A classic by an old master
345558
Classic science fiction. Hard science foundation with a full bore story where interplay of character dominates over all else. Light engaging read.
2219143
This is a perfect survey of the sublime and deep sensitivity of probably one of the most important composers of the end of the XXth
century. Although he never denies to owe a lot to big masters of past centuries, such as J.S.Bach, Purcell, Haydn, Schumann, Chopin  or Liszt, he scrupulously avoids to make post-modern 'transcriptions', but remains influenced by the rather melancholic athmosphere which is so typical for Central-European contemporaries like Kafka, Bartok or Ligety. The conciseness  of most of his compositions remember the concentration of Anton Webern
1041714
Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha (1922) is a masterpiece. This book was on my wish-list for a while but it was just couple of days ago when I finally checked it out from NYPL. Its a fine little book to own. My only regret is not having read this book earlier. To get a deeper understanding of its contents I would recommend finding out more on some of the popular Sanskrit words used in this book and their origins. Hesse's lead character Siddhartha portrays a familiar human condition- the constant internal struggle to find purpose and meaning in life. In the process he meets several people erudite and the commons and he learns something about himself and how this wisdom fits in the larger scheme of things. This book is as laconic as can be yet leaves you thinking, self-contemplating and enlightened. There is much to be gained from Hesse's lifelong works in literature and this should be at the top of your list!
4037252
This is one of the great classics of endgame instructional literature.  As the title indicates, it is on strategic endgames, so this is different from a manual like Dvoretsky or Mueller, which are mainly about theoretical endgames, that is, endgames with few pieces that can be analyzed exactly to their end result.  So start with the theoretical material, then move on to this volume after you have mastered basic endgame theory.  In this volume you will learn vital concepts of endgame play like centralizing the king, the principle of the two weaknesses, "do not hurry", struggling for the initiative, how to exchange, suppressing counterplay, and schematic thinking.  So obviously this is more advanced material.  How advanced?  Well, there is Capablanca-Alekhine, NY 1924, where even the great Capa went wrong and missed a likely win.  The volume was published initially in 1985, and includes many classic examples such as the above, Janowski-Capablanca, NY 1916, Saidy-Fischer, US, 1964, and many, many others.  Just about every piece combination is looked at, and there are copious verbal explanations of the play.  American IM Jeremy Silman has this on his short list of 3 books that you need to master to bring your endgame play up to 2300 level, which is a very high recommendation indeed.  (His other 2 are Howell's Essential Chess Endings, and Soltis' GM Secrets volume.)  Whichever basic theoretical text you first master, this should be your next step.  The only alternative that I would consider to this volume is Mueller's great 'How to Play Chess Endgames', a more recent volume that is even more detailed than this one, and covers similar material.  Highly recommended.
4652951
This is a timeless classic; it is a must-read for all.
1064791
Great stuff, as usual, from the master that Wodehouse is.
4763288
Of course, it's a classic. This version is the original Carroll text with about 2 mistakes in the conversion to HTML that I can recall. In other words, a very good job. I missed those excellent Tenniel illustrations, but the unadorned text allows one to imagine the scenes oneself. That's probably a useful exercise in the age of ubiquitous visual "content".
3948451
This must be one of the greatest of the Classics. I followed the advice given by an earlier reviewer, Scott, who pointed out the importance of getting the unabridged version of the novel, and suggested the Robin Buss translation. I am happy to have taken his advice.
1371222
A classic - one you will keep as a reference book.
3516495
It's very obvious why this book is a classic. The English language has undergone some changes since 1883, not so much when it comes to vocabulary as to sentence structuring. This old style reads very smoothly, but demands some adjustments in the reader. Nevertheless, the story still stands after more than 130 years, and still ignites dreams and fantasies even in little, almost 37 year old boys.
1213299
David Denby, a writer for the New Yorker , among other things, decided to enroll in the  Columbia University Great Books program and
re-read all those old masters that he had not
understood  the first time around.  This is a
friendly way to renew acquaintance with Plato
and Descartes and all  the "old boys".  Denby
gives an awestruck description of what these
masters are trying to tell us, enlivened by his
own observations, the gist of what his Columbia
professors want him to learn and the passionate
opinions of  the 18 to 21 year old college
students who share his classes.  Here is the
book I needed 30 years ago-a "user friendly"
guide to the classics.
3410017
This book is great in all senses: the information about the man and the epoch, the chess tournaments, the life of without doubt the greatest chess master ever, and probably he will remain insuperable, because he was not "only" a chess world champion, but also a "real" philosopher and mathematician in all the sense of those terms. So is sad when you hear that he has been called "a chess-coffee master" or something like that... How dare them? His triumphs in life as a whole are innumerables, and in chess, without equal... "In august 1936 (Nottingham 1936), he once again amazed the chess world by a performance no one could possibly expect of him... achieved what seemed a miracle at the beginning of the tournament: he had caught up with the leaders every one of whom ranked among the world's top-players and was by decades his juniors (Botvinnik, Capablanca, Euwe, Fine, Reshevsky and Alekhine)... To have maintained his place among those leaders at the age of 68 was, perhaps, one of the greatest achievements in Lasker's long career..." (pgs. 297,299). This book, moreover, is beautifully written.
1462308
Karl Bohm was one of the finest conductors of the past century. He didn't specialize in any one particular idiom, but covered about everything from his excellent Mozart and Beethoven Symphonies to Brahms. But where he really left his mark was with his Bruckner recordings. Along with Furtwangler and Bruno Walter, Bohm was my favorite conductor of Bruckner's great symphonies, and this 8th from 1976 is no exception. I think most folks are familiar with his brilliant rendition of the 4th, but it used to come coupled with an equally impressive No. 3 (you may be able to find it used). Even better than his 1977 No. 7 on DG is a live one from the same year on Audite. Both performance and sound are superior to that on his excellent DG release. Buy this while it's cheap, you never know when they will yank it off the shelf and those used oop prices tend to be high.
2256994
Many great chefs, at some point in their careers, decide to put together a masterwork cookbook, a summation of everything in their career they think is important. Most are huge coffee table books -- Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook, Julia Child's The Way To Cook, Ferran Adria's A Day at elBulli. One might expect something from a man who is considered one of the world's five or ten greatest chefs similar to the work he did with Patricia Wells, a book of three-star recipes and fiendish creativity. Now Robuchon's masterwork, Tout Robuchon, arrives in English translation... and it is a simple, almost spartan homage to the French home kitchen of the 21st century, as much at home next to The Joy of Cooking as it is the great classics of food porn.

To the extent that this comes as a shock, it shouldn't. Chefs, perhaps more than the foodies they cater to, tend to seek out the simplest things, both for inspiration and sheer enjoyment -- little things like spaghetti aglio e olio, mole, hanger steaks, and the like, things that slide under the radar, comfort foods, and various oddments. Robuchon goes with that idea and takes it deep; while he doesn't quite pull off the French Kitchen Bible of the 21st Century, there's more than enough in here to get a sense of what real home cooking is like in modern France, starting with a concise but solid discussion of kitchen techniques and ingredients (somewhat Americanized to be sure, probably by the translator) and moving into a broad survey of recipes, many long familiar to readers of Julia Child or Madeleine Kamman, some pulled from more recent influences (north African lamb tagine for example). Surprisingly, some things -- brown sauces for example -- are wholly absent, perhaps no longer relevant outside classical haute cuisine. However, the true classics of French cuisine are well-represented -- cassoulet, boeuf bourgignon, and at least four different versions of pot-au-feu -- as well as newer influences.

Robuchon is not a great writer, but he is clear and to the point, and though not given to Cook's Illustrated-style background explanations, is meticulous about technique when necessary. The book lacks illustrations of any sort, but the layout is impeccably clean (if somewhat different from the original French version) and the recipes both creative and down-to-earth. As masterworks go, it's both accessible and inexpensive, and goes out of its way to show what Robuchon thinks is most important.

I leave with this thought: many years ago, former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon made a point to have his sneaker manufacturer (Spalding, if I remember correctly) create a line of signature sneakers that would be affordable to all of his fans. I had a pair, got probably a year out of them, and picked them on precisely that general principle, and they were pretty good sneakers. Ever since then I've always held an admiration for people who make a point to see that everyone can share in their life's work without the stain of elitism or absurd prices. Joel Robuchon has done this for his native cuisine, and for that, he's pretty awesome in my book.
2958493
Wonderful  classic story by a great master of literature.  From an era where writers were paid by the word.  Although all the words are superb, there are an awful lot of them to wade through.
361094
I was playing catch-up in reading this classic, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'm glad I didn't try to read it when I was younger. So many stories are rolled into one, and the nature of man is investigated in every nook and cranny. When does a person become an instrument of God? Does he have to endure a certain amount of tragedy and duress? Perhaps it is so. Dumas is a master at setting forth this philosophy.
4757103
A wonderful classic - never tire of this, revisiting every few years.