No comments about Green Mansions (Large Print Edition): A Romance of the Tropical Forest.

5 comments about The Heart of a Woman.

1. Maya has such an impeccable method of penning and conveying her prose!! This was a wonderful installment in her biographical sequence(s). I recommend this book to ALL (those mature and aged enough to handle the sometimes-explicit subject matter) because it brings so many pieces of American history together in such a uniquely stated manner!



2. i was so excited to get this book. it arrived fast and was in good condition. thank you



3. Another slice of Maya Angleou's memoir, The Heart of a Woman, brings you through her hardships of raising her son Guy in California and continues during her move to New York City, her stint in the Harlem Writers guild, her intimate involvement in the Civil Rights movement, her marriage to South African Freedom Fighter, Vusumzi Make and subsequent move to Egypt, Ghana and ultimate divorce. A book that will speak to men and women on all levels, The Heart of a Woman is truly a phenomenal read.



4. I have just finished The Heart of a Woman and I could not put it down once I started it. Angelou lays bare for all of her readers her heart, her life and her truth. What an amazing life she has lived. I read some reviews that criticized her for her honesty in regards to whites during the 60s. It was the 60s, racial barriers where still up strong and bared anyone of color from living the lives they so richly deserved, why should she be criticized for this? Would it be better that she lied and said how wonderful life was for blacks in this country during that time? It wasn't and that is the point that she is making in this book. That is the point that she is making as an African American woman, called to the forefront in the battle of discrimination.
   I had to look on the cover to see when she wrote this book, it was 1981, how sad that in 26yrs we still see white America carrying the flag of superiority! I am truly glad that Angelou is still walking this earth to see that though the gains for civil rights are slow coming they are coming,regardless of what her criticizers are saying. Because if they are criticizing her for telling it like it was, then there is still a long path to journey to get us beyond the need for civil rights.
   If you want to know what the 60's Civil Rights movement & Aparthied in South Africa was about this book will give you an accurate picture of one womans involvement. Two thumbs up for Angelou!



5. The heart of a woman was not an easy read for me, i just couldn't get into it, it did not grab my attention.

No comments about Richard M. Nixon (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series).

1 comments about Fields of Light (Ulverscroft Large Print Series).

1. Based on the true story of Brian Grover and Ilena Petrovna. It tells the story of Brian, who found himself in Russia during the 1930's depression. There he fell in love with Ilena, but he had to face the obstacles of war, governments and near death to return to her.

No comments about Jellied Eels and Zeppelins (Isis Nonfiction).

No comments about The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (Large Print Edition).

3 comments about 100 Years, 100 Stories.

1. It seems that no matter what he writes about, from the introduction about getting older to his nurse readjusting his toupee, he does it so very well with humor. (I did not even know that he wore a toupee!)
   
   These are really short one to two page stories of incidents that had occurred during his lifetime. It may or may not have you laughing out loud. It will at the very least, bring a smile to your face.



2. This came out almost the day Burns passed away. This is a very funny anecdotal review of George Burns' entire life -- many of the stories go back to his childhood. (His one-liner when the tough Irish kids in his neighborhood demanded to know if he was Catholic is priceless! Good thing he was a fast runner....)
   
   He was a very funny guy, and the book reads as though you could bring him back for a day and hang out while he just sits and tells stories. A lot of fun -- too bad it seems to be out of print.



3. I bought this book with the intention of reading one or two stories a day. I couldn't put it down. I was laughing out loud and my children begged me to read them what was so funny. I would read them some and they enjoyed it as much as I did. What started out as a month or so of giggles turned into an afternoon of belly-laughs.

No comments about The Private Life of Napoleon Volume VI [EasyRead Large Edition].

No comments about Robert Browning (Large Print).

5 comments about Steppenwolf.

1. I lay in a tub of hot water, relaxing, "coming to" early in the morning. The words come off the page through my eyes narrowly bumping up against my brain en route to my heart. Incredible! Materiel for an epitaph, the stuff worthy of my eulogy. If it can't be understood, its useless to explain. Me thinks: "Like a good wine, this should be sipped slowly and rolled gently over the taste buds and only lastly is to be lost swallowed into the gut.



2. "Ignorance is bliss," goes the old proverb coined by Thomas Gray, and I'd wager Hermann Hesse would agree. When you are as intelligent and sensitive a man as Hesse, the quotidian crap that assails you and the rest of humanity must be almost unbearable. But if felo-de-se is out of the question, how exactly do you bear up?
   
   That seems to be the point of Steppenwolf, a clear-cut masterpiece whose omission from the MLA 100 is nothing if not a scandal. This is a deep book, a profound book, a book that is wearying to read, and which seems longer than its 208 pages. It is by no means a page-turner, nor is it as accessible as Siddhartha.
   
   Steppenwolf raises many questions, and answers none satisfactorily--understandable given that human beings are essentially cosmic orphans, alone and adrift on a small planet, making everything up as they go along. Hesse does not like this. He seeks order and rationale, a raison d'etre...but all he finds is stupidity, primitiveness, and ennui.
   
   This is ventriloquized through the perspective of the narrator, and there are pages and pages of angst-ridden, existential thrashing about. Sometimes these passages drag...but always--always--the sheer quality of the writing is evident. The talent on display is rare indeed, and appreciable even when you want to grab Hesse by the shoulders, give him a shake, and tell him to come to grips with life's meaninglessness and quit being such a pussy.
   
   I recommend Steppenwolf to those who are interested moreso in philosophy than literature. If you are looking for a simple, straight-forward yarn, this ain't the book.



3. There were many flaws with this book. The pace was meandering, going nowhere for long periods of time and some of the dialogue is trite
   
   The main characters were shallow, but I'm assuming they archetypal, based on Carl Jung's phychology, so they were probably that way on purpose. One really does not know which character was real and which was a figment of Harry's bruised psyche. Hermine, Harry's opposite, forces Harry to forgo his prejudices against dancing, Jazz, and a more carefree way of life. This leads to finding at least some happiness, even if it never can completely make his loneliness fade away. Also on the path is a serene Goethe as well as Mozart, and culminates in the Magic Theatre, where Harry finally faces his inner conflicts.
   
   There were many good thoughts in this book, as it shows that every human being consists of conflicting wants and feelings, all of which are clashing and causing stress on the person as a whole. The key to living a good life if for these desparate selves to live in harmony. Therefore the wolf has to live with the man and the man with the wolf. It also shows how inner conflict leads to us reinventing ourselves, dying several times in a life so to speak.
   
   What was annoying is the main characters incessant complaints about bourgeoisie values. his hatred of Jazz as anti-intellectual(history has vindicated Jazz), and drug abuse. It was rather odd how he was exclaiming living a more full life by snorting cocaine at one point and sleeping with a prostitute, and I hardly see how this helps one rebuild himself.
   
   Still, I go back to this book more than most, even several years after I read it, so obviously it had its moments that stuck to me. Recommended if you're up for a surreal and angst filled ride.



4. Theres nothing much to say, its a good product, just wish it was a little smaller given that i got it paperback to carry it inside the jacket pockets, half an inch smaller would have been good, even if it still fits its troublesome and a little annoying that you have to struggle to tuck it in. Still the rest is pretty good and the cover picture is nice.



5. There are people out there, reading this review now, who have gone thru life feeling as though no one has ever understood them. Some of those people will read this book, 'Steppenwolf', & it will hit them like a bolt(& some wont like it at all). Not only will a few of them feel as though they have finally been understood, but they might feel as though at last they can begin to understand themselves!
   Yes, there is someone who understands. His name is Hesse. Unfortunately he has passed on, he was from an earlier generation. But you know, when he lived people from all over the world wrote him letters asking for his understanding. He answered them all, & he usually had good advise for them. & he was able to understand not only because he was intellgent, but also because he had also suffered the problems of his 'Steppenwolf' himself. Yes, it might seem that he were writing this best of all books about each of us individually, but it was, in fact, autobiography. Half autobiography, half poem, & 100% masterpiece. Please read it, & dont allow the 1st 80 pages throw you off- it is going to come alive for you, as it has for people since 1927. You might be in for a treat.
   However, some dont feel this way, especially these days. It is a little odd, I feel, that Hesse (who was so popular with readers from my generation in the early 1970s) has had a decline in popularity from 1980 on. He doesnt seem to strike the same chord in todays young readers as he did 30 years ago. Maybe because his books spoke about the importance of spirt over that of technology, I dont know. I dont think Hesse would have seen the rise of the PC & the internet as a bad thing at all, & think it would have been right up his alley, & that he might have made the internet a better thing than it is. In fact, the theme of 'The Glass Bead Game' brings to mind todays internet, & there is a website devoted to just that. But, for me anyway, the fact that todays generation has sort of rejected Hesse is one of the more sad things about it, because I would have believed that they would have embraced him even more than mine did. I think the reason that they havnt might be because that while they are very much in favor of the enlightment that Siddhartha, Goldman, Harry Haller, Sinclair, etc ultimately reach, they have never experienced the PROBLEMS of the Steppenwolf that set those characters on that road in the 1st place. I think that those kinds of problems might have been unique to my generation, & that Hesse came along for Americans just at the right time. It seems that the times have changed.