Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever

Amazon.com

The idea behind Kurzweil and Grossman's Fantastic Voyage is that if you can make it through the next 50 years, you might become immortal. How will that be possible? Through some rather science fictional steps, it turns out, including taking advantage of the latest in biotechnological breakthroughs and not-yet-invented nanotechnology. Is all this longing for immortality driven by an obsession with youth or a fear of death? Readers can judge for themselves, as both Kurzweil and Grossman reveal the personal histories that led them to develop this plan. Fantastic Voyage is written in an easy-to-understand tone, with lots of sidebars giving examples of what the future holds for medicine and health. Whether or not you think that science will find a way to keep our bodies or our disembodied minds alive forever, this book is full of diet and lifestyle tips. For instance, the authors suggest carefully controlling the body's overall pH at an alkaline level, meditating, eating a diet composed mostly of vegetables and protein, and taking loads of supplements (Kurzweil downs about 250 pills each day). The dietary options presented here will mostly only be practical for people whose income levels can support buying organic produce, fresh fish and meat, and top-shelf supplements. The authors cavalierly state that we are living in a "time of abundance," but it seems likely that most who are able to follow this regimen will be Americans of a fairly high socioeconomic class. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

Tap today's technological breakthroughs to live longer and better.

Startling discoveries in the areas of genomics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology occur practically every day. The rewards of this research, some of it as spectacular as science fiction, are practically in our grasp. Fantastic Voyage shows us how we can use these new technologies to live longer than previously imaginable.

The authors take the reader on a journey to undreamed-of vitality with a comprehensive investigation into the cutting-edge science regarding diet, supplementation, genetics, detoxification, and the hormones involved with aging and youth. By following their program, which includes such simple recommendations as eating a balanced, low- glycemic-index diet, and taking powerful anti-aging nutritional supplements, anyone will be able to add years of healthy, active life.

Customer Reviews:

Bought Five and Gave to Dear Friends.......2007-08-12

A Great Book and a Great Read. I have been following Ray Kurzweil for many years, and was so impressed about his life-changing Live Long Enough to Live Forever, that I purchased several copies of the book, and then gave them to dear friends who I would like to live a long, long time. The book takes us easily through the 3 bridges - the current one which emphasizes diet, exercise, and correct mental attitude to allow us to live long enough for the 2nd and 3rd bridges - which are biotechnology and nanotechnology. [...]Yes - Ray got me hooked on emerging technologies years ago, and got me interested in living a long life, as well as interested in seeing to it that the world stays safe for ourselves and our children. [...] wishing you a long life and peace in the world. Ted Stalets

Fantastic Voyage?.......2007-05-13

Hmm. Interesting, but im not sure about all of it. Worth reading if it improves ones health though.

Very good book!.......2007-05-06

I really liked this book, its a good introduction into the subject. I recommend it!

Watershed book for radical life extension.......2007-04-08

A review of Fantastic Voyage appeared in my Oakland (Oakland County, Michigan) Press early in 2005. As a longtime enthusiastic advocate--though not necessarily the most ardent practitioner--of life extension technology, I was ecstatic!

Here was a book about radical life-extension appearing in a ho-hum review geared to (what some say is) the cultural-literary wasteland of Detroit suburbia. The vitalist movement had just achieved a major breakthrough into common humanity... at least the branch of common humanity who reads.

Note: Terminology is still a bit tenuous in this transhumanist era we're coming upon. But a vitalist is sort of a practical immortalist, someone who wants to extend life (with youthfulness and vigor) indefinitely, and generally thinks it can be accomplished in our natural lifetimes.

I'll use the term vitalist to identify the movement Kurzweil, Grossman, and many others are pushing. The significance of their book is enormous: Just as Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw (with Life Extension: A practical, scientific approach (1982)) were to health supplements, Kurzweil and Grossman are to the universal prospect of living well for a long time.

The authors break down our pursuit of effective vigorous immortality into three phases:

* Bridge 1: Ray and Terry's Longevity Program: present-day
nutrition, exercise, and wellness strategies that can get you
to the next bridge.

* Bridge 2: The biotechnology bridge, where we learn how to
turn off the bad genes and turn on the good ones, and
figure out the biochemical clues for keeping body and mind
the best.

* Bridge 3: What they refer to as the nanotechnology-AI
(Artificial Intelligence) revolution, where we can rebuild our
bodies and brains at the molecular level.

The prediction: generally effective Bridge 2 vitalist technologies begin 2010, with the beginnings of Bridge 3 technologies in 2020... with full flowering of those technologies a decade following those inception points.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

read it, then continue with your own research.......2007-04-03

I love this book. Inwardly, I laugh at Ray Kurzweil for including an endosement from Dean Ornish in a book that focusing on controlling blood sugar by eating low carb and including enough fat, but it is great nonetheless. The book is very positive and contains a lot of practical suggestions. It also presents some complex topics very well.

The one real flaw in the authors' approach is that it contains no sense of proportion. For example, in the seciton on environmental toxicity, it advises that you not shower with chlorinated water, but, in the section on exercise, it advises lap swimming as great exercise... well, if your 15 minute shower has too much chlorine, you can't get in a pool for 2 hours every day!!

The other problem with the book is that new research is coming out so fast now that the book must be out of date by now. But I think it's a great start anyhow.

Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World

Average customer rating:

Close to perfect, but no cigar.
Long Way Round: Chasing our egos...
Very good companion piece...
Decent
Great Story

Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World
Ewan McGregor , and Charley Boorman
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743499344

Book Description

It started as a daydream. Poring over a map of the world at home one quiet Saturday afternoon, Ewan McGregor -- acclaimed actor and self-confessed bike nut -- noticed that it was possible to ride all the way round the world, with just one short hop across the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska. It was a revelation he couldn't get out of his head. So he picked up the phone and called his fellow actor-slash-biker friend Charley Boorman and told him it was time to hit the road....

Long Way Round

Beginning in London, Ewan and Charley chased their shadows through Europe, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia; across the Pacific to Alaska; then down through Canada all the way to New York. Long Way Round is the result of their four-month, 20,000-mile joyride. Featuring original diary entries, travel maps, mileage charts, and dozens of photographs, this is a freewheeling, fully charged, and uproariously entertaining book about two world-famous individuals who chose the road not taken...and made the journey worthwhile.

Download Description

"It started as a daydream. Poring over a map of the world at home one quiet Saturday afternoon, Ewan McGregor - actor and self-confessed bike nut - noticed that it was possible to ride all the way round the world, with just one short hop across the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska. It was a revelation he couldn't get out of his head. So he picked up the phone and called Charley Boorman, his best friend, fellow actor and bike enthusiast. 'Charley,' he said. 'I think you ought to come over for dinner...' From London to New York, Ewan and Charley chased their shadows through Europe, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia, across the Pacific to Alaska, then down through Canada and America. But as the miles slipped beneath the tyres of their big BMWs, their troubles started. Exhaustion, injury and accidents tested their strength. Treacherous roads, unpredictable weather and turbulent politics challenged their stamina. They were chased by paparazzi in Kazakhstan, courted by men with very large guns in the Ukraine, hassled by the police, and given bulls' testicles for supper by Mongolian nomads. And yet despite all these obstacles they managed to ride over 20,000 miles in four months, changing their lives forever in the process. As they travelled they documented their trip, taking photographs, and writing diaries by the campfire. Long Way Round is the result of their adventures - a fascinating, frank and highly entertaining travel book about two friends riding round the world together and, against all the odds, realising their dream. "

Customer Reviews:

Close to perfect, but no cigar........2007-10-06

Good account of the trip. Photos and diagrams are very important features, it could however have more of both.

Long Way Round: Chasing our egos..........2007-10-03

As a guy who wakes up everyday, goes to work, comes home with more work and less time for his own children, I was really looking forward to some genuine escape, some interesting descriptions, epiphanies, maybe even insights into life on a bike traveling around the world. What I got was a couple of "priveleged blokes" to borrow a previous reviewers description, who really do nothing but whine about missing their families, complain about being uneasy in a crowd, and who really say nothing about the geography or culture they encounter.
I would give my eye-teeth for a new 1200GS Adventure, with a "full-kit," I settled on a book about it and doubt I'll even finish it - these guys bore me to death...

Very good companion piece..........2007-09-04

I loved the show when I saw it on Bravo, but thought, "More than this has to have happened on a 4 month trip!"

And so it did.

I'm particularly fond of the first person voice from BOTH men. Ewan seemed on the show to be just a little to consciously charming, while Charlie seemed to be something of a cry-baby--which I'm sure was a bit of a conscious choice on the part of the editors of the show.

The book gives a much fuller picture of the situations they encountered, and proves a much more rounded picture of both these fellows. And because I read the book before I watched the DVD's of the show again, it even made the shows more enjoyable.

All in all, I hope they do another book for their ride 'Down!'

Decent.......2007-06-19

This book was pretty good. I enjoyed it because it was about a motorcycle trip around the world. However, beause Ewan and Charlie are so privileged it was dificult to care about some of their problems. For, instance it was hard to sympathize for them when they were having difficulties getting someone to pay for the trip for them. Then after they get a movie deal to pay for the trip, they complain about how the movie production cramps their style. It really seems like they wanted their cake and wanted to eat it too. They could have just maned up and paid for it themselves, then they wouldn't have any problems of the support crew cramping their style. Similarly, when they had to cross a border, they had someone else take care of all the problems for them and were able to sit back and rest.

I did enjoy reading about some of the remote parts of the world and how they had to overcome some of the obstacles on their own. I think this book is worth reading, but I would reccomend getting it from the library.

Great Story.......2007-02-12

An excellent tale about a long motorcycle trip. Must read for bikers and those who wish they were. If you ever wanted to take a long trip off the beaten path, this book will either push in the right direction, or keep you on the sofa.

Average customer rating:

The 1960s: Rise of the Anti-Hero
The best sailing book I've ever been given!
Good Hope and Beyond
Long Way vs Godforsaken Sea vs Sea of Dreams
Best sailing book ever!!!

The Long Way
Bernard Moitessier
Manufacturer: Sheridan House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0924486848

Book Description

The Long Way is Bernard Moitessier's incredible story of his participation in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. For seven months, the veteran seafarer battled storms, doldrums, gear failures, and knock-downs, as well as overwhelming fatigue and loneliness. Then, nearing the finish with victory in hand, Moitessier suddenly pulled out of the race and sailed on. His 37,455-mile journey continued for another three months, finally ending in Tahiti. Never once in all that time had he touched land.

Customer Reviews:

The 1960s: Rise of the Anti-Hero.......2007-04-30

Moitessier's tale is a tale of the 1960s - of spirituality, of anti-commcercialsm, of anti-estasblishment, of yoga, of nature. Sailing solo tends to bring out one's deepest fears - understandably. Fortunately for Moitessier, he was a spiritual man, in tune with his times. And his times were all about the Anti-Hero, Man Against Machine, where winning is not an objective anymore, survival is.

So when Bernard said 'the hell with your prize and money', he shocked the world and sailed on to immortality. Note that another member of the contest, Donald Crowhurst (please read Donald Hall's classic), harboured different fears - which conspired against his sanity, resulting in suicide.

Read this book: it'll give you insights into sailing and the soul.

The best sailing book I've ever been given!.......2006-07-26

Bernard Moitessier was one of the best sailors of his time, if not the best. This book is his viewpoint of the very first solo race around the globe- a race he didn't truly believe was a race, but a quest. The narrative is wonderful-at turns technical, emotional, spiritual-and even (as other reviewers note) what could be described as "mystical." The book was written from notes during the voyage, and it is easy to see-if not to feel, snug as we are in our chairs on dry land- the mental strain it put on him. The ending is the full realization of the quest; and Moitessier went deep inside himself, out on the deep blue sea. If you have even a vague interest in sailing and ships, read this book. If you love sailing passionatey, why haven't you read "The Long Way" yet??

Good Hope and Beyond.......2005-11-16

It's occasionally difficult to remember that Moitessier's memoir of the first Golden Globe singlehanded sail circumnavigation back in 1968 even concerns a race. From the outset, Moitessier enraptures himself and enraptures the reader in a tale of man alone finding his own inner compass. Virtually all prose-poem, THE LONG WAY skitters off the edge of the mundane into a realm of sometimes numinous interior dialogue, but it holds the reader's attention throughout.

Moitessier entered the Round The World Race presumably to win, but he spends far more time communing with the seabirds and listening to the wave patterns on his boat, JOSHUA's hull than in dedicated yacht racing. In the end, Moitessier decided not to sail back to his starting point, but went on to Tahiti on the next step of his inner voyage.

THE LONG WAY is particularly interesting to read in juxtaposition with THE STRANGE LAST VOYAGE OF DONALD CROWHURST (Crowhurst went mad and simply stepped off his boat into the sea), and Robin Knox-Johnston's A WORLD OF MY OWN. Johnston prosaically suffered the miseries of a diet of canned bully beef, and a constant nervous but impeccably British Imperial xenophobic dread of how "The Frog" was doing. He wanted to be the winner, and was.

It's clear that Moitessier could have cared less what Knox-Johnston or the others were doing. JOSHUA is his private garden, and he invites us in to sample its mysteries. His Zen-like approach is more understandable when one realizes that he was French in parentage but raised in Indochina. A calm, accepting Buddhist tone glows throughout this book. If indeed Moitessier went mad (as some say he did) his madness was a doorway to spiritual peace, and not, like Crowhurst's, to sorrow and death.

Moitessier takes us THE LONG WAY toward beauty, value, and the validation of ourselves in what is, after all, a vast and playful universe.

Long Way vs Godforsaken Sea vs Sea of Dreams.......2005-08-14

Just a great book - the zen of solo racing! It's interesting to read Robin Knox Johnson's book A World of my Own and compare the two. Knox Johnson is certainly courageous and dogged, but one wonders even though he won, who's the bestt sailor. Wonder whether he should have left the brandy and other tipples at home...Also can't imagine swimming under my boat in the Southern Ocean without a lifeline...
Derek Lundy's Godforsaken Sea about the 96 Vendee is also among my favourites. Almost a thriller in its recounting of that race. Another good one about the 2002 Around Alone, which Knox Johnson now runs, is Sea of Dreams by Adam Mayers. It follows the 3 Americans and 2 Canadians in the small boat fleet. A terrific tale especially since Brad Van Liew won in such convincing style and the Canadian Hatfield became the story of the race when he rolled over at the Horn - untethered! and not only survived but went on to finish. Unbelievable.
John Aubrey

Best sailing book ever!!!.......2005-02-05

This was one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. After speaking to many people about what good "adventure" books they'd read, many people recommended this one. I was impressed... The author is very good at putting the reader on the deck of the boat and really getting the reader involved with the story. It's hard to imagine sailing around the world much less doing it alone. I forgot I was reading non-fiction at times. I couldn't put the book down and recommend it as required reading for anyone of you adventure seekers out there.

Average customer rating:

The long voyage
H. C De Mierre
Manufacturer: Walker
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

I'Ve Been Gone Far Too Long: Field Study Fiascoes and Expedition Disasters (Travel Literature Series)

Average customer rating:

Humourous, inspiring, inquisitive
Pleasantly, but not spectacularly, engaging
Uneven but Generally a Good Read

I'Ve Been Gone Far Too Long: Field Study Fiascoes and Expedition Disasters (Travel Literature Series)

Manufacturer: RDR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1571430547

Amazon.com

A compendium of hysterically funny travel crises--and not of the tame "I asked for a hamburger on the train to Frankfurt and got a..." order; these are gems from the field, horror stories written by 21 anthropologists, botanists, and biologists. There are some reports on the well known, such as Kelly Stewart's memory of Dian Fossey packing a pistol in a fruitcake as she crossed into Rwanda. The dominant and disarming truth that reigns in this utterly delightful volume? "Almost every exciting bush story I have ever heard or experienced," cites one contributor, "has been due to the protagonist's stupidity." A must-read for those who ate up its predecessor, the 1994 bestseller I Should Have Stayed Home.

Customer Reviews:

Humourous, inspiring, inquisitive.......2006-03-13

A field researcher myself, I pleasantly related to, was heart-warmed by, and made to reminisce, the excitements and hesitations of working in the field.

Field research brings varied experiences to the individual; some pertaining solely to work, to life at large, but also to the heart. I've Been Gone Far Too Long delivers a broad and balanced collection of experiences from diverse anthropological, medical, biological, cultural and social perspectives.

It is largely the good editorial that allowed the humour, fear, thrill, and even romance of the writers to be carried through to the reader. With engaging narratives and theatrical prose, you're invited to walk the road less-travelled with these select field researchers, and experience a fraction of what it's like to have to consider survival whilst gathering data for a thesis or story; where all you really want is neither a convenience store nor a fluffy bed, but simply a comfortable and secure toilet.

However, what this books fails to communicate is detail. The editorial could've had greater impact if it included lengthier stories that allowed for enhanced character development and insight into the projects that each of the researchers were involved in. This would've in turn, given the reader greater depth into each of the environments and experiences that were encountered. I felt several stories had the potential to instil greater curiosity and illuminate keen issues, but most stories reached their conclusion before any of that was allowed to arrive.

I've Been Gone Far Too Long celebrates the privileges of working in enriching environments amidst diverse peoples and inspiring circumstance. You'll realise that at the end of each story, what the writer truly wants to say, is quite contrary to the title, and that is, "I'm glad I came."

Pleasantly, but not spectacularly, engaging.......2005-05-25

For anyone who harbors romantic notions of scientific fieldwork -- say, camping in a wilderness Eden with little more to do than observe wildlife and join in cultural exchanges with friendly natives -- this book offers a bucket of cold water. Researchers who have been there point out the often unreported side of science in the wild: natives who threaten to kill you, poisonous snakes in inconvenient places, bureaucrats who block you from doing your work, bad food, animals that steal your food, animals that consider YOU food, and unreliable boats, cars and airplanes that have a habit of breaking down in the worst of situations.

And that's just some of the examples.

While "I've Been Gone Far Too Long" offers 21 different stories from different authors, it manages to maintain a remarkably even level of quality. Each of the stories are pleasantly, but not spectacularly, engaging. Each offers some folly, misadventure or misunderstanding, but usually these are mild rather than outrageously wild. There are plenty of chuckles, but few gut-busting laughs.

In particular, I liked Dorothy Cheney's story of a researcher trying figure out the puzzling behavior of Kenya's Maasai tribesmen (who are themselves puzzled by the researcher) and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder's story of taking some tribal elders to find an ancient grave site in Tanzania. The only story that I thought fell flat was A. Magdalena Hurtado's stiff description of her work in the Paraguayan jungle.

To be fair, this book may paint a picture of scientific fieldwork that overemphasizes the problems. Some of the authors do stress that even amid the difficulties there are rewards. One character says: "Fieldwork is an adventure that is filled with anxiety and despair, the routine broken only occasionally by moments of sheer exhiliration."

One final note: I'd suggest reading the Afterword by Nigel Barley first, or at least not waiting until the end. It offers some observations that put the stories of the book in some context.

Uneven but Generally a Good Read.......2001-02-12

This book proves that getting a PhD in some kind of natural history does not guarantee great writing skills.

But.... There are at least two memorable stories in here, and actually the one by the scientist who was netting birds in Borneo is very well written and is bust-your-britches hilarious.

Probably an excellent gift for your college professor friend who is about to go do some field research in some exotic locale. Not recommended for someone who doesn't like camping or travel.

The Long Voyage (Tusk Ivories)
Average customer rating:

Journey to the unknown

long narrative

A wonderful and moving novel

The Long Voyage (Tusk Ivories)
Jorge Semprun
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Holocaust | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 158567639X
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Customer Reviews:

Journey to the unknown.......2000-10-01

Jorge Semprun was born in Spain but has lived most of his life in France. At a young age he joined the communist party and while active at the French resistance was captured by the Nazis. "The Long Voyage" is an autobiographical narrative, concentrating on the author's experience while being transported in a train to Buchenwald. Contrary to most Holocaust literature, this book is not a compilation of horrors and atrocities, but a stream-of consciousness description of a journey to the unknown, when time has ceased to exist, when "past," "present," and "future" all have lost meaning. This is what makes Semprun's narrative so interesting. It is not the logical sequence of events that dictates the narrative, but the mind's attempt to understand and, at the same time, escape reality.

long narrative.......2000-06-20

I read this book because I was, and still am, interested in what happened during the Holocaust. I was hoping that I would find a lot of new and interesting things in this book, but I was disappointed. The book focuses on the tiresome journey to the camp, instead of what happens at the camp. The plot is also panoramic, and not episodic, so it is hard to understand which happens first, later, or at the present. The author uses really long sentences that is hard to understand, and extremely repetitive. However, the repetition functions wonderfully as an emphasis to what the author is feeling, or trying to express. Overall, not a bad read. Just takes a lot of time and patience to really absorb the novel.

A wonderful and moving novel.......1998-05-21

This is a wonderful and moving novel about a French Resistance fighter of Spanish origin who is captured by the Nazis and sent to Buchenwald. It is brilliantly written, and I would recommend it to anyone intested in good writing, the Holocaust or the human spirit.

Average customer rating:

A Real Page-Turner
Worth reading
Good book
Just like you were there & very believable!
A great read.

Long Voyage Back: A Novel
Luke Rhinehart
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1557501300

Customer Reviews:

A Real Page-Turner.......2006-02-10

I love survival and "end of civilization" stories, and this one doesn't disappoint. I also love sailing adventures and this is a good one.

Rather than using a multiple-viewpoint method that so many disaster novels utilize, with characters all over the world, this story sticks with the tight-knit group of survivors on the trimaran. The author does a good job in describing the sailing aspects and the challenges of crew interaction in a manner that will be appreciated by sailors and landlubbers alike.

The nuclear holocaust angle is well done, and how people react to the terror. There is a good balance of on-water vs. on-land action in the book.

Fast-paced adventure, hard to put the book down.

Great character development. "Olly" is a treasure.

Minor gripe #1: some of the fighting is a bit theatrical. At one point, somebody is actually knocked out by receiving a quick karate-chop to the neck. God I hate the knockout-punch myth as it appears in books and movies.

Minor gripe #2: Since the boat is a trimaran (three-hulled) sailing vessel, WHY IS THE COVER PHOTO OF A SLOOP???!!!!!!!

Somebody really screwed the pooch in the publishing house by putting a photo of a SLOOP on the cover of a novel that takes place on a multihull! To make matters worse, it was published by the Naval Institute Press of Annapolis, MD!! I bet the author still gets shudders over that to this day. Unbelievable error to anyone who sails.

Great read -- recommended.

Worth reading.......2004-04-24

Not a bad read based upon its limited scope. The majority of the action takes place upon a trimaran sailboat in Atlantic and Caribbean waters. It has a well done believable beginning as the "war clouds gather." The escape from a suddenly desperate surviving populace is tense and exciting. Sailing away from the devastation and desperation is a different approach than I have seen in most similar novels. Good character development also. I got a little tried of being seasick, but I guess they were on the boat alot. I've read all the apocalyptic books on all the Amazon lists and this one is worth the time. The ending was rather disappointing but getting there was fun. Blurb: A tight, simple, staightforward story of survival told in style with adequate character development and a lip biting plot using effective linear movement.

Good book.......2003-12-30

I read this a few weeks ago while on a "nuclear war/end of the world" reading frenzy.
As a longtime fan of The Diceman and The Diceman Returns, I found this book a very pleasant change in genre and style of writing for typical Rhinehart stuff.

Just like you were there & very believable!.......2003-11-06

Although this book was written in 1983, it is just as scary and applicable today. Rhinehart wrote a very realistic book about nuclear holocaust that could still happen, except probably not by the Russians against the US. The scenario of thieves, pirates and desperate & fanatical people just trying to survive makes you feel like you are going thru it yourself. A horrible prospect, to say the least. I liked the idea to attempt to sail away and survive off the sea. Having just finished this great book, I feel like I was right there and part of the group. I wish there was a sequel. This is one book that is worth the read & hard to put down.

A great read........2003-01-27

I read this book when I was high-school. I am *cough* 34 now. But, I will never forget this book, or rather the way I felt about it while reading it.
It is a book about nuclear war and it's results...but more than that, I remember when I read it, I was almost in a panic. I read it when we were in the throes of the cold war in the late '80's and it would give anyone the willies to read a very realistic book about a nuclear halocaust around that time...but it was different than that....I actually FELT like this was really happening when I read the book. A strange, and undescribable feeling that we were all doomed.
So needless to say, this book, to me was very powerful, and well written.
I just happened to think about it today and thought maybe it would be here...and voila! Amazon never fails!!

A Long and Uncertain Journey: The 27,000 Mile Voyage of Vasco Da Gama (Great Explorers)

Average customer rating:

ITS ALRIGHT!
A memorable and enjoyable "window in time"

A Long and Uncertain Journey: The 27,000 Mile Voyage of Vasco Da Gama (Great Explorers)
Joan Elizabeth Goodman
Manufacturer: Mikaya Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Explorers Who Got Lost

ASIN: 096504937X

Book Description

Five years after Columbus sailed off to find a sea route to the Orient, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama went on the same quest. His epic, 27,000 mile journey around the bottom of Africa was filled with danger, treachery, sacrifice, cruelty and acts of extraordinary courage. By the time da Gama returned, half his ships were gone, and two thirds of his crew were dead, but he had found what Columbus had not.

Da Gama brought back tales of East African and Asian marketplaces overflowing with riches, of rulers who wore emeralds and rubies and pearls the size of grapes, of ships and cannons that were no match for those of the Portuguese. Portugal would soon send more ships and more cannons. The rest of Europe would follow. And the world would never be the same.

Joan Elizabeth Goodman's narrative captures both the drama of da Gama's voyage and its central place in world history. Tom McNeely's fluid watercolors give the reader a visceral sense of an unknown world unfolding before the explorer's eyes.

Customer Reviews:

ITS ALRIGHT!.......2002-05-18

hi ,
Im Hermione and i like to write a review on the above book.
its nice and ive bought it using the information they have given.
though i would like them also to write out the summary of the book so that the viewers have an idea of the book since all the books are about vasco da gama{the bks that i ordered}.
In all other respects the site is good
thanking you
Hermione{this is not only a name in the harrypotter bk but also my real name}
{im from britain and love harrypotter}

A memorable and enjoyable "window in time".......2001-06-09

A Long And Uncertain Journey is the entertaining and informative picturebook story of Vasco da Gama's 27,000 mile exploratory journey in 1497. Sailing to discover a route to China just five years after Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama discovered what Columbus had not -- a sea route from Europe to China. Elizabeth Goodman blends a compelling, dramatic narrative with Tom McNeely's superbly drawn watercolors giving readers age 8 to 18 a memorable and enjoyable "window in time" to one of the truly outstanding feats in history.

Average customer rating:

Solid entry in the series
The fourth book in Adams's trilogy
A Second Time Around
Such an awsome book
Just as good as the first three!

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
Douglas Adams
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Mostly Harmless
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

ASIN: 0517554399
Release Date: 1985-03-06

Book Description

Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth's dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on. . . .

God only knows what it all means. And fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it's light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. But what else is new?

Customer Reviews:

Solid entry in the series.......2007-06-28

It's been a long time since I read this, so I don't remember many specifics. What I do remember is that, while this book isn't nearly as funny as its predecessors, it is still a very good piece of work. Adams' prose is still wonderful and, at times, beautifully inspired. His storytelling prowess is intact, as he draws from, and builds on, many of the invisible clues offered in the first three books (when the series could still properly be called a trilogy). The connection between Arthur and Fenchurch is touching without being sentimental; it's actually more fun than any of us imagined, watching Arthur Dent actually get what he wants, and Adams captures perfectly that lighthearted feeling of the early stage of love.

But the negative--and of course there must be a negative for this novel to miss out on a gold star--mainly has to do with the humor. There is still a genius at work here, as many brilliant comedic flashes will attest (God's final message to humanity, Ford's encounter with a special kind of prostitute). Unfortunately, there's also a fair amount of lesser such instances scattered throughout. Arthur's relation to Fenchurch of a story about a pack of muffins, while funny in theory, comes out as flat and uninspired and a bit hard to slog through. Less specifically, there are also many instances of Adams trying to rework descriptions of commonplace items to highlight the inherent absurdity locked within (a method used to great success in previous novels), but these often come off as forced and labored. It's almost as if Adams injected them five minutes before the final draft was snatched out of his hands to try and convince readers that, although space-traveling was kept to a minimum and Arthur Dent was allowed to act rather than react, this is still a new volume in the much-loved series, see all the irrelevant anecdotes and clever truisms?

That is, fortunately, a small enough complaint that I still recommend this book wholeheartedly, though offering it with a grain of salt.

The fourth book in Adams's trilogy.......2007-05-13

That, by itself, gets you off to a cockeyed start that will help you through Adams's brilliant series. The set was a landmark of popular culture when it came out in the 1980s, and is still a riotous trip through a universe that's just a little too believable.

This book, however, just doesn't sustain the wild energy of the earlier books.

//wiredweird

A Second Time Around.......2007-04-15

The fourth book in the Hitchhiker Trilogy, "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" is much like the first book in the series. It is a chronicle of strange travels and happenings, written with wry humor and Douglas Adams' penchant to mock everything, even the writing process. The fourth novel is much more cohesive in plot than the previous two, but the story is just as strange as ever.

In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Arthur Dent found out that his long-time friend Ford Prefect, was an alien, and that within minutes, the Earth was going to be destroyed. He saw the Earth destroyed and spent the next eight years wandering the universe, pondering what really happened. "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" is a fresh start to the series, with the implication that the Earth wasn't actually destroyed: those yellow Vogon spaceships people saw were hallucinations created by the CIA. Therefore, Arthur Dent has returned home as if nothing had happened, and meets a girl who seems to know something about why Earth still exists, but cannot remember what it is. The fourth novel is their quest to find what she has forgotten and to discover the Creator's final message to his creation.

"So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" is a fast-paced, humorous trek through what makes the world tick. Douglas Adams is a master at oddity and dry wit, making his novels both laugh-out-loud funny, if not a little perplexing. This fourth entry makes up for the unbalanced two previous books that rambled way off course, even if that was the point. Who knows if there even is a point to these stories after all? Certainly not the chronicler.

Such an awsome book.......2006-11-05

How would you feel coming back to the Earth from halfway across the galaxy? Or being one of two of the original human beings in the whole universe? Or maybe whats with the number forty two? And maybe why the dolphins disappeared and why everyone has plain glass fish bowl, the answer might be closer than you think...

The book, So Long and Thanks For All The Fish. This book was created by the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series author Douglas Adams. The genre for this book is Sci-Fi. Some other books from the author is, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is now a major motion picture, and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to name a few.

The main character is Arthur Dent from England. Arthur is a intergalactic traveler, who finds himself back on Earth after traveling through the galaxy. He is mostly curious and somehow always gets into awkward situations with people, animals, and robots. After the many years traveling across the galaxy he finds it amazingly easy to fit into his old life. Before that though, he finds himself hitch hiking on Earth, where he meets a girl name Fenchurch. Soon after getting back on Earth, in England, he finds himself with Fenchurch and hid hitch hiking buddy, Ford Perfect near a large silvery robot who keeps asking to see their lizard. After the robot has it's `vacation' it decided to leave, which is when Arthur, Fenchurch and Ford decided to go see God's last message to his creations, thirty foot high letters of a fiery blaze. Where they found the thirty-two years older than the universe, social depressed robot, Marvin.

I would recommend this book for anyone who likes the thought of traveling through space. This book would be suitable for anyone who likes a good laugh and awkward situations.

I really enjoyed this book because of, the laughs it created and how it ended. The ending of this book tied up a loose end from the previous book. The book was a great book and I would read it again any time.

J.H.

Just as good as the first three!.......2006-09-24

Number 4 in the series, this book is about Arthur Dent coming back to Earth to find that it wasn't blown up after all and to solve the mystery of the vanishing dolphins. To get all the details, as well as God's last message to his creation, read the book!

I liked this book because it was humorous as well as being my favorite genre: Sci-Fi.

Average customer rating:

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Douglas Adams
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Trilogy)
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ASIN: 0345479963
Release Date: 2005-04-26

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