Thomas Merton will always be one of my favorite seekers of Truth ( when I read the selections here I find myself not feeling so alone in my search)...here is a great slection of Merton, not meant to be comprehensive (Merton's output is too enormous for that)...here you discover Merton the poet, the monk, but overall, the writer...here are his passions for the Spanish poets, Eastern Philosphy, Russian Literature, to mention a few...this book has selections that start and end with his "Seven Storey Mountain" the autobiography which placed Merton into the literary limelight to begin with; however the selections in between even incorporate selections from the posthumous "Asian Journal"...would love to see a deluxe edition incoroporating selections from his now published private journals...

Here is an inexpenive paperback that will give you a wonderful intro to the Greek Myths...the stories are weel presented and Hamilton tries to preserve the flavor of each individual Greek source...thus some stories here are more detailed, even gory; others read more like fairy tales...the author does have a strong bias towards using Roman sources which she finds overblown; thus she always steers the reader in the direction of the aesthetic simplicity of original Greek sources...I believe Bulfinch is a good alternate read if you want some of the Roman versions...but for the majority of us who don't have time to gather all the original but want to broaden our knowledge on Greek mythology, I can think of no better volume than this one...it is also an enjoyable read in of it's own

Being from the Caribbean myself, I enjoyed how Michener attempted to thread the histories of the many diverse islands (one of which is my home)...however I agree with another reader that as soon as you get caught up in one section of the novel, we are taken to another island with another history...the novel will start with the true natives, the Tainos and Caribs...it will even take you to the backdrop of the Mayan civilization briefly..."the Spanish Lake" was my favorite part of the book....the battles between the Spaniards and the British are skillfully sketched, displaying the best and worst of both sides...the fistional island called "All Saints" in the book I found unnecesary...no reason to invent a history of an imaginary island in a book of this nature which is already struggling to cover the diversity that is the Caribbean...all in all, I enjoyed the book and the author held my interest...I would say it is a fun way to read history....I also recommend Galeano's "Memory of fire" a triology of the Americas....

This book drew me in with the author's style, reminiscent of Isabel Allende (even the title seems to be a variation of "The House of Spirits")...Ferre's writing style is superb, the descriptions vivid and she held my interest throughout...granted, she did present an upper class Puerto Rico, but I think it was never the author's intention to present the Puerto rico most of us know...I do agree that ending was a bit overblown and holywoodish; however it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. I am glad that Puerto Rico is producing writers like Ferre, because she is a notch above many best selling authors today...I have both the English and Spanish versions of this book and I think that both are very good...my wife is reading the Spanish version and prefers it...if I'm not mistaken I did not see any translator named in the book thus I assume Ferre herself produced both versions...if she did, it was an admirable piece of work, because both versions carry the same great flavor of her excellent writing; despite the linguistic differneces... y por ultimo, este libro me ayudo re-descubrir mis raices puertoriquenos en un tiempo de auto busqueda, porque el libro es sobre todo acerca de lo que es definirse a luz de la historia de la familia...todos tenemos nuestros historias y todos tenemos nuestras percepciones de esa historia, lo cual nos auto-define... this book is a discovery of life against the backdrop of a family history...this book has helped me, in a way, to look at my own life... I hope more authors like Ferre come out...and Ferre herself I wish to say "gracias" for this work....

the trilogy of the americas comes to an end leaving me wishing this series could have gone on...perhaps Galeano will gifts us by making this a tetralogy by taking the books into the millenium...however here we see the owrld of the americas go through industrial transformations which turns the pristine world of the indians into a melting amalgam of cars, factories, wars, and crime...this Uruguayan writer tells history with no no pretense of his won point of view, which is very convincing if not idealistic at times...to read this book is not only to learn that there is much more to the word "america" than we think...we learn of our americas, a unique part of the world where many worlds collided and in turn, we learn of ourselves, because Galeano's vision here awakens us with his epic history inviting us to learn more.... this epic triology is still an overview that lingers in details here and there, but if you look at all the sources isted at the end of each book, you will find that this triology was more like a river leading to many seas....

This second volume leaves off where Galeano's "Genesis" left off...it continues in the same style with history breathing just as fresh as today's headlines...the struggle and minglings of many worlds come together clashing for better or for worse in the Americas, producing something entirely new...countries are born, with bloodshed and lust... I recommend this book on Latino history because it tells history passionately driven by the authors own views which he does not even pretend to hide...the writing itself is beautiful...the prose becomes poetic...and he weaves from many sources...I will definitely read this work again!

Galeano presents us American history not in the typical fashion of just important dates, battles and personages...although you will find it here too, he goes beyond that presenting us a living breathing american history from a wide array of sources...the project is truly ambitious, perhaps too ambitious at times as he also attempts to include North American history, although these volumes focus the heart on the Latin Americas... this first volume culls myths from the Incas, Mayas and many others presenting a an enchanting world where people lived among the trees and animals free...it's a world that changes with their first encounter with the first European explorers...Galeano himself admits that in these volumes he will reflect his own stands for history cannot be objective lest it become sterile...he passionately endeavors shows history the way he sees it, for better or for worst...for me it was an exciting read from the first page to last, as my mother is Latina ...thus the book served as a discovery of my very roots as well, roots that I have now grown to understand with this passionate portrait of the Americas...

Here in one volume you will have 26 stories in excellent English translations which preserve the aesthetic simplicity of the original Spanish...it would be impossible to give a commment on all the great stories here. The reader will have glimpses of Macondo here and there. the stories I enjoyed the most were in the third section of this book. "A Very Old Man with enormous wings", "the Handsomest Drowned Man In the World" and "...Erendira...." All bear Marquez's signature simple style, with the elements of magical realism...it is a collection to enjoy time and time again...

Thomas Merton is one of my favorite seekers of Truth...although, he was a devout Trappist monk, his vision went beyond his monastery, to embrace insights from the East, whilst mantaining his own position...if you are looking for a scholarly translation or intro to the Chinese philosopher, Chuang Tzu, look elsewhere...this is rather a free interpretation from one who identified with him, sharing some common perspectives, although both were from two very different monastic traditions...you wil not find the complete chuang Tzu here but rather small selections that will be richer with repeated readings...

This book may be confusing, but the author never intended this to be a straightforward novel about life...he was indeed trying to capure life in all it's spontaneity with imperfect characters amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution...Pasternak is not attempting to paint a full canvas here but providing us with sketches that try to capture scenes from life much the way poetry does...there is something almost mystical about the book...certian details about the passing world described around the endearing yet weak characters...I also recommend "My Sister Life" which is a collection of Pasternak's poems...which will show you that perhaps Pasternak is at heart a poet...who wrote this remarkable book