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Force the approaching insects into groups!
Force the approaching insects into groups, even though they don't like it. As soon as 3 or more of the same insects are touching, the group will disappear! The insects travel down the path you choose for them by moving your mouse up and down.
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Atlanta Auditions
Find:Backstage's auditions in Atlanta include theater, film, television, commercials, and voiceover roles.
New auditions are posted to Backstage.com daily.
The following listings display productions and casting notices for Atlanta. You can further refine your search by using the filters on the right side of the page, and save your search to have new casting notices sent directly to your inbox.
Showing 738 acting jobs in the Atlanta, GA area
View roles in all locations
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- Rehearsals begin May 8; runs May 29-June 21 in Gainesville, FL.
- Auditions: Mar 9 in Gainesville, FL
Casting "Honky Tonk Angels," a musical.
yesterday -
Skype Lessons with Kyle Dean Massey
- Lessons are online now through May 2015.
- Seeking submissions from: Thousand Oaks, CA; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Diego, CA; Ventura, CA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Cincinnati, OH; Denver, CO; Boston, MA; CA
Seeking participants for Skype lessons with Broadway and TV actor Kyle Dean Massey through Of Note Productions. Artistic director states: "Now through May, students will have the opportunity to work on their monologues or songs with Mr. Massey via the Skype app from your computer or mobile device. Don't miss ...
yesterday -
Documentary About Sugar Babies & Sugar Daddies/Mommas
- Shoots Spring, Summer & Fall 2015 and is intended for festival circulation 2016.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Paladino Casting is seeking straight or gay women and men, 18-30 years old, who participate in a mutually beneficial lifestyle for a feature length documentary. Casting personnel state: "We are seeking straight or gay women and men who participate in a mutually beneficial lifestyle AKA Sugar Daddies/Mommas supporting Sugar Babies. ...
yesterday -
Pioneer Playhouse 2015 Summerstock
- Season runs May 24-Aug. 15 in Danville, KY.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Seeking male actors good at physical comedy and with good voices for the 2015 Summer Season for Pioneer Playhouse. Currently casting: "One Slight Hitch," "La Bete," "Sherlock Holmes," and "Boeing Boeing."
Wednesday -
The Film Set: A Young Actors Conservatory
- Positions begin this April in Claremont, CA.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Seeking full-time Film Acting Instructors for The Film Set: A Young Actors Conservatory. Different courses may include: Acting for the Camera, Improvisational Acting Techniques, Scene Study, Breath & Movement Technique, Dramatic Scene Workshop, Comedic Acting Workshop, and Mommy-and-Me Acting Workshop (for ages 3-5 + 1 adult). Note: The Film Set ...
Tuesday -
94th Annual Art Directors Club Festival
- Rehearses Apr. 25 & 26; performances run Apr. 27-29 in Miami Beach, FL.
- Auditions: Mar 29 in Miami Beach, FL
Seeking dancers, movement artists, and gymnasts with strong skills in ballet, modern, improvisation and/or partnering. Company states; "MAMA is creating a series of experiential vignettes for the 94th Annual Art Directors Club Festival. We are searching for 8-10 performers who will perform a series of pieces throughout the Festival and ...
Tuesday -
ModelStyle Magazine Cover & Feature Model Search
- No photo shoots will take place; seeking nationwide submissions.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Seeking professional photos of aspiring models for ModelStyle Magazine, a digital online fashion magazine. Casting personnel state: "There are no fees required and no photo shoots will take place. We are looking for camera-ready photos of the model selected for the Cover/Feature of our online magazine. We are also looking ...
Tuesday -
- Shoots this March in New Orleans, LA.
- Seeking submissions from: New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; Edison, NJ; Houston, TX
Casting "Chasing Moksha," a Malayalam Independent feature film to be shot in the US this March, about a young dreamer named D.P. who wants to become a filmmaker.
Tuesday -
- Position start date is TBD with morning and evening shifts available in NYC.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Seeking a shift manager. Company states: "SoomSoom is a quick service, young, exciting, growing restaurant that features authentic kosher fresh Mediterranean food. We pride ourselves on serving healthy high quality products. Our belief is that food fuels the body and soul and therefore our motto is: Healthy Eating, Healthy Living."
Tuesday -
- Rehearsals and shooting TBD in Bradenton and Sarasota, FL. Most shooting will be done in April & June 2015.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Casting "Disappointing Messiah," a six-episode mini-series.
Tuesday -
'Anything Goes,' Nat'l Tour, Asst. Conductor
- Begins Mar, 13; tour runs through May 31, 2015 throughout the U.S.
- Seeking submissions nationwide/worldwide
Seeking an immediate assistant conductor for NETworks Presentations, LLC's "Anything Goes" National Tour.
Tuesday -
'Alvin And The Chipmunks: Road Chip'
- Shooting begins mid-March, in Atlanta, GA.
- Seeking submissions from: Atlanta, GA
Casting featured extra roles for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip," the fourth installment in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" franchise. Project description: "Through a series of misunderstandings, Alvin, Simon and Theodore come to believe that Dave is going to propose to his new girlfriend in New York City... and ...

subset: commoncrawl


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England's first Investec Test win of the summer coincided with a return to form of their two leading batsmen, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, and a first five-wicket return of the summer from their spearhead James Anderson, who has now opened a 61-point lead at the top of the England FTI MVP rankings.
Anderson took 5-53 in India's first innings at the Ageas Bowl to take his wicket tally to 28 from the five Tests this summer at an average of 22.93.
His economy rate of 2.61 has helped build pressure on the opposition batsmen as has the fact 31.71% of his overs have been maidens. He's weighed in with the bat, too, of course, with a career-best 81 at Trent Bridge.
Anderson tops the Test FTI MVP rankings and is ranked third in the ODI FTI MVP having taken eight Sri Lankan wickets from the five Royal London one-day internationals with an impressive economy rate of 3.88 runs per over.
And with no charges brought against him by the International Cricket Council following his altercation with Ravi Jadeja at Trent Bridge, Anderson now heads to his home ground of Emirates Old Trafford looking to extend his lead ahead of the Kia Oval Test and one-day series.
Prior to the Ageas Bowl Test, Bell had gone past 50 only twice this summer and Cook had a top score of 29.
Both showed plenty of character as Cook posted scores of 95 and then 70 not out to set up the second-innings declaration, and Bell crafted 167 in England's first. Cook earned a bonus point as winning captain for good measure.
Bell is up to seventh, Cook tenth but what the statistics do not show is the huge support demonstrated by the Ageas Bowl crowd for England's resilient captain.
Gary Ballance is up to second following his third hundred in five Tests, a career-best 156 in England's first innings. Ballance has racked up 603 runs at a strike rate of 52 per 100 balls having chipped in with a couple of 70s in addition to those hundreds.
Perhaps the biggest success story of the Test, though, was Moeen Ali's 6-67 in India's second innings. Picked at the beginning of the summer for his all-round talents, he has progressed Test on Test to the extent that India's much-vaunted batsmen had little answer to his brand of off-breaks.
Moeen has now taken 18 wickets from the five Tests and scored 259 runs including his unbeaten hundred at Headingley against Sri Lanka. That hundred was the only time he has gone past 50 for England in Tests, perhaps a result of him concentrating most of his efforts on his bowling.
Anderson |
15.72 |
174.43 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
199 |
19.91 |
Ballance |
127.27 |
-0.40 |
8 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
138 |
13.79 |
Root |
113.33 |
8.78 |
9 |
0 |
3 |
11 |
134 |
12.19 |
Moeen Ali |
46.52 |
66.08 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
116 |
23.12 |
Jordan |
26.52 |
73.23 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
109 |
12.08 |


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Made in Italy, based in Ireland.
Love all things China, handmade or homegrown.
Before I die I wanna get to Burma and meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
I have travelled extensively taking photos of every little detail I wished to keep in my memory. I have slept in the most luxurious hotels and on many friend's couches and I have come to the conclusion that it's the people that make a place special.
Giusy has completed online and offline ID verification.
Giusy and her family are awesome guests! Communication was easy, fast and fluent before and during their stay and although we didn't meet her in person because she was arriving later than her relatives, by email she was very considerate and friendly. I would definetely recommend her and would obviously welcome her back!
Giusy and her boyfriend were perfect guests ... Hope they stay again.
Micka and Giusy stayed with us during the Kilkenomics Festival during November 2013. They are a delightful couple and are a real joy to have in any home ! We had a lovely time with them and enjoyed some interesting stories and chats together. Giusy and Micka are full of life and love Ireland and Italy among other places. We highly recommend them to any other Airbnb hosts who are lucky to have them in their homes ! We really look forward to meeting them both again soon ! Best of luck to them !
Giusy and Micka were lovely guests, really friendly and bubbly, great characters. They only stayed one night but it felt like we knew them for a long time. I would recommend them to any other Airbnb host.


text:
My wife and I fished with two different guides. They were both excellent in their ability to get us into tarpon. They worked very hard poling the boat and positioning us in... read more
My wife and I fished with two different guides. They were both excellent in their ability to get us into tarpon. They worked very hard poling the boat and positioning us in... read more
My wife and I fished with two different guides. They were both excellent in their ability to get us into tarpon. They worked very hard poling the boat and positioning us in relation to the wind. We both caught tarpon and missed/didn't land many others. I caught a 20 lb tarpon. Our guides were Carlos and Beto. We fished the... More
What an incredible experience! I have done several exotic fishing trips and I would highly recommend this experience. The guides are fabulous, very skilled, accommodating and great personalities. Can't wait to go back next year. Gracias Alejandro!
I have great help from Mr Sandflea Alejandro Vega Cruz who is the ultimate guide for Tarponfishing but he was busy with two guys from Google Earth. But I was guided by two guides instead, Alberto and Valentin. Unfortunately we were surprised by a tropical storm and were forced to get back to land. I missed some Tarpons because to... More
The Holbox Tarpon Club is the place for tarpon on Holbox. Alejandro Vega (Senior Sandflea) is a world class guide who can always find tarpon. And the experience is more like fishing with a friend. I have fished with him 5 times in the last couple of years and have booked him for 3 days coming up this season.
Alejandro put us on tarpon for 2 days straight. Super fun. Best fisherman in the Yucatan! 2nd trip down there to fish we him and he is the man.
A friend and I have fished baby tarpon with Alejandro twice in 2011 and three times in 2012. We were always on tarpon although, being a trout fisherman, my saltwater chops aren't that hot. Alejandro is a great teacher and after catching only a couple the first time out our numbers kept going up. My best day brought 10 fish... More
So my husband decides he wants to go out for a day with these guys but he has to book it with the waiter at the restaurant they seem to operate with. Please understand, we realize what happened was as much our fault as theirs, maybe more so. The waiter says "do you need gear?" and my husband, who has... More
We traveled to Holbox for our honeymoon and had been looking forward to fishing for tarpon for months. We booked two days with Holbox Tarpon Club hoping to have a chance to at least land one between the two of us. When we got there, someone on our hotel staff knew Mr Sandflea and helped us get in touch with... More
I would like to thank Sand Flea (alejandro) for the great hospitality on my recent visit to Holbox island. Sand Fleas years of expertise show through his knowledge of the surrounding waters, ability to find and spot fish, and his excellent boat handling skills. Also want to thank Elia for her great sandwiches on the boat. All in all a... More
We spent a week fly fishing for tarpon, with Alexandro Vega as our guide. What a great choice for a guide. He has been guiding tarpon fly fishing trips for over 20 years in Holbox and he certainly knows the territory! And, he is very adaptable to individual fly fishermen. That is, he has guided a range of fishermen with... More
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# | cover | title | author | isbn | isbn13 | asin | num pages | avg rating | num ratings | date pub | date pub (ed.) | rating | my rating | review | notes | recommender | comments | votes | read count | date started | date read |
date purchased | owned | purchase location | condition | format | ||
| 9780804139021
| 4.36
| 74,691
| 2011
| Feb 11, 2014
So, yeah this book was pretty sweet. It was one of those cases where the reality managed to live up to the hype…a rare case as far as my experience go
So, yeah this book was pretty sweet. It was one of those cases where the reality managed to live up to the hype…a rare case as far as my experience goes. In a nutshell the premise of the book, on the off chance that you didn't already know, is that a lone astronaut is inadvertently left stranded on the red planet after a catastrophic accident leaves his crewmates believing he is dead. Coming to alone and marooned millions of miles from home Mark Watney is left with the choice to try and fight nearly impossible odds to survive or give up and die alone on an alien world. Given the circumstances he finds himself in I think most of us would inevitably fall into the latter course sooner or later. We come to find, however, that Mark is the kind of man who doesn't take failure lightly. Taken at its most basic level I guess one could boil the story down to the movie Gravity meets Robinson Crusoe, but, as with all analogies of this kind, taking that too far would be doing the book a disservice. While I found Gravity visually stimulating I thought it was pretty bland as a story and _The Martian_ is anything but bland. There were enough ups and downs in the plot itself to keep me excited and wondering just how the hell the most recent crisis was going to be resolved. Ultimately though, the question of what makes this book work so well comes down to two words: Mark Watney. Our intrepid hero and narrator is an ingenious astronaut with a penchant for botany and engineering whose sharp wit and never-say-die attitude manage to be uplifting without being cloying. And he can bring the funny. I found myself smiling often and even laughing out loud much more than is normal for me when reading. When it comes down to brass tacks Mark Watney is a truly likable protagonist and I'm not sure I could say that I found the afore-mentioned Robinson Crusoe half so charming. I had the audiobook version and must say first off that the narration by R. C. Bray was great. He hit the humour notes just right and did a pretty good job with accent and voice shifts where required, though his female characters did end up sounding pretty same-y…though I'm not sure if there's an easy way around that for a male narrator short of caricature. I'd be curious to see if the humour works as consistently for me with the print version given Bray's excellent delivery. I can't really go into too much detail on the plot since I think that the surprises in store for the reader are integral to one's enjoyment of the story. Suffice it to say that the (sometimes actual) shit is often hitting the (mostly proverbial) fan and it's up to our intrepid astronaut to try and find a clever way out of problems that threaten to end his life nearly every day. While I don't doubt that every single obstacle Watney had to face was an actual one (in the sense that they were all 'real' issues a man stranded on Mars would have to face) some of the crises occasionally bordered on predictable as I knew by the pacing of the story when we were due for a new catastrophe, but that's a pretty small nit to pick. One other related problem I had with the book was the sheer amount and detail involved in the technical information Watney provides for each crisis throughout the book. I think for the most part these details were necessary, especially given the conceit that the bulk of the book was made up of log entries by Watney where he would obviously want to be pretty scrupulous in detailing exactly what he was doing for posterity. Still, I often found myself rewinding in order to try and get my head around all of the minutiae I was given…I wasn't always completely successful at getting the full nuance of things (hey, I got an Arts degree, ok?), but I generally got the gist. As implied a lot of these explanations border on the territory of infodumps, something that usually makes me break out in hives, but in this case I would have to admit that the structure of the narrative and manner of their insertion made them seem much more like valid requirements of the story itself as opposed to merely being literary wanking by the author. While I still didn't like the fact that I was often at a loss for exactly what was being expressed the first time I heard it I readily admit that without these details the reality of Watney's situation, as well as their ultimate repercussions, would have been pretty vague instead of vivid and visceral. Ultimately this book is all about the human ability to come up with creative solutions in order to overcome adversity…and the adversity comes pretty hard & fast. Basically anything that can go wrong will and the real burden on suspension of disbelief lies on the reader being willing to accept that Mark Watney is clever enough to think his way out of them consistently. It means we have to accept that Watney is enough of a specialist that he can come up with pretty difficult science-based solutions without needing to consult unavailable resources, but also that he's enough of a generalist to be able to solve problems outside of a limited range of knowledge. To be fair he does (view spoiler)[ get some help from NASA at certain points of the story, but for the most part he's on his own. (hide spoiler)] The book also relies heavily on the belief in the power of positive thinking…something I have to admit I'm not always in line with, but for anyone without the optimistic outlook of Watney day 1 (or I should say Sol 6) would have been the end of the story. (view spoiler)[ One character even comments on the fact that "It's amazing how much red tape gets cut when everyone's rooting for one man to survive" and I have to admit that the cynic in me wonders how much time and effort the powers that be would really be willing to spend on behalf of one man, and whether they might not allow some 'accident' to occur so they could simply pull the plug on the whole operation and spin the event as an inescapable tragedy once the costs became apparent. (hide spoiler)] At first I thought the book might wear a little thin if all we were doing was listening to Watney monologue about his lone existence on Mars, but not only is he a rather charming narrator, Weir was also able to expand the story beyond Watney himself to include other characters affected by his predicament (no spoilers!) and I often found myself looking forward to these segments away from Mars and felt like they allowed me to have a bit of a break from the marooned astronaut so that when we did return to him I felt like I was coming back to him with a fresh attitude and his story never grew stale. I certainly learned the important lesson that if you're ever trapped on Mars you must never forget to bring some serious scientific know-how and a can-do attitude. Oh, and lots of duct tape!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Jul 09, 2014
| Jul 18, 2014
Jul 09, 2014
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780788749049
| 4.41
| 9,124
| 1973
| Oct 28, 1992
3 – 3.5 stars As the rating attests I enjoyed this book, but I am not sure if I will ever be one of the rabid legion of fans enamoured of Patrick O'Bri 3 – 3.5 stars As the rating attests I enjoyed this book, but I am not sure if I will ever be one of the rabid legion of fans enamoured of Patrick O'Brian's work. I certainly enjoyed this book much more than I did Master and Commander which, quite frankly, I found opaque and uninteresting. I also skipped over the second book in the series since Aubrey and Maturin on land worrying about their love lives didn't really seem like the next best point to re-try getting into the series. For some reason I can't quite fathom I've always felt a little guilty about not liking the first book and there's something deep down in me that really wants to like this series. There is, after all, quite a bit to love: two well-drawn main characters who complement and contrast each other very nicely in both their skills and demeanor, a detailed (one might say perhaps a bit too detailed) glimpse into the minds and manners of Napoleonic Europe (with obviously a decided concentration on naval procedures and jargon), and enough adventure and excitement to generally keep things interesting. Of course, there are slow points and between naval engagements or chases, duels, and moments of intense physical or emotional intensity the calm can be somewhat soporific. I suppose this is a nice parallel to the sea voyages that comprise the bulk of the narrative: moments of intense action and apprehension leavened with days and days of routine and boredom. That's not quite fair, I guess, I certainly didn't find myself yawning too much during this book, but it is true that events often move at a sedate pace for the lion's share of the pages. As the story opens we find ourselves thrust into the midst of a meeting of politicians and naval muckety-mucks the result of which will be a major disappointment for Captain Jack Aubrey and a significant impediment to the health and possible continuance of Dr. Stephen Maturin's life. Loose lips sink ships, and they also put His Majesty's spies into tight corners. After some period scene setting with Jack's fiancée Sophie and an initial adventure involving torture, rescue and escape the upshot is that Jack and Stephen are back at sea, nominally for the purpose of ferrying an envoy from Britain to the East Indies. From here we are treated to the requisite scenes of naval life, Stephen's obsession with natural philosophy and both scientific and cultural observation, forays into the culture of the Indian subcontinent, and woman troubles for both Jack and Stephen. Add to that a duel, the weathering of some truly monumental forces of nature, and a surprise naval engagement and you've pretty much got everything you ought to expect from an Aubrey-Maturin novel. The long and the short of it is that I enjoyed this novel quite a bit, certainly enough to more or less efface the bad taste I had after reading the first one. I definitely plan on continuing to follow Jack and Stephen's further adventures, though I have not yet been converted to the level of hardcore fandom. One note: I alternated between listening to the Patrick Tull narrated audio version of the book and reading my electronic version. Overall I enjoyed Tull's performance (it really can't be called anything short of that), though his pauses and occasionally prolonged drawl did make me stumble from time to time. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Aug 15, 2013
| Aug 28, 2013
Aug 15, 2013
| Audio CD
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780140437867
| 4.03
| 115,334
| 1902
| Oct 01, 2001
_The Hound of the Baskervilles_ is probably one of the more famous cases of Sherlock Holmes and is also one of only four novel-length treatments of th
_The Hound of the Baskervilles_ is probably one of the more famous cases of Sherlock Holmes and is also one of only four novel-length treatments of the cases of the great detective. It's a solid story and is perhaps primarily of interest in the apparently supernatural element which lies at the heart of the case. Indeed this element of the tale, along with its ultimate resolution, is very interesting when viewed in the light of Doyle's subsequent conversion to spiritualism and when looked at from this angle the numerous comments in the story about the credulous peasants who give credence to the supernatural gain a somewhat ironic lustre. I do think, however, that the story was far from the strongest of Doyle's outings with his most famous creation. Its main failing lies primarily in the fact that the real draw of all of these stories is largely absent for the bulk of it: Sherlock Holmes himself. I wonder whether Conan Doyle was trying to keep his distance from the creation whose popularity he had begun to view with a growing ambivalence? As it is we do have the opportunity to see Watson acting on his own as Holmes' agent which is of some interest, but I'm afraid that he doesn't hold a candle to his confederate as a fully compelling character study. Stolid and not without resources as an investigator he may be, but there really is no substitute to the biting commentary and unique perspective of Holmes himself. I will avoid giving much of a plot outline, since it's probably either already known or not desired due to the possibility of spoilers in the case. Suffice it to say that an apparently insoluble death leads our intrepid team to the foggy moors of England's West Country where they not only hope to solve one death, but also to prevent another. Doyle goes all out in peppering the trail with utterly ambiguous clues and numerous strands and false leads until things can be brought to their ultimate and satisfying conclusion. I did learn one interesting tidbit: apparently as far as Dr. Watson is concerned it's ok to let an insane psychopath go free as long as he will leave England and only be a burden and a danger to the people of South America. Nice one, doc. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Mar 14, 2013
| Mar 20, 2013
Mar 14, 2013
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780812504699
| 3.96
| 53,802
| 1894
| Feb 15, 1992
Rudyard Kipling's _The Jungle Book_ is an enjoyable read. A collection of short stories, all of which revolve around the lives and troubles of differe
Rudyard Kipling's _The Jungle Book_ is an enjoyable read. A collection of short stories, all of which revolve around the lives and troubles of different animals and the people who interact with them, it has a surprising amount of depth coupled with rather pleasant prose. The most famous of these stories are probably those that revolve around Mowgli, the jungle boy raised by wolves in India whose adventures with Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther against the machinations of Shere Khan the tiger are fairly well-known (even resulting in a typically watered-down Disney movie from many years ago). All of the stories are notable for their fairly even handed treatment of the interactions between animals and men. The tragedy and pathos of the tribulations and abuse animals often have to suffer at the hands of man are not glossed over, but neither is it implied that all interactions between mankind and the animal kingdom are destructive or unwarranted. The animals are presented as having languages and customs of their own and Kipling generally does a pretty neat trick of managing to straddle the line between having his animal characters behave too much like humans and having them fall into unrelatability by being purely 'animals'. The most significant contravention of this occurs, I think, in the story "Her Majesty's Servants" in which, in my opinion, a group of animals serving various roles in a British regiment shade a bit more towards taking on the roles of their all-too human handlers. That quibble aside I enjoyed these morality fables and adventure stories, with those centring on Mowgli and his lessons in the Laws of the Jungle topping the list. Good clean fun with enough meat to the bone to give you something to think about. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Dec 07, 2012
| Dec 13, 2012
Dec 07, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9781426485749
| 3.48
| 67
| 1914
| Oct 11, 2007
2.75 stars So, how do you one-up Sherlock Holmes, the sleuth who seems to know everything and is never, ever (well hardly ever) wrong? Make your detect 2.75 stars So, how do you one-up Sherlock Holmes, the sleuth who seems to know everything and is never, ever (well hardly ever) wrong? Make your detective blind of course! Ernest Bramah went ahead and did that with his character Max Carrados, a man blinded during an unfortunate riding accident whose amateur interest in sleuthing is fulfilled when an old school friend, who also happens to run his own detective agency, shows up at his door after being told said Carrados could help him with a little niggling problem in a case he's been working on. The rest, as they say, is history. Our modified Watson and Holmes (with the subsequent addition of one more to the team) are introduced and ready to sleuth. So the big question is: how does a blind detective prove himself to be the apparent equal to the ever-observant Holmes when he can't see? Well, it appears as though his other sense have become so sharpened by his loss of sight that he can smell, hear, and feel things that other investigators miss by relying too much on their sight. I can readily believe that the blind do have an entire world of sensation opened up to them by being forced to rely on their non-visual senses, but Carrados' abilities do seem to veer into the realm of the unbelievable from time to time (unless he secretly shares Matt Murdock's radar-sense of course). This is somewhat compensated for by the fact that Carrados' trusty butler Parkinson has been trained to be photographically observant and he often accompanies his employer on excursions. The trio of Carrados, Parkinson and Carlyle (Carrados' detective friend) form the group of protagonists who solve the four mysteries in this volume. To be fair it is Carrados who does all of the heavy lifting by virtue of his sharpened senses and voluminous knowledge about miniscule data that ends up proving integral to the cases he is on, with some assistance by trusty Parkinson. Carlyle's primary role seems to be to act as the conduit through which these mysteries are brought to Carrados' attention and secondarily to be amazed at Carrados' abilities. All in all the stories are enjoyable, but often seem a bit rushed and 'same-y'. They didn't, for me at least, have anything like the appeal of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in which the characters are as interesting as the mystery being solved. Not a waste of time by any means, but maybe wait until you run out of Doyle stories before coming to these. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Sep 05, 2012
| Sep 10, 2012
Sep 05, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780140007855
| 4.32
| 48,932
| 1893
| 1950
Another series of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes as reported by his faithful biographer Dr. Watson and it becomes clearer than ever that the real d
Another series of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes as reported by his faithful biographer Dr. Watson and it becomes clearer than ever that the real draw of these stories is the fascinating character of Holmes himself. The mysteries are secondary to the enjoyment, though many of them do prove to have distinct elements of interest (otherwise why would the great detective have bothered himself about them?), but it really is in observing the fascinating character of Holmes himself that the reader is immersed in them. Indeed, this collection provides a rare treat for the reader in that we learn more about the detective and his early life and connections than has previously been the case. Thus it was that some of the most interesting stories here, for me at least, were those that hearkened back to Holmes' youth and showed us the man he was and in which we can see the seeds of the man he would come to be. The first of these in this book is "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" – The primary interest in this tale comes from the glimpse it gives us to Holmes' first 'case' (though the following tale, "The Musgrave Ritual" is really better classified as his first actual case, since the Gloria Scott comes across more as an intriguing mystery to which Holmes is largely a spectator) and the impetus for his decision to become a detective. We also get a glimpse at Holmes' college days and of the only friend he made there (and thus far in the stories the only friend at all that he seems to have ever had aside from Watson). Finally this tale gives us a glimpse of a young Holmes still capable of emotion and surprise to the point that he cries out in horror at certain circumstances that, in later tales, would have left little other than a wry smile and remark of interest on his lips. As noted above "The Musgrave Ritual" provides us with a look at what could probably be considered Holmes' first real case in which another University acquaintance of Holmes' comes to him, based on his youthful reputation, with an apparently insoluble puzzle that revolves around the man's lothario butler and a bizarre family tradition. Holmes of course breaks the case and takes no small relish in recounting the strange tale of an event "done prematurely before my biographer had come to glorify me" to his friend Watson. "The Greek Interpreter" continues in our discovery of the details of the mysterious past of Sherlock Holmes as we discover he actually does have a family and did not, as might seem more likely, spring from the brow of Zeus full grown. We in fact meet his older brother Mycroft, a man even more withdrawn from normal human society than his brother, but who also seems to possess even greater observational powers (a fact that leaves both Watson and the reader shocked to say the least). It was indeed quite amusing to see the two siblings spar with each other, each vying to outdo the other's seemingly gnomic observations upon two strangers viewed from a window, and each gently chiding and correcting the other. This scene, nothing more a game of one-upmanship between brothers, does an excellent job at both making Sherlock seem more human at the same time that it exemplifies the peculiarity of his abilities and his subsequent estrangement from other 'normal' people. I also wondered in passing whether the germ for Nero Wolfe was planted in the mind of Rex Stout upon reading Sherlock's comment about his brother: "If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm-chair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived." All that is needed is Archie Goodwin to do the foot work, a brownstone in New York and we're off to the races. The Memoirs even show a bizarrely puckish aspect to Holmes' personality when, in the second to last tale "The Naval Treaty", Holmes plays a practical joke for his own amusement at the expense of the nerves of his already rattled client…something strange indeed (though perhaps not altogether out of character given Holmes' obvious desire to showboat and his distinct streak of misanthropy). Other tales in the volume that were of interest: "The Crooked Man" which I found to be a rather affecting tale of retribution in the face of personal tragedy and "The Yellow Face" which, at the same time that it displayed some squicky elements of racism and abandonment, still managed to rise above them and display a story of ultimate familial devotion and personal love. Of course one can't leave off discussion of this volume without making mention of "The Final Problem" the story in which Holmes' greatest adversary Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, is born. Doyle had grown weary of the public clamour for more tales of his peerless sleuth and decided it was time to end it so that he could concentrate on other characters and stories. Well, as it turns out this was not to be, but what resulted was an exciting tale in which Holmes finds himself pitted against the greatest adversary of his voluminous career. After months of playing cat-and-mouse with Moriarty and his insidious league of crime Holmes finally has gathered the pieces he needs to crush the vast criminal organization and its most dangerous leader. Moriarty, of course, is not likely to take such a possibility lying down and thus we have a final chase across London and Switzerland that ends in (view spoiler)[an off-screen (and thus retcon-able) death for both Holmes and his adversary. (hide spoiler)] Watson's final realization of what has happened to his friend is moving, as is the typically dry (though sincere) letter which Holmes leaves for him on the edge of Reichenbach Falls. All in all, while some of the tales may have been weaker than others, I can't do anything other than give this collection a five-star rating due to the great interest of the many tales of Holmes' early life, as well as the singular event of (view spoiler)[his "death". (hide spoiler)] ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Oct 29, 2012
| Nov 07, 2012
Aug 24, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780486227580
| 4.14
| 1,726
| 1904
| Nov 24, 2011
This volume contains eight tasty little nuggets of supernatural horror that I found very satisfying. In each of them the story is told second or even
This volume contains eight tasty little nuggets of supernatural horror that I found very satisfying. In each of them the story is told second or even third hand by a genial narrator whose acquaintances, who are themselves of a decidedly scholarly bent, have been the victims of supernatural intrusion into our world. Often the stories revolve around an ancient artifact able to invoke the otherworldly that is discovered by these particularly luckless individuals (though they often feel themselves lucky indeed when they first make their discoveries). The tales are all good, but my favourites were "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book", "Lost Hearts", ""The Mezzotint", and "Count Magnus". I found myself thinking of both Lovecraft (in James' use of made-up manuscripts and a reliance on protagonists of a learned bent whose curiosity proves to be their bane) and Clark Ashton-Smith (though with prose that was a little less flowery) though I think James is a much better stylist than the former and a little less given to the more extreme flights of fancy of the latter. "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book" – An antiquary discovers a scrap-book of ancient manuscripts compiled by the titular Canon Alberic in the 17th century that is in the keeping of the sacristan of a church in France that he is studying. One picture, "The dispute of Solomon with a demon of the night", proves to be particularly compelling…and why is the sacristan so eager to get rid of a book so obviously of great value? Great evocation of mood and the way in which the supernatural creature manifests itself was suitably creepy. "Lost Hearts" – A rather moving tale of revenge from beyond the grave and the perils of devoting oneself to the arcane teachings of the ancients in the hopes of gaining eternal life. I knew where this one was going pretty much after the first paragraph, but I heartily enjoyed the ride. "The Mezzotint" – I really liked the interesting way in which the artifact in question here, the mezzotint of the title, manifested the supernatural and the foreboding sense of a quiet yet unstoppable horror that was the result. "The Ash-tree" – A nobleman and his descendants find that being the star witness in a witch trial probably isn't a good idea. Good creepy/gross factor with the creatures invoked for vengeance. "Number 13" – What happens when you book a room in an inn that used to belong to a man accused of having been an alchemist and magician several generations ago? Nothing good, especially if you rent the room right next to the one in which he mysteriously died. Space and time have a funny way of bending and twisting when the undead get involved. "Count Magnus" – The titular Count reminded me a bit of Vigo the Carpathian from Ghost Busters 2: he was a mean-spirited son of a bitch who liked to torture people in his spare time and go on fun little trips with names like "the Black Pilgrimage". Perhaps it's wisest if you're a travel writer getting good copy from his native village to leave the crypt where he's entombed alone. Just sayin'. "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'" – Ah skeptics…they always learn their lesson in the end, don't they? Well, they do in these kind of stories anyway. If you're kind of a priggish and pedantic professor going on a holiday to sharpen up your golf game (golf is a re-occurring motif in these stories and I don't think James was a fan) don't promise to do some investigating of the local Templar preceptory for a colleague, and if you do for God's sake don't muck around with anything you find there. If you're lucky you'll run into an old military type who doesn't trust papists. "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" – When the Abbot of a 16th century monastery basically dares you, though the enciphered clues he left behind in some striking stained glass windows, to uncover his hidden treasure don't do it. Trust me on this. I like the way in which James gives us enough of a glimpse at the ghosts and undead horrors he unleashes in his stories to avoid Lovecraft's almost laughable (to me at least) approach of "oh, it was so horrible I can't even begin to describe it, just trust me it was really, really, really, mind-crushingly horrible!" and yet was sufficiently vague to leave enough of the horror to the imagination of the reader. The charming, almost homely, voice of the narrator was also a nice contrast to the ultimate invocation of otherworldly menace in the tales. All in all a really solid collection of old-school ghost stories that may not leave you cringing in terror, but you may end up looking over your shoulder from time to time. And you'll definitely take greater care the next time that weird old manuscript seems to fortuitously land in your lap. Also posted at Shelf Inflicted ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Aug 20, 2012
| Aug 24, 2012
Aug 20, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780141035833
| 3.73
| 757
| 1898
| May 29, 2008
2.5 – 3 stars Rupert of Hentzau is an enjoyable swashbuckler, though I remember The Prisoner of Zenda being better. We rejoin the major players remaini 2.5 – 3 stars Rupert of Hentzau is an enjoyable swashbuckler, though I remember The Prisoner of Zenda being better. We rejoin the major players remaining from the first novel three years later when a new crisis threatens the queen's honour (she's not very bright, alas) and the dastardly rogue Rupert of Hentzau gets his hands on a letter written by her majesty to her former lover Rudolph Rassendyll. Of course Rudolph must speed to her rescue and once again take up his imposture of the King of Ruritania while that somewhat feckless cuckold is still on the throne and not, this time, safely tucked away in a prison. There were a few twists in the plot that I didn't quite expect, though in retrospect I probably should have. As I said, overall an enjoyable romp, but it had a few things I took issue with: 1) most of the convenient elements of the plot that occurred to increase tension were mainly due to the general stupidity of the heroes; I mean, there were times when even *they* knew what they should have done and they didn't do it anyway. 2) The majority of the characters are pills. The queen, as stated, is really not very bright and her constant swooning over events (and Rudolph) got a little tiresome, I really don't see why any of the men who were so devoted to her would have wasted their time given her personality. The ostensible narrator, Fritz von Tarlenheim, is almost as stupid, though not quite. Rassendyll, the ostensible hero of the piece, is a cipher, or more correctly an acquisition straight out of central casting for "stiff-necked noble hero". The only really interesting characters were, obviously, the villain of the piece Rupert of Hentzau, of whom there was far too little in the text even though his name is on the title, and good old pragmatic Colonel Sapt, apparently the only one of the heroes with a working brain in his head and of whom there was just enough. Alright, all of that sounds so critical that you may be wondering how I could give this anything more than a rating of 2. Well, I am willing to give this one some leeway given the era in which it was written and the fact that it was merely going along with the expectations of the day. Also, it's a classic in the genre, so that bumps it up a bit too. Add to that the fact that Hope's prose is well-wrought and the fact that I didn't see the final twist in the plot until just before it occurred (though I really should have)and I think the rating just about squeaks in at 2.5-3 stars. This was another librivox recording and I was again lucky with the narrator, Andy Minter did a great job of it. All in all a fun swashbuckler. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Mar 09, 2012
| Mar 22, 2012
Mar 01, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780765318176
| 3.46
| 629
| Sep 01, 2008
| Oct 14, 2008
High 3.5 stars _The January Dancer_ is a very good space opera…I wish it had tipped over into great. There is a lot going on here to love: a sufficient High 3.5 stars _The January Dancer_ is a very good space opera…I wish it had tipped over into great. There is a lot going on here to love: a sufficiently deep future history created through the liberal use of allusion that references any number of existing earth cultures (heavily relying on Celtic and cultures from the Indian subcontinent) along with some pretty swell creations of Flynn's own (the Hounds, 'those of Name', the Terran Corners, the Rift, the People of Sand & Iron, etc.) in which the diaspora of humanity has settled across the cosmos, making use of an intriguingly pseudo-scientific explanation for FTL travel; a cast of varied and interesting characters of disparate parts coming together, as though by chance, to solve the mystery of a powerful pre-human artifact; and perhaps most of all the well-crafted prose of Michael Flynn that provides a certain shine to what might have been little more than a bloated pulp epic in weaker hands. And yet I just didn't find myself utterly captivated by the story as I hoped I might. Somehow it felt as though I was being held at arm's length from the narrative and I was unable to fully immerse myself into this world as I have done in Herbert's Dune, Zindell's Neverness, or Simmons' Hyperion. Perhaps it was Flynn's use of a dual narrative structure in which the main story was a tale being told by a character in another narrating arc, but I don't think that's it: I am not averse to the technique (indeed it's not unlike that used by Simmons' in _Hyperion_) and I don't think Flynn did a bad job in making it work. Perhaps the story was too much of an obvious set-up for the required sequels. There was a lot happening, but so much of it was seemingly to get the board into a state of readiness for the game to *really* proceed that it might have made the story of this volume itself seem weak, unable to support its own weight. Whatever the case may be, I did quite like the story Flynn had to tell, but I just wanted to love it more. We follow the wanderings of a group of characters as they in turn follow the peregrinations of an alien artifact able to change its shape imperceptibly (and may have other, less benign powers) that was discovered by the tramp freighter captain Amos January (hence its name, The January Dancer) as it moves from hand to hand across large swathes of known human space. As various players from different factions come across the Dancer (or rumours of it) a race to attain the hidden power of the alien artifact begins. We are given a tour of many of the main worlds that make up the loose conglomeration of planets known as the United League of the Periphery (under the nominal control of the Ardry of High Tara and his specially trained police force, the Hounds) whose great enemy, the Confederation of Central Worlds (in which is held the lost home-world of Old Earth), lies watching and waiting across the great galactic rift. The main characters (and even many of the secondary ones) are fairly well-fleshed out and have interesting motivations, the prose is very good, and the story moves along at a decent clip. Somehow though I just didn't fall completely under the story's spell. I have to admit, though, that the final reveal about the Dancer was pretty freakin' awesome and well worth the lead-up. All-in-all a worthy read. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Oct 12, 2012
| Oct 25, 2012
Jan 28, 2012
| Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780786162055
| 3.90
| 78,467
| 1872
| Dec 01, 2007
I was wavering at around 4 - 4.5 stars on this, but in the end I have to give it a full 5. _Middlemarch_ by George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) is, fir
I was wavering at around 4 - 4.5 stars on this, but in the end I have to give it a full 5. _Middlemarch_ by George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) is, first and last, an extraordinary achievement. Other writers have worked with a large and varied cast. Other writers have written social commentaries with verve and wit. There is something about Eliot's work, though, that is somehow unique. Two other writers come to mind with whom Eliot could (or even should), perhaps, be compared. Dickens is one of these, another Victorian writer concerned with the social mores of his day and whose cast of characters are as broad (and certainly stranger) than Eliot's, but he leaves me cold. I have yet to enter the world of Jane Austen, whose own commentary on the society of her day is apparently one of ironic wit, but I find it hard to believe that she will excel Eliot (I gather her range of view is a little more restricted than Eliot's). When I started this book I was overawed and quite frankly worried that I would never finish it (I don't always have a great track record with high page-count classics…War and Peace has been more or less ear-marked as a failure for me after three attempts, all of which ended at exactly the same fairly early page), but Eliot has managed to pack a very long and incredibly intricate story into what I found to be a fairly quick moving and definitely enjoyable reading experience. Ok full disclosure here: I 'read' the audiobook version narrated by the engaging (and quite frankly wonderful) Nadia May. Just step-off all you audiobook haters, ok? There, now that that's out of my system let's proceed. The story of _Middlemarch_ is both large and small. Large both because it takes as its backdrop many of the great reforms that were beginning to change life in Britain in ways as varied as medicine, politics, transportation, and social life, as well as its large and varied cast of characters running the gamut of English provincial society. Small because it concentrates minutely on the internal thoughts and feelings that make up these individual's private lives as well as the seemingly minor details of their everyday lives. While this book certainly takes a holistic approach to examining the lives of its characters it was ultimately, for me, a book about the various ways in which hopes and expectations can come crashing down in ruins (or at the very least be significantly changed) when they meet with reality…especially in the sphere of marriage. One might take as this book's motto the insight of the character Dorothea Brooke relatively late in the novel that "Marriage is so unlike everything else. There is something awful in the nearness it brings." Eliot presents us with a myriad of characters and families all of whose lives revolve around the insular world and concerns of the fictional town and environs of Middlemarch. To name only a few members of the cast that make up the vast narrative we have: the Brooke family made up of the saintly Dorothea, her pragmatic sister Celia and their buffoonish though lovable Uncle and guardian Arthur Brooke; the dry and pedantic scholar-clergyman Edward Casaubon and his distant and impoverished cousin Will Ladislaw; the genial though superficial Vincy family made up of father Walter, mother Harriet and two of their children: Fred and Rosamond; the fiery and idealistic new physician Tertius Lydgate; the sanctimonious and deluded banker Nicholas Bulstrode; the pragmatic and devoted Garth family (father Caleb, mother Susan and daughter Mary) as well as numerous others. What could have been an unwieldy mess becomes an almost balletic performance as Eliot guides us through the interweavings of these lives in moments of hope and crisis. What Lydgate says about his own life could just as easily have been said of Eliot's challenges in creating the book: "…it's uncommonly difficult to make the right things work: there are so many strings pulling at once." She succeeds admirably. To go into the details of the plot would be of little use, or interest…just read the book! However I must say that Eliot's ability to create a cast of fully rounded characters was extremely well-done. Some lean more towards villainy and others towards heroism, but none are simply black or white and all are given the sympathy of their creator who goes out of her way to be as impartial as possible when presenting their thoughts and motives. Everyone is a human being, however good or bad an example of the species they may be. Eliot also avoids the saccharine that might be expected in a Victorian novel about marriage. While I won't say there are no happy endings, there are certainly no easy roads and even those endings considered happy have their own trials, worries and cost to those involved. Sometimes the cost may seem more than one ought to bear. More than one character comes to realize that in the necessity of interacting with others lies the quandary that "He had meant everything to turn out differently; and others had thrust themselves into his life and thwarted his purposes." This could easily be the second motto of Eliot's book. Still, regardless of the pain that interacting with others involves: the changing of one's own plans in order to placate the desires and interests of another, the constant danger of rejection and pain, and, perhaps most of all, the constant threat of societal disapproval and public censure, we are forced to make the best (and sometimes the worst) of our relationships since we cannot live truly alone in utter isolation. It is a constant surprise to the characters of _Middlemarch_ how significantly their lives are able to be impacted and changed by others: "To think of the part one little woman can play in the life of a man, so that to renounce her may be a very good imitation of heroism, and to win her may be a discipline!" Looking back I'm not sure if I was able to pull this together into a truly coherent review, but suffice it to say that _Middlemarch_ truly is one of the greats. Eliot's delightful prose, wry wisdom, and fully-fleshed out characters make what might have been an utter snore-fest into an insightful and enjoyable examination of what it means to be a member of the human community…in any era. ...more | Notes are private!
| Richard
| Apr 13, 2012
| Jun 2012
Jan 25, 2012
| Audio CD
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780140439441
| 3.93
| 124,427
| 1850
| Dec 28, 2004
| Notes are private!
| none
| Jan 25, 2012
| not set
Jan 25, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780553210446
| 3.70
| 664,770
| 1818
| Oct 1981
3.5 stars Ok, so it's one of the big two of the great classic monster stories: Dracula and Frankenstein…sort of a literary Beatles and the Rolling Ston 3.5 stars Ok, so it's one of the big two of the great classic monster stories: Dracula and Frankenstein…sort of a literary Beatles and the Rolling Stones scenario. Which do you think is better? Your choice may say a lot about you. Considered a classic both in the realms of science fiction and horror and even granted the distinction to be part of the literary cannon, the pedigree of Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ is pretty much impeccable. This was actually my second attempt at reading the book, however, the first being stymied some years ago by the morose, and seemingly endless, philosophizing of the monster. Somehow this didn't bother me this time around, and I was able to enjoy Shelley's nightmare tale and appreciate its classic status. To me the book reads almost like a primer in the Romantic ethos, not surprising considering its author who was a member of one of the greatest literary circles of the Romantic movement. From the emblematic poetry quoted throughout and the many, many (many) paens to the revelatory aspects of wild and majestic Nature to the existential philosophizing central to all of the characters and the combination of hopefulness with despair, this book has the Romantic movement tattooed on its soul. Regardless of the fact that many see this as the birthing point of science fiction due to young Frankenstein's pseudo-scientific attempts to create life, I think that these sfnal elements hold a distant second place to the more poetic and philosophical ones in the story. To me it isn't the cautionary tale of the dangers of scientific progress that is paramount, but rather that of the family. I think _Frankenstein_ is ultimately more concerned with parenthood and its responsibilities, and an examination of what happens when love and its attendant obligations are absent, than it is with the dangers of the advancement of scientific knowledge. Victor is thus not so much at fault because he attempted to emulate God in the creation of life, but because he did not emulate Him in his care for his creation. (Though I think Shelley is herself ambiguous about whether God is any better…there seems to be an implicit judgement in some places that we in some sense share in the Creature's abandonment.) Victor does not attempt to teach his creature or even do so much as stay in its vicinity after it has been awakened from death, instead abandoning it to the vicissitudes of the world merely because of its horrific appearance. Victor's fault is compounded by the fact that his own family life was one of bliss with the full support and love of his parents, a fact that Shelley makes sure to underline as Victor tells the tale of his life. Even after his initial rejection by his creator and only link to humanity, the Creature attempts to live as best it can, looking for companionship and love until, driven by constant rejection due only to its frightful features, it chooses a path of vengeance and hate. Which of the protagonists is the romantic hero of this tale? Is it Victor, who is certainly mad, bad and dangerous to know (though in a somewhat different vein from Byron)? Or is it the Creature who seems destined to most evoke the reader's pity and displays all of the pathos of the unjustly suffering tragic figure, for all of Victor's whining about his own predicament? Victor is indeed somewhat laughable in his sentiments (though I imagine this was not Shelley's intent). There are only so many times that we can hear his inner monologues about how he is suffering more than any of those around him due to the inner torments of conscience, while at the same time he sits safely watching a figure like the poor servant girl Justine who stands alone in the dock awaiting death for a crime she did not commit, before we roll our eyes in frustration. Sure Victor, poor you. The torments of the soul are surely a fate worse than an ignominious death. Victor's extreme passivity is also somewhat annoying. I'm still not sure why he prefers to sit and moan over the trials that assail him instead of taking matters into his own hands. If he truly believed the creature was such a blight on creation, and one whose soul was irredeemable, then why didn't he just wait for one of the Creature's inevitable visits with a gun instead of nothing more than impotent rage and mad ravings? The novel would have been over much sooner and in much less dramatic a fashion, but it strained my credulity a bit that such a 'genius' didn't have this simple foresight. One other moment in the story that stetched my disbelief was the manner in which the Creature learned to read and speak. Let's just say that it involved an incredibly convenient series of coincidence and leave it at that. These issues aside, I did quite enjoy the novel. It was certainly chock full of ideas and had some luscious prose. Both were often in a somewhat overheated vein, but, given its place square in the midst of the Romantic genre I could expect no less of it. In addition to the critiques of parental abandonment Shelley also inserts several criticisms of the burden we carry as a result of our self-awareness. Tellingly, both Frankenstein and the Creature bemoan their sensibilities in an almost identical fashion and pine for the state of brute beasts, wishing that they had never "…known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst and heat". Intellect and feeling are an affliction that the happy beasts of the field need not suffer. Of course it is these very feelings that allow mankind to be both poet and scientist; to appreciate the beauty and wonder of Nature which the book so ardently admires; and to bring about the goodness of humanity as much as its evil, so these critiques are not, I think, without a rejoinder even in the novel itself. All in all this was a great read; an exemplum of the horror genre still in its infancy…but I still like _Dracula_ better. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Jan 09, 2012
| Jan 20, 2012
Jan 09, 2012
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780140439076
| 3.96
| 45,971
| 1890
| Oct 01, 2001
_The Sign of the Four_ isn't a bad mystery, but I didn't quite like it as much as _A Study in Scarlet_ or most of the stories in _The Adventures of Sh
_The Sign of the Four_ isn't a bad mystery, but I didn't quite like it as much as _A Study in Scarlet_ or most of the stories in _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. I'm starting to think, however, that these stories aren't always of interest because of the mystery itself (though sometimes they certainly are), but more because of the revelations they disclose about the character of Sherlock Holmes himself. Did you know that he had fought a prize fighter and won? I didn't before, but now I do. We also get to see first hand what happens to Holmes when he has no work of sufficient interest to tax his incredible mind and he slumps into malaise and cocaine use to take the edge off. This is also an important story for the genial Dr. Watson as he meets and falls in love with his future wife, Mary Morston. Good thing it turns out she was a client of Holmes' in these early days of their acquaintance since it helps to explain why she lets her husband go gallivanting around London with him all the time with nary a complaint. She owes him. The central mystery revolves around a lost treasure and a missing soldier (Mary's father) who disappeared mysteriously years before. A man murdered in a locked room proves to pose a problem for the police, but not for Holmes of course. Along the way Watson discovers love and Holmes once again helps the police solve a mystery for which he receives no credit. As I said, not a bad story, but not one of my favourites thus far. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Dec 09, 2011
| Dec 20, 2011
Dec 09, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780140057072
| 4.13
| 136,063
| 1887
| Jun 24, 1982
_A Study in Scarlet_ is an interesting book for several reasons. Here we have the first written adventure of Sherlock Holmes and get both the first in
_A Study in Scarlet_ is an interesting book for several reasons. Here we have the first written adventure of Sherlock Holmes and get both the first introduction to the famous sleuth and his comrade Dr. Watson, as well as details of their first meeting. We are treated to a somewhat humorous précis of Watson's first impressions of his strange room-mate (detailed in several other reviews) and even manage to see a fledgling Holmes occasionally wrong, or at least not 100% accurate, in some of his initial surmises at the mystery they become embroiled in. We also see the somewhat ambivalent and competitive relationship Holmes has with Scotland Yard and his disdain for the official investigators and their inferior methods of detection. The mystery itself involves the double homicide of two Americans and an embarrassment of mysterious clues at the place of the first murder. Of course both Scotland Yard detectives assigned to the case manage to make the wrong assumptions and go off in different directions, though Holmes has to grudgingly admit that they "are coming along" and even wonders at one point if they have managed to beat him to the punch when one of his own assumptions seems to have gone awry. The story is actually in two parts, the first of which covers the initial mystery and the very engrossing portrait of Holmes and his many quirks. Holmes ultimately proves able to solve the mystery by the end of this section in a fashion perhaps more mysterious than the murders themselves. From here we go to a flashback of events separated in both time and space by great distance in order to be given the background of the two murders in London and many readers seem to have a big problem with this. I actually found this section, while certainly a bit jarring at first, to be a well-written and entertaining story in itself. Its chief failings seem to be that a) it is not a story involving Sherlock Holmes, and b) the historicity of some of its facts can be considered somewhat questionable as it turns the early Mormons and their leaders into some kind of nefarious secret society rivalling even the Illuminati or Rosicrucians. I didn't find either of these elements to be too great of an obstacle personally. I knew that we would return to Holmes & Watson in due course to be provided with our explanations and revelations and if I wasn't being given a straight history lesson on the true founding of Salt Lake City, then I was certainly given an entertaining tale that was probably more interesting than the facts themselves would have been. The only part of this tale I really found questionable was that (view spoiler)[ a man like Jefferson Hope would simply wait a month for Lucy to die of a broken heart after she'd been abducted and didn't try to rescue her, even if it proved impossible and meant his death. (hide spoiler)] The culmination of both stories as they meet in the rooms of Holmes and Watson at 221B Baker Street in London was satisfying and I highly recommend this story. Another 4, or 4.5 star book from Doyle. ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Oct 14, 2011
| Oct 21, 2011
Oct 14, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780199536955
| 4.27
| 128,416
| 1892
| Aug 14, 2008
Well, what can I say? It's Sherlock Holmes. Even if you've never read any of Conan Doyle's stories (and shame on you!) you probably still know quite a
Well, what can I say? It's Sherlock Holmes. Even if you've never read any of Conan Doyle's stories (and shame on you!) you probably still know quite a bit about this figure that is one of the most iconic in literature and even know details of many of his cases. Prior to this more systematic read-through I had only actually read a few of the stories and much of my knowledge came from the (admittedly excellent) BBC TV series starring the late great Jeremy Brett (the best of all Holmes'). These twelve stories represent the first of his continuing adventures published after the initial novels _A Study in Scarlet_ and _The Sign of Four_ (which I have yet to read). They are all uniformly entertaining and well-written, though some stood out to me, most notably "A Scandal in Bohemia" where Holmes is actually beaten, and not by a criminal nemesis like Moriarty, but by the brilliant Irene Adler; "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" which encompases unrequited love, outlaws on the frontier, and treacherous blackmailing; "The Five Orange Pips" which pits Holmes against the nefarious machinations of the KKK; "The Man with the Twisted Lip" one of the many cases which makes use of mistaken identity, and "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" which portrays the also common theme of familial dysfunction and paternal greed. I was a little surprised to note a few things in my reading, one of which was the number of strong female characters Doyle made use of. From Irene Adler and Violet Hunter, who both impress Holmes with their intellignece, courage and ability, to the no nonsense Hatty Doran and Mrs. Toller. Next, I think Doyle may not have had much of a fondness for dogs given their characterisation in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" and (from what I gather at least) _The Hound of the Baskervilles_...maybe he was a cat guy? It was curious to see several references also made to Holmes' great physical strength...something I wasn't particularly aware of. I had mistakenly thought him to be primarily an intellectual hero. Finally it was a bit surprising to see the number of times that Holmes does not "get his man" and the criminals escape, perhaps to be punished by Fate, but this is not always the case. Somewhat tied in with this last point: Holmes seems content to let his fair share of criminals escape 'justice' so long as he sees the validity of their actions or believes in the sincerity of their contrition. He's simply interested in the puzzle (and crime merely gives it more zest), not really in meting out justice per se. Many plot elements seem to recur in these stories, but I don't know that this is a major detraction since the main draw of all of these tales is, of course, the unparalleled character of Holmes himself and the incredible deductive method he uses. Yes it's true, Holmes is a bit of a prick and he always likes to show off (though he'd never admit it). He is, however, nearly always right, so can you blame him for having a somewhat cool disdain for us mere mortals? He also has enough failings to make him interesting (whether it's his monomania when it comes to solving puzzles, his drug addiction, or his passive-aggressive need to be praised by his somewhat dim compatriot Dr. Watson). He was also made somewhat more sympathetic (to me at least) in his ironic disdain for many of the upper class people that become his clients (most notably the King of Bohemia and Lord Robert St. Simon who are at the receiving end a few choice bon mots) and his very real sympathy for the weak victims preyed upon by the strong and unscrupulous in his cases. Overall, Sherlock Holmes' adventures provide very enjoyable reading and one almost feels they are walking through the foggy streets of London, or across the blustery English countryside with him in these reminiscences of the good doctor. I should note here that I was listening to the free Librivox audio recording for this "read" as performed by Ruth Golding. She was an excellent narrator with good pace and excellent dramatic feeling. Her character of Holmes was quite good, but I must admit that I found Watson's 'voice' a little bit odd (I think this may have contributed above and beyond anything in the actual text to making him appear a bit of a simpleton), and some of the secondary characters followed suit. Overall though, a very enjoyable listen. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Oct 05, 2011
| Oct 14, 2011
Oct 05, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780976140726
| 3.50
| 1,343
| 1810
| Apr 01, 2005
_Michael Kohlhaas_ is a fictionalized account of an actual historical event. A horse trader from Brandenburg on a journey to Saxony is falsely extorte
_Michael Kohlhaas_ is a fictionalized account of an actual historical event. A horse trader from Brandenburg on a journey to Saxony is falsely extorted for a border crossing by the Squire Wenzel von Tronka, who also keeps two of Kohlhaas' horses as surety against the trader's inability to pay. Upon arriving at Saxony, Kohlhass learns that, as he suspected, the border tax was a ruse and on his return journey demands his horses back from the squire. Instead he finds that the servant he had left in charge of the horses was beaten and run out of the castle, and the horses so maltreated and overworked that they are on the point of dying. Infuriated, Kohlhaas demands reparation and thus a saga of justice denied begins. How far would you go to redress wounded pride? At what point is the pursuit of justice an exercise in diminishing returns or even downright revolt? When is a citizen justified in renouncing his duties to the state if the state does not provide him with protection and justice? All of these questions are examined in this smart and compelling novella written by Heinrich von Kleist in the 19th century. It is obvious that von Kleist sympathizes with Kohlhaas throughout the tale, and the reader can't help but do the same. Squire Tronka is pictured as the worst kind of nepotistic nobleman, calling on his family connections at court to have all of Kohlhaas' lawful attempts at receiving justice thwarted. As Kohlhaas' frustration mounts, so does ours. When his wife, who had pleaded with her husband to be allowed to carry his final petition to the court of the Elector in the assurance that this last ditch attempt to breach the courtly barriers of favouritism and ritual would be successful, is brought back to his home wounded and near death as the result of a mishap at court he can take no more. Kohlhaas sends a decree to Tronka demanding that his horses be fattened and brought back to health at the Squire's expense and returned to the horse dealer, along with reparation for the injuries suffered by his servant at the hands of the Squire's men. Of course, this produces no result and so Kohlhaas, driven to the edge of endurance acquires a troop of men and proceeds to Tronka castle, intent on taking justice for himself if no one else will grant it to him. Kohlhaas is obviously not a man who believes in the old adage about revenge, for he takes his hot and at the end of a flaming torch as he burns Tronka castle to the ground. He pursues the Squire with a blind eye, killing nearly all whom he finds in the castle without distinction and while we may look at his response as extreme I have to admit that I couldn't help but experience a bout of schadenfreude at the Squire's turn from a smug, insolent bastard into a frightened, mewling kitten who probably pissed his pants when we discover that the Squire, who, to the accompaniment of immoderate laughter, was just reading aloud to a crowd of young friends the decree which the horse-dealer had sent to him, had no sooner heard the sound of his voice in the courtyard than, turning suddenly pale as death, he cried out to the gentlemen—"Brothers, save yourselves!" and disappeared. Uncaring of the safety of his guests, Tronka escapes Kohlhaas' vengeful hand via a secret door and makes haste to a convent that is run, not surprisingly, by his aunt. Kohlhass, disappointed but not defeated, pursues his quarry and a game of cat and mouse ensues. It turns out that the Squire had managed to piss of many more than just the poor horse dealer and as Kohlhaas proclaims his just vengeance to the world, men start to flock to his banner. Soon he is an out-and-out outlaw, burning down the towns that dare keep his victim from Kohlhaas' hands and the state decides that it must intervene. Matters take a roller coaster turn as Kohlhaas first defies the authorities stating that he is justified in his actions, whatever "laws" he may be breaking, for: "I call that man cast out," answered Kohlhaas, clenching his fist, "who is denied the protection of the laws. For I need this protection, if my peaceable business is to prosper. Yes, it is for this that, with all my possessions, I take refuge in this community, and he who denies me this protection casts me out among the savages of the desert; he places in my hand—how can you try to deny it?—the club with which to protect myself." A point that many philosophers might debate, on either side, but a compelling argument nonetheless. Finally Kohlhaas approaches Martin Luther himself, and after some argument the latter agrees to intercede for him to the elector in the name of justice. It's at this time that the story takes yet another turn and Kohlhaas the outlaw becomes Kohlhaas the plaintiff as he is apparently granted amnesty for his ravages in the countryside and waits for the interminable grind of the courts to proceed to his case. Of course things do not run smoothly and the ups and downs of Kohlhass' fortunes are many. In the end it can be said that Kohlhaas both receives and satisfies the requirements of justice and the story itself is a very compelling one that asks some important questions. I enjoyed this work thoroughly. It was a gripping examination of human nature that presents us with a problem that has no easy answers. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Jan 23, 2012
| Jan 25, 2012
Aug 31, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780486437637
| 3.85
| 1,969
| 1891
| Dec 07, 2004
_The White Company_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is equal parts boy's own adventure and historical fiction of the Hundred Years' War. It reminded me very
_The White Company_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is equal parts boy's own adventure and historical fiction of the Hundred Years' War. It reminded me very much of the spirit of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, though it's been so long since I read the latter story I wouldn't want to draw too many specific comparisons. The story is that of a young aristocrat, Alleyne Edricson, who leaves the safe confines of the abbey where he was raised in order to see the world for a year before deciding on the path his life is to follow. From the first Doyle fills his tale with action that is tempered with descriptive passages detailing the varied aspects of medieval life of England and France in the fourteenth century. One gets a detailed sense of a world in which the habitations of man were widely interspersed amongst the ever present wilderness with areas of cultivation spread between. The story Doyle tells straddles a strange line, for while there are parts that read like an idyllic paen to the simpler and purer days of yore, he does not shy away from presenting hard truths regarding the savagery, poverty, and tyranny that were also pervasive at the time. One is often left wondering whether Doyle wanted to praise or berate the era, to simplify it or acknowledge its complexities, but perhaps he simply felt that, like any other age, there was equal measure of both praise and blame to be given to it. Alleyne's relative innocence and inexperience with the world outside of abbey walls allows him to be an excellent stand-in for the reader, as he experiences for the first time the realities of the wider medieval world. As though immersed in a kind of Canterbury Tales Alleyne meets pardoners, friars, palmers, hucksters, knights, peasants, franklins and soldiers allowing the reader to experience a veritable cross-section of medieval society in all of its varied glory. Sometimes this can come across as a bit too pat, as Doyle manages to have Alleyne cross paths with nearly every segment of medieval society on his journeys along the highways and byways of England and France. The characters of Alleyne, with his wide-eyed innocence, and Sir Nigel Loring, with his almost simplistically quixotic belief in the tenets of chivalry, give Doyle the chance to indulge in elements of chivalric romance, while the more hard-bitten archer Samkin Aylward and his less idealistic comrades in the White Company allow for a more pragmatic look at medieval warfare to be examined. Still, for all of the historical detail that Conan Doyle may have laden his story with, it definitely seems to come down on the side of idealistic chivalry; for despite its acknowledgment of the unending warfare with the goal of plunder that turned half of France into a wasted no-man's land, sly allusions to the inherent naiveté of many of the ideals of chivalry through the literally and figuratively myopic Sir Nigel, and various references to the downtrodden peasantry (including a scene in which a tyrannical seigneur's castle is attacked and destroyed by a starving peasant mob) the novel still often reads like the Middle Ages as produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was still an enjoyable read and further goes to show me Conan Doyle's range as a writer. ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Jun 05, 2012
| Jul 03, 2012
Aug 30, 2011
| Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 9780451527974
| 4.05
| 4,609
| 1921
| Jun 01, 2001
I wavered between four and five stars on this one, but I totally have to go with the five. It's just that awesome. I was actually a little surprised a
I wavered between four and five stars on this one, but I totally have to go with the five. It's just that awesome. I was actually a little surprised at how much I loved this book. I mean, I love swashbucklers and historical fiction…Dumas père is my man, but the only other Sabatini novel I've read, Venetian Masque, I found to be a little underwhelming so I did not expect this from Sabatini. Speaking of Dumas, I almost think that _Scaramouche_ can be placed in the same company as that master's great work _The Count of Monte Cristo_, no small praise from me. It doesn't quite have the same level of intricate plotting as the latter, and I will never give pride of place to any but Monsieur le Comte, but it is still an awesome read filled with exciting ups and downs as we follow the trials and triumphs of the title character aka Andre-Louis Moreau. I actually noticed that Moreau shared some similarities with Dantès as a character, at least in the fact that both of them seemed to have a Batman-like ability to adopt nearly any skill they required to further their own ends. For Moreau this leads him to start out as a lawyer with exceptional reasoning and speaking skills, become a brilliant actor, stage writer and theatre impresario, then move on to master the art of the sword and become a maître d'armes, and finally to enter the realm of politics all within a span of two years. That's ok, I don't mind it if my heroes are super and Moreau pairs his ability with an acerbic wit and keen insight I found both refreshing and awesome. I have to add here that I 'read' this as an audiobook downloaded from Librivox. Now the narrators from Librivox, given that it is a free site, can be…how to put this delicately? Crappy. Not so this one. The narrator Gordon Mackenzie was fantastic. He had just the right pacing, didn't stumble on his words (you'd think that would be a prerequisite for narrating an audio book, wouldn't you?), and was able to voice each character differently without sounding completely ludicrous. He even managed the French phrases and Latin epigrams with no apparent effort. Excellent job Mr. Mackenzie! I really think his work on this added to my already superlative enjoyment of the text itself. Given that this is a classic I imagine that many already know the plot, at least in broad strokes: Andre-Louis Moreau is a bastard of no name, taken in as the "godson" of the local seigneur of the village of Gavrillac (amidst the knowing glances and whispers of the locals). He is a young man of intelligence and wit, known primarily for his acerbic tongue and incisive reasoning, who acts as the legal representative of his godfather, M. de Kercadiou. His best friend, Philippe de Vilmorin, is a young seminarian who also happens to have revolutionary political leanings. When a local peasant is summarily killed by a local noble, the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr, Philippe tries to convince the nobleman to recompense the dead man's family for the deed. Incensed, and sensing in the eloquent young man one who could stir the mounting discontent of the people that is beginning to raise its head in France, d'Azyr decides he must get rid of this possible thorn in the side of his class. An expert fencer, perhaps the best in France, d'Azyr forces the fledgling Philippe into challenging him to a duel and handily dispatches the young man, whose own abilities with the sword are non-existent. It is this act of bald-faced murder (and the subsequent inability of the young lawyer to gain any justice from the established powers) that sends young Bruce Wayne, er Andre-Louis, on his road of vengeance against the man, and the class, that killed his friend in cold blood. As we follow Andre-Louis in his quest we see him taking up the mantle left by his dead friend and using his own eloquence to stir up the crowds against their unjust masters. Forced into hiding when his name and actions become know, Moreau manages to join a travelling band of actors who mount plays based on the fading style of the Commedia dell'Arte and, after establishing himself as not only an excellent actor and writer, but even a company manager of some skill Moreau takes on the role of Scaramouche (one that is uniquely suited to his outlook and abilities) and proceeds to lead the troupe to the verge of fame and fortune. Along the way he falls in love and ultimately finds himself once again crossing paths with his avowed enemy, seemingly driven by the hand of fate. Moreau encounters numerous dangers and escapes in his years of hiding which I won't recount here…read the book and enjoy them to the full yourself! Suffice it to say that the nascent revolution turns the tables and thrusts Andre-Louis into a position of power. It is a position that is not so easily taken advantage of, despite Andre-Louis' apparent single-mindedness in regards to his quest, and the conclusion of the tale is satisfying and much more complex than one might be given to expect from a work in this genre. I thought Sabatini's prose was great. His turns of phrase, especially in the mouth of Moreau, were sublime and the text is littered with an abundance of bon mots. His characters also shine and often manage to attain a level of complexity that goes beyond the one dimensional duality of good-guy/bad-guy one might expect. While I was always cheering for Moreau and loved his character, he is not always an eminently likeable guy and even the sneering and vain arch-rival the Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr manages to show himself to be something more complex than a mustachio-twirling villain. Bottom line: this book was great. I don't know why I took so long to read it, but I'm very glad I finally did. I'll be revisiting this one many times in the future. Highly recommended. Also posted at Shelf Inflicted ...more | Notes are private!
| none
| Feb 18, 2012
| Mar 07, 2012
Aug 30, 2011
| Paperback
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Rationalizing our marriage laws
Sorting out marital status anomalies, Letter Dec. 28
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Re: Sorting out marital status anomalies, Letter Dec. 28
Defining legal status and rights is a headache only because we allow it to be. It is time to rationalize our marriage laws and grandfather in a new system.
Couples wishing to enjoy rights — and obligations — which currently accrue from marital status should be required to enter into "registered civil unions," with only one such union at a time being recognized per couple. Those who don't register would receive no such benefits (though their offspring would, of course, be entitled to the same rights as children of registered unions).
Churches, synagogues, mosques, etc., could continue to "marry" couples who meet their various theological requirements. But in keeping with the notion of separation of church and state, those ceremonies would have no status in law.
And if we were really smart, we would license civil unions in the same way we license drivers, i.e., require applicants for civil union licenses not just to pay for those licenses but to pass a test showing that they are familiar with the various rules and regulations that will apply to them once they have registered.
Anita Dermer, Toronto
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Quantum Publishing Releases FACE-TO-FACE Self-Help Book
According to a recent New York Times op ed piece, a young boy who spends a considerable amount of time texting lamented, "Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I'd like to learn how to have a conversation." Studies over the last decade have shown that electronic communication, including emails, text messaging, and even cell phones strain business and personal relationships because of the lack of nonverbal clues, the encouragement of egocentric perspective, and a tendency toward isolation.
Yalda T. Uhls and Patricia M. Greenfield of the Children's Digital Media Center Los Angeles in a recent white paper wrote, "Human beings evolved for face-to-face communication. The presence of another person in the flesh triggers important human emotions such as empathy. We may be reducing such emotions in developing human beings by reducing face-to-face communication and augmenting electronic communication".
Prominent lawyers and educators Robert A. Esperti and Renno L. Peterson in their just released book Face-To-Face (Quantum Press, ISBN 978-0-9850456-3-0) agree that electronic communication has adversely affected the art of conversation, but go on to show that without understanding what a conversation means, even those who believe they converse well tend to fall into habits that hinder their relationships. They take a humorous look at common conversational habits, and then offer building blocks and insights that will help everyone, no matter what their age or status in life, build better relationships through better conversational skills.
Lloyd Schermer, past Chairman of the American Newspaper Publishers Association, former Chairman and EEO of Lee Enterprises, the nations' fourth largest newspaper agrees, and states, "If you listen to the wisdom of [Face-To-Face], you and your relationships will be far the better for it."
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This is a chess game played on chess.com where I do some kibitzing.
Nice Vid Jerry!
To play the KID as black demands exact play to not come out wrong to the middle game. Nice analysis Jerry ! As always.
Thanks Jerry!
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