Holden Reviews

In 1413 England, a person does not defy their liege without expecting dire consequences. Astronomer Galen de Cormer worries about the lecherous demands of their lord, Preston Claybourne, who nonchalantly decides to make Galen's gorgeous daughter his mistress. Desperate to protect his beloved child from their cruel master, Galen embarks on a dangerous scheme that ultimately propels Ailith into 1998 New Orleans.

Joshua Claybourne Kenley enjoys the live recreations of the medieval times put on by his club. When Ailith lands in his tent, he figures she is just another player, but he is irritated by her disturbing his serenity. A frightened Ailith manages to hide inside Joshua's large house, but ultimately he finds her. He denies her claim of time travel, but cannot deny his attraction to the young lady. As he begins to realize that Ailith is telling the truth, he falls in love with her. She reciprocates, but feels that she must return to the past in order to s! ave her parents from the wrath of Lord Claybourne.

Fans of time travel romances need to make time for Christine Holden's delightful debut novel, A TIME FOR US. Both eras are intelligently described and the characters are all interesting. Though, Ms. Holden falls into the common trap of this sub-genre of having the chronological traveler expeditiously adapt to a radically different world (after all this time, this reviewer still has not adapted to the net), fans will devour this novel and look forward to more works from a skillful newcomer.

Harriet Klausner

I really loved this book. I'm not exactly sure why, it was just the feeling I was left with.

This is my favorite opera guide and general reference. It contains brief biographies of the composers, detailed but not overly long synopsis of the plot, given act by act, a brief overview of the performance history, a critical appraisal of the opera itself, and a very thoughtful discography demonstrating excellent musical taste. The work is presented alphabetically by composer, and chronologically by work for each composer. The writing style is clear, advanced but not pedantic, and should be accessible to beginners as well as to opera buffs. As if this weren't enough, there are historic photographs of key performances throughout the years.

The vision of opera is open-minded and broad. Porgy and Bess is here. So is Gilbert and Sullivan. When an opera exists in different manuscript versions, such as Verdi's Don Carlo or Simon Boccanegra, all variations are discussed.

Since opera is somewhat expensive to collect, listeners will want to have some guidance as to which recordings to purchase. Here the Viking Guide is particularly good. Many of the suggested recordings are selected by Alan Blyth, author of Opera on Record and Opera on CD (both very highly recommended, by the way), as well as long time reviewer for Gramophone magazine. I don't always rank recordings exactly as Blyth does, but I find his taste to be the most reliable of any of the critics whom I follow.

This volume was originally published in 1993, but is now very hard to find. The publishers have printed an abridged version under the Penguin Guide series. I understand they are also coming out with a CD-ROM version of the full Viking Guide. I can safely recommend both these alternative versions as well as my trusty hardcover version.

There are other valuable opera guides. The series published by Norton of the Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera and to Opera Plots is excellent. But for a single volume reference work, nothing surpasses the Viking Guide. Amanda Holden and her team have done a splendid job.

Very highly recommended.

I'm the type who could go on for hours about Holden and Pheobe and Ally's mitt and the girl who plays checkers and keeps the kings in the back. Everybody will obviously find their own meanings and understandings to these side reveries Holden takes us through. I just couldn't pass the opportunity to comment on the reviewers who said that Holden rambled and bored them in some ways. I wonder if these were the kids who had to read the book as assigned reading in a class they took in high school or college. I reccommend they go back.. cause I always go back to The Catcher and discover a new dawning of what Holden is trying to communicate to me. Try reading it again, it's not that big of a book you know. And maybe this time you'll see it's not really boring useless ramblings. It's a great deal more. That's the greatest part of this book.

Is this about The catcher in the rye? Then I just can say that Salinger' s work ist the most impressing book somebody has ever written for the jouth and Holden ist the most interesting 16 year-old of the world. I read The catcher in the rye when I was 16 and it' s doubtless my favourite book.

This is one book which is close to reality, a book which relates to you ,as if i would have written this book if i ever had the guts to run away , to stay alone depressed and all . its hard to forget what your past was all the kids you meet may be good may be bad may be some you hated but its like you remember certain moments of certain days not that somthing special happened that day may be nothing happened but still you can picture it . Holden's character is one to which all the youths can identify with . I did not get the meaning of the title till Holden tells Phobey about what he wants to be , "THE CATCHER IN THE RYE".I probably want to be ,i don't know what but somebody different somebody good , a person who has certain amount of "HUMAN TOUCH". It is just that i seem to lose my way like holden. Holden was a dreamer , a child depressed by the circumstances . Its the best book i ever read or probably will ever read , definately no.1 book of all times.

This is an excellent book, which not only gives a useful introduction to Python, but also gives very good introduction to the topics of networking, databases, and anything and everything web-app related. And a pile of other stuff too.

Each section starts from the assumption that the reader knows nothing about the topic, yet doesn't patronise, or paddle along at too slow a pace.

There are a few things that bothered me about this book: It would have been really nice to have pointers to further information and articles for each topic, a better index and fewer references to language features that aren't actually explained anywhere (such as list comprehension).

Apart from these smaller complaints this book is really very good. Perhaps the bast thing about it is that it explains how all the various technologies fit together. Well worth buying.

Python Web Programming by Steve Holden with David Beazley; New Riders, 2002, 691 pages.

Python Web Programming is a great resource for web programmers. I have found not found this much information, on all aspects of web programming with Python, in any other book. It is extremely well
written and a joy to read.

The book first gives an overview of the Python language. This overview is well worth reading, even if you are already a Python expert. Steve Holden has a unique and interesting perspective on the matters at hand, and he gives very detailed expositions on the whys and wherefores behind various Pythonic idioms. I found that this section gave me a different point of view and a deeper understanding of several aspects of Python's design and structure than I had previously realized.

Next, in a very rich and informative section, over 100 pages are devoted to Network Programming in Python. After giving a very clear and detailed overview of basic network programming basics, the author shows how the Python libraries can be used to do meaningful client side and then server side web programming. I am sure that I will come back often to this section as I further explore CGI programming and also server side programming. The book gives good instructions on how to practice server side programming even if you only have a simple web connection. This section is really valuable.

Database Programming in Python then receives over 100 pages of work. I am weak in this area, but the explanations in this section gave me a good enough background to better understand the database parts of later web programming topics.

Next, almost 100 pages are devoted to XML and Python, including SAX. This section is also well written and the explanations were enough for me to again comprehend the following web programming topics whenever XML came into play.

Finally, the book covers some home brewed, integrated web applications. AWeFUL, an object oriented web site framework, and PythonTeach, a web application for use in academica, are two straight forward programs very well understood by Steve Holden and are beautifully explained.

This book is worthwhile to anyone with an interest in CGI, server-side programming, or just web programming using Python in general. Really, I think that anyone "into" Python will thoroughly enjoy this book, and will learn a lot. The database and XML sections are like icing on the cake. I believe the book is aimed at folks experienced with Python, but the explanations are detailed and clear enough for even those who are not "experts".

I highly recommend this book.

This book will help anyone trying to learn the Python language. I have used this book many times while writing Python code and it always remains close by! The visual reference is extremely helpful and effective during the learning process and the authors provide just enough written explanation without drowning the reader with a bunch of theory. Can't think of a book I enjoyed or would recommend more!!...

This book is a farse. Susan does not have any real life experience to back up her claims. It sounds great on paper but really shows her lack of insight. She really appears "out to make a buck" at anybody's expense but her own. I give it a thumbs down!

How many books have I read and said to myself something like: "Wow - this book is a real eye opener." But now if you ask me what the book did for my life or what the book was about, I can't tell you. These books I have read only once.

On the other hand, I have probably read The Land of I Can ten times. And I will read it again many more times. The pictures go very well with the text.

What struck me most was the page: "Ask yourself WHAT? Not How? Not When? Just WHAT?" After talking to the author, I realized I have usually been in "The Land of Fear." Instead of focusing on taking one small step, I get all caught up in worrying about how and when.

Being a complicationist, this books really appeals to me. Susan Gilbert has simplified her message so much that it strikes you in the face, it makes you ask yourself: "Okay, so I've heard this before, but am I doing it? Do I really believe this? What am I doing about my dream?"

This book may well become the bible of the human potential movement.

The Land Of I Can: An Adventure In Life is an inspiring, informative, and original book of self-empowerment ideal for readers of any age or background seeking to live their life to the fullest. Susan Gilbert's engaging and thought-provoking text of poetically expressed observations are wonderfully enhanced with the artwork of Jill E. Holden. The Land Of I Can will be read over and over again -- and become treasured gift from passed along from friend to friend.

Almost all sales books have two major flaws: 1) They give you high level advise, such as "have a strategy" without giving you the "rubber-meets-the-road" actions to take. 2) They expect you to operate within a vaccuum where their selling system or methodology will work every time.

Power Base selling does not contain the first flaw and does an admirable job of trying to avoid the second. It is the first and best book I have read attacking the problem of organizational politics and the human dynamics in a corporate or complex selling environment. It gives very practical ideas on what to do in most political/selling situations to tilt the decision in your favor.

What this book does not do, nor attempt to do, is discuss the importance of a value proposition and the solution you are trying to sell. This is a great book to complement other famous sales books such as "Solution Selling."

I recommend this book highly to anyone that sells in a complex sales world.

The first time I read Power Base Selling, I thought it was great. Now that I have just re-read it, I am blown away by points that I missed the first time around. I recommend that everyone read it, apply it and then read it again -- it not only sharpins your political skills in selling, but in life.

Great read. Maybe too many stories...yet they explain his point in a clear sense. If you read between the lines and get the big picture of his strategic principles you can no doubt improve you sales performance.

As a serious poker player, I found this interesting, but not riveting.

An excellent insight into the mind of a serious poker player. I bought this book on impulse at a second-hand store, and read it in two sittings because my wife forced me to stop to sleep. A riveting look at the world of professional poker and poker tournaments by an inside outsider: Anthony Holden is a very erudite and urbane journalist who also wrote hugely successful biographies of Mr Charles Windsor and Ms Diana Spencer. He is also a passionate poker player, and spent one year as a professional. Considering that he broke even, you can take what he says reasonably seriously!

Anthony Holden, the author of many biographies including Olivier and Prince Charles, decides to leave his day job behind for an entire year to become a professional poker player. In his journeys he travels to Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisiana, New York, Malta, Morocco, and the Carribbean to play the best in the world. He sits down with several former World Champions, and he busts a few along the way. Ultimately you learn what goes on inside the head of a man who lives to play the game. He begins and ends his journey at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker.

As a narritive, it is the finest book on poker I have yet to read.

The ideas presented although sound are just too brief. For folks who have been working for years one can quote probably countless more scenarios that are left unexplored.

For example, the topic of backstabbing was just touched within a solitary chapter near the end of the book. The fact is, the general rule still applies irregardless of whether one buys this book or not, 1) build a rock solid foundation, build your reputation and keep to your end of the bargain. Which is good and hard honest work. Unfortunately, that cant keep you alive in a politically rife environment.

So identifying a political mindfield is just half of the battle. The next battle is, how to convince your peers to see the bigger picture and work towards a win/win situation where everyone succeeds. For a book entitled Positive Politics this area was never even mentioned.

I'm giving it 2 stars, cause it's not worth the money I've paid for it, the book lacks depth.

As I'm struggling with office politics on a daily basis, this book really gives me a brand new perspective on how to deal with those "black art" experts and get ahead of the game without being acting like them. I would encourage anyone who is frustrated with office politics to read this book.

This book is both insightful and inspiring. It offers a new perspective on office politics - how to make it work for you! It is clear that the author has experience in the game of office politics, and provides some very real (and recognizable) examples. A good read and a highly recommended survival guide to all!

This is by far the WORST AND POOREST book I've ever read. Any normal human being (or animal)who has read this book will either become mad and kill himself or throw it from the highest floor of the nearest building after having rippen it to pieces (I also burned it). I have read a lot of books in my life (I read 4 books/week since I'm 9) and this is the only one I've destroied!! It's horrible and I'm now sure that Zola was completely out of his mind!!!
Nana is a completely stupid and horrible 18-year old girl who can't do anything else than prostitute herself and destroy others lives and who (God thank you) dies like all her family in the other books. The book is SO BORING!!!!!! You really want to die to stop reading it!!! And it's long..
There doesn't happen anything during the whole book, which is almost 700 pages long!! I read it in French, I hope it's better in English for the poor souls who will have to read it.
Zola is well-known because he writes "well", meaning he uses methaphores and other special constructions, but can you imagine 700 pages full of words you don't understand and complicated structures??!! It's like hell.
The book is a critizism of the Second Empire, politics, and how society works. It's a naturalist novel and heredity is the most important fact. Now we know that all the theory of heredity is false, so this novel is completely out-of-date. I hope you will never have to analyse Nana, because it's almost impossible, I tried!!!! (for school of course).
IF YOU WANT TO LIVE LONG AND HAPPY, DON'T BUY OR READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

As the back cover of the book says, Nana by Emile Zola is the story of a woman of very low birth who uses her beauty to conquer the high society men of Paris on her way to becoming a courtesan of immense power and attraction. Nana takes place during the final days of the Second Empire of Napoleon III and actually ends with the event that would herald the downfall of the empire: the declaration of war against Prussia.

Zola is considered the leading member of the naturalist group of writers. Naturalists are concerned with real worldliness. They wish to portray a sense of what life is really like for their characters. They tend more to concentrate on the type of character that they are writing about instead of the character's uniqueness. As such, Nana becomes a story more about courtesans from lowly births than it is about Nana.

Naturalist writing also tends to lend itself to subjects of societal ills and debauchery. Naturalists seek to show the world in all its filth and depravity. To do this they must go where one finds this stuff: in the gutters.

Unfortunately, in his attempt to portray the character types one finds in the company of someone like Nana, Zola has created more caricatures than characters. Few of the characters in Nana where credible participants. Nana herself is unlike anyone you would find in sane society and seems more like an amalgam of various real world influences than a person of one mind.

The male characters of Nana were particularly egregious examples of overzealousness by Zola. The Comte Muffat is Nana's primary benefactor throughout the story. He withstands great hardships and torments from Nana with nary a protest. This may have been believeable if only Muffat had been the victim of Nana's capriciousness; but, she strings along many more men in this manner, robbing them of their dignity and fortunes without so much as a whimper from them.

Nana is compared to a golden fly who rises from the dung heap to taint the high society Parisian world that she invades with her low birth debauchery and sin. Nana may be a metaphor for the overall breakdown of French society which preceded the collapse of the Second Empire; but, Zola would have done better to lay it on less thick. Nana could have been an excellent statement on the necessity of retaining a moral backbone to maintain the fabric of society. Instead, it reads like a cheap nineteenth century soap opera played out with exaggerated, unreal characters.

Emile Zola is credited to have written the first "modern" French novels, that is to say, novels about contemporary subject matter and society, written in a natural style, which is why he is called a Naturalist writer. He was a very observant man, with an eye for detail and realistic dialogue and scenarios. He was a friend of the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas, who himself was considered to be a modern artist for his photographic style of paintings. Emile Zola's greatest novel has got to be Nana.

Far from the sugary and innocent Gigi story by Gabrielle Colette which would come later, Nana takes place as the French Second Empire comes to a close. From 1852 to 1870, France became a capitalistic Gilded Age, a time in which men and women would stop at nothing to make it into high society. The decadence of the period is captured, as well as the poverty and decaying morals. It would not be long before Emperor Louis Napoleon III lost the Franco Prussian War (1870-1871) and the empire collapsed. Nana is the daughter of a poor laundress- a washer woman from the country. She becomes a courtesan, a high class prostitute with many wealthy and powerful clients. These include financiers and even a count. Nana has an influence over all the men she becomes involved with, and they are smitten by her, offering her homes and material benefits from her ... favors. In the end, Nana becomes a symbol for the ... society of Emile Zola's time. This novel is a good read for fans of Zola's Naturalistic style and should be read prior to his "The Debacle" which deals with the Franco Prussian War.

Nana became the subject for a Manet painting. The book and the painting shocked the stuffy Salon society of Paris, especially because Nana is so blatant in her ...feminine powers over men. But the novel is excellent, a masterpiece of French literature, a critique on the ridiculous level of poverty at the time. Mothers were willing to sell their daughters into prostitution. Nana, however much a hold she has over the men, cannot get the one thing she truly wants- a place in decent French society. She was always seen as a courtesan with no real ladylike qualities. They were wrong. Nana is a great character, and Emile Zola takes us to that time with such precison and power that we are as if in a time machine transported to those French streets and to those brothel bedrooms. He writes without any hold bars. His novels should be made into films. I suggest this reading material for any fan of French writers. If you like Honore De Balzac, Gustav Flaubert and the time period of the Second French Empire, this is your book.