Masterful introduction to a difficult set of texts
935384
It is surprising that this book has not attracted more attention. As an introduction to Heidegger's notoriously difficult later texts there is nothing else like it. Braver bases his essays on Krell's Basic Writings making this the perfect companion text to a course on the later Heidegger. Braver's style is clear, precise and sympathetic to the struggles that the reader will most certainly be having with Heidegger's difficult style. He manages to pull off the difficult task of pushing the reader toward Heidegger's texts rather than away (as many such introductions do by outlining the difficulties over the benefits).  Rather than replacing the direct reading of Heidegger it acts as a spur to delve into the essays themselves. There is no mystification of Heidegger here and for that we can be thankful.

 Although the work is clearly aimed at students (and by extension teachers) Braver does not reduce Heidegger down to the bare bones. In fact nothing important is excluded here or at least nothing a non-specialist requires for gaining a foothold. The important ideas are explained but in such a manner that nothing is explained away. This might give the impression that there is nothing to be gained here for specialists, but that is incorrect. I found myself discovering all kinds of details hidden in Braver's notes and in some cases Braver's conclusions have forced me to re-consider my own assumptions about what these essays mean. There are three kinds of people who should own this book (1) students both undergraduate and graduate trying to make sense of the later Heidegger (2) teachers who should certainly consider it a potential classroom text to accompany a course on the later Heidegger alongside Krell's Basic Writings (3) Heidegger scholars who tend to ignore the later essays as mytho-poetic or downright weird. I, for one, have had to re-evaluate my own position of the later writings based on this book and therefore I cannot recommend it enough.
1729750
I initially encountered Teaching the Postmodern when I was a nineteen-year-old undergraduate first struggling to grasp the nuances of Derrida, Foucault, and Lacan. I picked it out at random from the library and studied it carefully. Postmodern concepts are difficult to understand, but Marshall's presentation makes them accessible without dumbing them down. Now, as a professor of literature myself, this is the book that I recommend to people as an introduction to literary theory and analysis.
4918313
Coming across old treasures like The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare is always a welcome surprise. That there are a plethora of options for would be readers of Shakespeare is made completely evident by a mere search through Amazon's offered collection. I myself searched for nearly an hour, cross-comparing reviews and prices as I searched for an edition which would be both price friendly and complete. Between my own experience with reading Shakespeare, and the reviews across which I came on Amazon, I knew what I did not want in a text. I did not want a text which had merely reproduced an older typesetting, as these tend to employ fonts that are difficult to read. I did not want a text which was prone to abbreviate the names of dramatis personae, as the transformation of Hamlet to mere "Ham." and Julius Caesar to "Caes." is both hard on the eyes and demeaning to the characters. Further, I wished to avoid the tiny print and the more-than-tissue-thin paper which more modern editions seem to impose upon readers in the attempt to maximize profits and reduce costs. Finally, I wanted to find a collection of all of Shakespeare's writings which were companioned with essays that not only related and placed the text for the reader, but also did not attempt to push modern and controversial interpretations onto readers in exchange for the more time-warn and constructive insights which best fuel one's own ability to understand and appreciate Shakespeare.

In The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare, I found all of this and much more. The accompanying essays which precede the plays and poems are informative, but not overbearing in their attempt to either politicize or indoctrinate. Further, the somewhat lengthy but well received introduction explains, not only the history of Elizabethan drama, but Shakespeare and everything in his world. Apt use of contemporary sources are also employed, as well as the plays themselves, to drive home the author's points.

The editing is also well done, with handy glosses present at the bottom of every page. These do an exceptional job of giving the meaning of words and phrases which could throw off the novice reader of Early Modern English. Though not in this position myself, the glosses still manage to give insightful clarifications for grammar idiosyncrasies and other such things. Further, the editors also explain deviations between folio and quarto.

On the hole this is an exemplary edition and it is a shame that it does not seem to be in print at the moment, as I find it comparable or even superior to the current Shakespeare collections for which a myriad of university students are forced to pay hefty sums. For those who have professors open to other editions, or for those who wish only to have a standing copy of the complete works of English's greatest and most influential writer, this is worth picking up second hand.
2967775
If you are looking for a background in descriptive complexity, go no further. This text provides a broad set of background material needed to understand it, and the author is truly one of the leaders in the field.
4279069
This is a powerful and disturbing and potentially quite helpful book.  This book addresses the growth of one's appraisal of the Bible, encouraging the reader to ask, "What are the Church fathers trying to get across in this story? What is the purpose of including this story in the Bible?"  It challenges the reader to read the Bible using both a historical and a metaphorical approach and cautions against what is lost when the reader takes only one or the other approach.

Most importantly, this book helps the reader to facilitate the development of seekers who have gotten stuck on the Bible as a literal document.  He contrasts the literal and metaphorical approaches to the Bible, and resolves conflicts in terms of faith and acceptance of God. For example, on page 191, he writes "when what is said about the canonical Jesus is taken literally and historically, we lose track of the rich metaphorical meanings of the Gospel texts.  The Gospels become factual reports about past happenings rather than metaphorical narratives of present significance.  But when we are clear about the distinction between the historical Jesus and the canonical Jesus, we get both.  And both matter.  Ultimately, the reason that this matters is that the author treasures the Bible as more than a historical document that should only be read and not studied.  On page 218, the author describes the "Gospel portraits of the canonical Jesus" as making extraordinary claims, describing that "this is who Jesus is for us as Christians."  Borg's take on the Gospels is that they are, "as particular documents, as a collection of documents, and as individual stories within them, Christianity's primal narratives.  To say this means that these are the most important stories we know and we know them to be decisively true."

Although the book is written with the care of a scholar and provides readily accessible references, aside from the challenging ideas, it is quite readable for people who are well-educated.  In fact, I think it would be reasonable to say that the readability of this book sets a standard to which many other authors could aspire.  The author is an experienced professor of religion at a university and it is clear that he has had the opportunity to present his ideas in class, explaining his ideas to bright college students.  This is obvious to me when I read the book and find that his explanations are complete and thorough.  The book is also well organized in terms of a subject index, author index, and Scripture index, features that I would like to see in all books that are presented as teaching texts.

This was a difficult book for me that challenged my thinking about the Bible.  At times, the challenges were upsetting.  However, the book itself was helpful and I find that my understanding of the Bible is improved because I read this book.  I think I can recommend it to people who want to take their exploration of the Bible to a higher level, but people should expect to be upset by some of the ideas.  Actually, I think this book is an excellent antidote to skepticism that can be used with bright and well educated people who either have not begun their journeys or have pushed God out of their lives because they have become stuck in what Borg calls the "stage of critical thinking", the middle stage of intellectual development that begins with pre-critical navet&eacute; and ends with post-critical navet&eacute;.  His explanation of these three stages on pages 49 through 51 has been useful to me as I have talked with people who are agnostics and atheists and have challenged them to reconsider their beliefs.
1521848
Whenever a college student takes that required first course in critical theory, that student ought to realize that this course is admittedly dense in both content and style, and as a consequence should have access to supplemental readings.  Peter Barry with his BEGINNING THEORY is one of three such useful texts.  Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler are the other two noteworthy introductory tomes.  What is helpful in Barry is his initial chapter on "Theory before `theory'--liberal humanism."  Most other critical texts scant the reader on the state of criticism as it existed before Jacques Derrida took the podium in 1966 and shook up the academic world by suggesting that the neat and tidy world of the liberal humanists was founded on a heavy-handed patriarchy that took for granted a spectrum of Western-based assumptions that had stood unchallenged since Plato.  These liberal humanists have been on the run since then and Barry succinctly summarizes and analyzes who the major players were in this seismic eruption.

 Barry structures his analyses of each school with a general historical overview of that school's paradigmatic assumptions.  He includes what critics of that school generally think about as they ponder how to relate the intricacies of that school to specified literary texts. This listing is more useful than the uninitiated might think since when it comes time for the novice critic to make that transcendental leap from the abstruseness that is theory to the concrete reality that is text that neophyte must understand a plethora of assumptions that all too often get lost in the French translation but are clarified in Barry's capable hands.  One example will do.  Jacques Lacan is notorious for being dense and just plain hard to understand, but when Barry connects the denseness that is Lacan to the clarity that is Poe in his "The Purloined Letter," the various stages of self that seem muddled in the former now stand etched in clear relief by the latter.

 One minor note: Barry closes his text with considerations of Stylistics, Narratology, and Ecocriticism, none of which have yet hit the mainstream as accepted modes of literary discourse.  Still, for the eager undergraduate or the uneasy graduate student, Barry belongs on the same shelf that also houses Lois Tyson and Charles Bressler.
565431
This is without a question the edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to pick up.  It goes without saying that it's not easy and it will require effort beyond just seeing the words on the page to understand, but it is a monumental work and anyone interested in reading Ulysses must start here.

The most compelling reason to purchase this book over another edition is the thorough and expansive introduction.  Joyce's prose takes a lot of things for granted; Irish history and Latin knowledge most notably.  The introduction provides a summary of the former that is indispensible for reading any of Joyce's works, even back to Dubliners.  Additionally, the introduction talks about Joyce's technique and does a good job of helping readers be aware of the writing behind the book.

The endnotes are also extremely helpful, providing translations of Latin fragments, historical reference points, Catholic practices, and Irish locations.  While it might be thought obtrusive to have to turn to the end of the book often (sometimes there can be nearly 10 notes on one page) the greater picture the notes assist in building helps the reader immensely in locating the book historically and culturally.
1154928
It is unfortunate that this book is not available in paperback, since this collection of 14 essays is solid and addresses a topic that would behoove law students, who are generally poor (though many will soon be rich), to think about.

"Our subject," the editors say in their Introduction, "concerns what is and what ought to be canonical in the study of law."  (In fact the editors have made an overly ambitious claim; they are concerned not with the study of law simply, but the study of American law specifically.  The self-absorption implicit in their statement is all the more amusing since the editors evidently lean to the Left.  But I say that as good-natured ribbing and not as a "J'accuse!").  Note: "the study of law," NOT "the practice of law."  Canonicity is of only peripheral concern (if that) to practitioners; this book is targeted to students of the law and not practitioners of the law (the editors do discuss the tension between practice concerns and "timeless problems" on pp. 407-10, but that very discussion buttresses my claim).

It is impossible to summarize a book like this so I will simply note some of my overall impressions.  As is to be expected from a multi-author collection, Legal Canons is uneven in quality, and the reader will naturally find some topics of more interest, and some authors more to their taste, than others.  However, I believe that anyone interested in legal theory can learn something from almost every chapter.  I read this book from cover to cover, and although some chapters struck me as boring, none struck me as incompetent.  Indeed, I consider it much more likely that my boredom stemmed from my incompetence than that it bespeaks some fundamental shortcoming in the chapters themselves.

The chapters in Part III, "The Canon and Groups," will likely engender the strongest reactions from many readers.  These chapters share the conviction that the traditional law curriculum, in terms of what is taught and how it's taught, marginalizes certain groups.  Precisely because these chapters focus on particular groups, these chapters have a distinct "partisan" feel, one that may turn off some readers and turn on others.  The essays in this group really have the hardest task in the book, because (1) the topics here touch upon the most passionately held beliefs, and (2) whereas all the other essays are working within traditional legal categories (with the singular exception of the Law and Economics chapter by Farber), these chapters seek to challenge those very categories.  Given that goal, they have set a high bar for themselves.  As a result, I am torn between saying that it is the worst section of the book (b/c some of the worst-supported claims are made here) and that it is the most uneven section of the book (b/c it contains several claims that are in themselves very strong, but could have been better supported).

In general, though, the essays included here range from competent to good to quite good (such as the Bobbitt chapter, which lays out a list of 13 canonical texts in Con Law and 9 likely additions, with good, though certainly debatable, supporting arguments; the specificity of the chapter is, to my mind, a plus; the Weisberg chapter is also specific and in some respects is more learned than Bobbitt's, but I consider that almost part of the problem; Weisberg is too preening for me, too self-consciously aware of himself, his style does not suit my taste).  In short, I recommend this book to law professors, law students, and those with a general interest in legal theory and/or legal education.  I also recommend that you try to find it at a discount.
3549768
This is an outstanding introduction to textual editing, with a number of astute observations about how it might be useful as a way to teach close reading and other comprehension skills. In other words, not just for editors or English scholars, but for anyone who wants his/her students to attend to text.
746514
This text will stay on my shelf long after I have completed my Master course. While its chapters are not exhaustive, it offers an accessible, balanced treatment of the major grammatical constructs and patterns of English; pertinent subsystems such as tense and aspect, articles and determiners, and adjectives and adverbs; and offers not only a morphosyntactic treatment so common to other volumes but also a discussion from the perspectives of discourse and usage.

The book is not without its shortcomings, but these are largely discussed by the authors. Suggestions for further reading follow each chapter, and there is an extensive references list in addition to the index.

I have some misgivings about suggesting this as a general reference, although I am certain many who purchase the volume may use it not only as a text but also as a reference book. Discussion of grammar is sometimes quite theoretical and so does not always provide the quick usage rules for which teachers and students might be looking. This is not the aim of the book, however. Rather, it is designed to be used for pedagogical grammar study and awareness raising on the part of the teacher. Part of this study includes understanding that when looking at English from a discourse perspective, uncertainties still exist.

Overall, a balanced and very useful treatment. The exercises are sometimes not as helpful as they might be. However, this text can be supplemented with a text centered on formal syntactic study, which would likely offer more formal exercises. Also, nothing can replace examining and analyzing authentic texts.
1040307
This volume provides a general introduction to the troubling history of these two great world religions over the last 2,000 years (or so).  Starting with a lucid explanation of pagan anti-Semitism in the Greco-Roman world, Cohn-Sherbok takes us through centuries of violence and antipathy that culminated in the Holocaust of the mid Twentieth Century.  He also concludes with brief chapters on post-Holocaust anti-Semitism, and on the possibilities for Jewish-Christian reconciliation.  The latter, especially, provides a crucial "uplift" for the reader.

This is a very readable text.  It is NOT clogged with dense lists of demographic information or by obscure theological discussions.  It provides, rather, a general overview of the demographic issues which contributed to Christian violence against Jews through the ages; as well as a digestable level of insight into the theological issues that contributed to and justified this violence.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the cultural causes of the Holocaust, the reasons for the existence of the state of Israel, or the theological differences between Judaism and Christianity.  I use this book as my core text in the college course, "Jesus and Judaism," that I teach.

Along these lines, I would also recommend "Liberating the Gospels" by John Shelby Spong and "Why the Jews?" by Prager and Telushkin.
3835869
I am currently working on a graduate degree biophysics but I have an outside interest in quantum physics. About a year ago I tried several of the "go to" texts in field theory (I not going to name names) but they all seemed to suffer from the same ailment; specifically, they were great texts if you already knew field theory. Dr Klauber's book is one of the few that makes an extensive effort to TEACH field theory rather than serve as a time capsule of information in the corner of the library. A second ailment common to physics texts is brevity.  Students often wish for more long-winded texts, which ironically, make the learning process easier and faster. Dr Klauber is one of the few authors that is fully aware of these two ailments and does a wonderful job of curing them in his new text. His text is extremely well organized and makes this difficult subject easier by minimizing the difficulty. For those familiar with other physics texts, Dr Klauber reminds me of two other physics authors, Don Lemons and Dan Fleisch. At least stylistically these authors each create highly organized texts intended to teach. I highly recommend this book as a first introduction to field theory and truly hope that Dr Klauber continues to write texts that bring physics to the masses.
3708427
This volume holds everything you would expect from a Cambridge green and yellow: great, extensive introduction that talks a lot about the problems surrounding the text without taking any strong positions, followed by an updated text and an extensive set of endnotes. Hunter has a way of referring to rather unexpected works of literature when making ancient/modern comparisons. This isn't really a negative, but they just flew over my head.
3617782
I must admit up front I do have a particular fondness for this work as it was my constant companion during my first year of Arabic studies some years ago. It has many strengths and perhaps a weakness or two.
This is an introductory text for the study of classical, or at least standard literary, Arabic. This book will help you on your way to being able to read, say, Ibn al-Athir or other medieval writers, but will not help you should you find yourself in downtown Damascus in sudden need of directions to the nearest toilet. This is not a fault in the book; it is the nature of the Arabic language. There is a wide gulf between the literary language and the spoken "dialect" of any given region. This text is designed to teach you the former and states so up front.
There is much grammar in here but it is well presented. There is some possibly arcane terminology (one learns, for example, that a standard if-then sentence consists of a protasis and apodosis), but Prof. Wickens will make clear what he is discussing. The reading passages at the back of the book are essential for emphasizing the grammar studied in various chapters. Some of the readings are a trifle odd perhaps. Maybe eclectic might be a better description. As I recall they range from the death of Jahiz (crushed by the weight of his books when they fell on him) to ruminations on the usefulness of the camel to that sentence that always amused the students, "dakhala al-ajnaad al-quds yaqtiluuna sukaanaha kullahum." (Earlier versions had put "al-atraak" (Turks)in place of "sukaanaha" (inhabitants)but a sort of proto-PCism prompted the change. <g>)
The one shortcoming I felt was that later chapters sometimes had the feeling of being rushed. In the chapter on Arabic numbers (which are, to be honest, fiendishly complicated) Prof. Wickens introduces the subject, gives a good overview, but then suggests the student consult one of the standard works, presumably Wright. Likewise, the section on hollow and weak verbs at some point states merely that if the student takes the rules governing x and applies the exceptions for y, he should be able to figure out the paradigm.
All that said, I highly recommend this book if you want a serious introduction to an endlessly fascinating and certainly never tedious subject. This work is a good introduction and, armed with the Hans Wehr dictionary, you will be ready to get a good start on just about anything written in standard Arabic in the last 1,300 years or so.
There is also a good introduction in which Prof. Wickens muses on the meaning of "fluency" in a language. Prof. Wickens used to recall with good humour early reviews which had singled out the introduction as the best and most useful part of the book. Perhaps it still is.
2384793
The authors have done a superb job in organizing the material clearly and concisely. The book has a main part which consists in the fundamental elements of grammar and vocabulary. A myriad of notes contribute the in-depth knowledge of the exceptions and special cases in grammar. Also, the theory is explained with copious quotations from classical authors.

My only objection so far--which I'm sure will be removed as I move forward--would be that the authors do not treat, for instance, the adjectives at a single location of the book, but it's spread; so you have to wait 100 pages to learn the next feature of the adjectives. But this is very personal.

Anyways. I have the Cambridge Latin, but I prefer Keller&Russell by all means.
759371
It has always been my impression that (Cicero, Pliny, and Livy aside,) Latin prose often receives the short end of the stick when classics departments create their course offerings. It would be no wonder if this were true, for many people are attracted to the field in the first place by the beautiful poetry of Vergil, Catullus, Ovid, etc. A mastery of Latin literature however, is not attained without solid grounding in the prosaic tradition, which presents its own unique challenges and aesthetic.

The book's introduction nicely acquaints the reader with the development of the genre and I thoroughly enjoyed the section on clausulae, which my teachers have rarely discussed, and some have outright dismissed. For the text itself, Russell has chosen some wonderful excerpts that sport both a wide range of authors across time periods with engaging content.

I withhold a 5th star from this review only because Russell chose several selections for which his notes are too sparse for an introductory anthology reader. If I were to use this book with students at any level below undergraduate advanced Latin, I would have to expand the notes on just about every passage to make them manageable. And even then most students would have to work hard at it. This is not as user-friendly as Balme's "Intellegenda," and it is hard to specify just what demographic Russell was shooting for. The included notes chiefly cover questions of historical reference and not the brain-busting grammatical convolutions and lengthy constructions that make Latin prose very troublesome for a neophyte.

Overall I would recommend this book for its quality selections and introductory sections. This is not a logical step for self-study if your only prose experience is slogging through a beginner's De Bello Gallico or a heavily annoted text with a specialized dictionary-appendix and a patient teacher. I would imagine however that any dedicated classics scholar, especially teachers, would be pleased to have this on his or her shelf.
49785
This is an excellent text for those with a math background because it is an advanced text willing to labour over detail. If you're interested in a challenging introduction to modal logic, this is the book for you.