1 comments about Getaways for Gourmets in the Northeast.

1. This is the 2nd edition of her book and I just found out there is a new edition dated Feb., 2000, which I plan to buy immediately. An excellent starting point - this book will save you a lot of research time when planning a trip and will help you immediately pinpoint the best dining and accomodation choices. It's one of the first books I turn to when planning a trip or where to eat and has given me ideas for other trips (e.g. Brandywine Valley and Wilmington). The writeups are accurate and give a sense of the foods and surroundings. My only criticism is that the photography could be better. But then, the reader can always follow up by visiting an establishment's web site (if they have one).

No comments about Day Paddling Narragansett Bay: A Complete Guide for Canoeists and Kayakers.

No comments about How Strange It Seems: The Cultural Life of Jews in Small-Town New England.

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1 comments about The Essential Hal Clement Volume 3: Variations on a Theme by Sir Isaac Newton.

1. I had to chuckle to read that little snippet in the Booklist review at the top of the page. Here are the classic Mesklin novels, stories, and some essay material under one cover at long last... what, you've never read them? Scroll back up and click the yellow button.
   
   Although I, for one, would argue that Needle is a more important work, Mission of Gravity has to be a close second in Clement's long career as a "hard" SF writer. This novel takes extreme but entirely plausible science (at least, plausible as of the era: not much has changed in physics and chemistry, but we know rather more about computers) and uses it to build one of the most extreme worlds imaginable and then explores it thorougly, from equator to pole.
   
   The aliens are not very alien acting, not withstanding that they look like nothing so much as a catepillar in a lobster suit and have blood of liquid methane, but the byplay between the human scientists and the aliens and the amazing landscape is still pretty nifty forty or more years on.
   
   StarLight and the other Mesklin material is interesting too and this book is the cornerstone on which later writers or works, such as Larry Niven or the Harlan Ellison "Medea" project draw their inspiration. It's still good.

1 comments about The Ivan Moffat File: Life Among the Beautiful and Damned in London, Paris, New York,and Hollywood.

1. Moffat called his autobiography ABSOLUTE HEAVEN, from a phrase his parents often used when he, as a child, asked them what they had done the night before, in the glittering London social scene they inhabited. "Went to a party, darling. It was absolute heaven." Moffat wrote his memoirs out by hand in a series of notebooks, and one of them has disappeared, so the book takes an awfully big jump right at an exciting part, and we land down again ten years later. Gavin Lambert, the novelist and biographer, fills in the gaps in his own way. Lambert knew Moffat himself, and also interviewed many of the survivors: people who had known him from all walks of life.
   
   If you have recently read THE OTHER CHEKHOV, the biography of acting coach Michael Chekhov, and you've been curious about Darlington Hall, the experimental British art and drama school at which Chekhov worked, you will find a lot more of it in ABSOLUTE HEAVEN, for Ivan Moffat was a student there, and very close to Beatrice Straight and her family (the patrons of the hall). I found Moffat's late in life passion for Caroline Blackwood very touching, and the realization at the end of his life that he was actually the father of Caroline's daughter Ivana is wonderfully told and imagined. Another fine section details his work with the Hollywood director George Stevens on the US Army filmmaking unit that travelled and filmed everything they could from D-Day to Auschwitz to Stalingrad. Talk about high adventure!
   
   The mystery that remains is the unevenness of Moffat's artistic production. After the war, his work with Stevens on the scripts of GIANT, SHANE, and A PLACE IN THE SUN is exemplary, and Lambert mounts a welcome defense of THEY CAME TO CORDURA and the ill-fated BHOWANI JUNCTION that makes you want to see these pictures once again. And yet, at the end of the day, Moffat remains fairly opaque, as though his life had been led at such a clip there was no time for him really to make any sense out of it, especially in the painted bungalows of Hollywood and the traffic lights of the Sunset Strip. This isn't Gavin Lambert's masterpiece (that would probably be THE GOODBY PEOPLE) but in some ways it feels closer to autobiography than Lambert's own memoir pieces do. He is always a writer worth reading and one of the only living writers whose hand I would like to shake.

5 comments about Do You Believe?.

1. Rose Early owns "Early Photography" in Pennsylvania, USA. Her sister, Joan, specializes in coffee table books. Last heard, Joan was in the English Cotswolds, a quiet Marleton village. Joan's current project is a book on religious art, commissioned by the Cotswolds Diocese of the Church of England. All was fine until Joan's emails became strange and then ceased all together. Rose travels to England, worried about her sister, but Joan has disappeared. Knowing that Joan met with the famous horror writer, V.F. "Vic" Drummond, Rose begins her search with him.
   
   Vic and Rose become a couple, but he is lying (by omission) when it came to what Joan was doing whenever he met with her. But the truth will come out, sooner than expected. The local residents protect their own and keep Rose at bay until Vic shows everyone how much he has come to care for Rose. Then they embrace Rose into their shops, pubs, and town. However, the church is a different story.
   
   Rose and Vic soon discover that Joan had been fascinated by All Saints Church, which dominates the village, and the famous tapestry that resides within it. But something totally evil also dwells in All Saints Church. Something that has slowly seeped into every stone and crevice over the last thirty years. It affects everyone that enters its doors ... and it is now spreading outside the church, even into London! Rose and Vic cannot dismiss all the eerie things that are happening, no matter how much they wish they could. Dark dreams leave scratch marks upon them that never seem to heal. (Something right out of an "Elms Street" movie.) Vic's deceased aunt keeps typing messages in his current book's file. No matter how many times Vic deletes the texts, they keep coming back. But the worst things are the demons with the red, glowing eyes!
   
   **** This combines many genres. I noticed Super Natural Romance, Thriller, and Horror mostly. About half way in, the love scenes begin and they are H-O-T, very explicit! Consider yourself warned. Quite a bit of English slang is used. Most of it is used in such a way that readers who do not live in England will still easily understand what is being said. For example, the slang "not on" means "wrong". However, once or twice I found myself unsure. Do I recommend this novel? Oh yes! To fans of many genres, especially Dark Romance. This work of art may keep you awake at night. ****
   
   Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.



2. If you are looking for the Ann Lawrence of LORD OF THE MIST, LORD OF THE HUNT, VIRTUAL DESIRE OR VIRTUAL WARRIOR this in not her. I adored the above titles but this is a different type of novel. I am not saying it is not good just not as good as those others. This is more of a gothic type romance.
   
   Rose Early has come to England to find her sister Joan who has gone missing. Both are photographers, Joan is compiling a book about the churches in England. Rose arrives in Marleton Village to find that her sister has not been seen in several days.
   
   Vic Drummond is a writer, he lives in Marleton and has had a few interludes with Joan. But after he meets Rose he realizes she is not like her sister. Eventually he falls in love with Rose as they hunt for her sybling.
   
   There seems to be a great deal more going on in the church than prayers. The ghosts of monks appear to Rose and she begins to see evil in and around the vicar, curate, and several members of the parish. Something evil is in the church and has set its thoughts on Vic. Togather they must fight against the evil not only in the church but in themselves.
   
   This was an OK read, Vic and Rose seemed to fall into bed alot and the pace was alittle slow. However, the last few chapters went faster and finally explained what was going on. NOt one of her best but not the worst either, if you like Gothic, you will probably enjoy it.
   



3. I love supernatural books (horror, supernatural thrillers, some romantic supernatural books like Barbara Michaels). This book was about 90% romance and 10% paranormal. It took 200 pages to get going. And after that point it was 90% sex, 5% romance, 5% paranormal. She could have cut 200 pages easily and made it an interesting read. The pace was too slow, nothing happened for half the book, and I was so bored by the end, I truly didn't care what happened to any of the characters.



4. Since the plotline has been synopsized to death by other reviewers, I'll spare you that and go right into what I found to be the downfalls of this merely average story.
   
   First off, the first two-thirds of the story just meander--read plod with agonizing slowness--along without saying much of anything. The two main protagonists meet, and not a very stellar first meeting at that, and within a very short time, even by romance standards seem to fall into bed together...a lot...and more often than not don't even make it to the bed. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but there wasn't really a whole lot of romance about it, just a thin plot thread, very weakly explained by blaming much of their lust on the inherent evil they're up against, to push the two of them together.
   
   Secondly, what was up with Vic constantly calling Rose 'mate'? Yes, it's a way of saying 'friend,' but really, couldn't Ms. Lawrence invest in a thesaurus and shake things up a little? I know I'm sounding exceedingly petty here, but it really got monotonous over the long haul, especially since they were shagging their little hearts out every couple of pages it seemed and yet there he was calling her 'mate'. Considering the nature of their relationship, her name or even some sort of endearment would have seemed much more appropriate.
   
   And lastly, most of the other characters in the book just seemed to blend together, I wasn't always sure who did what or who was talking to who, and what's more, I couldn't bring myself to care. The book jumped around from different characters/ situations and dropped little blurbs to keep reminding you that the tapestry in the church was bad, and so, most likely, was everyone who attended the church on a regular basis.
   
   Now, other than all that, it's a really quick read, if you don't mind plodding through the early part or choosing to do as I did and start scanning through the really dull, redundant parts. I did find the climax to be entertaining, but when I closed the book I knew I'll most likely forget everything about it within a few days.



5. Although the Early sisters had followed in their father's footsteps by making photography their career, their different values had taken them very in different directions. Rose had become a family photographer with a love for technology and manipulating images. Joan, who fancied herself a photojournalist and traveled the world in search of unique subjects for her lucrative coffee table books, eschewed the digital aspect of the industry. Film couldn't lie. Or could it?
   
   The two girls had never been close, which is probably why Rose had ignored the strangely desperate emails Joan had been sending her from England. Now it might be two late. Joan was missing and the only clues Rose has are the proofs sheets of Joan's latest subject, and an autographed horror novel in which Joan had written copious notes regarding her belief in the existence of evil.
   
   The book was an uncharacteristic read for Joan but the handsome English novelist was right up her alley. Rose goes in search of Vic Drummond who happens to be writing a sequel at the home of his late Aunt. She has one question for the man. Does he believe as well?
   
   Intrigued by Rose's contrast to her hard edged sister, Vic Drummond becomes determined to help her solve the mystery of her sister's disappearance. Soon his only goal is to keep her right by his side. As they replay Joan's last days, the trail leads from a bizarre sex club to the local church which has a strange and ghastly effect on them both. Could unimaginable evil really lurk in a quiet town filled with ordinary people? Could their new found love keep them safe?
   
   While horror is a new direction for the novel's writer, romance and otherworldliness are not. Ms. Lawrence is the author of both a virtual reality and a medieval romance series. These two subjects combined themselves well as historical artifacts propel the reader into the world of the paranormal in this intriguing who-done-it. Ms. Lawrence paints a vivid picture of the insidiousness of evil as it devours the unsuspecting villagers little by little over the course of time. The passion between Rose and Vic is just as colorful and one wonders as they do, whether it is real or if they are being manipulated by forces beyond their control. Do you believe in evil? Do you believe in love? If you believe in an intriguing and steamy mystery that will keep you awake at night, DO YOU BELIEVE is a read you won't want to miss. This reader couldn't put it down! --- Reviewed for PNR Reviews

5 comments about Little Dorrit (New Oxford Illustrated Dickens).

1. With Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens touched upon a subject near and dear to his own heart; that of having a father who was incarcerated in Debtor's Prison. But Dickens extends this probing eye to include many different types of prisons that we either fall into by the fault or actions of others, or by our own actions.

   Arthur Clennam returns home to London after many years away to find many things changed, and many the same. His mother, a recluse to the home that Arthur grew up in, remains a solitary figure, cast in shadows. Flora Casby Finching, the love of Arthur's youth, who married another and now finds herself alone; re-enters his life, and he finds himself wondering what he ever saw in such a flighty, chatty girl. Arthur also finds Jeremiah Flintwinch and his wife, Affery; in attendance to his mother. Jeremiah, a rough-edged, secretive man is a stark contrast to his meek, timid wife, who is plagued by dreams of augury throughout the story.

   Also entering Arthur's life are the Dorrit's, the 'first family' of the Marshallsea Prison...Father William, the debtor in question, Amy; the caretaker and martyr of the clan, Fanny; the arrogant, self absorbed elder daughter, and Tip; the lazy, shiftless brother who, when given the chance and opportunity to strike out on his own and find a better life, wanders back to London to re-tie the family apron strings he was to break free from. Amy, employed to Arthur's mother as a seamstress; finds herself ever the voice of reason, the sacrificer, the kind and gentle soul....swimming in a sea of ingrates.

   With typical Dickens flair; fortunes are reversed, lives are intertwined; secrets are kept, and revealed; and once again the reader realizes that nothing is ever what it seems on the streets of London. Numerous plot twists throughout the novel propel the story along at a very satisfying pace. Little Dorrit, after an unexpected windfall comes to the family; still finds herself in the same unenviable position in the family. Mr. Dorrit finds himself trapped by his prison background even after he is released, in the manner of trying to 'measure up' to society, and rise above his past. One particular point I found interesting was having Mr. Dorrit, in Book 2, settle his family into a large, virtually empty hotel to live...as if he could not leave the enormity of the prison, and all its rooms and inhabitants, completely behind.

   The 'prisons' that Dickens visits in the latter half of the story are those of kept secrets; past transgressions; emotional obligation; and so many more that exist in our minds and memories.

   While I only give the book four stars, it was a wonderful read. The characters are up to their usual flourish and flaw. But at times the plot devices were visible all the way from Marseilles to the Marshallsea, and seem to come from nowhere, really. While they help the story immensely, in terms of direction...they lack in credibility, and seemed a bit soap-operaish in their 'timely arrival'.

   Nevertheless - I enjoyed immersing myself in Dickens' London once again..and walked away satisfied with the outcome. Even in Dickens' darkest tales, he usually delivers a silver lining.

   A highly enjoyable read...




2. This was a mandatory reading for a Literary Theory class and I must say, at first, I was less than pleased. I have read Dickens a few times before tackling "Little Dorrit" (David Copperfield is my favorite) and his works aren't always "gripping." However, upon finishing the novel there was a great sense of accomplishment. This story reveals so much about the wrongs of high society and the importance of appearances. In this 800 page epic, Dickens gives us a love story that can actually be useful in, and comparable to, today's world.
   I left this book feeling most glad that I had been "made" to read it because it has reminded me that times have not changed so very much when it comes to what's important in life.
   In warning, it is not exactly quick in pace (considering it was written serially for periodicals over several months of time) but it does have an important message...and the characters are just quirky enough to make it interesting. Dickens even delves into the surreal once or twice, which makes for a nice twist.
   A tip: If you find yourself in the middle of a harsh winter in, say Michigan, and you have some free time in your days, this book would perfectly fit the mood. Warning!: Do not take this one to the beach for leisure reading!!!



3. Little Dorritt was born at Marshalsea-the debtors prison. Her father is something of an informal mayor (`father') of the place, and everyone imprisoned there pays him homage-and alms- for his long suffering good nature and the 'tone' he sets for the experience of being thrown in jail Indeed, Mr. Dorritt has raised self pity to an art form. Little Dorritt is small and wan. People continually ask her if she `has strength and can endure things.' She reminds them she was born in the poor house. Through the kind offices of `a friend,' Arthur Clennam, midway through the book, the family is released from prison, debts paid and they live the genteel life that Mr. Dorritt always assumed was his birthright. In a classic case of projection, Mr. Dorritt prattles to Amy (Little) Dorritt how she should not be morose, and she should forget life in the poor house. 'Put on airs for the sake of the servants so they would remember 'their place.' Mr Dorritt goes on to assure Amy `he has completely wiped the sad episode of living in debtors prison' from his mind. In order to secure his place in society, Mr. Dorritt seeks favor from an unseen Mr. Merdle who it seems has the economy of the entire world in the palm of his hand. Indeed, Fanny Dorritt, Amy's sister is also smitten with the Merdle clan and seeks the favor of Edmund Merdle, just so she can put on even more superior airs than Mrs. Merdle does. The circumlocutions of speech, especially those Mr. Dorritt and Mrs. Merdle use, when these characters talk to one other in itself is worth the price of admission. Amy is devoted to her father and shows little interest in social activities. She does however manage, through her needlework, to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Clemmens, Arthurs mother- that's how Arthur comes to learn of Mr. Dorritt's legal plight and thanks to Arthur they got away from Marshalsea, the debtor's prison. In time, Mr. Dorritt falls sick. He stands up at a dinner party to give his `welcome to Marshallsea speech, much to the embarrassment of all the high society types there present. Hence the contrast between the two societies, the debtors and the wealthy. Mr. Dorritt's disease in terminal and inevitably, we meet Mr. Merdle when he comes to commiserate with Fanny, his son Edmund and the other mourners. The mighty economic dynamo who has been the talk of the town-is oddly contrite. In leaving the wake, he asks in all humility, if he might have a pen knife...one of the wedding tokens from Edmund and Fanny's wedding. Mr. Merdle then privately kills himself.
   All his financial wheelings and dealings were false and the family is busted. Arthur Clemmens is busted too, and Amy goes to find him at Marshalsea in her families old lodgings. She insists on helping him and he is ashamed as he believes he was not only instrumental in their release from Marshalsea but also in connecting the family with the notorious Mr. Merdle. Amy will have nothing to do with this all this pathos. She goes to plead Arthur's case with his mother who has money locked up in a vault. She has been paralyzed for a very long time and is unable to walk. The steward is furious that the family fortune should be spent to pay Arthur's debts as the steward believes and has tried to convince Mother that Arthur is a spendthrift playboy. The steward wants the money for his loyal service.
   Mother rises from her chair and with assistance from Amy and her maid, descends the stairs and sees the steward open the safe, at which point the house collapses. Amy takes the money, frees Arthur and the two are married.
   I give you a sketch of the plot in an effort to help the reader navigate through this book. Little Dorrit gives good service in depicting Debtors prison and paints a very Dickensian scene, as another reviewer commented, there is a sense of accomplishment in completing this read.



4. Among the reasons to come to earth must surely be the chance to read this novel. Shaw called this novel a masterpiece among masterpieces. My opinion is that this novel is the greatest of the sixteen. It is less bland than Bleak House, more poignant than Copperfield. I started it desultorily, distracted greatly by events in my life. But gradually as I read it dawned on me that sentence by sentence Dickens was here at his most trenchant. I began to be charmed by the characters, some of the greatest in his oeuvre. For all the darkness in the conception--a girl born and raised in debtor's prison--Little Dorrit is a wonderful character. Arthur Clennam is a real man. I adore Flora's deranged speech and her tenderness. Fanny is a delight! And there are Doyce and Pancks--and the Meagles and Pet and Tattycoram--and there are so many secrets! And isn't Blandois the precursor of Fosco? Oh, I could go on. To the Circumlocution Office and Barnacles and Merdle - and Afferty and Flintwich and Mrs. Clennam--such a wonderful feast of characters--with the Marshallsea hovering over all.
   
   How well Dickens uses dialogue to identify character; how amusing are their tics. The characters fall into strata. The main of them, characterized by Clennam, Doyce, and Pancks, are at the level of small businessmen, tradesmen. Below them are the destitutes. A little above them are Mrs. Clennam, Casby, the Meagles. And high above them the Merdles, Gowans, and the like. The novel finds its way at the lower levels--it's a novel of the lower middle class and the lower class and the poor--and down there is so much life and love and devotion. It was strong medicine for me, cognitively dissonant, for Little Dorrit to love with such devotion. And Clennam loves her so deeply though he had no love in his life to that point. Where did he find such love in himself?
   
   Dickens does not just give the action. Unlike so many other writers (almost all), he lets the characters be themselves, revealing the plot from time to time as they get to it, but seldom hurrying. They are being themselves and leading their lives--of course caught up in the great machine of the novel; it's as though Dicken's characters' clothes get caught in the huge, creaking machinery of his plots which then tugs them along, or perhaps grinds them up...
   
   The novel is too full of words. It's verbose. Many times I could not follow the sense. It's labored. There are plot shifts just for the sake of changing the experiment.
   
   But as I finished the novel a benediction fell upon me--a moment that cannot be put into words.



5. I'm busy reading the Dickens catalogue, chronologically. Despite the length and depth of "Little Dorrit," I read it in much less time than any other Dickens work thus far. So much is so good here: vivid narrative description, 3-D characters, subtle moral lessons, twisty plot with solid resolutions. When I first got to know Amy, my first thought was that she was too good and pure to live all the way through the novel. Then, as I came to know her better, I vowed that if Dickens did kill her off, I'd read no more of him! Needless to say, I was pleased with the way things turned around, so that Amy ended up back in the prison -- but in such altered circumstances! Recommended for experienced Dickensians.

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