Wildcat Haven (Ulverscroft Large Print Series)

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Very enjoyable, two different stories w/ different endings

Great pair of books

The Mountain of My Fear : Deborah : A Wilderness Narrative: Two Mountaineering Classics in One Volume
David Roberts
Manufacturer: Mountaineers Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Excursion Guides | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books
Mountain Climbing | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Annapurna

ASIN: 0898862701

Customer Reviews:

Very enjoyable, two different stories w/ different endings.......2001-08-27

If you like mountaineering books, you should like this one. It does have a few interesting quirks. Roberts was a Harvard student who climbed and this book describes two different ascents in Alaska on Deborah and Mt. Huntington. Not only are the two climbs entirely different, so is the writing style since they were written at different times. The first story is the Deborah ascent made with only one other climber. This story was written later and clearly narrates the climb while the Huntington climb tends to write in a more imaginative style attempting to explore thoughts and reasons why people climb. Frankly, I scanned some paragraphs in the second story as he would get on a tangent and leave the climbing facts. This climb is much more exciting due to the success of the climb and two more personalities involved on the climb. The Deborah climb tends to be one hardship after another. Having said this, there is a shocking occurrence after the successful climb that touches the climbers for the rest of their lives. This story has so emotionally attached you as a member of the party that it is impossible to put down for the last 50 pages. I recommend this book to mountaineering fans interested in the mundane tasks necessary for a successful Alaska assault. Also this will be interesting for readers wanting to explore interpersonal relationships under extreme hardships.

Great pair of books.......1997-11-21

These two books contain some of the best writing ever done on the subject of mountaineering. "Deborah" starts out at a slow plodding pace but then draws the reader into the events that happened to Roberts and his partner in the remote wilderness of Alaska. The dynamics of the two climbers make for a interesting study of how people deal with extreme conditions. "The Mountain of My Fear" is a much more straight forward account of the first ascent of Mt. Huntington. Again the interactions of the climbers as described by Roberts makes for a fascinating read. The tragic ending leaves the author really questioning the whole point of climbing mountains. If I was going to recommend a book for a non-climber to read to gain some understanding of why people climb this would definitely be it.

Average customer rating:

Relatively accessible edition

An epic journey

Has everything you need and more

For those who can read Middle English only!

The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B-Text Based on Trinity College Cambridge MS B.15.17 (Everyman's Library (Paper))
William Langland
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Langland, William | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

Piers Plowman (Norton Critical Editions)

The Book of Margery Kempe (Norton Critical Editions)

Piers Plowman: A New Translation of the B-text (Oxford World's Classics)

The Riverside Chaucer

The Complete Works of the
<i>Pearl</i> Poet The Complete Works of the Pearl Poet

ASIN: 0460875094

Book Description

Piers Plowman is the greatest poem of the Middle English Alliterative Revival. Langland (perhaps c. 1330-c. 1386) writes passionately about social justice and religious integrity, weaving into the dream of a weary wanderer the whole of humanity's struggle against sin. This edition of the B-Text has been described as "a landmark in Langland studies."

Customer Reviews:

Relatively accessible edition.......2007-06-05

That is, compared to, say, Skeat's multi-volume monstrosity. PP is a great text, but, as an earlier unfortunate reviewer noted, this is not an edition (or really a text, whether it's translated or not) to tackle without at least an introductory class on Middle English literature. If you haven't had any experience with MidE, don't beat yourself up if you can't deal with Schmidt's edition. If you have a little MidE and you want a decent basic text, this is the most affordable and accessible way to go. Just take notes in pencil-- the paper's not of the best quality.

An epic journey.......2005-10-05

The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in an essay about Langland in another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Langland is often ranked as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

This is a translation of the B-text, a text that is a revision of Langland's own (most likely). Translator and editor A.V.C. Schmidt provides an introduction and chronology, with lots of detail about the manuscript variations and textual issues. Schmidt gives examples of the original language for the student to compare the modern translation with a snapshot of the original.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

Has everything you need and more.......2005-08-04

Personally I don't see the point of translating English into English, so if you want to read The Vision of Piers Plowman as it was written (well, one version anyway!), this is the edition to get. However, I do concede that our language has changed to the extent that reading such a text is difficult without aids - of which this book is chock full. You have (a) footnotes and translations of the Latin quotes (b) notes on lexical elements of the text (c) notes notes on the meaning of the text. (a) is presented alongside the text whilst (b) and (c) are at the back, which does mean flicking to and fro as you read, but the rewards are worth it! This is the standard to which all modern print editions of medieval manuscripts should aspire. Outstanding work.

For those who can read Middle English only!.......2003-02-14

I remember having to recite the prologue of the Canturbury Tales in Middle English in high school but this is a couple hundred pages. I have read some 'Middle English' books where it wasn't difficult to understand at all, only the spelling was slightly off. THIS IS NOT THE CASE HERE!

For example:

But of coket or clermatyn or ellis of clene whete

That sentence is translated as follows:
But only loaves made of fine wheat flour, or at least only out of wheat unmixed.

There is a lot of latin thrown in as well, so if you are a curious reader who has no background in germanistics or medieval literature, this might not be the book for you. You will probably understand 60-70 percent of what is going on, but a modern English translation might be better.

The story itself is awesome and far superior to Pilgrim's Progress. Like that story, the narrator has a vision and encounters various aspects of human nature in his quest for salvation. The characters are more complex than in Pilgrim's Progress and you have a beautiful tale of a man trying to adhere to his Christian faith amidst clerical and secular corruption.
Highly recommended.

Book Description

Here is a rich selection of original designs carefully adapted from authentic folk art of New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Hawaiian Islands, and Australia. It comprises 225 intricate images, derived from masks, wall tapestries, pictorial ornaments, sand paintings, pottery, carvings, wooden musical instruments, temple art, and other artifacts.

Customer Reviews:

Not spectacular.......2007-07-12

It's okay, but nothing to write home about and not much that isn't out in the public already.

Polynesian and Oceanian Designs CD ROM & Book (Polynesian and Oceanian Designs, Oceanian Designs)

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Polynesian and Oceanian Designs CD ROM & Book (Polynesian and Oceanian Designs, Oceanian Designs)
Gregory Mirow
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PAPKJ6

Product Description

This rich selection of original designs has been carefully rendered from authentic folk art of New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Hawaiian Islands and Australia-among other locales. Drawn with great detail and accuracy the inctricate images have been adapted from masks, wall tapestries, sand paintings, pottery, carvings, wooden musical instruments, temple art and other artifacts. Included in the set are One CD ROM and a 48 page book with every image on the CD ROM printed large and clearly for easy reference. The collection is a perfect resource for bringing an exotic South Seas touch to a wide range of art and craft projects. For Macintosh and Windows

Book Description

Yes, humans and canines are different species, but current research provides fascinating, irrefutable evidence that what we share with our dogs is greater than how we vary. As behaviorist and zoologist Dr. Patricia McConnell tells us in this remarkable new book about emotions in dogs and in people, more and more scientists accept the premise that dogs have rich emotional lives, exhibiting a wide range of feelings including fear, anger, surprise, sadness, and love.

In For the Love of a Dog, McConnell suggests that one of the reasons we love dogs so much is that they express emotions in ways similar to humans. After all, who can communicate joy better than a puppy? But not all emotional expressions are obvious, and McConnell teaches both beginning dog owners and experienced dog lovers how to read the more subtle expressions hidden behind fuzzy faces and floppy ears.

For those of us who deeply cherish our dogs but are sometimes baffled by their behavior, For the Love of a Dog will come as a revelation–a treasure trove of useful facts, informed speculation, and intriguing accounts of man’s best friend at his worst and at his very best. Readers will discover how fear, anger, and happiness underlie the lives of both people and dogs and, most important, how understanding emotion in both species can improve the relationship between them. Thus McConnell introduces us to the possibility of a richer, more rewarding relationship with our dogs.

While we may never be absolutely certain what our dogs are feeling, with the help of this riveting book we can understand more than we ever thought possible. Those who consider their dogs part of the family will find For the Love of a Dog engaging, enlightening, and utterly engrossing.

Customer Reviews:

sounds good to me.......2007-10-10

Not all the way thru yet but the book shares much of my own philosophy. Worth reading.

Excellent tool.......2007-09-30

This is one of the best tools I've found for helping me understand the world my dog lives in. As a sidebar - there is a series of photos including both humans and canines, showing expressions and pointing out what they mean. Having looked through it thoroughly, I was in hysterics after logging in to a blog and seeing a group of "happy party photos" - once I'd looked at her photos, the *real* message of the party shots was unavoidable, from the smile that said "take one more photo and I'll drown you in the gazpacho" to the frozen, fear-filled shy person, barring her teeth in one of the most uncomfortable smiles I've ever seen. So this is not only good for understanding your dog - but also for paying attention to the real messages on the people faces around you!

Terrific book - even if you don't have a dog!.......2007-09-29

This is a great book! I first purchased it as an audiobook, then purchased the hardcover. Now, I am listening to the audiobook for the second time, and am amazed all over again. If you are interested in the way your brain works, the way dogs learn, the way animals in general learn, this book is fascinating. It is not a how-to book, so you won't be able to train your dog after reading this book. But it will help you understand your dog (and yourself!)

Very analytical.......2007-09-27

I was expecting this audio to be something like a cross between dog psychology and "Marley and Me." It was exclusively the psychology of dog behavior, and is not easy listening.

Excellent book.......2007-09-26

This book gave me a very clear, interesting glimpse into the mind of dogs and enabled me to interpret their body language.

For the Love of a Dog : Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend

Average customer rating:

Should be a part of every dog lover's library

For the Love of a Dog : Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend
Patricia McConnel
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books of Canada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JZFG6Y

Customer Reviews:

Should be a part of every dog lover's library.......2006-11-10

She is a first rate animal behaviorist. Her story telling is as good as her advice, telling a story so well you can clearly picture what's going on. Read the section on "Freezing." It could save you, your dog, a member of your family or your friend from a dog bite. And when she says it happens in a microsecond, she's exaggerating - but not by much. But to paraphrase her, we don't know what's going on in our best (human)friends' minds, let alone a dog's. People like her, ethologists, draw conclusions about behavior from observed actions. They do the best they can and often their best is right on point. My advice, for this or any book, if theory doesn't match reality, throw out the theory. Read her book and play amateur scientist with your own dog. This is her latest book. Her other book, "The Other End of the Leash." is just as good.

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Onward and Upward in the Garden

Manufacturer: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CFFU4O

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Wildflowers are God's gift

Charlotte's Web...

Onward and Upward in the Garden
Katharine S. White
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0807085618

Amazon.com

These 14 pieces by Katharine White first appeared in the pages of the New Yorker and were posthumously collected by her husband, E. B. White. They are at once as formal as an English manor house garden, as sensible as the Burpee seed catalog, and twice as delightful as either.

Book Description

Katharine White began working at The New Yorker in 1925, the year of its founding, and was an editor there for thirty-four years, shaping the careers of such writers as John O'Hara, Vladimir Nabokov, and Jean Stafford. Throughout and beyond those years she was also a gardener. In 1958, when her job as editor was coming to a close, White wrote the first of a series of fourteen garden pieces that appeared in The New Yorker over the next twelve years. The poet Marianne Moore originally persuaded White that these pieces would make a fine book, but it wasn't until after her death in 1977 that her husband, E. B. White, assembled them into this now classic collection. Whether White is discussing her favorite garden catalogs, her disdain for oversized flower hybrids, or the long rich history of gardening, she never fails to delight readers with her humor, lively criticism, and beautiful prose. But to think of Katharine White simply as a gardener, cautioned E. B. White in his introduction to the book, would be like insisting that Ben Franklin was simply a printer. Katharine White had vast and varied interests in addition to gardening and she brought them all to bear in the writing of these remarkable essays. Onward and Upward in the Garden is an essential book of enduring appeal for writers and gardeners in every generation. Intensely personal and charged with emotion, the essays remain timeless. Now in this new edition, White can be read and appreciated anew.

Customer Reviews:

Wildflowers are God's gift.......2003-10-01

There is a forward by E.B. White describing his editor, wife Katharine White. Katharine White was traditional by nature. She liked the flowers of her childhood. A neighboring estate near her house in Brookline, Massachusetts was owned by a prominent botanist named Sargent who founded the Arboretum in Boston. The children of the neighborhood were permitted to trespass and she claims that her sense of what was appropriate in terms of landscaping was formed at that time.

Mrs. White refers to herself as a catalogue addict. She surveys the writing in the garden catalogues. She finds some catalogues growing more flamboyant. She does not like it that flowers are being made to imitate other flowers. Lilies are the most photogenic of all flowers she declares. In another essay she gives irises the same encomium. Nasturtium means nose twister in Latin.

Writing about the garden catalogues is almost as wonderful as having a garden. Words and pictures serve as memory aids. Newly developed kinds of roses and other flowers create in the reader a sense of expectancy. Katharine White describes a process akin to marketing and, yes, fashion.

In her essays Mrs. White lists a bewildering array of catalogues in all sizes and shapes. Many of the nurseries specialize in, say, daffodils. The golden age of flower painting was 1760-1860. The writer recalls the lawn of her childhood and the gentle mowing of it by hand. She finds the current practice of mowing with a gasoline powered mower noisy business.

She is tempted to plant an apricot tree in memory of a Jane Austen squabble in MANSFIELD PARK. Katharine White points out that the Victorian garden is now despised, the kind that makes a carpet on the lawn, makes patterns. She writes that wildflowers are important because they are gifts from God or nature.

The Japanese art of Ikebana is the art of flower arranging. No two people agree on the history and the techniques. Mrs. White received at an early age Lafcadio Hearn's GLIMPSES OF UNFAMILIAR JAPAN. Hearn was a reporter with an eye for beauty.

Flowers have been a traditional offering to the Gods. Garden Club judges have a powerful influence on contemporary aesthetics. Most modern flower shows are built around a theme. Flower arranging is filled with fads and trends. Kitchen utensils as containers are much favored in New England country shows.

The gardens at Winterthur have been opened to the public since 1951. There is a short review of V. Sackville-West's GARDEN BOOK. It can be read for the sheer pleasure of its prose style. A list of suppliers and books in print appears at the back of the book. In addition to reviewing garden catalogues, garden books, nature guides, and flower arranging books are covered.

Charlotte's Web..........2000-05-07

Did you ever wonder where Charlotte the spider lived? I can visualize Mrs. White working away in one of her gardens, E.B. reclining on a lawn chair. He dozes off, and when he wakes finds a lovely garden spider has spun it's web exactly over his head. "Charlotte" he exclaims!

Mrs. White's articles were written several decades ago, and they reflect an era many cannot recall. (The median age of the U.S. population is about 30 so most residents were born after she wrote many of these articles.)

This was an era of elegance, white gloves, hats, and ladies luncheons--though Mrs White also worked fulltime for the New Yorker Magazine. Mr. White muses in the forward to this book that when they lived at their Maine home, every day before noon Mrs. White would arrive from the cutting garden with mud-ringed Ferragamos and arrange flowers for the dining room table. Well, I would never abuse my Ferragamos, but it's lovely to bring fresh flowers from the garden into the house.

Mrs. White had many uses for flowers. "Goldenrod...can be made into a crown of gold for a Harvest Queen or a necklace for a child." Her words evoke the more carfree days of a childhood when there were many fields about, and most children rich or poor could fashion a necklace of golden flowers. Riches indeed.

In an age when many gardeners are overly concerned with design, Katherine White reminds us Nature creates much more visually beautiful spaces than mere mortals can, and perhaps we better work to save the remaining space. I've enjoyed the pieces Mrs. White wrote, and I am glad Mr. White took the time to compile them into one book.

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ONWARD AND UPWARD IN THE GARDEN

Manufacturer: Farrar Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFGKHK

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ONWARD AND UPWARD IN THE GARDEN
KATHARINE & WHITE, E.B. (ED) WHITE
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MYZBHG

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ONWARD AND UPWARD IN THE GARDEN
KATHARINE & WHITE, E.B. (ED) ITE
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MYZBI0

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Onward and Upward in the Garden
Katharine S. White
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V3L6JU

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Onward and Upward in the Garden
Katharine S. White
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus, 1979
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TBEW9A

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Onward And Upward In The Garden -
Katharine S. White -
Manufacturer: Farrar Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000R9JCHQ

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Christmas Critics.(The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden)(Onward and Upward in the Garden)(Manual of Woody Landscape Plants)(Plant ... Review) : An article from: Commonweal
Ben Birnbaum
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000FZENOY
Release Date: 2006-05-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Thomson Gale on December 2, 2005. The length of the article is 1096 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Christmas Critics.(The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden)(Onward and Upward in the Garden)(Manual of Woody Landscape Plants)(Plant Names in Yiddish)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Author: Ben Birnbaum
Publication: Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 2, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 132 Issue: 21 Page: 34(3)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Onward and Upward in The Garden
White Katherine S.
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UINRNO

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