Bentley Reviews

I thought this book rather too challenging for the beginner and feel that unless you are pretty knowledgeable about the subject then there are other, simpler books that you should buy.

the book is good, one part is introducted in the textbook of our university.

One has to know and understand the original German text of the Dreigroschenoper to be really able to judge the quality of the English translations. This one, used among others by Helen Schneider on her album with Weill songs, has nothing of the sarcasms of the German lyrics. Better read the 1954 translation of Marc Blitzstein or the translation made by Frank McGuinness in the early 1990s.

Of all the translations on the market, this one is the best -- most are watered-down, tepid versions. Manheim & Willet's was used in the late 1970's revival of the piece by the New York Shakespeare Festival, which starred the late Raul Julia and Ellen Greene (of "Little Shop of Horrors" fame, in the role originally intended for Lotte Lenya).

I've had several VW's starting in 1987 and a Bentley manual for all of them. This latest edition seems to have sacrificed detail for sake of being able to cover a myriad of engine types/models. Notably missing is any information on the power window mechanism, not even a diagram. Also vague is information about the removal/installation of distributor cap and rotor. There is a lot of "installation is the reverse of removal" (This makes sense in a purely logical world, but not in the real world). Finally, I notice a total lack of the wonderful symptom/solution troubleshooting tables that have appeared in previous versions. It's better than nothing, but doesn't seem up to the regular standards of detail!

This is a must have for any VW owner that's planning on doing some sort of modification... Or simply if they just want to do self maintenance (VW owners all know how expensive scheduled maintenance can be).

I only give this 4 stars though because certain European parts that exist on North American models are ignored (ie: the rear fog light - the socket exists, is shown in an illustration of the tail light assembly, but is not labelled)...

Upon reaching 15k miles on my 1999 Jetta TDI I discovered I needed to chage my own oil. I purchased this manual because it was the only one to be found.

Having in the past been very dissapointed in $15-$20 Haynes or Chiltons manuals, I've looked the book over with a very critical eye. This manual contains errors (and probably ommisions) and is only marginally better than the $15-$20 manuals.

This manual is very good. It has the traditional Bentley qualities and is very easy to use...a must have. Three thumbs up!

I have read the earlier reviews of this book. You see the wide disparity of reviews. Numerous Best ever, and lots of really bad. I am on the bad side, and if it could be awarded negative stars I would do so. This book is a disorganized, piece of junk. I have now read it twice and feel less informed than when I started. It takes fairly easy concepts, hides them in buzzwords and wordy explanations in order to make the subject seem infinitely more complicated than it actually is. If I did not have to complete this class with this book I would throw it out the window right now.

It is nearly impossible to sort the garbage from the meat in each chapter. As a student text it is probably the worst I have seen. My dissatisfaction with it is nearly limitless. The first 10 chapters are a nearly incomprehensible and overly complicated, then the last 3 chapters then drop to computer 100 level information such as "much information is printed on paper" or "a keyboard is a common way to input information".

V/R

Bob Morgan

I was a senior corporate programmer-analyst for a decade. Only a very small percentage of the text books (or courses) I have ever read were successful as educational facilitators. That goes for grade school and high school teachers, college instructors and professors, and corporate instructors as well. Most of them were absolute dismal failures: F-Minus. If I could dig them all up, I would like to mail each and every one of them their own report card. I must also retract the previous 5-star rating on this Systems Analysis and Design Methods book and give the author Mr. Whitten, the book, and the instructional approach used the very lowest rating possible: F Minus. This book is a complete dismal failure. I didn't like Booch's Object Oriented book either, but this book is too unorganized somehow for the student to grasp the subject matter. I took an online algebra refresher the other day, and I was amazed at how well organized, clearly and simply presented the lessons were, and how much I retained. All my life, I never understood algebra, until I took that online course. I would mail an F-Mius to all of the algebra teachers I had, because I never understood the subject, and I wasn't able to help several people over the years. That may be partly my fault, but that is surely a failed teacher or two. There are a lot of lousy teachers in the schools who should be doing something else. The mark of a successful book (or teacher) is how much the student retains even many months later. A great book or teacher enables the student to further develop some of their own structured ideas. I do not recommend this book even one-percent. Why? It has all of the terminology with the same looking hierarchical chart all the way through, but I didn't understand one thing or retain much of anything from reading this book. It is a complete instructional failure. The organization is disjointed. The colored charts that are used extensively thoughout this book only add to the vague and confusing presentation. Save your money and try to find something else interesting that just has that A+ quality. As Phil McGraw would say, you either get it or you don't. Find another book.

But the book really was only marginally useful. It was written as a textbook but I don't really think that it gave a good understanding of Systems Analysis and Design, except for small systems design.

I loooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeee Champion 100%. He is my all time favorite of Wonder's foals. Cindy is just a plain brat, though. She likes to be so involved with a horse that is way to good for her to deserve! People who dislike Champion, I think you are going balistic. Champion is awesome, but I guess everyone is free to their own opinions, like the feelings I have against Star. If you wanna talk to me about THOROUGHBRED. ...

I have read the entire Thoroughbred series so far and I have been reading some people's reviews. I disagree with almost everything a lot of people are saying. They want the series to be realistic and unpredictable. I don't like that, if this seires was about real life then Asheligh never would have gotten half ownership in Wonder after Wonder almost died at birth and went through harsh training. If it was realistic then there wouldn't be any Thoroughbred series. Even if people of all ages can read these books, they're still intermediate books for younger children, 7-12. Those books usually are predictable and have happy endings. That's actually the reason why I still read this series. I get sick of reading sad, depressing books that we have to read for school and other books like that. Reading a book with a happy ending cheers me up a little. Also, reality is boring mostly, and there are times when stables have winner after winner. There are awesome horses that win the Triple Crown and not lose many races so I think the books are too unrealistic. And for those of you who want unhappy endings there's books like Ashleigh's Diary, Samantha's Journey which is really sad, and Cindy's Heartbreak. I like the way the author's write the story and I hope the authors continue their writing styles.

I really thought this book was great but whatever happend to Glory? I mean in one book Glory is there but in the next one he is gone. Well I need to get down to the point here this book was well writen and it described Champion and the racetracks so well I thought that I was Cindy and also that I was right there at the racetrack aswell. Anyway I'm looking for a horse crazy pen pal so please e-mail me! I have to words to add to this book review and they are: THOROUGHBREDS RULE!

If you have had experience with other relational databases. i.e. SQL Server, Sybase. You may be farmiliar with Unleashed books. This one is nothing like them. The enire books gives a general overview of Informix and 90% of the book covers the Informix-4GL There is little to no examples for SQL and was not worth the $40.00 I spent on it.

I'm primarily a developer, but I also do a little bit of DBA stuff. This book has lots of info for developers, and apparently lots for DBAs too -- it's the book our primary DBA recommended to me. If you need to know something about Informix, chances are it's explained in this book.

This book is a great resource. It's not one to read cover to cover, but rather one to turn to when you have a question. It's helped me at work in critical situations.

I am a really big TB fan, but I did find this book a little dissapionting. It was a little slow-moving, the plot could of been better. Cindy was a bit of a brat when she called Champion hers. I mean, every horse she rides (Glory, Storm, Champion, Honor) 1.instantly becomes hers 2. always becomes a superhorse. It might be nessicarary to keep people reading but it just dosen't happen in the racing world. Also the rival thing - its always someone, Cindy and Ashleigh, Cindy and Sammantha. There are better Thoroughbreds, but it's worth a read.

I haven't read any Cindy books, but it seems like she has too many "special" horses. I mean, she has Glory, Storm, and Champion, forgetting about them each in turn, picking up a new "better" one, training it into a Triple Crown winner, then moving on. Finally she forgets all of them, goes to Belmont, hurts her shoulder, and finally remembers Champion. I havn't read any books yet, so I might be wrong, but this is my impression.

i have read all the Thoroughbred books published (1-59 + all special editions)and have loved them all. Aribian Challenge was one of my favorites. I really liked how it was written. i didnt use to like Cindy, but this book really opened her up to me. I was sad when they took her out of the series for a while, but i was over joyed when they brought her baq in around # 54. in the book cindy goes the though a hard time. Though she is exstatic about riding champion in the D. World Cup she is nervous about racing against ash. when cindy snuck out and rode champion at night and got caught i was on the edge of my seat. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!

When I picked up this book about a couple years ago, I thought it sounded cool. It was called, "The Town", and the premise sounded really cool. I am really into horror, and I was excited about reading this. I read a book by Stephen King, called, "Desperation", right before this, which was so good. But I wanted to take a break from King and so I seen a whole bunch of books by this author I have never heard of before. So I started reading it, and it started off ok, it was sort of boring, nothing to great. Well i thought ok, I understand, I am a writer too. You have to indroduce the town and the characters. But then it just never really got any better. It was so disapointing. It just got downright bad and kinda confusing. I really had no idea what was going on half the time. The book was not scary. If anything, it was sort of voilent and had wierd things in it. (Like the boy thinking about his sister...that was gross)I had to force myself to finish the book, and I thought, well maybe the ending will be really good. No! It was bad. The father goes all psycho...It was just...It wasn't thst the book was badly written, it just it was just not what I was expecting. I pictured something totally differnt. Kind of like going to a horror movie in the show...I am kinda of apprehensive about giving Little another try...I am not sure about that...But If I were you I would defenitly not read "The Town". Well, unless you like what I described in this review. For a really good horror book, try reading "Desperation" by Stephen King instead. It's really freaky!!!

If you have never visited the strangely warped worlds of Bentley Little, but avidly wish to do so, you might want to start somewhere else than "The Town." Or, maybe you could start with this book; it might help you better appreciate his other books. For me, a Bentley Little completist, I cannot say this is his best effort to date. I also cannot claim that it is his worst novel, either. Many lambaste "The Town" for its forced and tepid dialogue, pancake flat characters, and a plodding plot. To some extent, many of the flaws found in "The Town" invidiously wind their way through most, if not all, of his other novels: subplots that go nowhere, unbelievable situations even for a horror novel, and unsatisfying conclusions. Yes, some of those flaws are here, but this tale is nowhere near as bad as many claim.

Gregory Tomasov and his family (wife Julia, daughters Teodosia and Sasha, and son Adam, along with Gregory's mother Agafia) should be riding as high as a balloon. Gregory won the California lottery and receives a cool $80,000 a year for the next few decades, which promises to make life very sweet and easy for a long time to come. Greg decides to take the money and literally run, from gang filled Southern California to his long forgotten childhood home of McGuane, Arizona. McGuane is a rat hole in the desert slowly dying out due to indifference and unemployment. But most importantly for Gregory and his mother, this little town still serves as a center for a Molokan population. Molokans are an obscure Christian sect from Russia that emigrated to the United States and Mexico to escape Tsarist persecution. Members of the congregation practice extreme pacifism with an almost mystical belief in the gospels and prayer. While Gregory and his wife are Molokans, their beliefs are at best extremely dubious and at worst lapsed. Their children have even less interest in the beliefs and rituals associated with the sect.

Things start to change quickly when the Tomasov clan arrives in McGuane. It turns out that the house they moved into was the scene of grisly murders and the rest of the town thinks the house is haunted. Then the killings start, gruesomely hideous crimes that set the town people on edge and stir up latent prejudice against the Molokans. Top that off with the slow disintegration of the Tomasov family, eerie supernatural events, and a 200 year old Russian prophet and you have the essentials of "The Town."

Little indulges in some of his usual unbelievable events. Take the disaster at the coffee shop for starters. It is difficult to imagine this store is big enough to hold that much equipment or that the ceilings are high enough to cause that type of damage, especially in a small town. Moreover, what exactly is the population size of McGuane? The back cover says there are roughly 300 residents, but from the events in the story it seems as though there must be thousands of people. How else could there be a high school and a junior high school full of students? Some of the internal thoughts of the main characters also pose serious problems. Towards the end of the story, Agafia and Julia spend more time wondering why they do stupid things than in trying to do anything else. It seems as though Little is trying to cover plot problems when he has his characters indulge in these inner dialogues. Overall, these aren't fatal flaws, but they are noticeable.

At least the ending is better developed than some of Little's conclusions in other books. I saw somewhere that Little doesn't like to spend much time wrapping his stories up. This is a big problem for horror fans, who always want to see a cataclysmic ending with lots of explosions, gore, or startling revelations. Well, there are some of those characteristics at the end of "The Town," and they do generally work well in the context of the story. Believe me when I say that "The Town" has a better ending than some of Little's other books. If you don't believe me, read "The Return."

"The Town" isn't Little's best effort, but it is far from his worst. The introductory chapter to this story sets an eerie tone, many of the murders are well thought out and gruesome, and the usual Little theme of a family slowly falling apart under the duress of external evils is well done. For more entertaining Bentley Little stories, turn to "The Store," and "The Mailman." Those two books fuse social satire with horror and give much more to the reader than what is found in this tale. After reading "The Town," I can safely say I am still a Bentley Little fan. I eagerly await his new novel arriving in stores later this year.

I was suprised that this book didn't get the creditablity it deserved. If you're an avid reader of horror, especially when the story entails good vs evil, you'll enjoy this book. I recommend The Town.

Bentley Little is one of the few current practitioners of epic horror: horror fiction that takes place over a broad geographic area and weaves together disparate events into one large tapestry. In THE RETURN, he tackles the disappearance of the Anasazi Indians in the Southwest and marries it to a series of contemporary events that are occurring throughout the U.S. Archeologists are uncovering strange and creepy objects at their digs, artifacts are becoming sentient in museums and everything seems to be connected to a series of spooky mummies with orange afros who are suddenly appearing. It's a complex plot with some of the scariest scenes I've read in years. One spooky book.

Let's face it: Bentley Little is a guilty pleasure we all enjoy. He writes horror with no restrictions whatsoever. If you want to learn something while you read, if you want a theme in your story, read King or Laymon--hell, you're probably like me and read them anyway! But if you just want to be scared...

Then pick up a Bentley Little novel.

And why not start with "The Return." Yes, it's complex, and pretty much meaningless. The plot itself is un-realistic as heck, and you characters are shallow, despite attempts to bring their past into the mix. But this novel is scary; it's very scary.

A little recap of the plot, although if you're a Little fan, you know you don't need one: Glen is going through midlife crisis. He drops everything and just leaves. In Arizona, while on a tour of an Anasazi ruin, he gets offered a job at an archeological dig. For reasons unknown to himself, he takes up that offer...and finds himself in Hell on Earth!

Sure, there's Melanie, whom he's quickly falling in love with. And the dig's director, Al, is friendly. So're some of the other diggers. But he doesn't like it. Especially not after he digs up that skull; because that's when the townfolk start taking a disliking to him and the diggers; that's when the Indian artifacts start moving on their own; when people start disappearing right out of thin air; and when a legend--The Mogollon Monster--seems more than just a myth.

If I have to be honest--and I do--I will say that this novel reflects a more mature Bentley Little--not that we want one. The gore is kept, for the large part, until the second half of the book. But when it comes, it comes in full-force. And when you aren't being grossed out, you're checking to make sure nobody's sneaking up behind you.

A brief warning, here at the end: Do not read "The Return" at night, unless you're prepared to lose sleep. This novel, like all of Little's, is packed full of frights. A must for Little fans, and a good introductory course for new recruits.

This is the scariest novel I have read in ages. Bentley Little takes a hoary old cliche like the haunted indian burial grounds and breathes new life into it by turning the concept on its head and throwing in a host of imaginative horrors. Quite a few people seem to have had trouble understanding the nature of the evil in this novel, but I don't understand why. Mr. Little certainly doesn't spoonfeed his readers, but everything's there if one takes the time to read carefully. This is one great book.