Average customer rating:
- What a piece of s**t
- Reads like a broken heart
- gorefest masked as high historical seriousness
- Overly long
- Heart wrenching and beautiful
|
The Devil of Nanking: A Novel
Mo Hayder
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Psychological & Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Treatment
-
Birdman
-
Pig Island
-
Oblivion
-
Tokyo
ASIN: 0802117945 |
Book Description
With the redolent atmosphere of Ian Rankin and the spine-chilling characters of Thomas Harris, Mo Hayder's The Devil of Nanking, takes the reader on an electrifying literary ride from the palatial apartments of yakuza kingpins to deep inside the secret history of one of the twentieth century's most brutal events: the Nanking Massacre. A young Englishwoman obsessed with an indecipherable past, Grey comes to Tokyo seeking a lost piece of film footage of the notorious 1937 Nanking Massacre, footage some say never existed. Only one man can help Grey. A survivor of the massacre, he is now a visiting professor at a university in Tokyo. But he will have nothing to do with her. So Grey accepts a job in an upmarket nightspot, where a certain gangster may be the key to gaining the professor's trust. An old man in a wheelchair surrounded by a terrifying entourage, the gangster is rumored to rely on a mysterious elixir for his continued health. Taut, gritty, sexy, and harrowing, The Devil of Nanking is an incomparable literary thriller set in one of the world's most fascinating cities-Tokyo-from an internationally best-selling author.
Customer Reviews:
What a piece of s**t.......2006-11-21
I've read both of Mo Hayders previous books and was deeply troubled by this latest one. First off I thought it read terribly and was just a piece of crap. It felt like it was a contrived effort of trying to write a novel built around her travels to Tokyo (she was a hostess like the main person in the novel). Worse off though I was deeply troubled by the book - I thought it was such a sick piece of work and really stuck in my mind for all the wrong reasons. If I could give it zero stars I would have..
Reads like a broken heart.......2006-07-05
If not for the Japanese war theme, I would want to discuss the atmosphere of this excellent book with Japanese for their assessment of how love is described so obliquely but there it is. The author included a number of emotional knockouts in small asides throughout the book and that's what's driving the mood and in this case, the mood is the story while the details tell the story like stepping stones on a path.
I know this is a drippy review but I am sincere and trying to be accurate. I recommend this book.
gorefest masked as high historical seriousness.......2006-06-26
What can you say about a writer whose central image for her novel seems to be . . . (I'm sorry but I think it's fair to warn you, and you'll get it anyway in the first few pages) EVISCERATION AND DISEMBOWELMENT? If you don't like graphic depictions of viciously administered death, just stop now and don't put yourself through the ugliness. The two stories of Nanking in 1937 and Tokyo in 1990 are cleverly intertwined. The young woman, Grey, obsessed with proving that her own desperate act has had a true historical antecedent, is a well-imagined character. And yes, there is a moral difference between doing something destructive in a state of ignorance, and doing other destructive and cruel things for pleasure. But any fool can tell the difference between the two main characters, with their lyric sorrow and their obsessed mission to rescue the dead, and the depraved ghouls they fall among. The suspense in the novel depends almost entirely on prurient interest in horrible acts. And horrible as the atrocities are, the idea that we have never heard of such goings on is, alas, pitifully absurd. There's something a little meretricious at the bottom of this barrel of scary times.
Overly long.......2006-06-19
I liked the first two books (Birdman and The Treatment) a lot. I was really hoping for even better things in this book but found it a bit long and convoluted.
The writer was aiming for a dark conclusion as is the norm with her work but this time I think went a bit into the realms of fantasy. The book didn't ring true to me.
The story is really two stories in one that blend into one at the end of the book but the problem lies in both stories gradually unfolding and when one chapter ends, you start the other story for another chapter. I was continually left wanting to continue with one story or the other, and the conclusion was boredom.
Heart wrenching and beautiful.......2006-04-09
A disturbing experience. I found this novel to be a wonderfully creative work of authorship. The overly stereotypical characters certainly detract from the book's anticipated legacy, but the emotional weight of the story counterbalances and perhaps explains that weakness.
Book Description
"Francione cogently argues that the Animal Liberation Movement, though using rights rhetoric and espousing the eradication of animal exploitation, actually represents a new, self-defeating welfarism because its tactics embody the animal welfare position. Consequently, the plight of animals is worse than it was twenty years ago." —Choice
Customer Reviews:
Crucial for Animal Rights Advocates.......2002-07-07
If you have embraced the idea that all sentient beings have fundamental rights--particularly the right not to be used exclusively as a resource--and have made the step to advocating on their behalf, this is the most important book you will ever read on the subject. Gary L. Francione's _Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement_ literally woke me up and gave me the resources I needed to avoid the seriously harmful strategy of animal welfare and new welfare. Before reading it, I took part in "bigger cages" campaigns, thought that such advocacy was helpful in the short term and had a very strong desire to continue to do so. After reading Francione's extremely compelling theoretical arguments, empirical evidence and well evidenced practical implications of different advocacy methods, I had no choice but to reject welfarism and new-welfarism in favor of a clearly defined concept of animal rights. In a nutshell, Francione's central thesis in _Rain Without Thunder_ is as follows:
In everyday language with respect to human animals, the word "welfare" has very good connotations. However, in the areas of _law_ and _institutional policy_ with respect to non-human animals, words like "welfare," "humane," "care," "unnecessary suffering," and so on only mean _one_ thing. Namely, they mean that the interests of non-human animals will be protected only to the extent necessary to exploit them in an economically efficient manner. For example, in law and policy, the welfare of a pig not to starve is protected because it is necessary to feed the pig in order to get her or his meat. The same is necessarily true of every animal welfare law and regulation. Therefore, any advocacy that attempts to achieve animal rights and the abolition of animal exploitation in the long-term by using the supposedly short-term strategy of trying to pass welfare regulations achieves only _one_ thing. Namely, if those measures are implemented, it will be further ensured that the only interests of non-human animals that will ever be protected are those that are required to exploit them efficiently. In other words, the supposed "success" of implementing a welfare measure only further ensures that the interests of other animals that are not required to exploit them efficiently will *always* be violated in the most abhorrent ways imaginable. In short, welfare measures *only* harm non-human animals and never help them.
Again, before I read Francione's arguments and evidence, I found his claim to be counter-intuitive. If this describes your views on the subject, for the sake of non-human animals who are exploited everywhere, I urge you to read and seriously consider _Rain Without Thunder_. Francione offers an excellent practical alternative to welfarist advocacy that, if followed, will further the rights of other animals on a workable *incremental* basis. As an animal rights advocate, I am extremely grateful that this book exists.
A Must Read!.......1999-12-01
This book is a must read for anyone who considers themselves a supporter of animal rights. Francione powerfully argues that the animal rights movement has spiraled down into a animal welfare movement--a movement that has failed horribly in the past. Please read this!
Important book for the modern animal rights activist........1998-09-21
In "Rain Without Thunder," Francione discusses the emergence of "new welfarists" who are doing the animals more harm than good. He meticulously lays out why animal welfare cannot lead to animal liberation. And argues a need for change. This book is a must read for all animal rights activists. Unfortunately you won't see it carried by mainstream "animal rights" (which GF calles the "new welfarists")organizations, because it is much too controversial!
An important and controversial book for animal activists.......1997-04-22
Rain Without Thunder is a penetrating look at howanimal rights activism without a clear understandingof important philosophical differences between animal rights and animal welfare has led to ineffective strategies which, Francione argues, serve only to more deeply entrench the speciesist paradigms that lead to animal oppression. Francione's insights are important not only for animal rights activists, but for everyone working for social justice. The first truly original animal rights book I have seen in a long time. Read it!
Only if you have trouble sleeping........1996-10-28
First, this is a book for the anointed. Those who don'talready think cows deserve personhood need not bother;there's absolutely nothing here that will convince you. For anyone left: Written in wandering, equivocal academic speak and crushingly redundant, this is a book that took 230 pages to say what could have been said in ten, and still failed to say much at all. Synopsis: "Animals are persons, too. `Mainstream' animal rights groups aid animal `exploiters' because they still behave as if animals are, well, animals. 'Mainstream' animal rights groups are also sexist because they only throw red paint on women. We must demand an immediate end to institutionalized animal use. We'd be silly to expect an immediate end to institutionalized animal use. We must demand incremental changes within the `all animal use must end' paradigm. I don't know how, but let's talk." Unless you'd like to give this book to someone too comfortable with the state of higher education - Mr. Francione is a law professor at Rutgers - I'd strongly suggest you save your money. If you must read it, take mine. Please.
Book Description
Revered by Americans across the political spectrum, Barbara Jordan was "the most outspoken moral voice of the American political system," in the words of former President Bill Clinton, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Throughout her career as a Texas senator, U.S. congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: "Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do." Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century.
This volume brings together several major political speeches that articulate Barbara Jordan's most deeply held values. They include:
- "Erosion of Civil Liberties," a commencement address delivered at Howard University on May 12, 1974, in which Jordan warned that "tyranny in America is possible"
- "The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment," Jordan's ringing defense of the U.S. Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in
- Keynote addresses to the Democratic National Conventions of 1976 and 1992, in which Jordan set forth her vision of the Democratic Party as an advocate for the common good and a catalyst of change
- Testimony in the U.S. Congress on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and on immigration reform
- Meditations on faith and politics from two National Prayer Breakfasts
- Acceptance speech for the 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award presented by the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, in which Jordan challenged the military to uphold the values of "duty, honor, country"
Accompanying the speeches, some of which readers can also watch on an enclosed DVD, are context-setting introductions by volume editor Max Sherman. The book concludes with the eloquent eulogy that Bill Moyers delivered at Barbara Jordan's memorial service in 1996, in which he summed up Jordan's remarkable life and career by saying, "Just when we despaired of finding a hero, she showed up, to give the sign of democracy.... This is no small thing. This, my friends, this is grace. And for it we are thankful."
Average customer rating:
- Not her best, but still a great read
- Stormy Locale Packs a Wallop
- "Breathtaking suspense"
- The coming of age
|
Thunder on the Right
Mary Stewart
Manufacturer: HarperTorch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Wildfire at Midnight
-
Madam, Will You Talk?
-
My Brother Michael
-
This Rough Magic
-
Airs Above the Ground
ASIN: 0060747463
Release Date: 2004-11-30 |
Book Description
Artist Jennifer Silver has come to the picturesque, secluded Valley of the Storms in the French Pyrenees to meet with a young cousin who is about to enter the convent there -- only to discover that the young woman has died in a dreadful car accident. Or did she?
Lies abound in this strange and frightening place, but seeking the truth could lead Jennifer to her own violent death.
Customer Reviews:
Not her best, but still a great read.......2003-02-28
I love Mary Stewart and have read all of her books, but this is not her greatest novel. I prefer the other romantic mysteries written in first person, but this story is still wonderful. If this is your first time reading a Mary Stewart, I would try "This Rough Magic" or "Nine Coaches Waiting" first.
Stormy Locale Packs a Wallop.......2002-08-11
Perhaps because this is Mary Stewart's only narrative written in the third person, I thought "Thunder on the Right" ranked in the lower third when compared to the author's twenty other novels of romantic suspense. Upon re-reading it --actually listening to the Chiver's Unabridged audio, I realize it is just as well-crafted albeit sprinkled too liberally with adjectives as any of the other more well known Stewart titles.
In particular, without the compelling tell-all 1st person narrative usually facilitated by Stewart, the heroine of the tale, one Jennifer Silver, comes across as exactly what she is--a 22 year old with the scant experience of any young girl coming straight out of the sheltered privledged environment of upper class Briton--instead of the usual intrepid/curious/resourceful traveler of the other stories.
Here, Jennifer has traveled to the wild southwestern portion of France, where the Pyrenees form the country's natural boundary from Spain. Excited to meet up with her half-French cousin, Gillian, she is utterly shocked to encounter Stephen, a music student acquaintance of her father with whom she had a brief but platonic flirtation years prior to coming to France. As with the other Stewart novels, romance comes secondary, if not thirdly in importance when weighed against the circumstances of the mystery within the plotline. And here,it tends to be a little melodramatic--Stephen, the brooding musician reining in his feelings of passion for Jennie, and Jennie, herself, not even realizing what passion is.
Far better is the novel's main thrust--for when Jennie attempts to contact her cousin at the local convent where the half-French girl is deciding upon a religious vocation, Jennie discovers rather abruptly from the convent's bursar that her cousin has died and has been buried within the convent walls. Shocked but by no means mentally incapacitated, Jennie realizes that Dona Francisca's story does not make sense, as Jennie knows one or two things about her cousin that renders the explanation totally invalid. Here Jennifer takes the initiative as do all the Stewart heroines--hell bent to discover the truth with no thought to her own safety. The path she follows is a treacherous one, involving the bursar, her plans for the convent and illegal doings that make the locale's proximity to Spain extremely convenient.
If you have the opportunity, listen to the audio book, Harriet Walker's command of voices help convey the characters of each of the novel's persona with startling reality. This novel, I believe to be overlooked, but don't make that mistake, do read it and savor its passionate story--just undermine the romance.
"Breathtaking suspense".......2002-02-24
"A highly charged romantic thriller" - New York Herald Tribune
The sheltered Oxford-raised, quiet and reserved young Jennifer Silver journeys to the High Pyrenees in search of her half-French cousin who has been recuperating in a convent. A WWII-wounded former student of her professor father and brilliant musician follows her there for his own personal reasons. Just as they are rejoined, they become caught up in intricate webs of danger and criminal intrigue.
From the back cover- "She had come to the convent - a brooding cluster of ancient buildings nestled deep in the wild upper reaches of the French Pyrenees - to find her young cousin, Gillian. But the Convent of Our Lady of the Storms was not like others. There was something strange and frightening about the place...something that gave off an aura of evil, of hidden, violent things...
They told her Gillian was dead, but she did not believe them. Searching for the truth meant trouble. She did not know, until too late, it also meant ...murder."
As always, Mary Stewart's settings are so spectacular and described in such detail that I can see, smell and touch as clearly as if I were there as well. It is because of this superb sense of detail that a half dozen reads may not even be enough.
The coming of age.......2000-04-26
Everyone has suffered from unrequited love, and a worry thatthe love your partner feels is not a promise of forever. It is amystery, and the plot is twisted enough to seduce the mystery-lover,who seeks to escape a rather boring reality. There is also an undercurrent that is reminiscent of a fable, with the same moral Oscar Wilde attempted to teach us. Not to make ideals of men, for that will surely destroy them END
Average customer rating:
|
THUNDER ON THE RIGHT
Alan Crawford
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 039474862X
Release Date: 1981-03-12 |
Book Description
The heroism of those involved in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott is presented here in poignant and thorough detail. The untold stories of those, both black and white, whose lives were forever changed by the boycott are shared, along with a chilling glimpse into the world of the white council members who tried to stop them. In the end, the boycott brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to prominence and improved the lives of all black Americans. Based on extensive interviews conducted over decades and culled from thousands of exclusive documents, this behind-the-scenes examination details the history of violence and abuse on the city buses. A look at Martin Luther King Jr.'s trial, an examination of how black and white lawyers worked together to overturn segregation in the courtroom, and even firsthand accounts from the segregationists who bombed the homes of some of Montgomery's most progressive ministers are included. This fast-moving story reads like a legal thriller but is based solely on documented facts and firsthand accounts, presenting the compelling and never-before-told stories of the beginning of the end of segregation.
Customer Reviews:
Thunder of Angels: E.D. Nixon finally enters the history books:.......2006-01-31
THUNDER OF ANGELS helps introduce E.D. Nixon to the rest of the world who may not realize the scope of his tremendous influence on the structure and foundation of the Civil Rights Movement in America.
Because of his guidance, strength, organizational skills, and ceaseless courageous actions; he set in motion a force greater than himself or any other one man.
Though not an eloquent speaker, his convictions and sincerity, his drive and leadership, and his tenacious ability to identify strength and potential in those around him should have secured his place in history. It did not.
THUNDER OF ANGELS should help rectify this gross oversight and help E.D. Nixon receive the credit due for all of his efforts and accomplishments.
Rodney Knolton/Davis-Kidd Booksellers/Memphis, Tn.
The inspiring story of E.D. Nixon and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.......2006-01-10
Although it is pretty early in the new year I suspect that "The Thunder of Angels" just might be one of the best books I will read in 2006. Donnie Williams and Wayne Greenhaw have the uncanny knack of transporting the reader right back into the middle of the historic events that were taking place in Montgomery, Al back in 1955 and 1956. More importantly, the authors introduce us to E.D.Nixon, a humble Pullman car porter and largely unknown figure up to this point, who in myriad ways over a period of two decades helped to create what we all know today as the civil rights movement in America. "The Thunder of Angels" reveals the untold story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. You cannot help but be struck by the courage and determination displayed by so many people during those troubled times in Alabama's capitol city.
If ever there was an unlikely figure to lead such a historic movement it was E.D Nixon. As a young man he learned first hand the hard life of a sharecropper. Determined to make a better life for himself, E.D. Nixon found work as a baggage porter in Mobile in the mid 1920's. Shortly thereafter he landed a job as a Pullman car porter. The new job gave young Mr. Nixon the opportunity to travel to a great many U.S. cities including Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and New York. Growing up in a segregated city like Montgomery, he naturally assumed that Negroes were treated in the same way everywhere else. But in his travels he discovered that this simply was not the case. He saw firsthand that blacks were faring substantially better than he had been led to believe in many towns and cities across America. He quietly vowed to do whatever he could to instigate change in this beloved Montgomery. He bided his time and in December 1955 the Rosa Parks case presented itself. Because so much of the groundwork had been laid over the years by E.D. Nixon the emerging leadership of the Black community in Montgomery as well as the black man in the street correctly sensed that the time was right to demand change in their city. It proved to be a knock-down, dragged out fight but the storied case of the Montgomery Bus Boycott would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I found "The Thunder of Angels" to be one of those books that I simply could not put down. This one held my interest from cover to cover. There was so much new information that I have never seen anywhere else. I learned about many courageous men and women, black and white, the famous and the not so famous who rose to the occasion and demanded an end to segregation in Montgomery. What happened there would have a profound effect on the history of race relations in America. "The Thunder of Angels" is a "must" read for all students of U.S. history. Very highly recommended!!!
Superbly researched, lovingly written..........2006-01-10
This remarkable book is a joy to read and it made a great gift for the holidays.
It just goes to tell you that the really important histories of this turbulent era can be written from the voice of the people down south who lived the experiences.
I applaud Mr. Donnie Williams and all the civil rights historical chroniclers for their sacrifice and literary expertise. I highly, highly recommend this book.
I hope Mr. Williams writes another book!
Incredible Detail and Research.......2005-12-08
Donnie Williams put incredible effort into research and interviewing people who were there (in the mid century south) and people who remember racial events of this historical time period. This book brought out hard and sad times in our nation's history when innocent men, women, and children suffered unbelievable discrimination and even death. This book makes everyone aware that our knowledge of the time period is only a tip of the iceberg. Many suffered and their stories will never be heard, but Donnie Williams took time to go into their homes and their histories to learn many untold stories of unsung heroes (white and black) who fought for freedom, equality, and unity for all races. This book is well worth the read and I look forward to Donnie's upcoming books with more information on this historical time period.
Best on the subject, a gem.......2005-11-29
This book is the best on this historical subject to come down the pike in decades. It illuminates more than the events. It makes us "feel" the people. Don't miss this chance to gain an indepth understanding of what it was like to be there that day in that city when American began to change.
Average customer rating:
|
Sons of Thunder
Alveda King
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1413411266 |
Book Description
This story of the King family -- their stormy, God inspired, romantic and often adventurous lives, adapts its title from Mark 3:17 of the Bible, because A. D. and Martin King were fiery preachers. It explores provocative episodes of the civil rights movement, in large part through the remembrances that A. D. King shared with his daughter Alveda. "Sons of Thunder" examines the civil rights movement's triumphs against extraordinary odds and the human flaws and frailties that give texture to this explosive chapter of our history; recasting the story in a fresh, compelling light.
Average customer rating:
|
Leane Zugsmith: Thunder on the Left
Abe C. Ravitz
Manufacturer: International Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
20th Century | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
20th Century | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0717807029 |
Books:
- The Dispossessed: A Novel (Perennial Classics)
- The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story
- The Fortress of Solitude
- The God of Small Things
- The Haunting of Hip Hop: A Novel
- The Human Stain: A Novel
- The Ice Harvest: A Novel
- The Inheritance of Loss
- The Last Time They Met: A Novel
- The Law of Similars
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- My New Baby
- Getting the Love You Want Audio Companion: The New Couples' Study Guide
- Alice Neel
- Bijoux Du Maroc LA Beaute Des Diables
- Devil in a Blue Dress
- Essentials of Fire Fighting
- Detroit Then and Now
- French Modernisms: Perspectives on Art Before, During, and After Vichy
- Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Bad Hand
