Dodge Reviews

With a book like this, many readers cheat themselves by assuming that they already know what it's about, because they heard the outline of the story before, and therefore they have no need to really read it. A lot like the way some people treat the Bible, or at least large parts of the Bible. Anyway, I recently re-read this book to one of my daughters, and can report that upon close consideration, this book is really a retrospective Calvinistic explanation for how old Dr. Boekman finds a successor for his surgical practice, following Dr. Boekman's disappointment in his only son, who never liked medicine and who in fact found a reason to run away from Holland to resettle in England to pursue a business career. The rich descriptions of Dutch history and culture form the context for this drama.

Consequently, Dr. Boekman's whole outlook on life, exemplified by his perpetual frown, descends into depression as he humorlessly goes about his surgical practice, all the while increasing his fame which radiates from Amsterdam far out into the provinces, symbolized by the transportation and communication pathway of the frozen canals, over which all ages and classes of people happily skate through what used to be extremely cold winter months in Holland. These canals have not frozen solid on a regular basis for many decades.

These frozen canals in turn exemplify Dr. Boekman's frozen heart, which ultimately gets melted as a result of the importuning of Raff Brinker's son, young Hans, who cajoles old Dr. Boekman into taking a look at old Raff, who has been an invalid since suffering a closed head trauma while working out on the dikes during a fierce storm.

Dr. Boekman ends up surgically unblocking the "brainfreeze" suffered by Raff Brinker, who comes back to life "talking like an Amsterdam lawyer" which is a complete turn around from his invalid state where he appeared to be a distant, angry, barely controllable hulk crouching in his house by the fire, and casting a gloom of social obloquy which tainted not only his children, but his very cottage, in the eyes of most of the other respectable members of Dutch society, as they skated by on their local frozen canal.

By the end of the book, the connection achieved by Hans Brinker between his remote father and the remote surgeon seems to have spread, or networked, and young Hans is a rising surgeon practicing with Dr. Boekman, and happily married, while Dr. Boekman's biological son returns, or is redeemed back from England to practice a bustling business trade also in Amsterdam. The silver skates and the races on the canals are mainly a way for Hans to prove something to himself, that he can set his mind to what he wishes to achieve, and against all odds achieve it. The fact that all of this works to bring reconciliation and happiness back into people who are disconnected and frozen, rather than constituting a sappy, Dickensian series of unlikely coincidences, instead creates more of an echo of predestination than merely a "happy ending."

But then again, this is only one explanation of what we have here in this classic book.

I thought it was a wounderful story for the whole family to read.

Is this the greatest book ever? Maybe, maybe not. Shakespeare had some good ones. Either way, this merits the five stars I've given it. Delve into one of the greatest stories ever told, and learn all about Holland. By the time you're done, you'll want to go ice skating.

So strap on your wooden skates and squeek across the ice of Ole Holland. Who gets the silver skates? Who is the greatest hero? Is hidden fortune just under the peat moss?

Dat hangt er van af . . .

This starts off promisingly as a weird road tale full of rock 'n roll and stoned philosophy. A little over halfway through, though, the story just loses momentum and gets as lost as the protagonist, George Gastin, does in the end. I found myself finishing it with a feeling of, "yeah, and the punchline is.....? " It's entertaining enough to read, but there's no payoff when you put the book down.

I couldn't put this one down until it was over - a wild, nostalgic ride back over familiar territory - the characters are vibrant and sometimes brilliant - I was inspired to start my own Buddy Holly novel - still in the works! One of the few books that I have read more than twice!

Wow! I picked up Not Fade Away in a book store for a dollar, not knowing that I had found such a gem. This story was told exceptionally well, crazy, hilarious, and down right odd - I think this book should be read in schools! Put a little free spirit in your life and buy this book!

Very informative for identification of tins and their values. Would highly recommend this book to all. Great color and photography. Quite evident that a lot of foresight and hard work went into making this book what it is, the leader in the field of tins. A must for all collectors.

Absolutely great for tin collectors. Great pictures, acurate values. Love it.

Dodge Books II (1998) and III (1999) are already in print. You folks are not staying abreast of the field.

I feel that this book is quite simple and colourful, mostly are graphics with some paragraphs next to it. This book has a lot of interesting graphics, which I do not mind since it is an ATLAS. I will recommend this book for those people who is looking for some enjoyable reading. Since it has a very colourful pictures in every pages and the content is not too technical, I finished reading this book in half a day.

In "The Atlas of Cyberspace", I was anticipating a book patterned on Tufte's "Visual Display of Quantitative Information". Indeed, much of the graphical content of Dodge and Kitchin's book is beautiful, thought-provoking and informative. Unfortunately, the printing is unforgivably bad; the images deserve high quality renderings. Several of the most intriguing hand-drawn and computer-generated images are simply illegible; all of them have lost their textural presence and contrast.

The text, on the other hand, ranges from workmanlike commentary on the graphics to watered down post modern cultural analysis. Light editing could remove at least half of the illustrations, providing a tighter focus on the remainder. In many cases, multiple instances of the same type of diagram are presented. Although this may be a start toward serious design analyses, it's distracting in a coffee table book such as this one.

The organization is by content rather than by visualization type. The first quarter of the book traces the history of the development of the web, and attempts to map traffic patterns and growth. The next section concentrates on the informational organization of the web, as opposed to the physical or topological. The third quarter maps "community", including more literal instances such as MUDs, as well as purely virtual ones such as discussion groups. The weakest section of the book is the last, which traces "cyberpunk", represented here with quotes from Gibson and Stephenson. This final section includes gratuituous screen shots from "The Matrix" and even more gratuitous "analysis".

Despite this book's many shortcomings, there's no alternative, and the fraction of the images that are truly inspiring make "Atlas of Cyberspace" not only worthwhile, but almost necessary.

This was all I expected and more. Over 100 ways of presenting data about the Internet, including fantastic advances in data collection AND analysis AND presentation. Beauty arises from every page. You may need to have a love for mathematics, statistics, the Internet, or just art to "get" this book - but I have a soft spot for all four of those, and fell head over heels.

This book is a combination of two extremes: on one hand, a detailed, capturing portrait of the nefarious Hederick, no more than three pages in the "Chronicles" Saga. On the other hand... a pathetic group of mismatched "heroes": a seventy year-old ex-Seeker, a misguided but well-meaning mage, a thief who seems to be the only sensible character, and centaurs and kender and slaves for no reason than they could be there. There are some pointless chapters but a lot of good scenes with Hederick. If you can get past the fact there isn't much of a good guy to root for, you can see one of the best examples of villany in this book, in the title character.

By the end of this book, even though I knew Hederick survived to see the Chronicles, I wanted this guy dead!

The Seekers were evil. Their methods were cruel & their reasons made you want to pull your hair out. Hederick was the worst of them all.

I have read a few other books set in Solace and I heard of the Seekers. Didn't really know what they were 'till now. Hederick starts out in a small village where he worships a false god. Then a Seeker preist comes into town and converts Hederick. Then when his cleric sister comes back tot he town, he is forced to "Clense" it. He then goes on to become the world's most powerful religious leader.

A friend loaned me The Checkered Years, and after reading it, I purchased two copies, one to give away and another to lend and ultimately to keep in my library. From the day-to-day writings of Mary Dodge Woodward, the reader begins to understand the central role of weather in the life of the early Dakota settlers - the awesome cold, wind, and heat; the blizzards, drought, and flood - all matter-of-factly but beautifully described in an unpretentious diary. The diary entries give a hint of the tremendous effort it took on Mary's part and that of her family to build up a large wheat farm, and along with that, the uncertainties she faced as a widow growing old. I wish the book had more background information in its introduction and more diary entries that, even though they probably would have seemed repetitive, may have given more focus to the people mentioned in the selections.

I first read the diary of Mary Dodge Woodward several years ago. Because I love the sound of Mary's written voice, I've reread it several times. It never fails to enchant. Reading this book is almost like time traveling back to the Bonanza Farm days. I found this story so compelling that I actually searched out the site of this old farm and visited with it's current residents. The site of the old Dodge farm is just west of Sheyenne Road, a half mile west of the Garrison Diversion substation. I stood in the remains of Mary's old cellar, and showed my children the location of the old barn that had the skull and crossbones sign painted on it. The location of the machine shop continues to hold so much old oil from Mary's time that grass does not grow on the site. This is a wonderful book for anyone that likes to read about the early days of Dakota territory.

The year is not new enough. When I had that year Vehicle it was ok. I have a '98 Quad Cab, and Trannie went out, I wanted to research it. Cant find a book. My wife has a '98 quad cab and the trannie went. The front wheel bearings are supposed to be greasable in my V-10, Need to find out how to do that. Need the book. Asked for one from the Library, but nothing has come back yet. thanks Mike

Hey, I need a repair manual for a full size Dodge Puck-up truck Year 1999 for 24 value diesel engine. Have you got or will have in the future?

If you expect anything even approaching an objective and truthful retelling or analysis of the Phelps Dodge strike, you'll be sadly disappointed. Kingsolver picks a series of unsubstantiated and self-interested stories of the strikers and completely ignores the horrible violence committed by the unions.

...

Barbara Kingsolver was a young reporter in Arizona when she was assigned to write a story about this strike. Little did she know then that the strike would last for eighteen months, and that this book would be a natural outgrowth of her interest. The book is filled with facts and figures as well as the stories of people who bravely "held the line" each day, picketing against the "scab" workers that were brought in by the Phelps Dodge Copper Corporation. It's also the story of a town, where the only work was in the mine. And it's also about the generations of Mexican American citizens of that town who had to fight prejudice as well as the everyday dangers inherent in mining.

Most of all though, it is the story of the women and how this strike broadened their understanding of the world beyond their families, and let them develop new strengths. For it was mostly the women who stood on that picket line - the wives, sisters and mothers of the men who would have been arrested. Families were threatened with eviction. There was even a catastrophic flood during this time, which brought its own kind of devastation. And some of the women were arrested too. But despite intimidation, tear gas and harassment, the community stood firm.

I was particularly interested in the stories of the handful of women who actually worked in the mine. One of them had 11 children but needed the work to be able to help her husband support the family. Eight dollars an hour doesn't seem like much, but it was considered a good wage compared with $3.00 an hour for being a secretary. Several of them described the actual work, including the heavy lifting all day long and sometimes working as many as 28 days in a row. Their male co-workers verbally harassed them. And there was no special restroom for women. Eventually though, they won respect.

But when the corporation wanted to cut wages and eliminate even a cost-of-living increase, the strike started. It went on and on. Ms. Kingsolver goes into all the details. It was fascinating. It was if I was just picked up from my New York City apartment and plunked down on the picket line of a little town that had less people than one apartment building on my block.

The eventual result wasn't very good for anybody though. Not in the usual sense. But by the time the author gives her own spin on the situation, including her feminist politics, I was left with a positive feeling, as was her intention. I learned things from this book. I learned about a copper mine in Arizona, the actual jobs and the people who worked there. I learned about the large and imperfect system of unions in this country. And, most of all, I learned about the strength and courage of a few special women.

Barbara Kingsolver is one of the, if not the, greatest writers ever produced by America, maybe, the world. With care and compassion, she writes a thorough account of the mine strike of 1983 in Southern Arizona. During the height of the Cold War, while Reagan was calling the Soviet Union and Communism, the "evil empire," things which Americans thought went on "only over there" were happening in Southern Arizona. Hard-working people who did no more than stand up for there rights, were denied their right to assemble, to speak, to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Judges, Governor Bruce Babbitt, Department of Public Safety, the National Guard, and the local authorities, all in the pocket and payroll of Phelps Dodge Copper Corporation who was trying to break up the Unions, so they could re-institute racist, sexist, classist, policies.

They all failed. The Morenci Mine Women's Auxiliary led the way to community solidarity against all odds. More than any strike victory, they gained, life, confidence, and a purpose in life. Read this book, it's told in the form of interviews and narrative. You'll get to know and have affection for Anna O'Leary, Flossie Navarro, Berta Chavez, and many other women of Clifton, Arizona. You'll root for them, be inspired by them, and, be moved by them. What a wake up call! Working people of the world, UNITE!

If you are new to the building business - this is definitely NOT the book to buy or read. I found the book to be very general speaking on all 26 topics being discussed. E.g. topics on computers - why to use them or not - are completely outdated.

This book lacks a lot of detail. It scans over most items and I really find it difficult to highlight facts that I would re-read later. This book will NOT make me a successful Builder - just a frustrated reader.

Good book. A solid value. This is a very versatile book, as it applies to all types of construction business. Its really about solid business practices(not strictly pertaining to building, although theres plenty about that in here). This book is very business oriented and covers quite a bit in the legal aspect as well. Good book with good templates. Finally i got some decent info on lein waivers. To those who arent computer savvy, chapter 17 is for you.

This is a wonderful book on the industry. If you are interested in becoming a contractor and don't have much experience with the all of building aspects, this book should enlighten you. I highly recommend it.

The book is a rehash of the authors' 1999 publication "Running Microsoft Excel 2000." Both books have the same problem, i.e. a lack of comprehensive examples. Of the two, this book is only slightly better. Some of the examples appear to be extracted from the Help file rather than providing additional needed information.

Also, for someone learning or attempting to advance in Excel, neither of these books follow the [helpful] format of the rudimentary "Step by Step Microsoft" books that include, in the margins, pictures of the buttons. These give the relative novice potentially quick aid in navigating the system.

Contrary to the other two reviews that existed when I wrote this, I found this book to be just what I needed. I have years of experience with every version of Excel, but only at a modest level. Because I do my work in SQL Server, I never needed any of the more obscure (to me) Excel features, until now. This book answered several of the how-to questions I had with its examples.

I have to agree with the reviewer who wanted more depth. While this book has met my immediate needs, it is clear that it is going to leave me wanting more, very soon. I will certainly have to buy a more advanced book, but I would not have been happy with a very advanced book before I used this one.

My advice is to take a look at the sample pages on Amazon and only buy the book if it addresses your specific issues.

As an Excel programmer, I needed a "base-text" for setting up VBA. I gave it a 5 star because it has the main material I need to setup the next step to make Excel do the max. This is an intro Excel text that covers many areas essential to my work. I noticed the rather weak reviews of this text an I am surprised. I wonder if they really read the book! For VBA work, I use MS Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbach. The combination of these two books makes working in Excel very easy.