No comments about Maine Curiosities, 2nd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series).

1 comments about Secret Boston: The Unique Guidebook to Boston's Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes (Secret Guide series).

1. This little gem is well worth the price. The book contains many off-the-beaten path trips.

No comments about LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF BOSTON (Little Black Book) (Little Black Book).

4 comments about When the Sleeper Wakes (Modern Library Classics).

1. The concept and story are intrusting. Wells is certinly a good auther, however I do not find the story absorbing. That said, it offers an intrustind (somewhat pessimistic) view of the future.
   recomended.



2. finished this just the other night and what a finish. i'm not going to spoil it because if you havn't read it you should - if you like your sci-fi with a liberal portion of politics and social commentary (which i guess i do).
   
   from the very beginning, the beauty of the writing is that it shares the sense of dislocation and naivete of the protagonist most eloquently. a man waking in a future world where what he sees around him is totally unfamiliar, yet what lies underneath is an expression of barbarism that a post-enlightment intellectual would surely find abhorrent.
   
   the technology wells envisions is perhaps the most telling sign of his intensly perceptive style. the only inline editorial note is towards the end, where an insert advises that wells is writing of aeroplanes 11 years before the first took to the sky and of aerial fighting 18 years before the first dogfight (although once you've made it to flying, it's not that very large a mental gap at all to flying and fighting together...). alongwith telephones, televisions and the classic moving pathway or travelator (found also in asimov, the fantastic planet and others), the other main visual vocabulary is in the architecture. It's all about the scale and in this you could maybe argue (if you were stoned and theoretically ambitious...) that future comrades-in-architecture took some inspiration. which is to say that it reminds me of beijing and berlin, the only two cities i've visted that either were or are communist.
   
   but it's the social commentary i enjoy the most. a rather dark piece of commentary it is too, marking it alongside brave new world, 1984 et. al. the most unsettling part about reading this was to ponder in 2005 the questions wells was asking in 1899. are the extrapolations he was making, perhaps influenced by contempory thinking such as conspicous consumption and antecedents such as rosseau, bearing themselves out today? The stark seperations Veblen was identifying in the seperation of classes by the work they perform (essentially split into industrial and non-industrial) are a central theme in The Sleeper (first published in 1899, the same year as Veblen's The Leisure Class).



3. Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) is remembered as one of the very pioneers of the genre of science-fiction. He is also remembered for his Leftist politics, including a stint with the Fabian Society and his embracing of "Free Love." This book was written in 1899, and is one of the last science-fiction books he wrote before his turn towards social realism in his writing.
   
   In this dystopian novel, Graham falls into a coma-like sleep, a sleep that he wakes from some 203 years in the future. But times have changed. Due to the wise investments of a board of trustees, Graham's money has compounded into the greatest fortune the world has ever seen, and the trustees have used it to virtually enslave the entire planet. The common people know that those who use "The Master's" money are misusing it, and they pine for a time when the sleeper will wake and set things right. But now that Graham is awake, he finds himself a pawn in a world he little understands.
   
   Overall, I found this to be an interesting book. H.G. Wells made a lot of predictions in the book that have sense come to pass, including airplanes, the rise of trans-national corporations that are not under the control of their nation of origin, the rise of a decadent class of useless, pretty, party-people (Hollywood), and so much more. The one fly in the ointment, however, was Wells' use of race. The leaders use an army of "Negroes" to control the population, "They are fine loyal brutes, with no wash of ideas in their heads..."
   
   But, that said, I did find this to be a fascinating, forward looking book. Mr. Wells is rightly remembered for his near prescience in matters of science, and this book shows how much he knew about the future of economics as well. I highly recommend this book.



4. A nineteenth century nonconformist and activisit pulls a Rip Van
   Winkle, and wakes up a couple of centuries later. He discovers that he
   is now what he was actually agitating against, and is rather shocked.
   Wells was predicting the rise of the megacorporation, among other
   things, like the use of aeroplanes for travel. Most definitely a
   criticism of the large corporation way of life.
   
   

No comments about Home and Harem: Nation, Gender, Empire and the Cultures of Travel (Post-Contemporary Interventions).

No comments about Fodor's Flashmaps Boston, 4th Edition (Flashmaps).

No comments about History and Landscape: The Guide to National Trust Properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

No comments about Hampton & Hampton Beach (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)).

No comments about AMC Field Guide to the New England Alpine Summits, 2nd (Appalachian Mountain Club).

3 comments about Winter Trails Vermont and New Hampshire, 2nd: The Best Cross-Country Ski & Showshoe Trails.

1. Yes! This book is very unique in that is written for a few, specific winter activities (x-country skiing or snowshoeing) in a few very specific locations (New Hampshire and Vermont). If you are in the market for such a book, you don't have many choices to begin with. You'll be happy to know that this book does its subject justice.

   People in the Northeast will truly enjoy this book as it covers the best winter activity locations primarily in both the Green and White mountains but also in a few other various locations in each state (including Southern New Hampshire and Vermont). The guide includes point-to-point trail directions, specific maps, driving directions, facility information, and the usual historical fun facts that always fill hiking books.

   I grew up in New Hampshire and now live in Vermont. To find this book that covers both of my outdoor winter playgrounds was a true find. If you are a big outdoorsy person looking for a guide to places to help you with winter activities, this book by Marty Basch will be a welcome addition to your library or backpack.




2. Yes! This book is very unique in that is written for a few, specific winter activities (x-country skiing or snowshoeing) in a few very specific locations (New Hampshire and Vermont). If you are in the market for such a book, you don't have many choices to begin with. You'll be happy to know that this book does its subject justice.

   People in the Northeast will truly enjoy this book as it covers the best winter activity locations primarily in both the Green and White mountains but also in a few other various locations in each state (including Southern New Hampshire and Vermont). The guide includes point-to-point trail directions, specific maps, driving directions, facility information, and the usual historical fun facts that always fill hiking books.

   I grew up in New Hampshire and now live in Vermont. To find this book that covers both of my outdoor winter playgrounds was a true find. If you are a big outdoorsy person looking for a guide to places to help you with winter activities, this book by Marty Basch will be a welcome addition to your library or backpack.




3. A very well written book with lots of detail on how to get to a trail, description/map of the trail, whether it is suitable for snowshoeing or X-country skiing or both, as well as a few bits of trivia and suggestions for a good place to eat after a days outing to replenish. I only wish the book were 5 times bigger to cover more trails.