Ingram
Все книги издательства IngramFrom the Earth to the Moon - The Original Classic Edition
While I naturally have long admired Jules Verne for his outstanding scientific vision and prodigious talent as a writer, I really had no idea that he could also write in such an entertaining and humorous fashion as revealed in this short novel. My memories of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea consist to a large degree of stretches of pages devoted to pure scientific language that could be hard to get through, but this book is an easy read full of action and laugh-out-loud commentary. Dont get me wrong, though–the science is here, and Verne goes into a lot of details concerning the project from conception to reality, walking us through all of the steps involved in constructing the cannon and its projectile. <p> Surely, though, Verne knew that the very idea of launching men to the moon via a superhuge cannon was not really an idea that could work; as such, he lets the story and especially his characterizations of the main players in the drama, take center stage over the science. What we end up with is a study of sorts of the American character, a tribute to the power of imagination and dreaming, the glorification of science, and a very funny story about some really amazing characters. <p> I can not begin to relate the number of truly humorous anecdotes and observations filling the pages of this story. Barbicane, J. T. Maston, and Michel Ardan are quite memorable characters, and their acts and exploits will entertain you to no end. Verne introduces subtle but hilarious remarks and observations throughout the entire book that will make you laugh out loud. <p> If the idea of hard scientific theorizing has scared you away from Verne, pick this book up and be wholly entertained.
The Federalist Papers - The Original Classic Edition
The new edition of THE FEDERALIST PAPERS edited by Clinton Rossiter and co. is probably the best paperback edition. THE FEDERALIST PAPERS alone are an important source of serious political thinking. In an age of almost unbridled political power, corruption, empire buidling, etc. THE FEDERALIST PAPERS are important reminder of what a Free Republic (not an empire) should be.
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS were written by Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), John Jay (1745-1829), and James Madison (1751-1835). Due to concerns about the New York State legislators ratifying the The U.S. Constitution, these papers were journal pieces written to New York journals and newspapers to convince both the residents and state legislators to ratify The U.S. Constitution. One should note there were other published articles supporting ratification of The U.S. Constitution and other articles can be read in a text titled FRIENDS OF THE CONSTITUTION. <p> What is alarming about THE FEDERALISTS PAPERS is that they were written for most readers. If one were to write such articles these days, most Americans would not read them nor comprehend them. This is a sad commentary on Americans regarding serious political writing regarding their birthright. If THE FEDERALIST PAPERS were assigned to high school kids, whoever would make such an assignment would be fired or worse. <p> THE FEDERALIST PAPERS give important explanations of the separation of powers, limits of each branch of the central government (The Federal Government), and how political power should be used within severe limitations. These articles were a brilliant attempt to mitigate fears that The U.S. Constitution would give far too much power to the the central or federal government. <p> The late Clinton Rossiter had a useful suggestion for those who did not want to read all 85 of THE FEDERALIST PAPERS. He suggested that the best numbers were 1,2,6,9,10, 14, 15, 16,23, 37, 39,47, 49, 51, 62, 70, 78, 84, and 85. Those readers who read these numbered papers would probably want to read the remainder. <p> Readers should not forget that the authors of THE FEDERALIST PAPERS were responding to the Anti-Federalists and their articles titled THE ANTI-FEDERALIST PAPERS. Too often the Anti-Federalists are referred to as obstrcutionists and narrow minded men. This is simply not true. The ANTI-FEDERALIST PAPERS were as well written and brilliantly argued as THE FEDERALIST PAPERS. One should note that one of the major objections of the Anti-Federalists to ratification of The U.S. Constitution was that it did not contain a Bill of Rights. The Federalists took this argument seriously. Basically, one could argue that without the Anti-Federalists, there would have been no Bill of Rights. Ergo, without The Bill of Rights, there would have been no U.S. Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were very important in the ratification of The U.S. Constitution. <p> Anyone who wants to define who Americans should be should read THE FEDERALIST PAPERS. They should also read THE ANTI-FEDERALIST PAPERS and read clear, informed, and well written political theory from men who could actually think. Most political hacks and too many American citizens are not even vaguely aware of this important political writing. Yet, this political writing is the very best American political thinking in U.S. History. <p> Highly recommended, this edition of THE FEDERALIST PAPERS.
Three Men and a Maid - The Original Classic Edition
Many people think of P. G. Wodehouse only in regard to his Jeeves and Wooster characters, which PBS as made so popular. However, as we read Wodehouses earlier works, we can see much of the basis upon which he built those well known characters. <p> All in all, you know what you get when you read Wodehouse. If you expect deep thinking characters who will change the world, go somewhere else. If you want fun and laughter, read Wodehouse. <p> Three Men and a Maid is a laugh-out-loud early Wodehouse novel. As usual, young moneyed, clueless people wander through life without having any touch with reality. (One presumes Wodehouses young men will suddenly have some sort of epiphany and instantly become the stiff upper lip backbone of British society and the bubble headed young women will pull their heads out of the clouds and put on a cardigan sweater, some extra pounds, good sturdy shoes, and set about enforcing the rules of society which have so long frustrated our silly young men.) In Three Men and a Maid, young people fly into and out of love and engagements without a second thought. In fact, the Maid in this novel, Billie Bennet, was engaged to Eustace, Samuel, Bream, then to Samuel again in less than a couple of weeks. <p> Wodehouse spins a good yarn, twisting the plot and the characters dilemmas like a circus contortionist. This plot is somewhat familiar: a young man falls in love at first sight, makes convoluted plans to win her heart, plans backfire, burglars in the country house; yet, everything turns out right in the end. <p> This is typical Wodehouse, which guarantees that the reader is in for a lot of fun!
Politics: A Treatise on Government - The Original Classic Edition
You will find that Aristotle provided many brilliant insights into the political thinking, strategy, of leaders and the military. In many ways, it remains unsurpassed and it ought to be required reading in undergraduate classes on political strategy. <p> On the downside, Aristotle referred to leaders of each city-state over decades, if not centuries, and, this makes it challenging to fully appreciate the relevance and examples offered in this text. <p> Brilliant and merits an A+.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood - The Original Classic Edition
It is so strange to see a long, well-plotted novel suddenly come to a dead stop. (Of a projected twelve episodes, Dickens wrote six before his death.) The title character is either murdered or missing, and a large cast of characters in London and Cloisterham (Dickenss Rochester) are involved in their own way in discovering what happened to Edwin Drood. <p> There is first of all John Jasper, an opium addict who suspiciously loves Droods ex-fiancee; there is a nameless old woman who dealt him the opium who is trying to nail Jasper; there is a suspicious pile of quicklime Jasper notices during a late night stroll through the cathedral precincts; there is Durdles who knows all the secrets of the Cathedral of Cloisterhams underground burial chambers; there is the deputy, a boy in the pay of several characters who has seen all the comings and goings; there are the Anglo-Indian Landless twins, one of whom developed a suspicious loathing for Drood; there is the lovely Rosebud, unwilling target of every mans affections; and we havent even begun talking about Canon Crisparkle, Datchery, Tartar, and a host of other characters. All we know is that the game is afoot, but well never know the outcome. <p> It would have been nice to know how Dickens tied together all these threads, but we can still enjoy THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD because – wherever Dickens was heading with it – it is very evidently the equal of his best works. Life is fleeting, and not all masterpieces are finished
Our Mutual Friend - The Original Classic Edition
Charles Dickenss 1865 novel, his last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend is an extraordinarily dark and convoluted work. Featuring such unforgettable figures as Mr. Boffin, Mr. Podsnap, Bradley Headstone, Jenny Wren, and Silas Wegg, Dickens continues, or rather concludes his artistic legacy with a work rich in well written and compelling characters. Exploring, as do many of Dickenss works, the intricacies of inheritance, Our Mutual Friend is also deeply concerned with families and the things that hold them together or rip them apart. Interesting and fraught emphases on education, upholding particularly English interests in the face of the still rising British Empire, and concerns about the absolute uncertainties about life and death, this is quite a way to come at a last complete novel. <p> Our Mutual Friend begins with Lizzie and her father Gaffer Hexam patrolling the river in the dark of night. Pulling a body out of the river for the potential reward money, the novel jumps right into the action with a bang. The body is presumed to be that of young John Harmon, just returned from South Africa to claim a huge inheritance from his recently deceased, hateful and miserly father. The only heir dead, the elder Harmons loyal employees, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin stand next in the will to inherit everything. This causes a stir in Society, where Mortimer Lightwood, the legal executor of the will, and his friend Eugene Wrayburn are called in to view the body and question Gaffer Hexam. This causes two others to be drawn into the plot – Lizzie Hexam, an uneducated, but prescient young woman, who immediately catches Wrayburns eye, and Miss Bella Wilfer, a sprightly young woman whose marriage to young John Harmon was the sole condition for that gentleman to come into his inheritance prevented by his untimely death. The novel tries over the next pages to work out the personal ramifications of the murder, the will, and the fates of these two young women. <p> Just to kind of continue this theme, one may be particularly interested in the kinds of literary funds that Dickens draws on in Our Mutual Friend: His debt to 18th century literature is heavy indeed, with the works of the poet James Thomson and the historian Edward Gibbon coursing through the novel like the very Thames itself, laying the groundwork for literary and historical commentary on the nature of Empire and particularly British Imperial interests, and how those interests reach from the international into the lives of individuals. Another important predecessor in this line is the infamous Mr. Podsnap, a very dark descendant of Laurence Sternes Corporal Trim from Tristram Shandy. Trims famous flourish, in Podsnaps hands acquires the power to annihilate entire nations. Dickens also reveals heavy debts to fairy tales and nursery rhymes that continue and complicate the novels emphasis on childrens educations, how they are managed, and the impact that they can have on the world as it will become. <p> If you arent interested in reading Our Mutual Friend yet, you should be! You will be hard pressed anywhere in Dickens, (or anywhere else for that matter), to find a more frenetic villain than Mr. Bradley Headstone – to see him in action alone makes this novel worth reading. He ranks right up there with David Copperfields Uriah Heep in terms of Dickenss most insistently horrifying creations. Ok. Enough from me, go, read Our Mutual Friend. What are you waiting for! Go, now!
Democracy in America ? Volume 2 - The Original Classic Edition
Alexis de Tocqueville looks at the United States and examines its political, social, and cultural intricacies in DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. This edition of DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA is well introduced and translated. This is not a basic travelogue of a French aristocrat -Intellect – statesmans journey through the American wilderness in a span of nine months, but it is a significant documentary that compares and contrasts European Aristocracy to American Democracy. At the time that Tocqueville wrote DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, both Europe and the United States experienced an enormous shift in its political and social structure. On the US side, several events occurred, Andrew Jackson was president, the Anti-Slavery movement, Indian Removal commenced, immigration was on the rise, and the industrial age was emerging; for the French and European side, the Revolution of 1830 and autocracy took precedence as well as a radical shake-up of the social class. Possibly, for Tocqueville his travels to the United States served as a respite from Frances revolutionary tendencies, and the opportunity to observe US history in the making. In terms of chronology, 55 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 30 years before the Civil War. In essence, Tocquevilles accounts bear much significance to how the United States progressed, and where it was headed. <p> Tocqueville writes and thinks in a Jeffersonian stance. Throughout DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA Tocqueville suggests that productivity cannot occur while a man remains idle, and that action must take place in some form or another – the rule of law or through communication. No doubt, this annotates Jeffersonian politics and ideology. However, the basic premise throughout the book concentrates on the difference between Democracy and Aristocracy and their relationships to the social classes of each respective ideology, and how each accomplished and achieved effectiveness. Tocqueville looked toward America as a model to post-revolutionary France, and one may say that this was an exchange of politics and ideas that the United States had done a century before; this was a shared entity. <p> DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA should be required reading. The most exemplary aspect of the book is how Tocqueville speaks rhetorically in a no nonsense way as well as its timelessness, which will further entice readers to read on. As an added treat, the appendices and the two most important essays of the book pertaining to Tocquevilles encounters with the Iroquois and Chippeway Indians should not be overlooked.
The Phantom of the Opera - The Original Classic Edition
The original Phantom : Before the Andrew Lloyd Webbers musical, there was Gaston Lerouxs original novel The Phantom of the Opera. If you have never seen the production stage, and know only a few things of the story, then…when you reach the middle of the narrative you will be surprised because it is totally different from what you will expect. And it is a great surprise. <p> More than a love story, The Phantom of the Opera is a gothic tale of obsession –leading to madness. The Paris Opera House and its hidden rooms, and underground are the perfect place to develop a horror story. Leroux noticed this potential. His descriptions of the place are creepy and in the end we start wondering if it is not a true story indeed. <p> Leroux was very smart, writing a novel like he was only reporting something –and not creating a work of fiction. Therefore there are police reports, newspapers scraps, witness interviews. More than a narrator, the person who is telling the story is only gathering useful information for the reader. <p> His characters are real human beings –even the `ghost, of whom throughout the narrative we realize that he is the one with most human characteristics. Sometimes, Christine is a little stereotypical, mostly when she says she wants to be `the mistress of her faith or something like it. And so is Raoul –but that doesnt diminish the qualities of this engaging novel. <p> All in all, this is a French classic that is highly recommended.
Tales of Terror and Mystery - The Original Classic Edition
All the Conan Doyle stories together – fantastic : Sherlock Holmes? What can one say about these stories that has not already been said? They provide a glimpse into London at the turn of the 19th century. <p> The ingenuity of the plots, the clever criminals, Holmes reasoning, Dr. Watsons amazement: these are all fascinating to read and experience. Holmes is part of English literature and worthwhile reading for anyone. What is even more fascinating is that for some plots, no crime was involved. <p> Yes, some stories involved interesting schemes without a murder or a theft. In one, Holmes even let a murderer go because he thought the crime was justified. Dr. Watson, never pictured in film as being a husband, marries one of the female characters in one of the stories. <p> Youve seen the more criminally sensational tales in film; but there is much more and their reading is even better. Even more interesting is that you will recognize many of Doyles plots in contemporary cinema. <p> This collection is a must have for anyones reading list, it contains: <p> Tales of Terror, The Horror of the Heights, The Leather Funnel, The New Catacomb, The Case of Lady Sannox, The Terror of Blue John Gap, The Brazilian Cat, Tales of Mystery, The Lost Special, The Beetle-Hunter, The Man with the Watches, The Japanned Box, The Black Doctor, The Jew?s Breastplate