The Tao of Pooh

Amazon.com

Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.

Book Description

One of the world's great Taoist masters isn't Chinese, or a venerable philosopher, but is in fact none other than A. A. Milne's effortlessly calm, still, reflective bear Winnie-the-Pooh. While Eeyore frets and Piglet hesitates and Rabbit calculates and Owl pontificates, Pooh just is. And that's the clue to the secret wisdom of the Taoists.

Customer Reviews:

A particular way of living.......2007-10-19

This book is based around the idea that A. A. Milne's stories of Winnie-The-Pooh can be used to illustrate the basic notions of Taoism. Hoff is not by any means arguing that Milne was a Taoist. He is merely saying that Milne's inner attitude to life, as revealed by the stories, intuitively follow along the same path as Taoism. Owl is wise, Rabbit is cleaver and Eeore is smugly superior but the real hero of the books is Pooh, the apparently stupid yet strangely successful and able bear.

The book covers the Taoist principles of:

Tao, or the indescribable Way of the universe,
P'u, or natural simplicity, the Uncarved Block,
Inner Nature, being those things that make us exactly who we are,
Wu Wei, or proceeding without doing, causing, or making,
Tzu Jan, or 'self so', meaning that things happen by themselves, spontaneously,
Tz'u, or caring and compassion, and,
T'ai Hsu, or the Great Nothing.

Along the way we learn the pitfalls of being too busy and the benefits of doing nothing (for example meditation and contemplation). Having read this I now try to arrange my day so that I can spend half an hour a day in my garden with my cat just doing nothing but observing nature and thinking the thoughts that come to mind. I recommend it to everyone.

Non Fiction.......2007-09-03

A complete waste of time. I suppose it is a whimsical idea to use Pooh to explain the version of philosophy that you favor. Others might term this exploitative. In fact, there is probably a comic in there somewhere, The Revenge of Pooh, where pragmatic realistic toys with weapons come and kick the stuffing out of wacko writers.

What a great book.......2007-08-27

If you only read two books this year, this and "The Te of Piglet" should be those.

wonderful, insightful book..........2007-08-08

I found this to be a simply delightful read. It was easy to comprehend and get through. Whoever thought that Pooh might one day come back and enlighten me as much as he entertained me as a kid growing up.

Interesting concepts.......2007-08-04

I learned of this book through my truck insurance auto person in Minnesota. He told me of this book and I bought it and thought it had some great insites on life. They were always there but Pooh brings them out in a way that makes me think farther into it. Really good. PSM

Average customer rating:

Maturin's book
Another good one
Another stellar effort for Patrick O'Brian as Aubrey and Maturin wear a bit about the edges
I'll be coming back for more!
From Chase to Chase

The Surgeon's Mate
Patrick O'Brian
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393308200

Book Description

Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
Three Cassettes, 5 hours

The 7th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin Series.

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by dispatch vessel to bring the news of their latest vitory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the Fren intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers soon become menacing. the chase that follows is as thrilling and unexpected as anything O'Brian has written.

Customer Reviews:

Maturin's book.......2007-05-01

The focus is on Stephen Maturin in this seventh installment of the Aubrey-Maturin series, which, though it isn't the best or most exciting of the first seven books, is still a ripping good read. Returning to England following their escapades in North America, Aubrey and Maturin try to settle into life at home -- Jack with his family and Stephen with his scientific pursuits -- but their pasts catch up with them, compelling them to join forces for a spur-of-the-moment mission to the Baltic. Will they succeed? Will they overcome the old problems that dog them? And just who is the surgeon's mate? Read this tale of spying, diplomacy, and (of course!) naval combat to find out.

Another good one.......2007-03-17

This series is great and this was another chapter in the ongoing story of Maturin and Aubrey. Their adventures are of another world and provide a great contrast to other books.

Another stellar effort for Patrick O'Brian as Aubrey and Maturin wear a bit about the edges.......2007-01-17

Patrick O'Brian's scope of imagination is staggering. We are now into the seventh book in his series, and Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and surgeon/naturalist/spy Stephen Maturin continue to find themselves in realistic-yet-dire circumstances of a personal, military, and intelligence nature. Through it all, these two characters never seem like invincible juggernauts, but instead very human, very capable men living by the best their wits and luck can offer.

At the outset of the novel, Aubrey and Maturin need to flee the New World for the old, but find themselves hard-pressed to do so. Thanks to Dr. Maturin's single-handed destruction of French spy networks in Boston (including a wee bit of murder), a wealthy intelligence figure hires ships to track down the fleeing Maturin. The result is a thrilling chase off Nova Scotia and the nearby waters - while I prefer Aubrey's sinking of the Dutch 74 the Waakzamheid in "Desolation Island," this chase is one of the most thrilling in the series so far.

And the joys of this novel don't stop there. O'Brian once again finds various ways to inject humor into his novel. Dr. Maturin hits a personal and professional high (as a naturalist) when he gets the chance to address a body of learned scientists in Paris . . . only to bungle the presentation horribly. Aubrey allows himself to be seduced by a wanton woman while celebrating his escape from the jail in Boston, and is confronted with news of the natural biological result of such a transgression. Maturin and Aubrey are accompanied on many of their adventures in "SM" by the Swedish captain Jagiello, a supremely attractive young man, and Aubrey finds himself at a loss as to why the women fall all over themselves for this young buck when they could have a sailor "with the handsomest set of whiskers in the fleet." There are joys in this novel that you just don't find in most swashbuckling thrillers.

But at its heart, "SM" is an adventure yarn, and O'Brian does not disappoint. In a story that sweeps from the New World to Paris to Denmark to the infamous Temple Prison back in France, Aubrey and Maturin find themselves thrown from one pan into another fire. And God bless them for it!

I'll be coming back for more! .......2006-11-02

This entry in the Aubrey-Maturin seagoing saga was probably my least favorite that I've read so far in this series. My quibble was with the novel's plot, which was pretty thin and derivative of other action novels and movies. And Diana Villiers, Dr. Maturin's love, is starting to remind of the character of Irenee in The Forsythe Saga. Everyone is always talking about how fascinating she is, but darned if I can see why. On the plus side, as always O'Brian serves up amazing historical details and makes Jack and Stephen witty and real. And the on-going story of their lives advances to a very eye-opening and surprising ending. So you can bet I'll look forward to the next installment of this series.

From Chase to Chase.......2006-04-23

In "The Surgeon's Mate", Patrick O'Brian concludes the interior trilogy that is contained within his larger series- the previous two being "Desolation Island" and "Fortune of War". In these books Stephen Maturin comes into his own as the main protagonist driving the suspense and tension- in addition to the overt action on the high seas and the covert action of 19th Century espionage, Stephen struggles with an addiction to an opiate and a woman whose collective effect nearly destroys him. "The Surgeon's Mate" continues this trend and takes it to new levels, and concludes them rather than leaving us hanging. `Lucky' Jack Aubrey is of course present, and often present at the heart of the action, and in this volume exposes the weaker side of his character in the form of an affair he has in Halifax- after so long away, he caves only a few months from home.

From the harbor of Halifax, Stephen, Jack and Diana travel back to England and are pursued relentlessly by American privateers- so relentlessly that Stephen realizes they are sent to hunt and capture him as result of his recent exploits in causing havoc among the French intelligence service in America. From this tense chase, the companions are given a much needed respite in England. The are there long enough for Jack's mistake with Amanda Smith in Halifax to haunt him- for Diana and Stephen to drift apart, and for Stephen to accept his invitation to speak at the Institute in Paris on his beloved topic of Natural Philosophy. When in Paris he brings Diana and sets her up with his contacts, as she can no longer stand English society (mostly due to her own promiscuity), and terrified at the prospect that she is unmarried and may be with child. Jack and Stephen reunite and escape from their various troubles by accepting a mission to neutralize (peacefully if possible) a garrisoned fortress in the Baltic known as the Grisholm; a fortress manned by Catalan soldiers misled by Napoleon's propaganda and led by none other than Stephen's Godfather. This sets up Maturin to again take the lead and showcase the espionage that O'Brian writes so well.

Along the way to the conclusion O'Brian writes some of his best descriptions of the Channel, and the sights to be seen there. The dialogue is crisp and sparkles- the addition of the Swedish `hero' named Jagiello adds a lot of humor- the scenes of Stephen, Jack and Jagiello bumbling and scheming in prison is classic. The final chapters take the reader on a gale-force journey from cannon fire in the Baltic to the terrors of a lee-shore and eventually the infamous Temple Prison in Paris. . . .

The Fortune of War (Aubrey Maturin Series)

Average customer rating:

Lucky Jack Aubrey takes a back seat to Maturin as War of 1812 breaks out
Best in the Series!
. . . Aubrey & Maturin delayed in Boston- their adventure home continues
The Fortune of War
Another Strong Outing

The Fortune of War (Aubrey Maturin Series)
Patrick O'Brian
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393308138

Amazon.com

This time it's the War of 1812 that gets in the way of Captain Jack Aubery's plans. Caught en route to England in a dispatch vessel, Aubrey and Maturin are soon in the thick of a typically bloody naval engagement. Next stop: an American prison, from which only Maturin's cunning allows them to engineer an exit.

Book Description

Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
Three Cassettes, Approx. 5 hours

The 6th novel in Patrick O'Brian's hugely successful Aubrey/Maturin Series

Captain Jack Aubrey, R.N.,arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a dispatch vessel. But the War of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on hime with a vengance.

Customer Reviews:

Lucky Jack Aubrey takes a back seat to Maturin as War of 1812 breaks out.......2006-10-31

For the first five novels in Patrick O'Brian's hallowed Aubrey-Maturin series, Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey was the swashbuckling hero and Dr. Stephen Maturin was the mysterious sidekick. Thanks to O'Brian's wonderful prose, this balance worked exceedingly well.

And yet, there was always a sense that there was more to the surgeon-spy Maturin than O'Brian was letting on . . . that he was more than a sidekick, but a serious player in his own right. Of course, this was slightly undercut with Maturin's hilarious inability to master even the most rudimentary elements of the seafaring life, but you still knew that Maturin had a courageous, dashing heart to go with his naturalist's brain.

In "The Fortune of War," Maturin shoves his way to the fore and Captain Aubrey is more or less sidelined with a grevious wound to his sword arm. The War of 1812 has broken out, and the British navy experiences some shocking defeats at the hands of the heretofore contemptible American navy. Eventually, Aubrey and Maturin find themselves going broadside-to-broadside with the Americans, but perhaps since Aubrey is not in command of his vessel (Aubrey and Maturin being saved from certain death after their ship sinks in a fiery accident), Aubrey is forced to watch his ship strike its colors.

Maturin and Aubrey are brought to Boston as prisoners of war, and while Aubrey convalesces, Maturin dives pell-mell back into his life as a spy. Boston is a city of intrigues, and Maturin's history as a spy plays havoc with his attempts to free himself, Aubrey, and the lovely Diane Villiers. Maturin gets to demonstrate that he's got a bit of super secret agent in him, and many readers will be shocked at the violent means Maturin often uses to achieve his ends. He's a far cry from the non-violent physician he is often assumed to be!

Perhaps spending more time on land than any book in the series so far, "The Fortune of War" still offers thrills and escapades galore. For fans of this series, this novel is not to be missed.

Best in the Series!.......2006-06-06

This one has it all! Romantic tension, exploding ships, climactic battle scenes, and (my favorite) ingrigue! The characters, are at their most Jack-and-Stephenesque. O'Brian manages to fit more meaning and emotion into a single simple sentence than any author since Austen and he manages to fit more events into this book than many of his others. Anyone who has gotten this far in the series doesn't need me to urge them to read this one, but I couldn't help but sing its praises.

. . . Aubrey & Maturin delayed in Boston- their adventure home continues.......2006-04-19

"The Fortune of War" continues where "Desolation Island" left the readers hanging in Patrick O'Brian's previous novel. But rather than being rescued and safe, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are taken out of the frying pan and put in the fire. Whether it is an exploding ship heading home, the pummeling broadsides of the USS Constitution, or the clutches of the fledgling American intelligence network; Patrick O'Brian gives his famous and beloved protagonists almost more than they can handle.

Aubrey and Maturin spend the majority of this novel as prisoners of war in Boston, while the War of 1812 continues a series of great victories for the newly founded American Navy. Aubrey, severely wounded, is more of an auxiliary character in this novel, and Stephen Maturin comes fully into the foreground as the main protagonist attempting to save his friends. Diana Villiers also returns to the series, and Maturin must deal with his feelings for her in addition to the American agent with whom she is currently associating. The great intelligence coup Maturin achieved in the previous novel has returned to haunt him, as his powerful enemies close in on all sides. . .

This novel is great spy adventure set in Boston, and contains two very well written historical engagements with America's new fleet of frigates- the USS Constitution and the Chesapeake. As a patriotic American, it was a challenging read, as my two favorite literary characters would have been my adversaries if I had been their contemporaries. However, O'Brian writes this story with a well balanced eye to this conflict of interests between the British and American people. Additionally, I have to give a shout out to the USS Constitution, as I am a member of its honorific namesake in the modern American Army- the 1st Armored Division "Old Ironsides", and have spent some great times in her city of origin, & where she can be seen today: Boston. The one drawback of this story is that it has a substantive portion of the adventure on land. Granted, it is still a great story and very well written, but the magic of journeying across the wild and untamed ocean is not present.

While not the best of the Aubrey/Maturin series; I am always eager for more action at sea, "The Fortune of War" is very readable and enjoyable. It is also essential to read in order as the second installment of the first miniseries within O'Brian's larger story arc. Make sure you start with "Desolation Island" first.

The Fortune of War.......2005-06-28

This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.
In the first (Master & Commander) I was exposed to a new language and the nautical terms were a bit of a mystery, but now after reading the first six books I am addicted to O'Brian's "voice", style and masterful story telling. I finished this book while on vacation and the ending left me eager to pick up the next one in the series; alas, I had to wait for my return to "civililization" to find #7. This is character development at its best and O'Brian must be among the finest authors of action/adventure novels, especially of the Napoleonic wars era.

Another Strong Outing.......2004-10-12

This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and focusses on the War of 1812 - although less than a third of the way through the series, we are now getting quite late in the Napoleonic Wars. The story continues the same voyage from 'Desolation Island', and the events and characters of that book are significant. So it's advisable to read that prior to this, even if you don't read all of the five prequels.

Two naval battles and a desperate longboat voyage are featured, but the heart of the story is Aubrey and Maturin as POWs in Boston, where Maturin's past spying activities are coming back to haunt him. This part of the story is done very well.

The principal complaint is one that applies to all the books in this series, so at least readers will be used to it by now. The books are loaded with contemporary naval terms and slang which O'Brian never stops to explain, leaving the reader to spend almost as much time at sea as the heroes.

The series is generally strong on historical authenticity, but an earlier revewer complains that this volume is an exception. I suspect that is so; from my own knowledge of the War of 1812, the close Franco-American alliance which is portrayed in this book, while it would have made political sense, never really existed. Such errors are unfortunate in an author who normally avoids them, but they didn't spoil the story for me.

Average customer rating:

O'Brien as usual, now sailing as a privateer
"The Letter of Marque" lifted to heights by explorations of character
Possibly my favorite so far.
Fighting
Excellent Read!

The Letter of Marque
Patrick O'Brian
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393309053

Amazon.com

When Jack Aubrey is unfairly deprived of his commission in the Royal Navy, Stephen Maturin comes to the rescue, purchasing the captain's former ship and outfitting it as a privateer, to be commanded by...Jack Aubrey. Soon the Surprise is off to sea, on a mission that Aubrey hopes will redeem his good name. The author's grasp of period detail is astonishing as ever--and so is his gift for pure entertainment.

Book Description

The time is the early 1800s, and the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime his has not committed. His old friend, Stephen Maturin, usually acting as the ship's surgeon to cover his activities on behalf of British intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his old ship, the Surprise, to command as a privateer. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French, which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace.

In this twelfth installment of the beloved Aubrey-Maturin series, Patrick O'Brian has created another tale of great narrative power.

Customer Reviews:

O'Brien as usual, now sailing as a privateer.......2007-09-24

After being deprived of his rank as post captain in "The reverse of the medal" Aubrey starts a new career as a "letter of marque" (private man-of-war) is started in this book. It's the characteristic seal of the series, it's a story of efforts and success, it enforces you to have read "The reverse", and to continue with "The thirteen -gun salute". If it will be your first book in the series it won't be the last. Save you don`t like this kinda book, then better don`t step through its board, and keep away of such a seizing.

"The Letter of Marque" lifted to heights by explorations of character.......2007-06-05

It is a bit unfair of me to say that Patrick O'Brian's "The Letter of Marque" is a "character-driven" novel. Indeed, one of the many joys of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is his ability to sustain and develop such compelling characters over a long series ("LoM" is the twelfth book).

But while there is a fair amount of action in this novel, what distinguishes "LoM" is O'Brian's further exploration of his two heroes, Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin.

The novel opens with Aubrey bereft after being unfairly stripped from the lists in the Royal Navy. Unfairly charged and convicted of a financial scheme in which he played an entirely unwitting part, Aubrey has had his lifeline to the Navy cut as harshly as with a boarding axe. Now this merry captain, who used to delight in dreadful puns and baroque music, has been reduced to a cold, frightening visage. Remote, distant, joyless, Aubrey is at his lowest ebb.

Thankfully, Aubrey's boon companion, Dr. Maturin, has a lifeline. Thanks to a prodigious inheritance, Maturin buys Aubrey's beloved H.M.S. Surprise and outfits her as a privateer - with the titular letter of marque. This letter essentially authorizes the Surprise to be a pirate for the British Navy. While this offers Aubrey a chance to go to sea in his favorite ship, this joy is tempered by the shame that is attached to the word "privateer" by the serving sailors of the Royal Navy. Aubrey feels this acutely.

But privateer or no, the command of the Surprise offers Aubrey the chance at redemption through a heroic action . . . possibly even reinstatement to the lists! And so Aubrey leads the Surprise into various actions, including a complicated night-time raid on a French-held port to steal a ship from under French noses. O'Brian writes these scenes as only he can.

But this novel is not only about Aubrey. Dr. Maturin continues to ply his intelligence trade. He also continues to struggle with his two demons - an addiction to opium and an addition to Diane Villiers, his estranged wife. Maturin has heard that Diane has fled to Sweden with the attractive Swedish colonel Jagiello after she heard (incorrectly) that Maturin was having an affair in Malta. And so Maturin heads north to confront her, and possibly Jagiello, with the truth.

All of these plots allow O'Brian to explore both Aubrey's and Maturin's characters in new ways. Aubrey has had his troubles before with the law, but those were always civil matters involving nothing more than unsavory characters. Here, Aubrey is confronted with shame for the first time. Maturin also must confront his own nature, for as a man of intellect and science, he is not proud to be addicted to either a drug or a woman. And yet he is.

"The Letter of Marque" may be the shortest of the Aubrey-Maturin novels so far, but there is a lot of meat on this small bone. Do not read this novel unless you have read those that come before - the characters won't make nearly as much sense. But you will be thankful once you get to this novel - it is well worth the wait.

Possibly my favorite so far........2007-05-21

Simply put, these books mostly get better and better as they go, and this one is probably my favorite of the lot (up through #14 at this point). Adversity strikes, and the boys are tested to the limit. Wonderful stuff from a spectacular writer.

Fighting .......2007-01-16

Jack has been disgraced and treated badly by the system, so he does what anyone else would do, take ships for money. Patrick O'Brian puts you right into the minds of his curators like no other books I have read, I will have a hard time going back to read Tom Clancey and Clive Cussler, sorry guys. This is truly an action book, both on the sea and with politics.

Excellent Read!.......2006-05-30

As I'm borrowing most of this series from the library, I'm reading them out of order (as they come in from interlibrary loan).

I can't say enough for this excellent series! I read through "The Letter of Marque" on a Memorial Day Weekend - couldn't put it down.

Huzzah for Patrick O'Brian!

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York

Average customer rating:

A political-financial history of the "Dual Contracts"
New York City's Pivotal Moment

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York
Peter Derrick
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0814719104
Release Date: 2001-03-01

Book Description

"An exceptional history . . . Derrick's well-written narrative is packed with thoroughly researched facts and reasoning."
—Library Journal

"Derrick's book goes more into the details of the behind the scenes actions that surrounded the construction of the largest public transportation system ever."
—Bronx Times

"...a valuable case study in the micropolitics of one of the Progressive era's signature projects."
—The Wall Street Journal

"[An] excellent addition to the literature of the city's planning, development and economics."
—Publishers Weekly

"Illuminating . . . Yes, the city built the subway (with a lot of help from the private sector), but more important, the subway built the city, which remains dependent on its intricate structure."
—New York magazine

"As the most detailed and thorough account available of the dual system, Derrick's book has improved out understanding of rapid transit politics and urban planning."
—The Journal of American History, June 2002

In 1910, New York City was bursting at the seams as more and more people crowded into a limited supply of housing in the tenement districts of Manhattan and the older areas of Brooklyn. With no outlet for its exploding population, and the burgeoning social problems created by the overwhelming congestion, New York faced a serious crisis which city and state leaders addressed with dramatic measures. In March 1913, public officials and officers of the two existing rapid transit networks shook hands to seal a deal for a greatly expanded subway system which would more than double the size of the two existing transit networks.

At the time the largest and most expensive single municipal project ever attempted, the Dual System of Rapid Transit set the pattern of growth in New York City for decades to come, helped provide millions of families a better quality of life, and, in the words of Manhattan borough president George McAneny (1910-1913), "proved the city's physical salvation." It stands as that rare success story, an enormously complicated project undertaken against great odds which proved successful beyond all measure.

Published in conjunction with the History of the City of New York Project.

Customer Reviews:

A political-financial history of the "Dual Contracts".......2001-08-24

Peter Derrick's book covers the "Dual Contracts" era of subway construction in New York, when numerous lines were built between 1910 and 1931 by the IRT and the BRT /BMT. Derrick focuses on the interactions between executives of the then-existing subway companies and municipal politicians. Only a few paragraphs cover the "Independent" subway system, which was built after 1931.

Endnotes, bibliography, etc., comprise 155 pages of this book, or nearly a third of its pages. There are eight maps and 24 period photographs. There is nothing in this book about station design, track layouts, operating procedures, or rolling stock. In fact, the book ends when construction began. It was a worthy endeavor of historical research to document the political deal-making of this period, but some readers may be disappointed that the author's interest was solely in the back-room political gamesmanship that preceded construction

New York City's Pivotal Moment.......2001-04-15

No other historian has identified so important a piece of NYC's history on which so little is known, and written so lucidly about it. This is not just enjoyable history. You cannot understand New York City today without reading Derrick's book.

Book Description

This study addresses the question of why ideas of ancestry and kinship were so important in nineteenth-century society, and particularly in the Victorian novel. Sophie Gilmartin discusses what makes people believe that they are part of a certain region, race or nation, and what part is played by superstitious belief, invented traditions and fictions. Gilmartin's study shows that ideas of ancestry and kinship, and the narratives inspired by or invented around them, were of profound significance in the construction of Victorian identity.

Average customer rating:

Sterling addition to series - diplomacy in Indonesia!
Reading Patrick O'Brian makes you smarter.
Jack and Stephen enjoy another remarkable adventure
Thirteen Gun Salute
One of the best in the series

The Thirteen-Gun Salute
Patrick O'Brian
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039330907X

Amazon.com

Will Napoleon Bonaparte form an alliance with the Malay princes of the South China Sea? Not if Jack Aubrey can help it. Conveying a diplomatic mission to the Sultan's court, Aubrey and company must also contend with orangutans, typhoons, and a squadron of wily French envoys.

Book Description

The 13th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin series.

Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following his dismissal from the Royal Navy (on a false accusation), he has earned reinstatement through his daring exploits as a privateer, brilliantly chronicled in The Letter of Marque. Now he is to shepherd Stephen Maturin–his friend, ship’s surgeon and sometimes intelligence agent–on a diplomatic mission to prevent between Bonaparte and the Malay princes which would put English merchant shipping at risk.

The journey of the Diane encompasses a great and satisfying diversity of adventures. Maturin climbs the Thousand Steps of the sacred crater of the orangutans; a killer typhoon catches Aubrey and his crew trying to work the Diane off a reef; and in the barbaric court of Pulo Prabang a classic duel of intelligence agents unfolds: the French envoys, well entrenched in the Sultan’s good graces, against the savage cunning of Stephen Maturin.

“O’Brian infuses his novels with so much energy, texture and drollery that it’s easy to be swept along for the voyage. Add to this the superb reading of actor Tim Pigott-Smith and you have something approaching audiobook heaven.”
---The Express-Times

Customer Reviews:

Sterling addition to series - diplomacy in Indonesia!.......2007-07-02

Perhaps I grow jaded, but Patrick O'Brian kept me at a distance with "The Thirteen-Gun Salute." As a result, despite the thrilling sights and wonderful writing, I cannot give my heart to this novel as I have with so many of his other Aubrey-Maturin novels.

That's not because O'Brian did not offer his usual delightful plot or dozens (if not hundreds) of perfectly-written passages. Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey is reinstated to the Royal Navy after his recent heroics and well-deserved good fortune. Dr. Stephen Maturin continues to serve both as Aubrey's ship-surgeon and resident spy - his recently-acquired wealth has done nothing to stifle his roaming spirit. And this novel sees the pair off to modern-day Indonesia to negotiate a critical treaty with a local potentate before Napoleon does so.

"The Thirteen Gun Salute" is long on sailing and diplomacy, short on broadsides and carronades. This is not a criticism - some of my favorite books in this series focus on Maturin and the exotic joys of life at sea rather than O'Brian's admittedly wonderful battle scenes. Indeed, my favorite section of this book involves Maturin's infamous journey to a Buddhist monastary deep inside a dormant volcano, accompanied by a tame orangutan.

But there was one element in this novel that I found to be deeply unsatisfying. Many of Aubrey's and Maturin's troubles lie at the foot of two traitors to the Crown, and they feature in this novel. (Don't worry - no spoilers here, and you should stay away from them on this page.) And yet O'Brian denies us much in the way of direct confrontation between them. I am familiar with O'Brian's love for oblique references and subtle points (indeed, I adore them), but this was a situation that demanded a well-aired comeuppance and reckoning. O'Brian has dedicated more words to describing a comic cricket match than he gives this situation, and as an editor I would have recommended a revisiting of this element.

Nothing in this review should imply that this is an inferior work. O'Brian's prose sings as ever - a climactic hurricane/typhoon is described in riveting style, and there are several key moments of both humor and acute observations of man in the 19th century.

I guess I was just a little disappointed to get jilted after a build-up over successive novels. Oh, well. Here's to book 14!

Reading Patrick O'Brian makes you smarter. .......2007-01-16

I'm a true Patrick O'Brian fan. I buy his books three or four at a time. I have not been so captivated by a series of books ever since I read "Dune". Surly sadness will come to my day when there is no more for me to read. Patrick O'Brian can make two ships in a chase at no more than 11Mph at the most keep you on the edge of your seat, then in this book take you to the crater of an instinct volcano to a Buddhist monastery to spend time with an Orangutan, and you can smell every flower and hear the breeze in the trees. As always reading Patrick O'Brian makes you smarter.

Jack and Stephen enjoy another remarkable adventure.......2005-09-26

I absolutely adore this series, but in some dissent from my fellow Aubrey-Maturin fans I find this to be one of the least interesting books in the series, though it has one of the most compelling endings in that leaves the crew of the Diane stranded on a deserted island in the South Pacific. Until that shocking and unresolved event, I found that the novel had less of interest than nearly any other in the series. Though the visit to Pulo Prabang was interesting, it contained (except for the visit to the ruins of a Hindu Temple) less of the compelling historical detail that characterized the other books. In previous volumes, the places that Jack and Stephen visit come alive in an almost tangible manner. Here one gets little sense of what Pulo Prabang (apart from the temple) looked or felt like. The other thing that makes his books so marvelous are the magnificent character studies. This one eventually makes good on this feature of the series, but only towards the very end, as the weirdness of Fox's personality comes out. But there is far less of the complex interpersonal interplay that enlivens the other books. Finally, until the shipwreck at the end, there is simply very little excitement in this one. Compared to the previous books, I find that this one simply does not stand out.

Not that it is not still an utter delight and completely satisfying for fans of the series. The aforementioned visit by Stephen to the ruins of a Hindu temple, in the company of an orangutan, is one of the most remarkable moments in the entire series. The shipwreck at the end is as marvelously told as it is shocking to read (one simply cannot credit that the Diane enjoyed such a short lifespan). Also, there is a deep sense of satisfaction when Ledward and Wray, the villains through most of the sequence, finally get theirs, and the manner in which their bodies are disposed is quite shocking. Nonetheless, these were for me moments that reminded me of how consistently I found most of the previous books, instead of how intermittently interesting I found this one.

Interestingly, this is one of the few novels in the series in which the title of the subsequent novels is mentioned. I remember when I first read these books and how little sense I could make of the titles. In many of them the phrase that provides the title can occur well towards the end, such as THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL. But here in THE THIRTEEN-GUN SALUTE (which itself is one of the more ironical in the series, referring to Fox's rather pathetic sense of self importance) the phrase "the nutmeg of consolation" appears, which provides the title for the next novel.

One virtue O'Brian possesses as a writer (among many virtues) is that of understatement. In a genre in which the tendency is to lay things on a bit thick, O'Brian if any thing leaves things deliciously thin. There is no better instance of this than in the fate of Ledward and Wray. Nowhere does O'Brian explicitly explain what happened to them, but instead leaves us to surmise that they were shot by Fox. It is an easy conclusion to make, given Fox's constant target practice in the novel and the statement by Maturin that they were killed by rifle shot (Stephen prefers the pistol). This restraint is one of the things that make his writing so immensely satisfying.

Thirteen Gun Salute.......2005-09-21

Patrick O'Brian is un-matchable when it comes to historical novels on the British Navy & sailing ships during the early 1800's. With help using "Dean King's" two books, "A Sea of Words", and "Harbors and High Seas", the twenty "Master and Commander" series of novels by Patrick O'Brian can be read over many times, and each time will give you aditional pleasure & insight into the days of "Wooden Ships & Iron Men"! (An ex- Merchant Seaman)

One of the best in the series.......2005-05-13

Cleared of false charges that lost him his place on the Royal Navy's roster of officers and newly distinguished by his accomplishments as a privateer, Captain Jack Aubrey is awarded command of the frigate Diane. His first assignment is to convey his brilliant spy/surgeon/best friend Maturin on a diplomatic mission to the Malay prince at Pulo Prabang. The French are already there in hopes of securing a treaty that will all but doom British trade in the region. Maturin's wily machinations in the resulting intelligence battle are a joy to read. Further adventures - an untimely typhoon and Maturin's trek to the sacred crater of the Thousand Steps deep in orangutan country - combine to make this thirteenth book one of the best in a series that the reader by now wishes would never end.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History

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The real version of "The Stand" by Stephen King
Wow! Very Important Read
a true horror story
Frightening and informative
Excellent Book

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History
John M. Barry
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0670894737
Release Date: 2004-02-05

Book Description

No disease the world has ever known even remotely resembles the great influenza epidemic of 1918. Presumed to have begun when sick farm animals infected soldiers in Kansas, spreading and mutating into a lethal strain as troops carried it to Europe, it exploded across the world with unequaled ferocity and speed. It killed more people in twenty weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty years; it killed more people in a year than the plagues of the Middle Ages killed in a century. Victims bled from the ears and nose, turned blue from lack of oxygen, suffered aches that felt like bones being broken, and died. In the United States, where bodies were stacked without coffins on trucks, nearly seven times as many people died of influenza as in the First World War.

In his powerful new book, award-winning historian John M. Barry unfolds a tale that is magisterial in its breadth and in the depth of its research, and spellbinding as he weaves multiple narrative strands together. In this first great collision between science and epidemic disease, even as society approached collapse, a handful of heroic researchers stepped forward, risking their lives to confront this strange disease. Titans like William Welch at the newly formed Johns Hopkins Medical School and colleagues at Rockefeller University and others from around the country revolutionized American science and public health, and their work in this crisis led to crucial discoveries that we are still using and learning from today.

The Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley said Barry's last book can “change the way we think.” The Great Influenza may also change the way we see the world.

Customer Reviews:

The real version of "The Stand" by Stephen King.......2007-09-11

I really enjoyed this book as it showed in real life how fast a flu epidemic can spread. One has to realize that this epidemic took place in basically horse and buggy days, people did not travel as much. If you look into your family history, as I did, you may find a relative who died during this time period. After I read this book I discovered a graveyard for a turn of the century orphanage. There were so many children that died, all they could do is put numbers on the gravestones. It made me think how fast a flu epidemic could travel today. The references and facts were an eye opener.

Wow! Very Important Read.......2007-08-31

This book will definitely really make you reconsider the vulnerability of society to an epidemic. What really surprised me was how this single epidemic really kick-started the modern health care system. I had no idea that 100 years ago, it was easier to get certified to be a doctor than it was to go to college - quite literally one could go through a correspondence course. It also traces the development and speaks to the foundation of institutions who, our time, are revered for their stature in modern medicine, such as John Hopkins. It covers a great many aspects of medicine and epidemiology. What this book does best, and is truly refreshing for a history book, is provide insight into the thinking of the time - what role politics and political decisions made in the outbreaks in certain cities. What is truly horrifying is how really vulnerable populations are to influenza. Although we understand it better, actual treatment is still quite limited (prevention seems to be the best hope). A small mutation in the virus could again hammer populations around the world. I took on this book because my grandfather's family was so badly devastated by it. I never really asked enough about it before he passed away and now I wish I had. I recommend this book to anyone interested in epidemiology, medicine, particularly how medicine has advanced in the last 100 years, particularly in the US, or if, like me, your family history may have been effected by this. The most frightening aspect is the astounding speed with which this virus spread and the corresponding mortality rate that it brought with it. Tie that in with its extreme, and I mean extreme contagiousness and one finds a really frightening scenario. I can't imagine a world where people are dying so fast they can't even bury the bodies, doctors and nurses are afflicted so badly that they die almost as fast as the patients, that almost nobody really understands how the contagion is spread and people shun one another - neighbors, even family members. What is even more frightening is that this happened less than one hundred years ago. It really makes you think. It really makes you consider how truly vulnerable we all are.

a true horror story.......2007-08-17

First, with all the fearmongering about pandemics in the last couple of years, it is nice to read about the most deadly epidemic the world has ever known. It's not real comforting, but it is better than the fear Fox News was pandering at Rita/Katrina and the bird flu. It's a great book, one that should have been written, though it could have used a better editor. The book does jump around and there is a lot that probably could have been cut, but it is a great book dealing with a complex subject.

Frightening and informative.......2007-08-13

A facinating window into a horrifying period that we've almost intentionally downplayed in our histories. It's especially worthwhile given the recent concerns about an inevitable pandemic. We are better equipped in some ways to deal with a worldwide pandemic, but in many others we are even more fragile. Viruses, like trade, move much more quickly now.

Excellent Book.......2007-08-01

I learned a vast amount about disease, the medical system, and medecine in general. One of the best and most informative books I have ever read. Well-researched and easy to read.

Beatrix Potter: The Artist and Her World 1866-1943

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Beatrix Potter: The Artist and Her World 1866-1943
Judy Taylor , Joyce Irene Whalley , Anne Stevenson Hobbs , and Elizabeth M. Battrick
Manufacturer: Warne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0723235619

Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9)

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From the slopes of Orodruin to the Gray Havens, plus more.
For the Scholarly Tolkien fan
Good Reference Material
the past 3 books I had to give a 4 and I felt absolutely horrible doing that, but I am back on the 5 train for the rest of these
Not for the faint of heart ...

Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0395606497

Book Description

In the first part of Sauron Defeated, Christopher Tolkien completes his account of the writing of The Lord of the Rings, beginning with Sam's rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Kirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire. This part ends with versions of the previously unpublished Epilogue, an alternate ending to the masterpiece in which Sam attempts to answer his children's questions years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo from the Grey Havens. The second part introduces The Notion Club Papers, now published for the first time. Written by J.R.R. Tolkien in the interval between The Two Towers and The Return of the King (1945-1946), these mysterious Papers, discovered in the early years of the twenty-first century, report the discussions of a literary club in Oxford in the years 1986-1987. Those familiar with the Inklings will see a parallel with the group whose members included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. After a discussion of the possiblities of travel through space and time through the medium of 'true dream," the story turns to the legend of Atlantis, the strange communications received by members of the club out of remote past, and the violent irruption of the legend into northwestern Europe. Closely associated with the Papers is a new version of the Numenorean legend, The Drowning of Anadune, which constitutes the third part of the book. At this time the language of the Men of the West, Adunaic, was first devised - Tolkien's fifteenth invented language. The book concludes with an elaborate account of the structure of this language by Arundel Lowdham, a member of the Notion Club, who learned it in his dreams. Sauron Defeated is illustrated with the changing conceptions of the fortress of Kirith Ungol and Mount Doom, previously unpublished drawings of Orthanc and Dunharrow, and fragments of manuscript written in Numenorean script.

Customer Reviews:

From the slopes of Orodruin to the Gray Havens, plus more........2007-02-25

`Sauron Defeated' is the last of a four volume series (`The History of the Lord of the Rings') within a series, (volume IX of `The History of Middle Earth') edited by Christopher Tolkien, from the unpublished writings of his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, most famous as the author of `The Hobbit' and `The Lord of the Rings' (LotR).

The most important thing to realize about this book is that only about a third of its pages deal with `The History of The Lord of the Rings'. The remaining two-thirds deals with a subject which harks back to `The Lost Road' and the wager taken up between the two `Inklings' (an Oxford literary and social society), Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

The LotR story in this book covers the last few days of Sam and Frodo in Mordor, as they painfully make their way to the Cracks of Doom on Orodruin in order to finally destroy the `One Ring'. This takes a very few pages, after which we are left with the notes on the long and slow road home, to one of to me the most interesting episodes in the whole LotR, `The Scouring of the Shire'. I can easily understand why Peter Jackson left this episode and the events involving Tom Bombadil from his films (ten hours is surely long enough for even a cinematic event of these proportions), but they still remain my favorite events.

The middle third of the book is taken up with `The Notion Club Papers', which appears to be a fictional account of the goings-on at the real live `Inkling' meetings at Oxford. There is a lot of playful parodying here, especially on some of C. S. Lewis' works. These drafts also use a conceit most famously used by Robert Graves in his `I, Claudius' and `Claudius The God' novels, where it is made out that these papers were discovered among discarded papers in the year 2012 (about 60 years after they were actually written.) The final third of this volume is filled with additional versions of Tolkien's Atlantis myth, entitled `The Drowning of Anadune', the events which lead the Numenorean ancestors to flee to Middle Earth and become the Dunedain.

The primary relevance of these materials to LotR lie in the fact that Tolkien seems to have put aside work on LotR to do these things, until his erstwhile publisher, Stanley Unwin gently prodded him into returning to completing LotR.

The LotR fanatic, these `The Notion Club Papers' have much less interest than LotR notes or even the Numenor myths, but there they are, certainly useful for any study of the times and doings of Oxford during the real war raging just on the other side of the channel.

Pending my review of the last three books of `The History of Middle Earth', I suspect these four are easily the most interesting to fans of Tolkien's published works.

For the Scholarly Tolkien fan.......2007-01-10

I have been reading this book as part of a research project. The essence of the book is a play by play of the development of the LOTR through multiple drafts. If someone is looking for a continuation of the entertaining series, I would suggest first The Silmarillion, then Lost Tales, Lays of Beleriand, or Unfinished Tales. For the serious Tolkien fan who wants to understand the origins, the book does a good job of organizing the multiple drafts and highlighting significant shifts in Tolkien's thought.

Good Reference Material.......2006-03-20

For those of us who enjoy taking Tolkien's vision and expanding upon it, this book and the "History of Middle Earth" series is a must as a reference source.

This book and the whole series expounds on Tolkien's vision and desire for his characters. Often nuggets of data not found in the primary books (LotR, The Hobbitt, etc.) can be uncovered within the HoME.

the past 3 books I had to give a 4 and I felt absolutely horrible doing that, but I am back on the 5 train for the rest of these.......2006-03-14

So maybe you didn't fly through the last 3 books like the first five, but get ready to put your seatbelt on for this ride. The start of this book finished off the evolution of the lord, and also gives a pretty cool story where sam is answering his kids questions of what happened in the war of the ring.

The second part is back to the stuff that I love. I have reread the wierd inklings fictiot piece a number odf times, and it gets more interesting every time. My first time reading it, it was very hard for me to understand.

The third part of the book is certainly one of the coolest things that I have ever read. It is a totally superior version to the silmarillion of the fall of numenor. Anybody looking to go into the mind of sauron a little deeper, this is a MUST BUY for you!!!!!!!!!!

The last part of this book will go over most peoples heads(at least I hope so, cause it went way over mine.), it is a GREAT writing about the language of Adunic? I don't really speak any of tolkien's languages, but still like to read his essay-type papers on his languages. Though not as interesting as the lost tales and stuff like that, I still found all of them fun to read, and this one on the Adunic language I thought was the best out of them all.

OVERALL ONE HELL OF AN ADDITION TO THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not for the faint of heart ..........2005-10-08

I would only recommend this book to a hard core Tolkien fan. A great source of information on the development of LOTR, but can be a bit tedious to get through.

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