Winton Reviews

A glorious little book,to be read over and over

This book was read on Montana Public Radio, and is a wonderful, moving story of nature, change, and humanity. Rich in its simplicity, profound in its beauty. Highly recommended.

I hope someday to be a world traveler and Abel traveled the world

An excellent, well-written book with great examples that should work for both beginners and advanced users. No other book on Palm OS development [I think I own just about all of them] overlaps in any serious way with the topics treated so thoroughly in this book.

The chapters on non-blocking sockets are an absolute must-read for anybody who wants to develop robust, responsive, real-world applications for the Palm OS.

Two nit-picky items: 1) the book is somewhat more verbose than it needs to be because of irrelevancies about "the Zen of this..." and the "Tao of that...". If you ignore these altogether too-cute sidebars, you'll have a generally more productive and pleasant read. 2) there are some occasional stylistic problems with the C-code. Not errors, but things like assignments to local variables that would never be referenced that show up. The code is also somewhat more pedestrian than that employed by most working C or C++ coders. For the large audience, this might be a plus. I think the style makes it more accessible to VB and NS-Basic types. But it will be a little off-putting to the hard-core.

This is THE Book to have if you intend to do any type of network programming on the palm. The time you'll save in the first hour will pay for the book.

Not only is it very well written it includes many great examples, covering the simple to the complex. Even if I'm only doing something relatively simple I've found it's always worth it to see how the author's handled the situation in his examples. There's also a lot of information here that's only briefly touched on in the Palm OS Reference or not covered at all.

I'm very careful about purchasing books, usually relying on reference manuals and online docs when I can. However, this is one that I have absolutely no regrets about adding to my library.

Kevin

I found this book to be exactly what I was in search of - something to clearly explain how to use NetLib along with well documented examples! Greg Winton does an excellent job of taking the reader through the development of an FTP application (explaining NetLib and sockets along the way) - each chapter builds on the previous and introduces new concepts in comprehensible portions.

I admit, like most engineers, that I jumped ahead to the end to see the "whole enchilada", but then went back and reread the earlier chapters. This was still a good approach for absorbing all that is presented in this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone venturing into networking their Palm. It is well written, concise, and contains insights from someone who is clearly experienced in networking.

This book is the most definitive book yet to come out on Royal Winton. A bonus is the history it includes as well as the pricing. I use it as a reference book.

I enjoyed reading about the history of the Royal Winton family and its pottery factory in Stoke-On-Trent. I have been a collector of chintz and the insight that this book gave me really enhanced my collecting.

A very informative book.

From the early historical photos to the images of today's Royal Winton, the book is a must-read trip back in time. So many collectors' books read more like catalogs than books. This one is a refreshing change. The author traveled to England and found an elderly couple, once residents of Staffordshire, who actually grew up in the potteries. They recalled in the book what it was like then, as children, surrounded by The Potteries. The book is full of color, and not just in the photos, but in the enormous importance the porecelain played in the common lives of the potters and in the royal lives of the King and Queen. The writer takes you inside The Potteries and shows you how the ceramics were made and explains why certain patterns were done the way they were. A must-read for not just collectors but historians too.

A wonderful collection of sayings and one-liners. The stories are side-splitting. A true gem. I highly recommend this book. It is the perfect gift for a Yankee living below the Mason-Dixie Line...

Wonderful. This book is filled with classic sayings and one-liners. The stories are side-splitting. A real gem. I highly recommend this little book!

Beautiful, inviting pictures and thoroughly re-readable text, this is the story of how Alice overcomes her fear of deep water with the aid of some friendly dolphins.

My two year old loves having this read to her, she points to the pictures of the dreamy underwater world and squeals wth delight, 'She's swimming!!!' Older children will enjoy reading it themselves, and perhaps they will come to see that their own fears can be overcome too.

This combines Winton's knowledge about kids with his love of the ocean. About a family who love to swim off the pier in the ocean, the young girl is afraid of going too far into the deep water.

It is not one of those stridently didactic books that sacrifices literature for a "good message". It is a terrific book to share with children who are facing particular fears (my son was scared of the water) - and acknowledging that fears are usual but can be overcome.

The illustrations are also lovely, the water that special Australian ocean blue!

Richard Woldendorf and Tim Winton collaborate to produce a breathtakingly handsome compendium of photography showcasing the beauty, grandeur, majesty, and scenic wonder of Australia in Down To Earth: Australian Landscapes. A remarkable body of work transforming a varied spectrum of landscape images into works of memorable and impressive photographic art recommended to students of photography, as well as the non-specialist general reader who appreciates images drawn from natural landscapes and elevated to the standards of fine art.

As an Australian who has lived for 28 years in the tropics of Australia, I can testify the this book is WYSIWYG. I have seen some of the places depicted, and can assure anyone that the photographs are genuine. I can only urge any person with an artistic frame of mind (or indeed anyone with an interest in Australia) to have a look at this book. They will find it rewarding.

Cheerio

Robbie White

AIRCRAFT CARRIER by John Winton is a fictional account of British corsair pilots operating from a British aircraft carrier (one of four) of the British Pacific Fleet in the last months of the war. Whilst the American Fleet was investing Okinawa the BPF was acting in support by suppressing Japanese air activities against Okinawa from Sakishima Gunto and other nearby Japanese held islands between Formosa and Okinawa. In an environment where a single pass was dangerous and a second pass suicidal, the British pilots kept up the ground strafing pressure for weeks on end. The British carrier's superior radar and hurricane bow are referred to, and once hit their armoured deck enables them to stay on station and repair much faster than their American counterparts. There is also reference to the later British invention of the mirror landing system. However the British carrier's role is effected by limited aircraft carrying capacity and by lower fuel endurance. After being downed and rescued at sea by an American submarine the principal character takes leave in Sydney, which was the BPF home port. A short intense respite then back to the war and death for many pilots with the end of the war now in clear sight. This is one of the few novels of the British Pacific Fleet in action and it paints a very clear picture of its role and activities. Fantastic book, with excellent aerial descriptions, and a great WW2 story.

This book is magic for people who, like me, love the Australian "outback" and want to take a little bit of it home. But for all those who have never been, and can perhaps only dream of going, then the next best way of experiencing its mystery,its stark beauty, not to mention the warmth of the locals, is through Bill Bachman's marvellous photos. They capture his love for the country and believe me, the colours are real! Outback Australia truly is this red.

ddc is a very useful classification scheme.about 98%libraries through out the world uses this scheme.so i recommended this scheme for all kind of libraries.

I could not put this book down if I had wanted. The complete Australian atmosphere mesmerized me ... or was it Mr. Winton's unique style of writing? He certainly has a way of capturing a scene in every sentence. This was, perhaps, the closest one can come to experience humanity through a novel. The ordinary lives of humans captured in the normal unexpected events that occur in one's own life. The tragic fragility of what we experience as life can be summed up in the story of Fish. I would recommend this book to high school teachers everywhere. Additionally, I am left wondering how this book could have been missed by the individuals who decide the Booker Prize and its' shortlist

Tim Winton's work was recommended to me by an Australian friend who is an avid reader and it did not disappoint. I was captivated by his freeflowing style and by his excellent character studies. The way he brought to life the characters of Sam and Dolly, Lester and Oriel, Rose and Quick, and Fish was a wonder to behold. I felt I knew exactly how they would react in any of the situations they found themselves. Although being a "Yank" I had to check in everyday with my "Aussie" mate to translate some of the slang words used by Mr. Winton in his marvelous story, I thoroughly enjoyed his tale of two families and the obstacles they had to overcome. The final paragraph of this book was well worth the effort it took to read it. Cloudstreet is a wonderful read and I am so grateful to my Australian friend for sending me this book. I highly recommed this Australian gem to all my fellow Americans!

The Los Angeles Times Book Review states "Winton is a one-man band of genius."

Heady words, and I snapped at the bait, intrigued by the raving reviews of the readers. (Be careful not to read all of them, as one gives away the entire ending in one sentence).

I was not disappointed. I was completely captivated by this story in a way I have never been by any other. The originality, teasing slang and the insight into australian post-world war II was a hearty combination that cadenced into one of the most fascinating books I have ever read.

This book went with me everywhere. I discussed it with many and especially enjoyed lingering over certain sentences ripe with slang. It was probably one of the most delightful aspects of reading this book; the freshness and foreigness to me as an American reading the saucy expressions of Australians. The humor is hilarious, and there was a smile for nearly every page I read and also moments that made your heart melt. At this very moment, there are friends of mine working in medicine (hospital) still trying to figure out what Tim Winton meant by "the smell of nugget in the webbing."

Aside from the hilarity, the novel is about two families that by chance come together to live in the same large home. The Pickles Family inherits a large home from a relative that dies suddenly and unexpectantly. Thanks to this relative (Uncle Joel) and his wise forethought, he bars his brother, Sam from selling the home for 20 years. Joel's motivation is a premeditated attempt to protect the wife and children of Sam and Sam's gambling at the race tracks, not to mention the unfortunate work related amputation of his fingers on one hand that renders him nearly unemployable. Since things are pretty grim anyway (they are living above the bar that Joel owns and "working" off the rent,) Sam's drunken wife Dolly, and his children move on up to Cloudstreet and the mansion in the offering.

Sam, ever so shifty, immediately, and without prior consultation with the rest of his family, rents out one half of the house to the Lamb family. The Lambs are the absolute opposite of the Pickles. Religious, and with their own family sorrows, they pack in and set up a grocery store in their one half of the lower story to make a living.

The Lambs arrive after suffering through the near drowning of their most beloved son, Fish. (note the irony.)
Fish, retarded and prone to sensing spirits in the house and in and of himself becomes essential to the story and the telling. Revolving around this poor boy are the steel strength-heart soft mother, Oriel, and father Lester, a hen-pecked, sweet tempered,entertaining pa. Son "Quick" is the angst-ridden brother who feels responsible for Fish's accident and grows up fighting the evils around him. The other sisters round out this lively family.

Many characters and sub-plots keep this book a page turner that will entertain and move you. I look forward to reading the rest of his novels.

PS : there is a study guide for those that want to enhance the novel. See Amazon.com under author Tim Winton.