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Title: Dear Reader Product review: Steady nerdish Stuart and his best friend, flamboyant loser Oliver, are both in love with Gillian, who solves her dilemma by marrying both of them. It is set in 1980's LondonIt is told very cleverly (rather too cleverly) from the point of view of each of a cast of characters who write as if trying to get their own points of view across to the reader and analyze each others motives and criticize each other. Normally I dislike these fancy narrative devices (sometimes called post-modern, although you can trace them back to eighteenth century epistolary novels, and addressing the "dear reader") but Barnes does this so well that I was captivated.The style becomes too fancy when Oliver is the narrator. He is fond of elaborate witticisms and bits of French. The best narrators were Val and the girl in the flower shop.Barnes wrote a sequel "Love Etc" ten years later, which is set ten years later in the characters' lives. It is even better. Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
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flattering


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Title: thrilling concept but execution stank to high heaven Product review: I was initially excited about this movie because it deals with the apocalypse. Since it was an independent film, I hoped it would be of higher quality than Hollywood dreck such as "Armageddon" and "Independence Day." Well I was sorely disappointed. The acting was mediocre at best and I kept looking at the clock wondering how much longer I'd have to endure the below-average dialogue and plot. Save your eyesight and watch something more exciting. I have **no idea** why this has such high ratings. I'm Catholic but this movie bored and irritated me. Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
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unflattering


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Title: Very good basic introduction to the subject, but Product review: This is a very good basic introduction to the subject, as you would expect from this author. The text is supported by a good selection of maps and illustrations. The chapters areP017: IntroductionP025: Early Rome and the Conquest of ItalyP041: The Wars with Carthage and the Hellenistic KingdomsP077: World Conquest 202 BC - AD 14P113: Controlling the World AD 14-193P161: Crisis and ReformP195: Collapse in the West, Recovery in the EastP210: Tables, Bibliography, Index etc.For a more recent book on the same subject, I would Michael Pitassi'sThe Navies of Rome. This looks at the same content, but in more detail - as it is not as lavishly illustrated - and considers Rome's campaigns from the view of Roman seapower, including riverine warfare. It covers the land campaigns in much more depth than this volume, as it has more space to work with. Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
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