Wonderful, romantic, and tragic. This tale of California in the years shortly after it became U.S. territory is chock-full of drama, pathos, sorrow, lWonderful, romantic, and tragic. This tale of California in the years shortly after it became U.S. territory is chock-full of drama, pathos, sorrow, love, injustice, acceptance, and the patient fortitude and forgiveness saints are made of. Gorgeous descriptions of the California scenery, and of the haciendas, missions, and other buildings which once occupied it.
Also, if you're ever looking for a book that will make you rail in frustration at the heartlessness of Fate in regards to the characters, as well as fill you with anger and disgust at the cold, amoral injustice with which the natives of this country were treated by the white Americans, well, you've come to the right place. Please, let us learn from this despicable and utterly shameful part of our history, so that we may not be doomed to repeat it!...more
One of those stories which is frustratingly real in that it tells a story of the human pettiness, selfishness, and injustice that destroys even the noOne of those stories which is frustratingly real in that it tells a story of the human pettiness, selfishness, and injustice that destroys even the noblest of people, and reminds us that not everyone gets a happy ending. A bit hard to read at times, not only because of scattered typos and odd characters, but also because the style is a little dry and wordy and convoluted -- very much a French novel of the nineteenth century. If that's not your cup of tea, well, you have no one to blame but yourself if you read it anyway and don't enjoy it....more
Fascinating story. Wells imagines for us a utopian world in which greed, jealousy, violence, and all the rest of humanity's vices have been eradicatedFascinating story. Wells imagines for us a utopian world in which greed, jealousy, violence, and all the rest of humanity's vices have been eradicated. A clarion call to buck the current system of grasping pettiness and start anew; a sort of 'Atlas Shrugged' for socialists (only based on selflessness rather than selfishness, and not nearly so long or tiresome, thank God!)...more
A largely-forgotten classic adventure/romance novel, set in the last decades of the 17th century, this is the story of an English village beset by a cA largely-forgotten classic adventure/romance novel, set in the last decades of the 17th century, this is the story of an English village beset by a clan of villainous outlaws, and their eventual downfall at the hands of a simple farmer.
John Ridd, a gentle giant whose honest nature and plodding ways have a habit of getting him into scrapes and back out again, chances to meet and fall in love with Lorna Doone, the lovely and sweet pet of the violent and lawless Doone clan. The many clashes between the Doones, and John and his friends and family, set against the rebellions and dangers of the era (not to mention the escapades of John's charming and roguish cousin/brother-in-law, the highwayman Tom Faggus) make for a truly adventure-packed romance. Many a comely lass might wish to catch good John Ridd's eye, but his heart belongs only to Lorna. But is she who she claims to be? Will she love him enough to forsake wealth and position? And can they ever escape the wrath of the vengeful Carver Doone?...more
Lesser companion to Leaves of Grass. This handful of poems follows Whitman's iconic collection, aiming to express more fully his sense of the AmericanLesser companion to Leaves of Grass. This handful of poems follows Whitman's iconic collection, aiming to express more fully his sense of the American national character and his hopes for the future. For me, it falls rather flat, perhaps because it lacks the strong sense of individualism and identity which pervades his previous work. The majority of the pages consist of either the poet's own introduction to his book, or of later reviews and discussions of his work, which would be well worth the read for any student of Whitman, were it not for the fact that this particular e-book edition quickly devolves into a garbled, unreadable mess. Try to find it elsewhere if you're interested....more
Though the author does sometimes have a charming way with words, more often than not that way is overshadowed by his by-now-extremeAwful. Just awful.
Though the author does sometimes have a charming way with words, more often than not that way is overshadowed by his by-now-extremely-dated New Age philosophy and "aren't-I-a-fantastic-writer?" ego.
Meanwhile, you're doing the difficult and mind-numbingly unappealing work of attempting to dredge up half a liking for a single one of his cardboard characters (who are presumably meant to be intriguing one-and-all due to some bizarre and randomly-assigned attribute, and who, weirdly, all sound *exactly like the narrator* when they speak, with the exception of an occasional half-assed catch-phrase such as "podner", or gesture such as mustache-stroking. Way to excel at dialogue and characterization, dude...) while trudging through the convoluted and incredibly uninteresting plot. Add in a disturbingly misogynistic 1970s concept of sexuality (women apparently only dabble in lesbianism if there doesn't happen to be a dick around... oh, and all women and young girls are seemingly down with uninvited sexual contact, even when it takes the form of molestation by creepy dudes in cars, 'cause that's not gross at all) and you have a novel it took me three freaking weeks to get through, when the typical amount of time I'd spend on a book of this length is closer to three hours. The time would have been far better spent reading some dry scientific tome about whooping cranes rather than filling my head with these characters, these storylines, this dreck. This... this is Ayn Rand for hippies.
Oh, and also, apparently fat women just plain lose all ability to focus at the mere mention of sweets. Why? Because Tom Robbins is a sexist ass and can't help proving it every other page or so, just in case you didn't believe him the first hundred or so times he tried to make that patently clear. And he'll keep right on proving it, again and again, until the very end of the book. Ugh....more
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