East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
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Paperback (01 February, 2002)
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Reviews (218)

Absolutely Amazing
Standing in front of monsterous shelves at Border's, staring at my summer reading list with 600 pages of Steinbeck in my hands, I think: "My teacher is trying to kill me." That was two years ago.

If I could pin down any one reason or instance that transformed me from the proverbial couch potato to avid reader, this epic novel would be it.

Steinbeck's East of Eden is absolutely spacktastuler (yes, so good, I just had to fabricate a word for it). The novel, set in the early 20th century, follows the story of the Trask family. A parallel to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, the conflicts between members of the family in two generations serve to explore the nature of good and evil and mankind's tendencies toward each. Steinbeck is able to envoke deep-seeded, universal questions while stunning the reader with a playful subtleness.

Perhaps most defined is the developement of character. The reader cannot help but fall in love (or undying disgust)with each of Steinbeck's masterfully crafted personas.

The book is long - 600 pages in four parts - but every bit the worth and more. The ending, not to be spoiled, even served to leave a beading tear in the eye of this hopeless "tough guy."

Truly a masterpiece of modern times.

East of Eden and heading West
Desire is at the threshhold but you can master it.When the cards have been stacked against you can still manage to sweep the pot.Steinbeck's craftsmanship is only exceeded by his ability to find the nut of the issue and crack it wide open for all of us to partake of it's nutty fruit.His best.

Inspired
This book was one of the most passionate books I have ever read. John Steinbeck tells a moving tale of two brothers and how their lives are changed by the people around them. Initially sounding like the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Steinbeck puts a new twist on the traditional story, compelling you to see the characters and your own life from a different perspective. It's amazing to witness your emotions and sympathies shift as the story progresses and it's thought provoking to see Steinbeck's distinction between good and evil. After you finish this book, you will find yourself going over and over the symbolism in the story, how the plots twists, and the insight into the sources of good and evil. This book ranks at the top of "My Most Favorite Books of All Time" list and will spend little time on my bookshelf as I re-read and re-read this book, gaining something new each time. ... Read more

Isbn: 0142000655
Sales Rank: 3707
Subjects:  1. Children of prostitutes    2. Classics    3. Fathers and sons    4. Fiction    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Salinas River Valley (Calif.)    8. Sibling rivalry   

Grapes of Wrath, The (20th Century Classics)
by JohnSteinbeck, RobertDeMott
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1992)
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Editorial Review

When The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939, America, still recovering from the Great Depression, came face to face with itself in a startling, lyrical way. John Steinbeck gathered the country's recent shames and devastations--the Hoovervilles, the desperate, dirty children, the dissolution of kin, the oppressive labor conditions--in the Joad family. Then he set them down on a westward-running road, local dialect and all, for the world to acknowledge. For this marvel of observation and perception, he won the Pulitzer in 1940.

The prize must have come, at least in part, because alongside the povertyand dispossession, Steinbeck chronicled the Joads' refusal, even inability, to let go of their faltering but unmistakable hold on human dignity. Witnessing their degeneration from Oklahoma farmers to a diminished band of migrant workers is nothing short of crushing. The Joads lose family members to death and cowardice as they go, and are challenged by everything fromweather to the authorities to the California locals themselves. As TomJoad puts it: "They're a-workin' away at our spirits. They're a tryin' tomake us cringe an' crawl like a whipped bitch. They tryin' to break us. Why,Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on'y way a fella can keep hisdecency is by takin' a sock at a cop. They're workin' on ourdecency."

The point, though, is that decency remains intact, if somewhatbattle-scarred, and this, as much as the depression and the plight of the"Okies," is a part of American history. When the California of their dreamsproves to be less than edenic, Ma tells Tom: "You got to have patience.Why, Tom--us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why,Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we'rethe people--we go on." It's almost as ifshe's talking about the very novel she inhabits, for Steinbeck's characters,more than most literary creations, do go on. They continue, now as much asever, to illuminate and humanize an era for generations of readers who,thankfully, have no experiential point of reference for understanding thedepression. The book's final, haunting image of Rose of Sharon--Rosasharn,as they call her--the eldest Joad daughter, forcing the milk intended forher stillborn baby onto a starving stranger, is a lesson on the grandestscale. "'You got to,'" she says, simply. And so do we all. --Melanie Rehak ... Read more

Reviews (514)

Unable to See the Forest for the Trees
While Steinbeck does, in the end, manage to convey an image of a portion of America during the Great Depression, it was an image confused by wordiness. The chapters describing the family where extremely slow moving, with dialogue and descriptions that would go on for pages, but which did not have any real point in the context of the story, and, perhaps more importantly given one of the main purposes of this novel, was not necessary to give the reader a "feel" of the times.This overabundance of irrelevent information detracts from the story, in that it makes it difficult for the reader to fully submerse his-/herself in the story and, in the end, obscures the portrait of America at this time, as the reader is given so many details, that they begin to run over each other. Essentially it is a portrait that is completely lacking a frame, and this lack of a frame- or a context for all of the details, leads to a very confused image and story.

I did not loathe the entire book, and even enjoyed some of the intermediate chapters describing the country as a whole (I particularly liked the one about the used car dealership), as I felt that these were well written, and the most concise.Furthermore, the symbolism was rather good, but again, overdone, as was Steinbeck's use of naturalism.

However, the main plot line, the Joads' migration, was overly convuluted and, after the umptenth tragic mishap, left me utterly apathetic to the fate of the family or their plight, especially since there seemed to be a tendency to "kill off" or otherwise subject the characters to tragic fates before they had been developed to the point that I actually cared what happened to them-- that they became more than just characters in a book (with the sole exception of Casey).When I reached the end of the book, I found myself asking-- "what was the point?" Steinbeck dragged this family through the depths of hell, and yet it was done in such a clinical fashion that it lacked the human and emotional essence needed to make it be for a point, or even just that no one should have to suffer so pointlessly.One acknowledges that (hopefully) already on a logical level, but this book failed to invest it with any kind of emotional level, despite the seven page conversations.Having read "Of Mice and Men," I know that Steinbeck can do better.I was decidedly NOT apathetic to the fate of Lennie and George.Even with allowances made for the different purposes of the stories, I cannot give a great deal of credit to a story seems pointless (except maybe post-modernism :-)

A tribute to the human spirit
The story unfolded with a vivid depiction of the state of Oklahoma land. Weather was scorchingly hot and dry, land was parched and harvests were unsatisfactory. To the Joad family, their livelihood, well-being, families, and happiness - in short, their everything - all hinge on the cultivation of that piece of land. However, they were forced to move west in search of money and food when their land was taken over by the bank, symbolized by the tractor. The early chapters of the book hence gave a poignant portrayal of the encroachment of capitalism on a largely agrarian society and the resulting clash between workers and owners of the land. As the families moved westwards they encountered various problems, such as lack of food, low wages, floods, torrential rains and unreasonable policeman. Yet they did not give up.

John Steinbeck ended the story with finesse (I shan't elaborate on this here, lest it spoils your reading experience), further reaffirming the central message of the book - the triumph of human dignity, determination and perseverance. The story did not end with the Joad family making big money, transforming themselves from rags to riches. The writer chose to end it in a more subtle way, leaving room for readers to imagine. `Grapes of Wrath' also paid tribute to motherhood, as Tom Joad's mother rose to become the figure of authority in the family, giving support and charting the direction forward for the family in the later part of the book.

I like the way John Steinbeck incorporated detached, short and sweet third person narratives into the story, giving it a fuller and more complete touch. I also fancy the dialogues, and the interplay between the imagery of the environment/weather and the development of the storyline. In all, I enjoyed reading `grapes of wrath'. A very apt metaphoric title indeed, for anger was brewing in the hearts and minds of the migrant family who helped pick the grapes that were in abundance in the orchards, but yet did not get to eat them.

P/s: Frankly, if not for the American names, dialogues, and locations, I would have thought that the story could have also happened in Communist China in the early 1900s. Is the writer trying to mock at capitalism gone wrong? Do segments of the story not sound like a reversal of the American ideals of freedom, liberty and equality? A reflection of the state of American society after the great depression??

A classic,
"The Grapes of Wrath" a true American Classic is one of the most outstanding books that I have ever read. It does not fail to leaves its mark on a reader. This serious master-piece has its setting during the "Great Depression" and gives a general view of the 1930's. John Steinbeck who may be the greatest chronicler of this cataclysm wrote this THE GRAPES OF WRATH which is about the struggles of the poor during this time. In the story, the Joad family endures many struggles on their way to find work in California and their lives are a microcosm of struggles of the poor during this time. Like thousands of other families, they encounter hunger, violence, betrayals, setbacks and despair. Yet the Joads maintained dignity, courage, and hope to recover. America was fortunate in that the poor did maintain these virtues which kept their hopes alive and made them not to rebel and throw the nation into anarchy. The nation was also lucky with the ascension to power of Roosevelt. THE GRAPES OF WRATH like DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, shows how a people with hope and a leadership that is committed to its people can overcome disaster to become strong again. ... Read more

Isbn: 0140186409
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Depressions    3. Fiction    4. Labor camps    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Literature: Classics    7. Migrant agricultural laborers    8. Rural families    9. Fiction / General    10. Modern fiction   

Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
by John Steinbeck
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1993)
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Reviews (997)

A Short But Great American Masterpiece
The story starts with George and Lennie running away from their previous town of occupation, where Lennie, in his childlike manner, wants to touch a girl's red dress but doesn't let go, resulting in shouts of rape, mass chaos, and the pair of them getting chased out of town (you don't learn all this immediately, though.) They find work at a nearby ranch, which is where most of the story takes place.

One of the things that immediately stuck out to me about this book is Steinbeck's writing style. Heavily focused on dialogue, the overall terseness and efficient use of words is only interrupted occasionally when Steinbeck describes a new scene, where he goes into great detail. Otherwise, all you see on paper is exactly what you need to understand the story; this prevents it from dragging too much, and it allows the story to progress more quickly without spending forever on the same topic. This results in a natural flow of events that won't leave you reading the same thing re-stated 10 times; as a result, you'll want to read more because you know good things are always around the turn of the page. To almost put it in a blatantly simple manner, this reads like a very complex bedtime story.

Probably the thing that sticks out most to me is the incredibly well portrayed characters. Steinbeck takes a very Hemingway-like approach in both quantity and quality of characters; he keeps the book very condensed in terms of plots, sub-plots, complex characters, etc ...(it's barely 100 pages), which means you won't be scratching your head after every chapter going, "What on earth just happened?" It's a testament to his writing style that each character is so individually portrayed in a span of barely 100 pages, yet I didn't feel like anything was missing; I could visualize every one of the characters in real life. He does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters simply through what they say, not having to rely on superfluous dialogue or extraneous details to get their personalities across.

Finally, the ending of Of Mice and Men is very powerful. It illustrates a theme that must have been particularly prevalent in them minds of most people during the Great Depression: "When do we draw the line on tolerance and do what has to be done?" Although the entire book is impressive in its lucidity, the ending is particularly impressive because it brings extreme tragedy to the novel without a change in style; it's perfectly believable, yet not something you really want to believe. Part of it is due to the memorable characters (I assure you you won't forget Lennie after the ending of the book), part of it is just Steinbeck's genius. Pick up a copy of this classic book! Another novel I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Steinbeck, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Of Mice And Men
I thought that is book was very good. It was mostly about friendship between two friends name lennie and George. Lennie is the retarded one and George takes care of him. Cause lennie mom and dad die when he was a little boy. They both have a dream to own there own land. There dreams very come true because George shots lennie. If George didn't shot lennie then the police would kill him because he hurt a girl in the weeds. Weeds is the name of the town that they use to live. But they had to move because what lennie had done to the girl. Now they work on the ranch. Lennie can't talk that well but he is strong like a bull. George is the smart one he takes care of lennie. George gets mad lennie cause George buys lennie a puppy but lennie is so strong that when he pets the puppy they puppy dies. At the end of the book George shot lennie for lennie good. There dreams never came true.

Student on "Of Mice and Men"
The book "Of Mice and Men" was about two men that had been chased out of their old town. They are sent out to find a new job so they can fulfill their dream of having their own land. When something goes wrong at the ranch, Lennie must hide out until George comes back to get him.Lennie ends up killing the bosses' sons' wife which leads to an unforgettable twist that will shock you. I really enjoyed the book. The only thing I didn't like was there were a few boring parts that described the scenery but there's a reason for that. this book if for young adults because of the Aurthors writting style. I like this book because it makes you think and you have to remember everything you read. ... Read more

Isbn: 0140177396
Sales Rank: 357
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Literature: Classics   

Tortilla Flat
by John Steinbeck
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Mass Market Paperback (01 April, 1995)
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Reviews (89)

they made me put at least 1 star--it should be 0
i just finished the book. after i write this two sentence review, i plan on committing suicide.

More like Tortilla Lumpy
Stienbeck, the revered author of alltime, has done it once again.Perfecting the techniques of creating the SUCKIEST BOOK OF ALLTIME is not as easy as it looks.One of his earlier books, he obviously hasn't quite gotten the knack yet, horrendous it may be.it It may have seemed like a good idea, but writing a book on a couple hobos doesn't quite make the great thriller it looks at first glance. He needs a little work on his plot lines aswell.How many times CAN a drunk drink wine and get arrested for he commits suicide from the sheer boredom of it all.I hate my Life. And this book.

Red, red wine
TORTILLA FLAT was one of Steinbeck's early successes, his first funny novel and the first of his books located in the Monterey peninsula here in California.It's also the earliest example of Steinbeck's success at the short novel, a form he excelled in, often enough planning each one is two forms at the same time, a short novel and a play based on the same materials.There's a way in which Tortilla Flat sacrifices its dramatic oomph to the laissez-faire attitude its easy going characters embody, but it's still charming from beginning to end.The story of Danny, the loyal and trustworthy man with a cadre of shiftless pals who move into his casa without so much as a by-your-leave, is funny throughout, and his crush on Dolores "Sweets" Ramirez is sweet and funky.

Yes, there is a lot of wine drunk in this book, but in the context of the times (Depression era 1934-5) and the extreme poverty of the region, we can easily see why people drank even more than usual.

There was also an old movie of TORTILLA FLAT which cast Spencer Tracy, John Garfield and Hedy Lamarr as Mexican Americans.It actually turned out to be a good movie, but it's hard to get past the idea that there weren't enough Latino stars to cast the movie more authentically. ... Read more

Isbn: 0140042407
Sales Rank: 12376
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction - General    3. Literature: Classics   

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
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Mass Market Paperback (11 October, 1988)
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Editorial Review

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.

Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Reviews (1395)

Not a bad read...
This epic novel is one of the best that I've read.This story has to do with the contraversial issues of racism.Taking place in the days where african-americans really didn't get respect,it is precise in every detail,and gives the reader a front row seat at the events that happen.Harper Lee is a critically acclaimed novelist,and this book gave her a place in the world of literature forever.


-Great Book! Recommended!!!!!!!!

A Must-Have Classic! Read it at least once!
To Kill A Mockingbird is a powerful masterpiece at it's best. This classic tale was brought to life by Harper Lee in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, and later became an Academy Award-Winning film. There are over 15 million copies in print with translations in forty languages. The story takes place in Alabama during the Depression, in the early 1900's. It is about a young girl, her brother Jem, and their lawyer father Atticus, who must teach his children the value of every human being, regardless of race. It is a life lesson that is taught not only to the characters in this book, but the reader as well. Harper Lee does a marvelous job allowing the reader to actually live the hatred, love, suspense and determination of this family to stand up for what they believe in. It is a test for them because in the days that To Kill A Mockingbird takes place, race issues were just coming to life, and the true lesson was yet to be learned.

The storyline is about a young girl, Scout, who is at the age of curiosity. She wants to learn about everything, and looks to her older brother Jem to help her learn the ways of life. It is about a father that is forced to raise his children alone, after losing his wife. Through many hardships, this family learns about respect, love, personal growth, and most importantly they learn life lessons. "You never really know a man till you walk a mile in his shoes", says Atticus, who is defending an innocent black man, who is being charged for the rape of a white girl. In the end the real truth comes out, to no avail. The story is also about friendship, found in Dill, a boy that brings excitement to these two young characters. The three quickly become friends and they explore, play, learn, and love one another.

The story is based on Scout Finch, Jem, Dill, Atticus Finch, and many others who bring this book to life. The Radleys, who live next door to the Finches, are a strange and curious family to say the least. Through determination, they all quickly learn the Radleys aren't as strange as they would appear. There is Aunt Alexandra, who is very much against everything that Atticus believes in, she moves in with her brother and tempers flare. The neighbor, Miss Stephanie Crawford nurtures the children and aides them in ways only a woman can, since they lack a mother figure. Culprina, the black housemaid who has been helping Atticus raise his children, also guides this family into a world of understanding. Through all the characters, you find a perfect puzzle, that without just one piece, it would crumble.

The meaning of this book really touches on all the problems that are still very real in this world today. It is a true life lesson for the reader, young and old alike. I don't believe anyone can read this classic and not walk away with something truly special....Love For All.

Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez

To kill a Mockingbird or to kill man's freedom -great book!
The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is much more educational than any government school.The title comes from a comment in the book about how it is not a sin to kill bluejays, as they are vicious vandals and pests, but it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, as a mockingbird only sings for us.All of you who have been physically attacked by bluejays (as I have) raise your hands. All the hands show that the title's subject is clearly true.

The "Mockingbird" analogy in the book is to the defendant falsely accused of rape.

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman.

Readers can make comparisons with real life trials such as "An American rape: A true account of the Giles-Johnson case" by A. Robert Smith and read the book or view the documentary about "The Scottsboro Boys" -six sets of trials for nine defendents... all young black men wrongly accused of raping two white women while "riding the rails" through the deep south during the Depression.

The book explores the themes of racism, violence and doing what is right.There is even a setting in a government school in which the class discusses Hitler and the analogy is made to his persecution of people based on race or religion.

At the time set in the book, the government in the USA had taken over most schools and the government mandated segregation by law, institutionalized racism, and taught racism as official policy and did so even after the defeat of Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party and well beyond, even into the 1970's.

Every day students would attend segregated government schools and chant the pledge of allegiance using the original straight-armed salute.The USA's pledge of allegiance was the origin of Hitler's salute, as discovered by the historian Rex Curry (the book "The pledge of Allegiance and the Bellamys).The salute was not from ancient Rome.

In 1892, Francis Bellamy began the pledge of allegiance with a military salute for the phrase "I pledge allegiance" and then the rest of the pledge was chanted with the arm outstretched toward the flag. The military salute became the Nazi salute. The hand was supposed to be turned upward for the main gesture, however it changed in time to the Nazi-style because of casual extension of the initial military salute straight toward the flag. Even when the palm was turned upward, people would see the relationship to the later Nazi-Sozi salute, and the USA's salute changed to the hand-over-the-heart.

When Jesse Owens competed in the 1936 Olympics in Germany, his neighbors attended segregated government schools where they saluted the flag with the Nazi salute.

As under Nazism, children in the USA (including Jehovah's Witnesses and blacks and the Jewish and others) attended government schools where segregation was imposed by law, where racism was taught as official policy, and where they were required by law to perform the Nazi salute and robotically chant a pledge to a flag. If they refused, then they were persecuted and expelled from government schools and had to use the many better alternatives. There were also acts of physical violence.

Jehovah's Witnesses were among the first people to publicly fight the government and its pledge ritual in the USA, during the same time that they fought it in Nazi Germany. They eventually achieved total victory over Nazi socialism. They achieved only partial victory over similar socialism in the USA. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they could not be forced to perform the pledge. Laws still make teachers lead children in robotic chants of the socialist's pledge daily, on cue from the government. Jehovah's Witnesses and other children in government schools must watch the ritual performed by others.

Francis Bellamy put flags in every school to promote a government takeover of education for widespread nationalization and socialism, and Bellamy was a self-proclaimed national socialist who advocated "military socialism" for three decades before Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Edward and Francis Bellamy were cousins and were national socialists who idolized the military and wanted to nationalize the entire US economy, including all schools. It was a philosophy that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part) where millions were murdered (62 million by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 35 million by the Peoples' Republic of China, 21 million by the National Socialist German Workers' Party) in the worst slaughter in history. That is why the Bellamys are known as America's Nazis. All Holocaust Museums could expand four-fold with Wholecaust Museums.

Many people forget that "Nazi" means "National Socialist German Workers' Party," and one reason people forget is because the word "Nazi" is overused by the writers who never say the actual name of the horrid party. A good mnemonic device is that the sick socialist swastika represented two overlapping "S" letters for "socialism" under the National Socialist German Workers' Party, as exposed in the book "Swastika Secrets."

The Bellamys wanted the government to takeover everything and impose the military's "efficiency," as he said. It is the origin of the modern military-socialist complex.They wanted government schools to ape the military. Government schools were intended to create an "industrial army" (another Bellamy phrase, and the word "army" was not metaphorical) and to help nationalize everything else.

Because of the Bellamy way of thinking, government-schools spread and they mandated the Nazi-style salute by law, flags in every classroom, and daily robotic chanting of the pledge of allegiance in military formation like Pavlov's lapdogs of the state.

After the government's segregation ended, socialism's legacy caused more police-state racism of forced busing that destroyed communities and neighborhoods and deepened hostilities.

Francis Bellamy wanted a flag over every school because he wanted to nationalize and militarize everything, including all schools, and eliminate all of the better alternatives.

At the height of Nazi power, the USA's government deliberately stepped onto the same path with national numbering imposed in 1935 with the social security system. The federal government was growing massively and attempting to nationalize the economy in many ways. The US Supreme Court struck down much of the new legislation as unconstitutional until the craven FDR pressured the Court into the "switch in time that socialized nine."

After the USA entered WWII, the pledge gesture was altered and explicit school segregation by government ended. The Government's schools still exist, the federal flag brands government schools, and government's teachers must chant the pledge daily. Students are kept ignorant of the pledge's original salute and history. That is why the pledge still exists.

The USA also continued its Nazi numbering (social security from 1935) and its robotic pledge, with no stopping.

Overall, the book was very revealing and educational and worth the time to review. ... Read more

Isbn: 0446310786
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fathers and daughters    3. Fiction    4. Girls    5. Legal    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Race relations    9. Trials (Rape)    10. Fiction / Classics   

The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1998)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Editorial Review

In her first novel, award-winning Indian screenwriter Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely; it is the product of a genius child-mind that takes everything in and transforms it in an alchemy of poetry. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in anEnglish that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language. ... Read more

Reviews (793)

An impressive story
This is the first book I have read by this author and I am glad that it is his debut book. The story is lovely and convinced me that Arundhati Roy is a great storyteller. Many of the characters are rich and original and the story is full of credible twists and turns, making it the interesting read that readers are always looking for.

Just asfascinating asNAMESAKE,DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,THE KITE RUNNER, THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, this remarkablenovel that is set in India in the late 60s begins with the funeral of a cousin of the novel's narrator. Rahelas she is called shares with her twin brother Estha share family secrets that are masterfully presented to the reader in this gripping, suspenseful and revealing prose that is told from the point of a child. Rich in characters and an amazing plot, The God of Small Things takes you into the fascinating setting of India , its politics, rich culture , unique social and caste system, numerous taboos, and its turbulent rich which all have an influence on the characters of the story.

Heavy on ambition, light on achievement
John Updike, writing about this novel, says that "a novel of real ambition must invent its own language."This novel certainly does invent its own language, but that doesn't make it a great novel.Frankly, I disagree with Updike's assertion; there are plenty of great, ambitious novels whose strengths lie in character delevopment, epic sweep, great dialogue, deep insights into human nature, etc. and don't invent their own language.But whether Updike is correct is neither here nor there.The newly invented language in this novel is cute for about twenty pages, then grows tiresome and feels forced.It tends to confuse and bewilder more than impress.Countless catchy turns of phrase simply had me scratching my head.

Furthermore, the plot meanders aimlessly in a way that is at best distracting.Roy is ambitious in her plot structure, too ambitious in my opinion.A simpler narration would have been far more powerful.This novel is a perfect example of a gifted yet inexperienced author reaching too far and coming up short.

Lyrical, Brilliant, Extraordinary
Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things is the story of Estha and Rahel, the small two-egg twins who bear witness to other small, insignificant things of life that change their small world. It is a story of innocence lost, of love unfulfilled, a story whose sheer smallness accounts for its extraordinary power. In a sense, it is a story of development: the intermittent narrative eavesdroppings on the childhood of the twins tell us something of the big changes that the small things of life inevitably bring about. The incident at Abhilash Talkies, the smell of wood and fish curry in Velutha's hut, the long-wished-for journey to the History House, or Inspector Thomas Mathew's tapping Ammu's breasts are the small things in the backdrop of Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad's second coming or India's war with Pakistan. Because these are the grand things. But the small things are what memories are made of, and memories bring desires. Thus, recollected in tranquillity as the narrative is, it is full of digressions on apparently unimportant (but capitalized) incidents and things that seem to have had a formative influence on the future life of Estha and Rahel. Surrounded by things that appear small and insignificant, Estha comes to occupy "a very little space in the world" while Rahel's eyes are marked by a look which is neither indifference nor despair but a form of emptiness that laughs and makes fun of its own inanity.
The god who presides over this world of small things is Small God. He is also the God of Loss, of memory and desire, the one-armed man of Ammu's dreams. The god's having only one arm is significant: the handicap points to the god's powerlessness and relative unimportance in the scheme of things; like Velutha, he is an untouchable, allowed no place in the pantheon of the God of Big Things. If Big God is social, national or universal, Small God is private, and the loss he presides over is a private loss, acknowledged only by those who suffer it intimately. But he is a playful god, playful because unperturbed by his own inconsequence. Indeed, for all its apparent seriousness, The God of Small Things tells a funny story of a pair of dizygotic twins who seem to show less interest in what affects the outside world than in the small, closed world within themselves, a world where a cousin dies of suffocation in her coffin, where words become meaningful when read backwards, and above all where thirty-one is "a viable die-able age". The God of Small Things is a celebration of life with all its "sicksweet" flavor (with sickness predominating), and a poetic story of the laughing god who presides over this life.
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Isbn: 0060977493
Subjects:  1. Domestic fiction    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. India    5. Literary    6. Psychological fiction    7. Sagas    8. Social classes    9. Twins    10. Fiction / Literary    11. Reading Group Guide   

India Unbound : The Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global InformationAge
by GURCHARAN DAS
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (09 April, 2002)
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Reviews (15)

Good Reading - should have both sides of the story
Overall, the book is good, no doubt on that.Mr Das has tried to narrate part of the post independence history in a distinctive narration; partly autobiography, partly comprised of views of an industrial insider.That takes it to a 4* rating.

What the book lacks is the cover of the both sides of the post independence saga.Clearly, from economic point of view, there are two episodes in it:the one before economic reforms, and the one after that.This book turned out to be a all bashing gospel of the pre-independence times as well as some of the national leaders of that times.Also, Mr Das seemed to be going gaga over capitalism, which can also be questioned.

Socialist path taken by Nehru can be criticized for various reasons, but that does not necessarily make Nehru a guy of failures.Mr Das spent a lot pages in showering praises for the new age knowledge economy and the respective business leaders, but he must admit this economy has been fueled by the leading national institutions - IITs, IIMs, and others.All these have been setup in socialist times and many of these have been envisioned by Nehru.Instead of giving due credit for this, Mr Das subtly praised the caste system, or more specifically brahminism for the success.

As the nation moves ahead, it will be a matter of time to judge the views expressed by Mr Das, particularly when the 2020 arrives.For those who want to have sneak preview of the Indian entrepreneurial spirit, keep reading it.

Only Half the Picture.
This book gives an in-depth look at the follies of past governmental policies in India while tracing substantial changes in the nation's economic plans within the last ten years--allowing for the opening of markets and a competitive stance in the global arena by India. He outlines the failures of Nehru's idealistic approach, along with Mrs. Gandhi's autocratic regime. It also shows the potential for further opportunity with the change of the economic environment via globalization. It does have a few weaknesses--capitalism is exhorted as a panacea for India's dilemmas. And the image presented is overly rosy--the book only gives half of the picture and is unfounded in its optimism with regards to India's future via its current path. Abraham George's "India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty" and P. Sainath's "Everybody Loves A Good Drought" are excellent counter-points to the issues presented in this volume.

Part Analysis, Part Tirade
Every book has its votaries. So does this one. It comes at a time when millions of upwardly mobile, English-speaking, urban Indians are reaping the benefits of the economic reforms that the book speaks of. So it strikes a strong chord with Indians who have seen decades of lop-sided development since independence and a sudden boom in the 1990s.

As an incisive analysis of defects of bureaucracy and over-regulation it has some merit. But the author carefully selects only those facts of pre-liberalization era which he can easily criticize and only those facts of the liberalization era, he can praise without having a nagging conscience.

Therein lies the trap. By refusing to give due wieghtage to achievements of previous decades and refusing to analyze how those achievements laid down the base infrastructure for subsequent growth, the author does a very lop-sided economic analysis of how the liberalization boom came about.

A lot of far-sighted planning in terms of education, development of the transport network, etc. laid the foundation for the economic boom and not just the the flip of a policy decision.

Of course, growth that could have been accelerated was slowed down by wrong policies and a dominating and corrupt bureaucracy, but a growth which could have been aborted was given a lease of life by a commitment of many Indian leaders and bureaucrats with vision.

For a sense of how we have progressed and why, a balanced inquiry based statistics not skewed by needs of proving the 'hypothesis' would be better.

It would also be good to read this book, along with P. Sainath's 'Everybody Loves a Good Drought' or Pavan Varma's 'The Great Indian Middle Class' to know the other side of the coin and understand how different kinds of Indians respond to the same set of developments. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385720742
Sales Rank: 67344
Subjects:  1. Asia - India & South Asia    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Current Affairs    4. Economic Conditions    5. International    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Current Events / International