books by SparkNotes Editors     books:       Spark Notes Fahrenheit 4511270 reviews Ray Bradbury, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 A thrilling combination of 50's pulp sci-fi and reflective commentary By my count, this'll be the 1,218th review for this book on amazon, so what could I possibly say that the other 1,217 haven't? But for those few who dare dig this deep to read: I loved the book. I've read numerous novels and thrillers for fun, and also dabbled in more serious, non-fiction as well (check my profile if you want), but this one book managed to bridge the two meta-genres. In Ray ...             Spark Notes Things Fall Apart533 reviews Chinua Achebe, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 What makes fiction important I know this is the classic debate of all time when it comes to literature: Is it about beautifully written prose (THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, incidentally, is a good example of this problem) or does it tell a compelling story? (yet the prose itself is not its strong point). It seems that many works of fiction these days are of the former and unfortunately, not enough of the latter. I ...             Aristotle's Ethics (SparkNotes Literature Guide) (SparkNotes Literature Guide)40 reviews Aristotle, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2003 Translations differ It would be helpful if Amazon didn't pool together reviews from different translations. Note to Amazon: the customer reviews can be very helpful and have motivated me to purchase many books. But reviews for widely translated books should be specific to the translation. Otherwise they become worthless.             The Things They Carried (Spark Notes Edition)705 reviews Tim O'Brien, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 "Some dumb thing happens a long time ago and you can't ever forget it..." ... is a quote from O'Brien's daughter, Kathleen, in the story "Field Trip." Kathleen had just turned 10, and O'Brien had taken her back to Vietnam, to show her where her dad had been. He was trying to convey what it was like to have been a soldier in that war. As the story is written, clearly he had not been very successful. Going back to the sadness and failure of Vietnam is so totally ...             Spark Notes The Fountainhead967 reviews Ayn Rand, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 More traditionally novelistic, tells the backstory of Atlas Shrugged This novel predates Atlas Shrugged, and sometimes reads like a prequel telling the backstory of John Galt's life before he went on strike in Atlas. In its focus on individual characters, it sharpens the picture of pain and painful consequences to significant choices that drive the character's in Rand's objectivist world, so in some ways is more interesting and readable than Atlas Shrugged. It ...             Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels) (No Fear Shakespeare Illustrated)12 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2008 Shakespeare Made Simple I'm a lifelong Shakespeare fan who has recently discovered the No Fear series of "translations" of the plays. Although I had considered myself comfortable with Elizabethan dialect, I've learned a lot from the No Fear books. However, especially in Romeo and Juliet, one is struck by how the pleasure in reading the play is in the language, not the plot. Side-by-side with modern English, ...             Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels) (No Fear Shakespeare Illustrated)4 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2008 No need to avoid Shakespeare anymore I consider myself to be a reasonably literate individual but, I have always avoided Shakespeare since I cannot make sense of the text. But now, I have fianally read Macbeth because, with "No Fear Shakespeare," each left hand page is written in the original whereas the right hand page is a plain English translation. So now I know, that when a porter says "it makes him stand to and not stand to," ...             Julius Caesar (No Fear Shakespeare) (No Fear Shakespeare)3 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2003 Excellent resource I teach high school students and must say that this book has been a valuable resource throughout our unit on Julius Caesar. My students are finally grasping what is being read and have really enjoyed the reading thus far. If only there had been a reference tool around like this when I was in school!!! The title is absolutely right, there is No Fear in reading Shakespeare any longer.             Spark Notes The Bean Trees385 reviews Barbara Kingsolver, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 Bean Trees a treat I found Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees a delightful story, entertaining, engaging, enlightening and brilliantly told.             SparkNotes: Their Eyes Were Watching God407 reviews Zora Neale Hurston, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 Southern Florida in the early 20th century and one black woman's story This 1937 novel has become a classic of its time. It is a mere 184 pages long, but the edition of the book I read is packed by commentary. I skipped this commentary because I wasn't particularly interested in literary or social analysis. I just wanted to experience the book for itself and the story it told. Reading it this way, I actually "felt" the book in the way the author intended. And, ...             The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare) (No Fear Shakespeare)3 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2004 Shakespeare for our time I would highly recommend any of the books from the "No Fear Shakespeare" series. As someone who has never quite understood what Shakespeare was trying to say, having both his version and a "normal speak" version of the play side by side was very beneficial. Great for any student! A word of advice though - don't let your teacher know you have them. Any teacher teaching Shakepeare will likely ...             Spark Notes The Killer Angels517 reviews Michael Shaara, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 Beautifully written and a joy to read One of two books read in my entire lifetime that I consider a masterpiece. This book's language is sweet, smooth-flowing, stunning in its simplicity and focus. The Battle of Gettysburg is well documented and has been written about since July 4, 1863..... but to someone unversed in warfare and battlefields, it brought home the bravery, certainty and uncertainty, fear, foolishness, conflicts, ...             Autobiography of Malcolm X (SparkNotes Literature Guide) (SparkNotes Literature Guide)296 reviews Alex Haley, Malcolm X, ... SparkNotes, 2003 Should be Required Reading! This is a truly outstanding book. You don't have to like or agree with Malcolm X to learn from it. Martin Luther King Jr. was undoubtedly the more effective civil rights leader, and King's thought in many ways is more profound. But without Malcolm X, the true depth and meaning of the black American experience cannot be fully grasped, with all the brutality of racism - the injustice delivered ...             Spark Notes The Stranger529 reviews Albert Camus, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 American translation brings out stylistic subtleties (This is a review of the Matthew Ward translation; black an dwhite cover) This is a newish translation, done by an American rather than the British translation that had previously been the only English version of this French classic. It seems Camus was heavily influenced by American literature of the period -- Hemmingway, Faulkner and others -- and had written The Stranger, the first half ...             Spark Notes Diary of a Young Girl632 reviews Anne Frank, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 Amazing, This is the best book I have ever read... This is truly one of the greatest books ever written. As a reader reads this book, he will see a young girl blossoming into a phenomenal young woman. All in the confines of her family's "Secret Annexe", while in hiding from the Gestapo, and to keep from being captured, and sent to a concentration camp. As I read this book, I felt Anne Frank was speaking to me. I felt her anger, her rebellion, ...             One Day in the Life (SparkNotes Literature Guide) (SparkNotes Literature Guide)167 reviews Alexander Solzhenitsyn, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2003 only one day in the gulag No study of the Soviet Union could be complete without reading "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", By Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Unlike Solzhenitsyn's later novels "The First Circle" or "The Gulag Archipelago" that explore the life of a zeck (political prisoners) in depth, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is a simple straight forward narrative of a single day in the life of a zeck. ...             A Midsummer Night's Dream (No Fear Shakespeare) (The Play Plus A Translation Anyone Can Understand)5 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2003 Excellent book! The No Fear series allows quick understanding! I was going back and forth between reading the original first, and reading the modern first. Either way I read it, it made it easier to understand, faster to read, and very enjoyable.             Song of Solomon (SparkNotes Literature Guide) (SparkNotes Literature Guide)217 reviews Toni Morrison, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 Masterpiece [25] Morrison's "Song of Solomon" encapsulates her strongest skills into one novel. The story line is unparalleled - it eclipses even some of her other highly acclaimed pieces like "Sula" or "Beloved." The dialect delivered by the people is equal to that shown in "Jazz" or "Beloved." And, her weaving of the story lines throughout the pages of the novel, sews the novel's fabric or philosophies ...             Spark Notes No Fear Shakespeare Othello (SparkNotes No Fear Shakespeare)3 reviews SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2003 Outstanding, Absolutely Outstanding The Play, the Book, the Format---all outstanding, absolutely outstanding...With the original text on the left page and a modern easy to read and understand text on the right, Shakespeare reads like a Vince Flynn novel--well, almost. It really opens up the story, the ideas, the characters and the struggles. (Iago is still reprehensible! In any time, in any format!!) And in Act 5, "Othello" turns ...             Spark Notes All Quiet on the Western Front455 reviews Erich Maria Remarque, SparkNotes Editors SparkNotes, 2002 A Great Work I am a soldier with the US Army who has been deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom twice and Operation Enduring Freedom once. And yes I have lost some close friends to these wars. I must say this is one of my favorite books on war that I have read next to the Red Badge of Courage. Yes soldiers are opened minded, I do know that this book focuses on the darker side of War and is considered an ...              search for books angels, anyone, aristotle, autobiography, caesar, carried, edition, ethics, fahrenheit, fountainhead, graphic, illustrated, juliet, killer, literature, macbeth, malcolm, midsummer, novels, othello, shakespeare, solomon, sparknotes, stranger, taming, things, translation, understand, watching, western books:    Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it! randomly chosen book: Training People: How to Bring Out the Best in Your Human we recommend A thrilling combination of 50's pulp sci-fi and reflective commentary leave a comment home  impressum - about us