo decides to try skiing farther north, but the stove strapped to his back causes more problems than Pablo expects. His next attempt to leave also fails, but by the third time he has come up with a reasonably good plan: he turns the ice his igloo sits on into a boat and sails away. This causes problems later, but he still manages to find a nice warm island home where he lives happily ever after.

The story flows nicely and has no awkward spots. The pictures are wonderful. I never realized just how expressive a penguin's face could be until I saw this book. The pictures are bright, colorful, bold, and simple. The whole book is a lot of fun. How could one not have fun with the idea of a penguin that hates the cold? I love this book for it.

Loggie-log-log-log ... Read more

Product Description
Renowned science writer Wayne Lynch has a passion and fascination for the members of the penguin family. A self-described "penguin addict,"he has logged more than 130,000 miles to sit among hundreds, sometimes even thousands of penguins on the far-flung beaches of the Galapagos Islands, Chile, Antarctica and New Zealand. This stocky little bird survives a rocky adolescence and adulthood, to experience territorial squabbles, "marriages," attacks by sea mammals and sometimes months without food as it incubates its eggs through the unrelenting winter. With lively, humorous writing and unforgettable photographs, "Penguins!" explores the daily lives of this feisty seabird survivor.

Wayne Lynch is the author of award-winning books and television documentaries, a popular guest lecturer and a well-known and widely published professional wildlife photographer. He is also the author of "Bear, Bears, Bears," and the adult books, "A is for Arctic" and "Penguins of the World," also published by Firefly Books. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Penguins! by Wayne Lynch
A terrific book for any child who has a strong interest in penguins.Pictures are wonderful - but I would have liked to see a specific picture for each type of penguin described with each penguin's characteristics noted in the picture's caption. ... Read more

Product Description
“Dunbar’s winsome mixed-media illustrations carry the day in a story that pulls a few punches on readers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice
A Baker’s Dozen: Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy Selection (Pennsylvania)

Ben rips open his present and finds a penguin inside. “Hello, Penguin!” he says. “What shall we play?” But Penguin says nothing. Even when Ben tickles its belly, does a dizzy dance, and sticks out his tongue, Penguin makes no response. What will it take for Penguin to say something — or for Ben to understand what Penguin has to say? Spare illustrations bring whimsy to this offbeat tale, in which a little boy gets his heart’s desire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Penguin Says What?
In this delightful little tale from Polly Dunbar, a little boy named Ben receives a live penguin as a present.The boy is eager to become friends with the animal and have it talk.He tries everything to get the animal to speak, but the penguin doesn't say a word.Then a lion comes along and really makes the story interesting.

This is a wonderful book that will appeal not only to younger children who can't read, but to children who are just beginning to read.The book is very playful and imaginative with just the right word combination.

I love penguins and I loved this book and look forward to sharing it with children I know.

Cute and fun to read
My 4 year old is a penguin fanatic and this book fits the bill.It has a silly dry humor that she totally gets. I would recommend this one.

Communication Challenge

Penguin seems not to be able to talk.

This won't surprise parents and other adult readers since he's a present in a box wrapped in polka dot paper. Ben, the recipient, rips off the paper, opens the box, and the action gets underway.

"Hello Penguin" says Ben.

That's when the problems start.

Penguin, who looks like a fat tuxedoed bowling pin with undersized feet and an oversized beak, doesn't respond.

Oh yeah. He also has a tail. It looks to be about the right size.

Ben tries just about everything (including trying to feed Penguin to a passing lion) in the effort to elicit a response from his new friend.

Nothing works.

Finally, in sheer exasperation he shouts, "SAY SOMETHING!"

This is when things spin out of control.

Lion, who happens to be a shade of turquoise with a bright blue mane, is apparently startled by the loud noise and gobbles up Ben.

After this, Lion looks quite contented, but suddenly Penguin looks mad. He glares at Lion, and then, most unexpectedly, bites him on the nose, securing Ben's release.

This catharsis cures Penguin of his speech-impaired condition. He now waxes eloquent, in a rich and colorful pictorial language all his own.

Polly Dunbar has written a delightful and very satisfying book, clearly deserving of its status as 2007 Booktrust Early Years Awards Winner (Pre-School Category).

Finding the Right Words
Penguin is a delightful picture book that not only is likely to appeal to imaginative young children but also can shed some light for parents on the frustrations of early language development.Children whose language is still emerging can act the little boy in the story--or the penguin as they try to find the right words to say or to respond to someone else. One of the delights of the book is the way imaginative play is built right into the book as a toy lion turns ferocious and then is tamed again.

Penguin Says...
My almost 2 year old son loves this book and we read it day and night.The repetitive nature of the story gives him lots of opportunities to join in the reading plus he is able to act out the way the main character, Ben, interacts with his new penguin.It is always a lot of fun. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Gentle and remote Beauty I do not really understand
This anthology contains samples of Japanese poetry from all its major periods. It contains a long introduction which focuses on Japanese prosody and the particular and special qualities of Japanese as a language. I felt while reading it that I could never really get the feel of the poetry without knowing Japanese. This does not mean the translations do not make for interesting reading. But there is something very repetetive about them. The poems are short and in small lines. Japanese poetry is syllabic and depends a good deal on assonance and alliteration. It also depends on a kind of tonal language which I suspect simply does not translate. The poems are often about Nature, or rather the human perception of and encounter with nature. Often there is sadness and loss in them and a kind of fading loneliness.There is often a certain kind of gentle and remote Beauty in them. There are different kinds of poems for instance one set written by soldiers guarding the frontier has a strong Stoic quality. Among the major form of Japanese poetry, are the tanka, and for Western readers,the haiku. While the anthology provides short biographies of the writers it does not give any kind of real individual analysis of major figures like Basho, Buson, Issa. The poetry is pervaded by a sense of the fleetingness of the moment, of life, of time. It is without any kind of extensive narrative or speculation or even reflection. It is a poetry of hint and suggestion, of concision, of fragmentary perception. I often had the sense that I simply did not get a poem did not have the kind of flash of intuition which I suspect is required to understand most of these poems. I certainly had by myself no tool for, no means of distinguishing truly between the better poems and the lesser ones.

by all means place a special order
I stumbled across this book at a garage sale in southside Chicago.Thoughthen 15 years old, it still had its cellophane wrapping intact.I pity thepeople who had it for so long and never peeked in, because it is abeautiful collection of poetry.It samples a wide range, from around 1000a.d. to the 20th century (much of it tanka and haiku).At around 200 pagesthe book is a bit short for the task, but what is here is superblyrendered, and many of these poems can fill an afternoon with reveries. Ihave taken this book with me everwhere. ... Read more

Product Description
Offering a dazzling overview of a turbulent century, The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century explores the dramatic events and underlying trends that made the twentieth century the most transformative in human history. Despite two devastating World Wars and the traumatic rise and fall of communism, wealth has increased significantly alongside a four-fold leap in population, women’s lives have been transformed, America has assumed undisputed political and cultural leadership, and China is now clearly awaiting its moment—J. M. Robert’s masterly overview, now updated to the present day, brings all of this and more into focus.Amazon.com Review
J.M. Roberts'smonumental PenguinHistory of the World became a publishing phenomenon and soldin the hundreds of thousands. Now he has produced an equally brilliantnew book, focusing solely on our own troubled and dramatic century,and it has all the breathtaking sweep and confident judgment of hisprevious work. Most important, Roberts takes a truly internationalview of things. The 20th century, he argues, is marked as much asanything by the decline of Europe as the world's sole arbiter and theemergence of today's cosmopolitan, global civilization, born ofdecolonization, the resurgence of Islam, and the vibrant, self-assurednew nations of Asia and Latin America. He also examines the other twomajor trends of our time: the social and economic empowerment of womenand the extraordinary quadrupling of the world's population, most ofit in Third World countries. A challenging and exacting read,Twentieth Century is destined to be a classic. --ChristopherHart, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Impressive to say the least
I think the review on the back most aptly describes this book:"The most comprehensive, objective, geographically neutral and yet accessible history of the century yet published in English".Economist, Books of the Year.

Leave it to the Economist to say more in one sentence than others could do (including myself) in paragraphs.

This book is a very good summary of the century.The author analyzes history while leaving biases out.When he does write about prevailing opinions that are confrontational he will also note those as well.THis book is for people serious about history.It leaves the interest in the history and not in any novelization or attempts to lighten it for entertainment's sake.

After finishing this lengthy volume one feels a certain sense of accomplishment only to be humbled by the accomplishment this author must have felt when he finshed it.If you have an interest in the twentieth century and how the events are interelated then this book is for you.

A book that every 21st century habitant should read
I'm not an historian and English is not my native language, but I found that this book gave me a new and broad understanding of the world we are living in. I feel that if more of our politicians and authorities would have the knowledge this book provides we could be guided in a better way in the difficult years of this first decade of the new century. The book is easy to read,the prose of Mr. Roberts is fluent and any good reader will really enjoy it.

from one of the best moderm writers of history
Roberts was one of the best modern writers of history.His "History of the World" has become a classic. He also wrote "A History of Europe" and this "Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to 2000".Both of these later works appear to have grown out of his "History of the World".That isn't a bad thing.

This book is one of the best end of the century reflections on the 20th Century.It is very much written from the viewpoint of a scholar. This is something that turns some folks off, which is fine.But, nonetheless, it is still eminently readable.Roberts has a firm grasp of "The Big Picture".

This is the kind of book more people should read.Roberts writer about all areas of the world, from Europe and America, to Russia, China, the Middle East, South America, Africa, etc.In many ways, the 20th century was when, in many ways, the world stopped being Eurocentric.

I would buy this book again.

zero emotion
(yawn) I love to sink my teeth into big history books but this one's so flat.I tried several times to pick this one up but it seemed very monotone to me.It was like reading a text book.Perhaps it was all just above me, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you were a hardcore "facts" person.

Pretty good for a big book
Robert's latest epic is a largely Euro-centric review of world events during the twentieth century. Overall it is enjoyable, comprehensive and easy to get through. It is deliberately Euro-centric since the century began with Europe as the central power and ended with Europe closing ranks to form an important political and economic zone that is probably larger than the sum of its individual parts.

Much of the book deals with Europe's influence on the world - either as a colonial power expanding its empires or as an impoverished post-war debtor disposing off its overseas assets. The only other nations which receive half-decent coverage are the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

I think the strength of Robert's book is his enviable grasp of the big picture. The scope of this work is beyond the vast majority of popular writers. I think the best individual sections are those covering the years and events leading up to WW1 and those which deal with Japan prior to WW2. Very few generalist readers will be fully up to speed on the effects of Japan's defeat of imperial Russia in 1906 and the long-term implications of its invasion of Post-Revolutionary China. Roberts does a fine job on both counts.

The book's weakness are three fold. One, this is almost entirely a social and political history. Economics gets little attention, even though it has played a central role in world affairs since 1900. Just imagine writing a history which says little on international monetary crises, the Great Depression, oil crises and the staggering improvement in global living standards since 1900. Roberts does cover these areas, but they read almost like add-ons.Two, his coverage of the Middle East is rather perfunctory. Details of France and Britain's departure are terse and the reasons for the Ottoman collapse are a bit hazy. So too are the influences of the UN and the US in post colonial times.Third, his style of writing comes from my father's era. Some of his sentences seem to go on for ever, although this is more of an editing issue than a criticism of the author.

Overall though, Roberts has put together a fine book on the past 100 years. The disappointments are more than made up for in its analysis of Europe - which is truly first class. Four Stars. ... Read more

Product Description
Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss ... Read more

Customer Reviews (189)

A Must Read
I was a little hesitant to get the unabridged version upon seeing the heft of it. But after reading it I could not imagine even considering theabridged version. It is incredidleof betrayal and revenge. Buy it now!!......."What a fool I was," said he, "not to tear my heart out on the day when I resolved to avenge myself!"

Perfect
Mystery, suspense, interesting characters, plot lines, and sub-plot lines. Fast-paced, adventure, love story, pirates, jail escape, what more can you possibly want in a book?! Perhaps jealousy? Check. Conniving? Check! Buried treasures? Check! Amazing book.

Excellent!
This is probably the best revenge story ever written. As the back cover of the story states, "On what slender threads do life and fortune hang." Edmund Dantes knows something about those threads. A promising sailor, he is arrested, thrown into prison, and succumbs to hopelessness. From there, he meets a friend, gains a boundless inheritance, and soon finds himself in a position to obtain his revenge on those who caused his predicament. The tone, like most Dumas books, is simple, elegant, and witty. Why I call it the best is that it is a revenge story, but it also involves the subtle emotions involved in going about revenge. How revenge can go wrong, who revenge forces you to leave behind, who you attempt to emulate in casting judgement on your fellow man.

1200 pages is quite a long novel, but it moves quickly, I'm currently reading it a second time, more to refresh background details and characters. There are plenty in this novel, who act like real people, with distinct personalities and flaws. The count himself lives a life of luxury which modern people can still be jealous of. Rome, Paris, and Marseille are visited with great detail, for those of us who like to travel on a budget.As the count begins to succeed in his vengance towards the end of the novel, you may be surprised about the outcome.

Dumas, a prolific writer, wrote many novels. Those that like this would do well to move on to The Three Musketeers and it's sequel, which supply similar historical action and quick dialogue.The investment there is even greater, probably working out to 3500 total pages of narrative. Exciting, yes, but not many have that sort of time to invest. Count of Monte Cristo is self-contained. If one was to read just one novel by Dumas, this would be it.This is a famous author at the height of his powers, telling a self-contained story about destitution, fortune, and the nobility between.

Relationships, human ambitions and moral reasoning..
"Only weak minds see the future in a black cloud" this is my favorite Count of Monte Cristo's remark, this and other similar pieces of wisdom kept me riveted to this great long read. Montecristo is a long consectrated piece of classic literature and for me is useless to rate it as good or bad, it is better to give a personal impression about what one felt after finishing its almost 900 pages. In my opinion this novel is about personal relationships, how can be fostered and then easily destroyed due to jeaulosy and personal ambitions. The ideas of spirituality, material ambition, fair revenge and Divine blessing and punishment hover over the plot all the time. The plot begins with one focus, the transformation of Edmond Dantes into the Count of Montecristo due to misfortune arising from a personal treason, and then shatters into small stories with many different characters, each and every one of them, related one to another due to events told throughout the storyline. On the final chapters the novel recovers the single focus, the idea of justice, in order to conclude in an ending based on moral reasoning. The story unfolds at the post-Napoleonic era in France.

Before you die you must read this book!
Among the best books I've ever read. It grabs you in the first pages and you're hooked. No wonder so many movies and plays and articles have been written about this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Stimulating and authoritative, The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy is the ideal reference work for anyone with an interest in the subject. Laid out simply for ease of use and put in straightforward language are definitions of terms from akrasia to zetetic. What do philosophers mean by absolute and prime matter? Is there any link between the gambler’s fallacy and the uncertainty principle, or the barber paradox and Ockham’s razor? These questions and many more are answered in this illuminating dictionary.

The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy features:
• Extensive coverage of the Western tradition in logic, metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology from c. 600 BC to the present day
• Incisive overviews of thinkers from Plato and Kant to Derrida and Habermas
• Powerful self-portraits by leading modern philosophers
• Contributions from more than a hundred leading philosophers ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Easy to understand
I bought this as a supplement to teach English Lit and have been extremely happy.It allows me to answer into-level philosophy questions without bringing out this big books!

Best? No.Useful?Absolutely
Is this the best thing to happen to philosophical studies?Probably not.Nevertheless, it is of immense value and relatively inexpensive.While edited by Mautner I found most of the articles to be quite clear and informative; only a few were laborious.Mautner even allows a few more "radical" ethicists (wrong word, I know), like Peter Singer to write.This will throw a few people off (myself included) as Singer sees nothing inherently wrong with killing infants, for example (Singer, p. 522).Quite frankly, I would not have allowed him to write in the book.But, you get first-hand what a non-speciest will say on ethics and euthanasia.

This shouldn't tar the book.It is very clear and useful.

The best dictionary on Philosophy?
After buying this book I realized that no single book on philosophy can be given the title "best", just as no single dictionary can. That is because each dictionary has some specialty which another doesn't. In order to get a complete picture, you would have to buy a couple of books on a particular field. As far as this dictionary is concerned, it focuses more on philosophers and philosophical schools than philosophical terms - which I was interested in more. Should any book be called, "Dictionary of Philosophy" when it doesn't even have an entry on "reason" or "intellect"? Furthermore, you won't find the following terms in this book: mind, mutually exclusive, infinite regress, introspection, etc.

Overall, this book does a fine job in presenting an overview of philosophy. I am not saying that this book does a miserable job in terms of including philosophical terms. Rather, let it not be assumed that a single book is sufficient in conveying the complete picture. I say: Buy this book AND others.

The number one dictionary of philosophy?
This may well be the best dictionary of philosophy available: better value for money than many of its larger competitors.Its secret is that it's well written: one clear paragraph from this book conveys more than pagesfrom more run-of-the-mill dictionaries.A special feature of this book isthe self-portraits by major contemporary philosophers: there's enormousvalue in hearing where they've come from and where they believe they areheaded. Briefer, clearer and more memorably written than most histories ofphilosophy, if you can afford only one reference work in philosophy, putthis one on your shelf.You won't regret it. (And for those who alreadyhave a shelf-full of philosophy reference works, this is an invaluableaddition.The self-portraits alone are worth it.)

Clear and concise guide for anyone interested in Philosophy
The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy is a clear, concise, and comprehensive guide to philosophic terms and thinkers.For this reader, the Penguin edition far surpasses the Oxford dictionary -- a book ofroughly the same length and price -- as its entries are both clearer andmore thorough. I would advise serioius students of philosphy and"street level" thinkers alike to buy this well-written, usefulguide. ... Read more

Product Description
A bestseller in France, where it was originally published, this supremely erudite book draws together folkloric, literary, and artistic sources and focuses on the symbolic dimension of every color, number, sound, gesture, expression, or character trait that has benefited from symbolic interpretation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

one of the best
I have several books on symbols and this is among my favorites. It's very comprehensive and thorough, but as another person mentioned it is definitely a thinker's book. It isn't in league with books suggesting that seeing __ means you'll "embark on a great journey..." and seeing __ means you'll "die in 5 days", it isn't a glorified fortune cookie =P. If you're serious about symbology, I very much recommend this book. It's a wonderful resource to have.

Perfect tool for analyzing myth, mysticism, the occult, and religions
I wholly endorse this book. The authors, using clear and lucid prose, manage to touch upon every major symbol and symbol system I can think of. With such a diverse major as mine, I thought I'd be using a number of books on symbols. As it turns out, this is the only book I use. It has everything. If you're reading this, I'm assuming you need a book on symbols. Be warned, however, the best guide to symbolism is your imagination and intuition. But sometimes you need a guide. Use this one. You won't regret it.

the penguin dictionary of symbole
I have done considerable research looking for the single best dictionary of symbols with regard to the accuracy of their interpetations, and this is the book. I bought several copies.

A Wonderfully Solid Reference Book
This book is well written, comprehensive and fun to read. I own about a half-dozen books on symbols and symbolism and this one is hands down the best I currently own. This reference book would get five stars from me if it wasn't for one critical flaw, no index. The book is structured in such a way that it makes finding what your looking for easy, but I just like having a index for a quick lookup.

Newer dictionaries with pictures are great, but this is the one I always return to.
I purchased my first copy 10 years ago and have been working with my dream symbols for nearly 20 years.I've been enticed to purchase newer ones since then with photos and graphics ( I now have nearly a dozen symbol dictionaries) -- thus I am clearly drawn to these things.

However, I find there is always a trade off.Publishing costs and space taken up for these visuals means less text and less substance. So while I have an initial pleasure in perusing the ones with pictures I often find these don't really have anything to do with my dream images -- they are indeed usually intriguing works of art but not particularly helpful for serious symbol analysis.

Thus the most consistently helpful symbol book, to which I always return when I seriously want to know a range of possibilities for my dream images or concepts is the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Chevalier, Cheerbrant and Buchanan-Brown.The authors have done a monumental work bringing so much substance to it, managed to remain relevant for decades even though it was first published in France in 1969 with the second edition in 1982, and by now reading it is like coming home.

A another benefit of being all text (seriously the text is not that hard to read, the print is of excellent quality with crisp deliniations between entries, references, etc.) is that the act of researching my dream images does not itself start interfering with the memory of my own visual image, as pictures might.

To each his own preference ... but for persons more experienced in working with dreams, I think the substance here will be recognized as highly valuable.



... Read more

Product Description
One of Penguin Classics's most popular translations- now also in our elegant black spine dress ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Candide or Optimism is Voltaire's sceptically acerbic look at a world of woes and travails
Candide is one of the world's greatest philosophical novels. Its author is Voltaire (1694-1178) whose pen was warmed up in hell with sceptical inquiry into the vagaries of human existence. In this brief book of 100 pages he assails the theory of philsopher Baron von Leibnitz that this planet is "the best of all possible worlds."
Voltaire chooses as his lead character the fatuous Candide a young Westphalian who is naive of the ways of the wicked world. The callow and love sick swain is booted out of the Castle of Thunder-ten-tronckh for his amorous infatuation with the fetching Cunegonde. This young lady is the daughter of the baron. No matter what terrible things occur in Candide's life he remains a cock-eyed optimist!
One adventures follows another. We see Candide serving in the the Bulgarian army where he is almost beaten to death. His friend Dr Pangloss is supposedly hanged in an auto de fa though we later learn he is alive. Cunegonde is fetched away by pirates. Candide and Dr. Pangloss suffer through the famous Lisbon Earthquake which killed thousands in 1755.
Candide kills a Jew and an agent of the Spanish inquisition fleeing to Spain and safety with the Jesuits. This order involves our hero in a bitter war between Spain and Portugal.Candide supposedlykills the general of the Jesuits learning that this was a brother of Cunegonde. Candide then escapes to the fabulously wealthy land of Eldorado. He is bilked of his fortune as he travels to England, France, Venice and Turkey on a series of improbable stops on his unrealistic odyssey through life.
Candide is reunited with Dr Pangloss and his faithful servant Cacambo in Constantinople, He also learns that his love's brother is yet alive. The whole group decide to retire to a small farm and cultivate their garden. This means that work is a powerful deterrent against ennui and despair at the condition of a cruel world of wars, poverty, natural disasters, disease and death. Candide has learned and matured during the course of his many adventures. He and his wife are as happy as it is possible to be.
Voltaire was a brilliant wit and keen witness to man's inhumanity to man. While he did not live to see the terrors of the French Revolution and the horrors of our own century his perceptive little novel is a gem of understanding of the human condition. An essential book in Western Civilization.

Black and White
This Edition of Candide leaves the Dover Thrift, Barnes and Noble, Bantam, Oxford World editions in the dust, and, although Norton likes to think they are oh..so great, their editions don't come close to Penguin's Deluxe of Voltaire's remarkable and insightful tale. Theo Cuffe does great things with the translation and Michael Wood gives a meaningful introduction that sets the reader up with the complete madness of Optimism - a counsel of Despair, Cruel philosophy with a consoling name.
The cover is splashed with vivid colors and gold dust, the pages are of high stock, there's even a map of Candide's world in the inside flap. But what makes this book great is the amount of information in the footnotes that help readers focus on the historical context and time period the story took place in.

:)
I enjoyed this book, but it was irritating looking up the footnotes. They made it especially amusing and odd, but it definitely isn't my favorite.

Entertaining
Candide is certainly humorous for those that understand medieval to early modern European history.This satire is cynical much like Erasmus' "Praise of Folly". Voltaire attacks many of the issues of European society. You do not need to be a historian to appreciate this work, or have a great knowledge of European history to understand it.
Buy it and enjoy.

"O che sciagura d'essere senza coglioni!"
If you thought 18th century satire is irrelevant today, you might want to know the meaning of that Italian phrase, uttered by a eunuch at the sight of an abandoned and beautiful young lady in the story: "Oh, what a misfortune to be without balls!"

If you've made the decision to read Candide already, then this is the version you want to buy. Theo Cuffe's translation is more recent and much better than any other ones out there. I was thinking of purchasing the Oxford World Classics edition - after all, it's a few dollars cheaper and has a few more stories - but after contrasting paragraphs from Candide in either version, I decided Cuffe's superior translation warrants the extra money. This edition is also bound beautifully; it's a paperback but the cover is much firmer than a regular paperback and is adorned with eye-catching comic strips and a useful list (with pictures) of the main characters on the inside flap of the cover. This edition also has very thorough footnotes at the end; if you're like me and have little acquaintance with the 18th century and life through the era of Enlightenment, the handy footnotes will graciously guide your way. Aside from the footnotes, this edition also has additional pertinent writings from Voltaire including a poem he wrote on the disaster of the Lisbon earthquake and some excerpts from his Philosophic Dictionary.

Now, if you haven't made up your mind as to whether you'd like to read this, I strongly urge that you do. It's a rather short story but a very profound one. It's extremely witty, clever, and yet masterfully laconic. The story itself is an assault on the philosophic concept of "Optimism" as championed by Leibniz, Alexander Pope, and various other contemporaries of Voltaire who believed that all that happens in the world is for the best, and that we live in the best of all possible worlds. As Pope himself said famously, "whatever IS, is good." Candide, the young, naive and charming protagonist of our story is very much swayed in the direction of believing in Optimism because of the teachings of his philosopher teacher Pangloss. But as Candide inadvertently travels the world, matures, and learns from the sight of reality beyond the corridors of his residence at Westphalia, his perceptions begin to change, and we begin to develop nothing short of a sense for everything that is meaningful and meaningless in life. As Gustave Flaubert once said, the prose of Voltaire is mesmerizing and yet ingeniously succinct. You'll know the feeling once you travel the land of Eldorado, where people are indifferent to diamonds and gold lying in their streets and where everything is in perfect harmony, with non-other than the worthy Candide.


... Read more

Product Description
An unparalleled selection of fiction from H. P. Lovecraft, master of the American horror tale

Long after his death, H. P. Lovecraft continuesto enthrall readers with his gripping tales of madness and cosmic terror, and his effect on modern horror fiction continues to be felt-- Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Clive Barker have acknowledged his influence. His unique contribution to American literature was a melding of Poe's traditional supernaturalism with the emerging genre of science fiction. Originally appearing in pulp magazines like Weird Tales in the 1920s and 1930s, Lovecraft's work is now being regarded as the most important supernatural fiction of the twentieth century.

Lovecraft's biographer and preeminent interpreter, S. T. Joshi, has prepared this volume of eighteen stories--from the early classics like "The Outsider" and "Rats in the Wall" to his mature masterworks, "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." The first paperback to include the definitive corrected texts, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style, and establishes him as a canonical--and visionary--American writer.

"I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." --Stephen King ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

Cthulu fhtagn!
You can tell that the works of H.P. Lovecraft have entered the stuffy realm of "literature" when Penguin/Viking feels compelled to produce releases of his work under their Penguin Classics banner.The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is the first of (so far) three volumes of Lovecraft's tales to appear under this imprint, and it serves admirably as both a good introduction for those unfamiliar with his work, or as a good assemblage for those more familiar with him and are seeking a decent, comprehensive collection with annotation.

This collection contains a mixture of tales from both his early and later periods, both long and short works, with several lesser known and harder to find stories thrown in for good measure. Most of the stories directly concerning Cthulu or its followers are here collected ("Dagon", "The Call of Cthulu", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"), as well as many other tales that have long been considered classics in the Lovecraft corpus ("The Colour Out of Space", "The Whisperer in the Darkness", "Herbert West - Reanimator", "The Rats in the Walls").What's more, the collection also contains extensive endnotes by editor S.T. Joshi, who not only provides insights into the writing of these works but also explains obscure references and even points out how many of Lovecraft's stories directly relate to one another; even those reasonably familiar with Lovecraft's work will find new insights and connections that they hadn't realized existed.

Overall I think this is a very good collection, among the best Lovecraft anthologies currently in release.I would recommend it to anyone interested in H.P. Lovecraft with absolutely no reservations.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU by H. P. Lovecraft
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is a collection of H. P. Lovecraft works that includes sixteen short stories and the novellas "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and "The Whisperer in Darkness."

Lovecraft is a master of atmospheric horror. Through suggestion, implication, and vague description (although his faithful "such-and-such was too terrible to describe shtick gets old after a while), he allows the reader's imagination to run with his lurking horrors. And yet his descriptions in every other aspect of his stories are so very detailed. This vividness allows him to ground his tales, making them more involving and therefore more moving. In all, Lovecraft is one of the best authors I've read when it comes to generating genuine terror.

Lovecraft's repetition of style and theme begins to wear on the reader toward the end of this volume, but not as badly as in other collections. Structurally, many of the stories are very similar, and it doesn't help that everything here but "The Haunter of the Dark" is told in the first person. Lovecraft wasn't a one-trick pony, but he is best consumed in small doses.

This book features notes by S. T. Joshi. These notes are, frankly, obnoxious, primarily because both the introductions to each story and the mid-story notes are filled with spoilers, for their own stories and for others. For a book that could very well serve as many people's first exposure to Lovecraft, this is unforgiveable. And many of the notes aren't even worthwhile; Joshi spends a lot of time fussing about the trivial: origins of character names and factual errors Lovecraft has made and the fact that cheese is in the story because Lovecraft loved cheese. And he spends a lot of time pointing out and overanalyzing the most obvious topical and thematic parallels between stories (corrupted bloodlines in "Arthur Jermyn" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth," for example).

This is a solid collection - there are too many highlights to name - and I enjoyed every story here except "The Haunter of the Dark," which was too slow, vague and been-there-done-that. But while this collection contains many of Lovecraft's best stories, it seems to have been arbitrarily assembled. There is no discernible unifying theme, other than that many of these stories are some of Lovecraft's more popular ones. These stories aren't from any particular timeframe; they range from the second published story Lovecraft ever wrote ("Dagon") to the very last ("Haunter"). Many are not remotely connected with the Cthulhu mythos.

All told, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is a fine collection of Lovecraft's better works, if you can ignore Joshi's annoying notes.

More Please!
The readers are particularly effective in this audio book. Both are English (which would doubtless make H.P. happy) and both are very talented actors. Together they create performances that are intelligent, nuanced and expressive. Too many readings of Lovecraft I've heard have been either overwrought or ineffective. This one is more on the level of a really good BBC performance.

I've listened to my copy again and again and enjoy it every time. I am hoping that there are--or will be--more by these actors.

Awesome Seller
They shipped fast, and the item was even better than described (collection of short stories). Not only that, but they sent me a free gift too (boardgame using the license) which I love and am having a blast playing with friends.

Gloriously disturbed!
A wonderful collection of very thrilling and very disturbing stories! I recently was introduced to Lovecraft and have found this collection of short stories to be extremely entertaining and I highly recommend it to any fan of horror/thriller stories! ... Read more

Product Description

What's black-and-white and evil all over?
Get ready to find out the terrifying truth....

Penguins. They're everywhere-gracing movie screens, Coke ads, and merchandise. But don't let those happy feet fool you. When they're not surfing or marching bravely across the Antarctic, penguins have a whole other agenda going on. And it isn't pretty.

In Evil Penguins, Elia Anie captures the antics of cute little birds who have gone over to the dark side. If you thought the worst a penguin could do is make you feel guilty about global warning, think again. Here are cartoons of penguins leading revolts, giving SpongeBob a swirly, causing plagues, clubbing baby seals, killing Inuits while dressed as ninjas, and wreaking havoc in dozens of other hysterically appalling ways. Both penguin lovers and those who know that evil can come in even the cuddliest packages will appreciate these bad birds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Not your ordinary tap-dancing birds
The cover made me laugh so I had to get the book and give it a try.I laughed out loud at times seeing those little flippers wrapped around various instruments of mayhem.It's about time those pansy creatures got the honest treatment.You won't be disappointed with the purchase if you like real humor (as opposed to safe 'Peanuts' humor)

Twists everything about penquins around a must read book.
Elia Anie does a great job of turning a simple black and white cute animal and making itno a non stop destroyer. Some pages disipiont me but great overall book. i think that this book is over priced.

I'm Sore From Laughing
I bought this for a friend's birthday & as we went through the book yesterday, we laughed so hard that I have been sore all today.It is even funnier when you go through it with someone who also has an evil sense of humor.I will send this out from Amazon to others who have a good evil sense of humor on their birthdays.I'm in so much pain....I can hardly move & I certainly won't laugh, it hurts.Amazon reviews are the BEST!!!

meh..
So I purchased the bunny suicide book and this book showed up on the bottom. Being that I loved the bunny book, I decided to get this one too. I ordered both at the same time, and I received this book about an entire week after the bunny book.

After reading through (or looking at the pictures...whatever you want to call it) I was disappointed with it. It really is not creative or funny. Sure, there's a couple that I enjoyed...but overall,I would not recommend this book.

Penguins are evil
I had a pet penguin which I smuggled out of the zoo and yes, they are evil birds.Apparently they were made flightless so that their evil may be contained to where no man lives.There was an annoying neighbor who kept coming by to have me open her jar of pickles.The penguin suggests to me that we do away with this pesky neighbor.Being a good humanitarian, I refused to go along.Strangely, the neighbor stopped coming by, and that's when I noticed a strange mound in my backyard.We need to spread the word about these birds of evil. ... Read more

Product Description
Revised with nearly 200 new entries, this dictionary contains all the information that anyone ever wanted to know about numbers--from minus one and its square root to cyclic, weird, perfect, untouchable and lucky numbers to Pascal's triangle and the Syracuse algorithm to numbers so large they boggle the imagination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

a modern classic of recreational math
does anyone even imagine that this little charmer pretends to be more than the wee delight that it is, and has been for decades?math, even recreational math, does expand over time; carpers can carp that this or that latest thing isn't here.but really, what IS here, page after page, will amuse and edify almost all readers.

a really neat book
Everyone has that smart-alex relation who ruins Thanksgiving dinner by proving to every four year old inthe room that they know more about math than they do. There are several waysto deal with such a pain in the posterior but the least likely to involve violence and police intervention is this book.

There are few `wonderful' books ... you can count them with the fingers of one hand ... this is one.

The `smart-alex' in the family would call this book: `just a book on popular mathematics' thunder against it and not know 1/100 th ofthose facts within.

This isunderstandable number theory ... I guess you could call it that. It takes a number, some whole integers and some fractional or decimal parts and tells you about them. What they are made off, how to use the number, howit was used historically ... in other words it not dry like those awful wiggly things scraggy armed Mr. Enngenheimer [whomever] bored you with in high school

No recreational mathematician should be without it
In the foreword to G.H. Hardy's book A Mathematician's Apology, C.P. Snow tells an anecdote about Hardy and his collaborator Srinavasa Ramanujan. Hardy, perhaps the greatest number theorist of 20th century, took a taxi from London to the hospital at Putney where Ramanujan was dying of tuberculosis, Hardy noticed its number, 1729. Always inept about introducing a conversation, he entered the room where Ramanujan was lying in bed and, with scarcely a hello, blurted out his opinion about the taxi-cab number. It was, he declared, "rather a dull number," adding that he hoped that wasn't a bad omen. "No, Hardy!No, Hardy," said Ramanujan, "it is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."

Usually it takes a great deal of insight as well as considerable mathematical training to discover a yet unknown properties of some number. Only recognizing the beauty of a number pattern is much easier, though, especially with a friendly book like this one on hand. Wells, a long-time mathematics popularizer, has collected over 1000 numbers he considers interesting. Each of them is given a short explanation, often accompanied with a bibliographic reference. Celebrities among the numbers, like i, e or Pi, are given a more comprehensive treatment. Included are also several sequences, like Fibonacci's, Mersenne's, Fermat's, Carmichael's or Kaprekar's, each accompanied with its explanation. So are cyclic, amicable, untouchable or lucky numbers, and many more sequences you probably didn't know about.

While Wells' dictionary certainly gives the impression of a well-researched work, the list of numbers is by no means exhaustive. Anyone familiar with chaos theory will notice the absence of Feigenbaum constant; prime hunters would probably be interested in discussion on Woodall primes, Sophie-Germain primes, or Proth primes. But they are better off with Paulo Ribenboim's book on primes, anyway, while Wells' book, with its easily understandable explanations and accessible price is probably more suited for the "recreational mathematics" audience.

Great for Middle and High School Students
A great supplemental tool for teachers! I had terrific fun with my 6th grade math studentswhen reading them certain passages in this book. Many of the topics covered, such as factorials, hexidecimals, triangularnumbers, pi, primes, etc. are not generally covered in the middle schoolvery well or at all, and this book serves as a great launching tool fordiscussions that kids enjoy and think about long after class is over. Also, many topics go in depth and will challenge even the best high schoolmath students and take them in many directions that traditional matheducation does not.

An interesting compendium for the beginning scholar.
The various and quicksilver aspects of mathmatics is really where the charm lies for the scholar,as numbers themselves are the critters with which all scientific worlds are populated, the true scholar should beginwith these first principles. A very good book for students who could use afew wows. ... Read more

Product Description
Pete the penguin has a good time playing on land with his fellow birds and learning how to swim in the sea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautilfully drawn limited quality of writing.
I had known of this book for a long time. It is a sweet book that may not be technically correct about penguins but it is so sweet it is irrestible. I love the pictures.

A very cute story
In this cute little story we hear about all sorts of adventures done by Pete the Penguin before he learns to swim with the other penguins. He flipper skates, builds snow penguins, plays with other penguins, and tries to learn how to fly.

This book is filled with really cute, cuddly and loveable illustrations. The penguins are very round, and pretty much egg-shaped, but what makes the illustrations really cute is the fuzziness (the penguins look like balls of fluff) and lack of definition between everything- almost like a beginning watercolor. This style for the illustrations really suits the story, which is told well and flows nicely. A very good book.

Loggie-log-log-log

Penguin Pete is great!
The books in the Penguin Pete series are great!My son (who will be 3) has enjoyed these book for over a year.However, they are meant for children older than this.My son is fascinated with animal books andstories and we read bigger kid books to him.He still enjoys them. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in it’s eighth edition, the widely praised Penguin State of the World Atlas remains a unique visual survey of current events and global trends. Completely revised and updated, this atlas presents the latest statistics on communications and information technology, international trade, globalization of work, aging and new health risks, food and water, energy resources and consumption, global warming and biodiversity, literacy, gender equality, wars and peacekeeping, and more. Fascinating, troubling, and surprising, this is one atlas no student of the world should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Hard to argue with the numbers
As soon as you're a college freshman, some wise soul is going to tell you that you can't believe the numbers.Statistics, they will assure you, can be manipulated to tell you anything you want to hear.

Do not let that bit of wisdom sway you from picking up this book.These are real numbers and percentages, not comparisons of when things moved up or down or in relation to something else.What is the range of percentage of people in the US who are overweight?(We're in the 70% or more range.)What is Denmark's official development assistance per capita? ($600- and in case you're wondering, the United States' is $93.)And how many people are internally displaced in Iraq? (1.8 million)

But these aren't just numbers- they're used to paint a picture of a world that is marked by an inbalance in privilege and quality of life, both across the planet and within national borders.Yes, the authors point out in the introduction that in total the worldwide standard of living has probably improved, but for many people only marginally so.The figures here bear that out.Might there be other numbers that tell a different story?Maybe, but it's hard to imagine what could make the numbers on refugees or extreme weather events sound better.

It would have been nice to have more information on infant and maternal mortality, but those are probably in their Women's Atlas.Also, be warned that there are statistics on sex trafficking and tourism, which some parents might not want their younger children to know about.

An excellent reference.

State of the World Atlas
Fast delivery, used book in great condition.A lot cheaper than buying books from the university bookstore

Fascinating facts at your fingertips
I bought the original book back in 80's and was enraptured with all of the information. As a trivia junkie I couldn't get enough and was pleasantly surprised to see that the author has continued with the series for several editions. Now the 8th edition is here for me to compare with my extremely worn 1st edition. And its funny how somethings have changed and others remain the same. If your a trivia nut like me or need some great maps for the political science report this book provides.

An excellent reference about the world in less than 150 pages
Dan Smith's State of the World Atlas has been an excellent reference for a wide variety of social, economic and environmental issues.Great for anyone who want a quick review of such issues with a geographical context.Colorful maps and graphics make this a more approachable tool.Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
This timeless poem-more than 2,700 year old-still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amid devastation and destruction as it moves inexorably to its wrenching, tragic conclusion. Readers of this epic poem will be gripped by the finely tuned translation and enlightening introduction.

Translated by Robert Fagles
Introduction and Notes by BernardAmazon.com Review
This groundbreaking English version by Robert Fagles is themost important recent translation of Homer's great epic poem. Theverse translation has been hailed by scholars as the new standard,providing an Iliad that delights modern sensibility andaesthetic without sacrificing the grandeur and particular genius ofHomer's own style and language. The Iliad is one of the twogreat epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of thegreatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a warstory does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action andcharacters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek mythand history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (151)

A sonnet review (from All-Consuming Books)
"Achilles doesn't gladly suffer fools,
and Agamemnon's foolishness is shown
when he takes away Briseis and rules
proudly, claiming war prizes for his own
which should, by rights, belong to other men
(the slavery issue never gets addressed)
but this king of all the Greeks is brought low when
Achilles boycotts battle. Since their best
and boldest fighter's sitting out, the Greeks
are getting hacked to bits by Hector, who's
just fighting for his home, but then Zeus speaks,
and brings down Trojan doom: they're going to lose.
The Greeks march ahead with inexorable forces
and Troy buries Hector, the breaker of horses."

Here we have the story of the fall of Troy at the hands of the Greeks, though The Iliad actually ends before the fall of Troy, the Trojan Horse comes along in a later book, The Odyssey, and the Greeks are usually called Achaeans or Argives (I think what they're called at any given point has something to do with Homer's metrics and how many syllables his lines needed). The half-god warrior Achilles is the central figure of the story and the action is driven as much by his decisions as it is by the whims of the gods, who take sides in the war and vigorously defend their favorite champions. Achilles meets his opposite in Hector, prince of Troy, who is a family man fighting to defend his own home city, while Achilles is in it for the glory and is fighting for a man he hates. Hector kills Achilles' friend Patroclus, Achilles kills Hector in retaliation, and the war-cycle spirals downward and gets uglier with each passing skirmish.

Some themes:

Rage: The Iliad is called the epic of menis, rage, the first chapter is titled "The Wrath of Achilles," and the first (and best) line in the whole epic is, "Rage--Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles." This killing-anger isn't something the characters can escape from for any length of time. Rage can be hidden, but it always eventually bursts forth again--Achilles even nurtures the feeling. He's furious and refuses to fight for the Achaeans, and then when they bring him presents to appease him, he ain't want to be appeased! Cooler heads don't seem to prevail, here, and the epidemic of rage ensures that The Iliad is endlessly violent and gory--except for Hector's body, which is preserved from decay by the gods, the other casualties of war either get thrown onto pyres or become food for the vultures.

Vengeance. An eye for an eye, ad infinitum. Humans love seeking vengeance, like Achilles avenging Patroclus by killing Hector, but the gods are fond of it, too. The gods are big on damage control--they might not be able to stop you from doing something disastrous, but they'll certainly punish you for it after the fact, like Apollo visiting the Achaeans with a plague after they kidnap Chryseis, the daughter of his priest.

Doom. Not just fate, but negative fate. Doom hangs over all of Troy and over most of the Achaens that the reader might actually care about: though Achilles is a killing machine, it's possible to empathize with him, and the propheices make it clear that he's going to die at Troy; Odysseus is going to live through the war, but it'll be another long decade before he gets home; Agamemnon is going to be murdered by his wife's boyfriend when he gets home (but since he's a power-hungry tyrant who killed his own daughter, it's not such a loss), and Menelaus is going to regain Helen and go home, but you can't say they'll live at all happily. So, really, doom all around. And it's not just for the characters in the story--there's an overarching idea that war is an inescapable part of humanity's existence, a point on a circle we'll always cycle back to.

Some characters:

Women: Overall, we don't come off looking very good in The Iliad. The gods are fussy enough at the best of times, but in the Olympus scenes, Hera and Athena are usually going all Lady Macbeth in the background, demanding blood and nudging Zeus to destory the Trojans. As far as mortal women go, you could argue that they're extremely important since all the major conflicts, both national and interpersonal, seem to be fought over them. But unfortunately, women like Helen and Briseis are status objects--they aren't so much desirable for themselves as for the power they represent. Any female may be exchanged for another female of equal or greater value, and the only ladies with real worth are those who happen to be cherished by their husbands and sons, like Achilles' mom, Thetis, and Hector's wife, Andromache.

Agamemnon: Not counting the capricious gods, he's the closest thing this epic has to an outright villain. He heads up the war, attcks the wrong places (Apollo's temple) disses the wrong people (Achilles) and demands honor regardless of whether he's earned it. He doesn't respect gods or men, and definitely doesn't respect women--he's thrilled at the prospect of Chryseis slaving away for him until she dies. He snarls, gloats, whines, and threatens, and is basically the antithesis of what a leader should be.

Achilles: It's no surprise that he's destined to burn out and die young, because he's so suited to carnage, you can't imagine him existing outside the world of war--he's a very politically incorrect central character. If you don't respect martial prowess, you can't admire him at all. Brains, leadership, sacrifice--all the attendant virtues associated with warriors aren't a particularly big part of his characterization. He's not much of a strategist; that's Odysseus. He's the respected leader of the Myrmidons, but he's not necessarily 100% dedicated to them, and if his ire is roused, he'll stay in his tent while they go out and fight. His biggest "noble" sacrifices are allowing Patroclus to fight in his place and giving King Priam his son's corpse back after he's dragged it around behind his chariot for a few days. Achilles is not going to win any awards for heroism because he's really only good at one thing: killing lots and lots of people. And, well, he also loves his mother, so there's that to be considered.

Notes on this edition: Fagles' preface to this translation is enlightening and reveals his love for the work he's dealing with, which is always exciting to see. When the translator has a real passion for the original material and an equal dedication to delivering it to a modern audience in an understandable, accessible way, it's getting at the heart of why we translate great works at all, and why some works should be preserved in any language. This version maintains a swift pace, and the connections to oral tradition mean that even in an English translation, some of the lines beg to be read aloud. I really love this epic, and have for ten years. Gratuitious violence, pouting protagonist, downer ending and all, it has a deep and lasting literary beauty that makes it hard to forget.

Quality Purchase
Fast delivery and book was in great quality! I would definitely purchase from this seller again.

A classic all should read
The Iliad and then the Odyssey are two of my favorite Greek Epics.Beautiful stories, themes, and imagination fill this book and the Odyssey.

Fantastic book but don't buy Kindle edition.
This is one of the best pieces of literature ever produced in the history of human civilization so I feel slightly uncomfortable giving it anything less than five stars.That said, the Kindle version of this book has several problems.Words are misspelled throughout the text and the footnote numbers are not listed in the text.I read the entire poem on the Kindle before I arrived at the end of the book and found out that footnotes and reading notes do exist.Their referring numbers are not listed in the body of the text, however.

Buy this, read it, and keep it for life, but just don't get the Kindle version.

One star for Kindle version, five for the book.

4 stars for the translation, 3 for the story
4 stars for the translation, which I selected after careful consideration (and looking through several of the most well-respected translations from the library), 3 stars for the actual text. I feel that this is the best of both worlds for a work like this: accessible to a modern audience, yet remaining fairly faithful to the text and keeping an epic-sounding tone. Other translations either erred on the side of being too literal, with clunky or high-handed phrasing, or on the side of watering the text down. The book is handsome if hefty, with maps, glossary, bibliography, and a lengthy, helpful introduction by respected classicist scholar Bernard Knox. The intro might seem too academic for some, but for a fuller understanding of the text, I think it is worth the time.

Then again, I'm a bit of a nerdy scholar myself, and would also recommend Moses Finley's The World of Odysseus to prepare for reading either The Iliad or The Odyssey. Knox also provides the intro for Fagles' translation of The Odyssey, which I've moved onto next. The Iliad itself was not as enjoyable for me. While I am glad I read it because it is such an important piece of classical literature, it is repetitious and meticulous in details that, for the modern reader, are perhaps not as interesting as they might have been for the ancient listener, who heard these tales told or sung aloud. The scenes of battle between the Achaeans (as they are called, rather than Greeks--Greece as a unified entity did not exist at the time this was supposed to have taken place) and the Trojans, which comprise most of the text, are the most boring part. Instead of being fast-paced entertainment, we get warriors stopping to spout off their lineage and accomplishments before cutting one another down, or warriors complaining about or insulting other warriors (either those on their same side or on the other).

The characters are also largely unsympathetic: Achilles, most skilled of all, is a petulant brat; Agamemnon, leader of the Achaeans, is a huffy, pretentious egomaniac; and Paris, the guy who started this whole war, is a sniveling pretty boy who doesn't even display much tenderness towards Helen. Only some of the Trojans are sympathetic: King Priam beset by the stress of the war; his son, Hector, courageous and loyal, who gets the only convincingly human scene in the whole text when he bids his wife and infant son farewell (though when he finally confronts Achilles, we get a ridiculous, Benny Hill-like scene of Achilles chasing him around the wall of Troy several times). Even Helen, in her brief appearance, I feel sorry for, since, disgusted with the bloodshed she has instigated, she tries to go back to her husband.

Which reminds me, the gods are also in bad form here, as petty and careless as usual. Although Athena, as usual, displays her nobility and power--even defeating Ares in battle--her unequivocal defense of the Achaeans, due to being insulted by Paris, seems narrow-minded. There are two interesting scenes in which mortals actually talk on the gods--Diomedes, driven into battle fury by Athena, and Achilles, when he confronts the river god Xanthus after clogging the river with Trojan bodies. Overall, though, the text tended to drag, and the only thing that kept me going was that it was considered one of the greatest pieces of world literature. ... Read more

Product Description
The most famous of all ancient Egyptian texts—with an introduction by one of the most celebrated Egyptologists of our time

AMONG THE MOST WIDELY read and studied of all ancient writings, The Egyptian Book of the Dead consists of funerary texts that ancient Egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of the dead. This astonishing array of spells, hymns and litanies, magical formulae and names, and words of power and prayers were all found cut or painted on walls of pyramids and tombs, and painted on coffins, sarcophagi, and rolls of papyri. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

This edition is a twofold classic!
This Penguin Classics edition is, in effect, a twofold classic: It comprises the ancient text collectively known as "The Egyptian Book of the Dead", while faithfully reproducing the "classic" presentation of the translation by Budge. As such, it is a thoroughly enjoyable book!

Not again
I saw this in the bookstore and was excited that someone had decided to finally produce a new version of this ancient collection of spells and other funerary miscellany.Sadly, I looked closer and found it was yet another presentation of musty old Budge's 19th century translations.Penguin could have commissioned a new or adapted a recent translation, but I guess that would have actually cost something.Why not put out some antiquated public domain junk instead?This version does have a new introduction attempting justify their choice, but it would have been far simpler and more honest to replace it with the phrase, "CUZ IT DON'T COST NUTHIN!"

I suggest seeking out the Raymond Faulkner book, which is marginally harder to find, but not only has a more recent translation but also features mountains of beautiful color photos and illustrations.

Great and insightful
I love this book. Definitely a mature read, it is extremely helpful in understanding antient egyptian faith. Great notations too. I suggest a glossary or other accompanied book to better understand all the gods and their roles.

3 times larger than the Papyrus of Ani edition
This edition of Budge's book of the Dead is not the same as the Dover edition (the Papyrus of Ani). It's in fact an edition Budge published a few years later (The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day), and it's a compilation of all the papyri available at the time, making this the most complete edition of the Book of the Dead available today. The translation itself has over 3 times the material in the earlier edition, and the translation is more polished than Budge's earlier work. If you have the Papyrus of Ani, I recommend you get this as well, as you're missing out on a ton of material. While the binding and presentation is not as good as the Dover, in terms of contents it is unbeatable.

Not impressed, Penguin
I am neither reviewing the Book of the Dead--its reputation is well known and deserved--nor the translation offered here. I am merely disappointed in the quality of this offering from Penguin Classics. This purportedly new edition is a quite literal reprint of the original edition of E.A. Wallis Budge's 1899 translation, with a new introduction tacked onto the beginning.

This wouldn't necessarily be a problem--Budge's translation is good enough--but the presentation is particularly shoddy and far below the standards usually upheld by Penguin. The book has not even been reset in modern type, but is a virtual photocopy of the original. Precisely the same translation--minus the new introduction--has been available from the more economic Dover Publications for years. Budge's translation is now presumably in the public domain, and this "new" printing by Penguin looks like a money grab. Very little effort has been put into this edition.

If you own no other copy of The Book of the Dead, by all means, buy this one. The Book of the Dead is worth owning. But if you're looking for a newer, updated, or otherwise revised edition than Budge's, which has been in print for a century now, skip it.

Not recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
A selection of the best-loved and most frequently studied of The Canterbury Tales

This collection is the perfect introduction to one of the cornerstones of English literature. The General Prologue provides picturesque character sketches of the colorful band of pilgrims who gather at a London inn on their way to Canterbury. The nine tales chosen range from the noble Knight's story of rivalry in love to the boastful and hypocritical Pardoner's moral treatise, and from the exuberant Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend to the Miller's worldly, ribald farce. Incorporating every type of medieval narrative-bawdy anecdote, allegorical fable, and courtly romance-the tales selected here encompass the blend of universal human themes and individual personal detail that have enthralled readers for more than six hundred years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (63)

Good book
I had to buy it for a class. I have kept it for my literature collection.

Revisiting A Merry Genius
It's easy to forget how enchanting and how modern Chaucer was. The setup of this edition enables the reader to enjoy the joyous musicality and the distinctive voices of the original poetry and---when he runs into trouble---to glance at the facing page where a literal prose translation clarifies obscure meanings. It's surprising how seldom this is necessary.

Excellent product and service!
The product was exactly as described and successfully replaced the book I had owned and loaned out. Since it's now out of print, a valuable teaching tool was lost to me when it was not returned. I am perfectly satisfied with the description, shipping, and service on this book!

i like it
it was very nice and in good shape, it was old but i expected that. it was also a very good price. i enjoyed it.

Read by Martin Jarvis and a full cast
At the Tabard Inn, thirty travelers from a diversity of classes and occupations are planning to make the annual pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury. It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales to help pass the time, and the host of the inn will reward the best storyteller with a free supper when they return. The Canterbury Tales is a sometimes bawdy, sometimes spiritual classic, skillfully translated into modern English and presented in an unabridged audiobook format. Read by Martin Jarvis and a full cast, The Canterbury Tales reveals the trials and travails of daily life in late fourteenth-century England through stories, conversations, jokes and arguments between travelers. Truly the most memorable way to experience this literary classic, The Canterbury Tales is especially recommended for public library collections. 17 CDs, 21 hours, tracks every 3 minutes for easy bookmarking. ... Read more

Product Description
From Anon to Woody Allen ('Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber at weekends'), Miss Piggy and Dorothy Parker, to Mae West ('to err is human, but it feels divine'), Morecambe and Wise and P.G. Wodehouse to Homer Simpson and Seinfeld, the last hundred years offer a rich banquet of humour. Even 'Golf' and 'Inflation' have inspired witty remarks, while topics like 'Eating' and 'Drink', 'Politicians' and 'Poets', 'Animals' and 'Americans', 'Sex', 'Drugs' and 'Rock 'n' Roll' have all produced countless gems. Here is the definitive collection, fully updated, organised by theme and offering more laughs per page than any other book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Pretty good quote book
The print is small and the paper is not of the best quality (this is a paperback edition) and the contents are very much like those of the Oxford Dictionalry of Humorous Quotations, indeed, quite often the same ones, but I enjoy reading it and it is not very heavy at all.

Pithy, witty, insightful...
Not the kind of book to read cover-to-cover, but absolutely perfect when you are looking for a pithy quote on any subject...and read a few pages when you need a laugh!

invaluable
Anyone who has to make a speech will make a better one if they have this book.

The best
This is the only book I keep in the toilet. I read it every time I have to sit down and each time I get such a buzz. This is such an amazing cornucopia of brilliant minds (being very, very witty). I rate it up there with any non-fiction reference book out there for reasonably well read people who need a chuckle EVERY time they open it up.

ACONVERSATION PIECE........
Alas!A good reason for you not to buy any of those joke books. Instead, acquire this wonderful recollection of funny phrases actually said or written........ Suggested towitty quotation fans, of course, buta mustfor those that don't possess humor but do have a good memory !!!!! A compilation of hilarious phrases, edited by Fred Metcalf that will not let you down, in any argument or discussion. Good to break the ice, superb to outwit your opponent, it is the perfect tool to keep at bay the drama, in heavier conversations.Talking to the pretentious literati or author, you get to say: "A good writer is not, per se, a good critic. No more than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender..." Ifhereplies: "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves" then you can say: "I never read a book before reviewing it- it prejudices a man so...." andthen add: "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book. I'll waste no time in reading it..." ... Read more

Product Description

An emperor penguin lays an egg on the Antarctic ice. In the bitter cold, miles away from the only source of food, how can the chick survive?

Customer Reviews (3)

Penguin chick
This book gives a good description of the penguin life cycle.The words are a little advanced for the children I work with (3-5yrs.)but for older children it would be great.

beautiful pictures
I loved the pictures and the text was very informative. I'm glad I bought this book.

Where Penguins come from
This is just a nice book to have for any child with questions about....What else Penguins! ... Read more