5 comments about Death is Forever.

1. This is one of the most itrigueing and action packed Bond novels ever written! Bond is set against an old H.V.A. or Stasi officer(East German Intelligence)who can't except Communism's failure. It's action till the last page with all the women and gadgets that make Bond James Bond.



2. I'm not a "die-hard Bond fanatic" but I've seen the movies and read some of the novels, and after reading some of the other comments, mostly negative, about Gardner and his novels I thought I'd set down some thoughts on DEATH IS FOREVER. For me Gardner is as close as anyone's ever gotten to Fleming and not that far behind. DEATH IS FOREVER was an enthralling novel and the best Gardner I have read (with SCORPIUS a close second). Gardner's Bond, like Fleming's, is not a super-hero with rocket-boats and submarine cars never at a loss for humorous one-liners every time he kills a guy. He's a flesh-and-blood human being as vulnerable as anyone else who survives by using his head. Of all the movies, the two that are most faithful to Fleming's original conception of the Bond character are "From Russia with Love" and "Licence to Kill." In my opinion, needless to say, the two best Bond films. And this is the Bond of DEATH IS FOREVER and the Gardner novel series. As for the Benson novels, I've never understood why the head of the James Bond fan club was chosen to succeed Gardner as Bond writer and not an actual published novelist.



3. This was my first experience with the "modern' James Bond. I strongly suspect that the only people who like Gardner (or Benson) are the ones who have never read Fleming. This one dimensional book had a weak villian, the 2 key plot elements had no apparent connection, and an uncharacteristically dumb action by Bond which led to the deaths of 2 allies. This last was only a plot device to prolong the novel. And Bond falling in love with some incompetent woman he just me, get real. This Bond is just a poor copy. At least the movies are fun.



4. Maybe I checked this out from the library expecting not to like it. (The Raymond Benson ones I got I really didn't like.) But as soon as I read the first page, I was hooked. It felt like I was reading another Fleming novel, with agents mysteriously dying with means that would have been used in his day. The more modern era and the relics of the past (the CABAL network and what it's up against) are blended together seamlessly. It kept me hooked until the very end. If you like the Fleming novels and plot-changing surprises, read this. If you prefer the new-millenium Bond, well, I can't say much for your taste, but whatever floats your boat...



5. Beginning with the murder of two members of a VERY well-organized spy ring known as Cabal, Bond teams up with another MI6 agent to try and find out what happened to the remaining members of the organization and find out who was behind it.

   Wow! John Gardner has a masterpiece this time. This is one of the best espionage novels I've read. Bond goes up against some of the most sinister and ruthless villains, and in this novel almost nobody can be trusted. The amount of double-crosses and plot twists is astounding, and unlike the more recent Bond movies, the plot is complex and (gasp) logical! As Bond unravels more clues as to who is killing Cabal's agents, he must use every means available to survive, and to stop a cataclysmic event orchestrated by a ruthless organization.

   Because of the rich and twisting plot, Death Is Forever captures the more sinister elements of the spy world with nothing short of brilliance. HIGHLY recommended.

5 comments about Goldeneye.

1. This was a great book! Not only did it have everything you would expect from a Bond novel,and it even tapped into social issues, like racism, which we saw when Trevelyan explains his betrayal of MI6 to James. Very interesting account and very next level. It also gives some extra detail that you don't get in the flick! Check it out today!



2. Damn, that was a good book! For being a James Bond fan I sure say that the book "Goldeneye" was better than the movie "Goldeneye"! The book had an extra story line an parts that the movie left out. My birthday was yesterday, June 7, and my dad wanted me to help him pick out a good B-Day gift so I found the "Goldeneye" book by John E. Gardner. Believe me if I had to do it all over I would pick the same book.



3. GoldenEye is undoubtedly John Gardner's best James Bond novel. He really captured the essence of Bond as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. I took this novel out and read it again when Pierce announced that his services were no longer needed as James Bond. It seems like he just got the part, and now, just like that, he is gone. I read this book again and savored each passage. It really brought back memories of the movie so vividly. It is so hard to grasp that ten years have gone by. I think this was John Gardner's last James Bond novel. Intuitively he must have known it and he put all the best he had into this one. I also love the cover. GoldenEye was such a special film at such a special time. One era ended while another began. This book is a record of those times.



4. After so James Bond novels with mixed results, John Gardner comes up with his best book to date. Based on the screen story to GoldenEye this is a good one. This is a tough and innovative Bond. Well done John!



5. Though some of John Gardner's earlier Bond Books were pretty good -- not up to Fleming's standard, but nothing to complain about either -- this one isn't worth the paper it's printed on, or the time you'll waste on it before abandoning it in annoyance. There's no spark, no wit, no style -- nothing, in fact, to distinguish it from some twelve-year-old's fanfic posted on the internet.
   
   Also, there are no movie stills inside -- if you're hoping to get your Sean Bean (or Pierce Brosnan) fix, you'll have to satisfy it some other way.

No comments about Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz.

3 comments about Licence to Kill.

1. When I started the book it was interesting. Felix Lieter and his wife got killed by Franz Sanchez and his henchmen. Bond met Pam for a meeting that Felix was supposed to be at but he was dead so he couldn't be there.There were a couple of Sanchez'z men looking at them.



2. I know everyone hates the movie(I don't) that this book is based on. Well, if that's the case, read the book, as it is actually better than the movie(although the tanker chase just doesn't read as exciting as watching it). Most people dislike Gardner's book's when compared with Fleming's, but this one is top notch. The only problem is, Gardner goes to slightly...schizofrenic means to tie License to Kill in with the on-going Fleming series. Seeing as that Milton Krest appeared in an earlier(but almost completly unknown) Fleming Bond short story, and Felix Leiter got his leg and an arm bitten off in Fleming's Live and Let Die, Gardner has to resort to ignoring Milton Krest's death in "The Hildebrand Rarity" and the shark bites of Leiter's false limbs.



3. John Gardner's screenplay approach to writing novels pays off. This is his first novel based on the screenplay of a Bond film and he seems to have found his niche even though some of these events are a retelling from Ian Fleming's novel "Live and Let Die" with the same character being mangled again! However, this novel is based on Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson's story for Timothy Dalton's James Bond in LICENCE TO KILL. It remarkably makes for an interesting read from an otherwise unsatisfactory film adding detail to scenes and venturing inside the head of the main character exploring his feelings and motivations. For John Gardner this is pretty inspiring stuff.

2 comments about George Washington: A Biography.

1. A brisk, but not too brief account of Washington and the times surrounding him. Alden touches on most every event and aspect concerning the subject: from Shay's Rebellion to Martha's disposition, from the Hamilton-Jefferson Feud to his agricultural experiments. It is objective without trying to debunk a great man. Only the cursory discussion on slavery does the junvenile yankee condescention surface (Whose ships were involved in the slave trade even after the Virginians pushed through its ban via the Constitution? Yankees ie the Great Hypocrites of All Time.) It is, however, a thorough and interesting biography and highly recommended.



2. Washington. This is a pretty good one. It's value to me was Washington as a colonial officer under British generals during the French-Indian War. It is essential as this was the making of the man & frames everything that comes after.
   A stupid blunder, of so many by the British after defeating the French was the denial of Washington a generalship in the regular British military establishment. It was the one thing that he wanted or ever would want more in his whole life. Mr. Alden explains why Washington or any colonial could not hope for a career in the regular army. It chilled me to think of the course of American history & world history if Washington had remained a loyal British subject. Our history without Washington is hard to imagine. There was no one even close to his stature in America. So he did become a general after all. The rest of the book is well done. Good reading for someone not too familiar with the first president, with a little revolutionary era history thrown in.

5 comments about Master Spy James Bond in Seafire.

1. John Gardner comes through with another great title and another poorly written novel. He is very consistent however! His novel still reads like a movie script and his ability to enthrall the reader still remains lacking. One highlight: this paperback has a great cover! I think it is time that these entries get put to Sea.



2. The story was a little weak because it had Bond fighting a Nazi plot which is something every suspense novelist has their hero do at one time or another. This novel is worth reading however because of Bond's marrige proposal to Fredricka Von Gruse and it's emotional ending. It's a good showing of Bond's human side.



3. I havent read any of gardner's books. but from what i hear leming rules all bond novels. I say stick with fleming forget gardner. Benson's allright.



4. I shall start by saying that I am an avid James Bond fan, not just the movies, but to a far greater extent...the original novels. I have all of Ian Flemmings books, I have read them again and again, and they are still as good today as they were 50 odd years ago. I bought the John Gardner novels in order to finish my collection, I would never buy them in order to get enjoyment out of them! Mr Gardner cannot even begin to fill the shoes of Ian Flemming. His stories are too far fetched, his twists and plots are so over the top they are confusing and the pace of all the books I have read, is as slow as hell! I would only recommend buying this book, Seafire, or any other Gardner Bond Novel if you are a dedicated collector - because no enjoyment can be got out of these.



5. This was the 7th Gardner/Bond novel I read, being second best only to Icebreaker. Seafire deals with a wealthy business man named Max Tarn and his plot to create a massive oil slick around Puerto Rico, which could cause massive environmental damage. James Bond and Flicka von Grusse, who was introduced in Never Send Flowers, must find a way to stop Tarn. Felix Leiter also appears in this book for a couple chapters. Also notable is the fact that M is put to bedrest about halfway through the book, after he gets some kind of illness. The book ends with a BANG that leaves the reader wanting more.

5 comments about Grendel.

1. It had sat on my shelf for years. I'd pick it up. Put it down. Pick it up. Really, who wants to read a book in which the protagonist is the bad guy?
   
   I finally read Grendel, and it was actually worth my time. There is a very touching scene in which Grendel longs to be other than he is, but cannot find the path.
   
   "My heart was light with Hrothgar's goodness, and leaden with grief at my own bloodthirsty ways. ~ Chapter 4"
   
   There are shades of connection betwixt ill-fated Grendel and the ill-cursed The Children of Húrin. How dire it must be to recognize that one is tainted, and have no hope of a cure. Indeed, where would any of us be without a Redeemer?



2. I'll keep it simple rather than wax poetic. This is one of the best books Ive ever read. I loved it and read it in two days. Wonderful language and arrangement.



3. This is not the simple tale of what moves the monster to attack the mead hall. Yes, this is the classic Beowulf tale told from Grendel's perspective, but it's no easy narrative of me-against-him. There is an awful lot more going on here.
   
   Grendel is the basic human, the proto-human animal stripped of all aspects of civilization, what the human is before civilization has had the chance to poison him. He wholly self-centered, a world unto himself. He is pure action and the rawest of emotion, no patience for thought and contemplation. He's capricious, with no moral sense, no real logic. Action is the only thing he knows, and it is what it is, consistent or not. But evil? Not in the least.
   
   As civilization rises, Grendel observes, as only a monster can observe a human, that everything we touch we corrupt and ruin. Trees fall, water is fouled and the game leaves the forest. Ultimately, humanity is pointless and futile; we invent all of our problems. We create envy, ambition, manipulation, subjugation, hierarchy, religion, hope, confidence, arrogance, pride, rationalization and ultimately hubris, and they intertwine to ruin us, as individuals and as tribes. The joy is all around us, as Grendel describes, the bounty and its beauty, life and nature, but we instead choose competition, struggle, corruption, loss, violence and unnatural death.
   
   As civilization coalesces about him, Grendel draws closer to death, and he learns from the humans the value of the vulgar, what it means to be deceitful, what evil really is. He learns agonizingly what solitude is, and wants so desperately to fit in, but cannot. He cannot adapt, and is doomed, and somewhere down deep inside, he knows it. He wants to be included, but he cannot be and never will be. His time is ending, and he must as well. As reason and logic and knowledge come to crowd men's thoughts, his power is ever weaker, until the time comes that he meets his match.
   
   Grendel's story is the sorrow of existence, solitary in birth, life and in death. His mother is an absolute alien, unknowable. She can never truly be his friend, never be his companion or his contemporary. She is the constant reminder of age and the specter of isolation, loneliness and death. She is the ever-present reminder of the future, and is estranged by her very offspring because of it. As a woman she is unknowable, a representation of something to which Grendel mysteriously is drawn but at the same time he is repulsed; he has no concept of how to relate to or respond to his lust, and it escapes him once again in violence.
   
   I recommend readers tackle the original Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition) before coming to this revisionist approach. But remember this is not simply a retelling from another point of view. This book is a winner, poetic and lyrical, turning the ancient story of the man versus the monster from one of epic battle and victory to a cautionary tale of what it means to exist in the world of Man.



4. I thought this book would be kinda cool to read since I'm a big fan of Beowulf and have read it several times. Man was I wrong. The writing is terrible. Grendel isn't a monster, he's a cry baby. A story from the "other perspective" has so much potential, but this author didn't use any of it. After reading this book, I wondered if John Gardner read Beowulf at all.



5. If you are like myself a high school senior reading this book for English class, GOOD LUCK! It is by far the least interesting novel I have ever read. Skip it and just look up the sparknotes.

3 comments about Ian Fleming's Master Spy James Bond in Cold Fall.

1. I believe that this is a very good book for people who like suspense, because this edge of your seat thriller keeps you involved every chapter. In this sotry James Bond gets involved sentimentaly because he thiks that his girl friend was killed, later he found that she wasn not dead. She betrays him. One of the things I liked the most about this book, is that each of the caracters are described in detail. I think this bood is different from the other James Bond's books, because it was written by John Gardener. I think that James Bond's boss shouldn't assign this mission to him because he knew that James Bond will get personally involved. This book was good, but some ot the parts were a little confusing because you had to remember perfectly what happend in the last chapter's to understand what was going on. I didn't like that character of Sukie Tempesta, it was very predictible since chapter 2 and in chapter 23 you realize that she wasn't as good as she seemed to be. I think that the other stories I have read have more action than this one, and James Bond cares more about inocent people dying. James Bond continues to be very smart like in the other stories.



2. I think that this book is very good for the people wno likes to be in suspense. It gets you inside of the story and surprises you each chapter. One of the things I most liked about this book is that James Bond gets personally involved. What surprised me about me about James Bond was how much he cares about inocent people diying. I think that this book is different from the other books about James Bond because the other books have more action and I think this change is because it wasn't written by Ian Fleming.I liked this book because when you read the first two chapters you can't stop reading it because you want to know what is going to happen next.It gives you information about the characters chapter by chapter and I like that because you can imagine everything that is happening.This book makes you think alot because you have to remember what happened in last chapter in order to know what is happening and you also start to imagine what is going to happen next.The first couple of chapters were my favorites because you start thinking about all possible resolutions and you start liking the book. I didn't like Sukie Tempesta's character because she was kind of predictible.One of my favorite parts of this book is the end and the phrase were it says "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end.But it is,perhaps, the end of the beginning" because it makes you think.Finally,I think that every James Bond's fan should read this book, and even if this is the first book about James Bond that you will read I am sure you will find it very interesting.



3. Slam bang action. This adventure hits the USA and Washington DC! Bond is sent to take charge! And that is what he does in this great Bond adventure! Great reading! Loved the ending!

5 comments about The Cider House Rules.

1. I generally read the book after I have seen the film. I do this so I am not disappointed in the film/screenplay. Generally the book proves to be much more entertaining than the movie. The movie was fantastic, the book a delight to read.



2. This book is a wonderful read; engaging and well written. What is remarkable about it is that the writer is able to depict men so well; how they think, how they behave. All the motivations and emotions are covered with each male character which was especially appealing to me because I actually believe that after reading this book not only had I felt a sense of accomplishment in reading such a wonderful story, but I had a sense that I understood men better, too. Highly recommended.



3. Maybe it's the fact that it was my first book by John Irving, but I truly loved The World According to Garp, and I have not been able to find that feeling in any of the books that followed in my list. I liked A Widow for One Year (guess what, my second...), I didn't care much for The Fourth Hand, which I found lame. I liked this one, which I have not really read, but listened to in the truly splendid reading by G Gardner. But I never cared too much for Homer Wells, another main character of Irving's to whom things just seem to happen. I don't know how else to put it, but I could not help imagining Homer in this book as a never-smiling character that lets his life decide for him. Indeed, I am not sure I recall instances where Homes laughs or even just smiles.
   
   The book is, also, endless. I liked the first part better, but the second part, which tells the story of Homer as an adult, felt overlong. Irving writes really really well, but there are too many well written but uneventful pages here.
   
   I found the "message" of the book about abortion well delivered, but I doubt it will change anybody's mind on the matter. It will most likely shock some and sound perfectly reasonable to others.
   
   Overall, I am happy I purchased this audio book (again a VERY good reading), but (unlike for Garp) it's unlikely that I will reach for it again. I was sort of happy when I got to the end and could move to another listening.



4. I must admit that the book just was not good enough to hold my interest. I am an avid reader who is interesed in many sorts of books, and while the book deals with issues that may be hard for some readers (abortion and adoption), the amount of charecters and Irving's constant backflashes and side stories really did me in. I wished it could have been better, but for people who really like a challenge, you should definately dive right in.



5. One of my favorite things about John Grisham is his character development. His accomplishments in delving deep into the souls of his creations and slowly letting them emerge onto the pages keeps the reader captivated through the novel. The plots are bizarre, yet real, and the characters become fixtures in the reader's mind long after the book is finished. Superb work!

1 comments about Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age.

1. This is another book from Durant, which brings his Civilization series to the popular audience. He show the reader the major themes of history through the lives of some of its most influencial figures.
   
   Some of the major topics include: ancient China (Confuscious), ancient Egypt (the Pharoahs), the Old Testament (the Prophets) classical Greece (Plato), the Roman Empire (the Emperors), the New Testament(Christ), the Renaisance (da Vinci), the Catholic Church (the Popes), the Reformation (Luther), and the scientifc revolution(Bacon).
   
   As always, reading Durant is a humbling experience, to learn how the debates and trials of modern times have been played out countless times before in our past. This is a good book, but I prefered Will and Ariel's book "The Lessons of History".