Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folklore ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

What life is
I read a 1911 hardback edition, with an Arnold Bennett's introduction which gave away a lot of the plot.In this review, I'll try not to make the mistake that Arnold Bennett made -- that may be the only mistake in the book.This is one of those rare books which feature people and places you know: the characters act -- not as you expect them to act -- but as real people do.And that's not all: this book -- with one of the dullest titles imaginable -- gives us a microcosm of life in the late nineteenth century but one which is connected to life in the 21st.It's recognizable, and yet it isn't.Threaded in this book are histories of marketing, mercantilism, urban developement, fashion, mass transit. They are presented in such a way that you can see how we ended up where we are.

Great book
Very well worth reading once you get used to the "language".I loved the book.

Old Wives Tale
This novel produces a wonderful portrayal of two sisters as they go through various situations in their marriages and their relationships with
their parents. ... Read more

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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:CHAPTERTHE LAWHra tranquil tone disguised the immense anarchy within. Silas 'Angmering had evidently been what is called a profiteer. He had made his money "out of the war." And Silas was an Englishman. While Englishmen, and—later—Americans, had given up lives, sanity, fortunes, limbs, eyesight, health, Silas had gained riches. There was nothing highly unusual in this. Mr. Prohack had himself seen, in the very club in which he was now entertaining Softly Bishop, a man who had left an arm in France chatting and laughing with a man who had picked up over a million pounds by following the great principle that a commodity is worth what it will fetch when people want it very badly and there is a shortage of it. Mr. Prohack too had often chatted and laughed with this same picker-up of a million, who happened to be a quite jolly and generous fellow. Mr. Prohack would have chatted and laughed with Barabbas, convinced as he was that iniquity is the result of circumstances rather than of deliberate naughtiness. He seldom condemned. He had greatly liked Silas Angmering, who was a really educated and a well-intentioned man with a queer regrettable twist in his composition. That Silas should have profiteered when he got the chance was natural. Most men would do the same. Most heroes would do the same. The man with one arm would conceivably do the same.But between excusing and forgiving a brigand (who has not despoiled you), and sharing his plunder, there was a gap, a chasm.Few facts gave Mr. Prohack a more serene and proud satisfaction than the fact that he had materially lost through the war. .He was positively glad that he had lost, and that the Government, his employer, had treated him badly. . . . And now to become the heir of a profiteer! Nor was that all! To become the co... ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Razor Sharp
The best book I've ever read. Non fiction and fiction combined. Bar none.
Bennett is loud and clear. You will find it as fresh on the 5th re-read as the first. Hard to believe that it was written 100 years ago. Its a must read.

Great things come in small packages
Great little tome in the self help genre.You can, and I do, keep this in my gym bag and carry it all the time to reflect on the pearls of wisdom contained within. You'll finish it in 3 sittings or less, but it will pay dividends ongoing - 24 Hours A Day!! ... Read more

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Victorian novel set in the pottery district of Staffordshire and France during the Siege of Paris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A truly moving experience
This is a beautiful book. Tracing the full arc of two human lives, it should be read by everyone who is at that earlier stage in life's journey where its final stages seem impossibly distant. Yes, the ending is sad - or is it? Don't we all come to that final point? And isn't there a kind of richness in having experienced the journey? Because really, "that's all there is."

Of course we also get the marvellously detailed picture of the world towards the end of the 19th century: the social framework, the customs and shared understanding of behavior, the physical setting of the unglamorous towns of the western Midlands, and how they too changed over the years, and the "City of Light."How does anyone achieve that incredibly full and in-depth imaginative re-creation? But above all, the poignancy of the complete separation of two sisters for most of their lives; the stay-at-home in the drapery shop and house in Bursley, and the daring young woman who elopes with Gerald to Paris and what became of that...Incidentally, I really liked his trick to remind us when conversations are in French - he gives the English as a literal translation, retaining the French syntax. Neat.

Not everyone, in today's frenetic world, will be able to settle in to the leisurely pace of "The Old Wives' Tale." But if you can, I believe you will be very moved by it.

Overrated and sprawling-- women observed, not inhabited
It's very true that Bennett's prose is full of wonderful, vivid and often ironic commentary.This book gives you a great sense of place to the "five towns" (based on the six towns that would become Stoke-on-Trent) from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth.Detail is exactly right for time and place.That makes it a rather interesting read.

However, there's next to no forward motion to this book. Two sisters lead divergent lives-- the beautiful one runs off with a hapless commercial traveler to Paris.The dutiful one stays home, manages the shop, and marries the clerk.But that's about it for drama.Both sisters grow older, have some not very interesting stuff happen to them, then meet up again after a long time and end their lives together.OK, Sophia, the beautiful one, does survive the siege of Paris, and become a manager/proprietress of a well-run pension. But somehow even this lacks drama.

Bennett is often praised for how well he wrote his women characters.I disagree.They are well observed it's true, and some of his projections about what they might feel-- when Constance, the dutiful one, faces "empty nest syndrome" so mournfull, for example-- are accurate.But he imagines no real complexity for them.Both women are extraordinarily passive in most ways.The men in the book occupy far less time but manage to seem more human.Compare and contrast JANE EYRE:on the surface a rather prim, direct governess-- but as Bronte writes her, she has a passionate, vibrant beating heart.

In Bennett's world, women don't particularly long for sex nor care about it, nor think much about attachment at all. I think it's very telling that Bennett was inspired by the sight of an older woman in a restaurant.It was not a woman he knew, but a woman he saw.He imagined everything else about her.

If the time and place is enough to draw you in, then this book certainly does have that, as the 600-something pages sprawl about 50 years.But if you like a good narrative, apart from "people get older," look elsewhere.The writing is very good, but although Bennett's often compared to Balzac and Zola, he lacks their punch-- and I also think, essentially lacks their heart.

The Truth As Fiction
No sensitive, thinking person can read "The Old Wives' Tale" without
being immensely touched and moved by it.Bennet's story of two
sisters who pursue vastly different lives is tough-minded, wise
without being cold, emotional without being sentimental (some-
thing that even Dickens was scarcely capable of).The story grips
one like a thriller, but the book is far more than that. The last section
"What Life Is" reminds us that truth is just as often felt in the the
heart as perceived in the mind.And the only response one is left
with is, "yes, now I see."A VERY great book.

The Character of the Baines
I was so happy to see so many positive reviews of this wonderful novel. When the Modern Library published it's list of the 100 Best Books of the Century, I decided I should attempt to read them all. In the end, I am about a quarter of a way through the list and I am continually glad that I took on the challenge since it has led to me wonderful, but more obscure, novels from the last century, this being one of the best examples.
When I picked up the Old Wives Tale I had a similar thought to a previous reviewer: there was no way I was going to finish this book. But after reading Bennett's introduction and starting the first few pages, I found myself intrigued by this family. They are so normal that you find yourself relating to them, whether good or bad. They lived through such changing times, but for the sisters, whether they were in Bursley or Paris, life went on as usual. That is probably the most remarkable thing about this book. No matter what people live through, they generally are unaffected by the larger world around them. It's the private lives, the inner workings of a household or the change in ownership of their homes, which really troubles or changes them. In the end though, Bennett's old wives are what compels you to finish the story since you want to see how their lives end and how their relationship to each other changes through the years. Bennett stays true to human nature throughout the work, there are no death bed confessions or wild changes of character. In the end there is just one woman left standing, trying to keep time from pushing on and changing her world.

Bennett is a master storyteller and he combines just enough detail with dialogue to get the point across and get the reader through the book. His prose is very precise and I found myself surprised from time to time that this book was published in 1908. There is much in this book that can relate even to our lives today.

The most remarkable book I've read in ages....
I'm certainly not the only person in the world who thinks of this book as a masterpiece. The fact that H.G. Wells, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf all praise this book as being so is one of the reasons I picked it up. In spite of that, I really read it without set expectations.

Briefly, to say what has already been said before, The Old Wives Tale is exactly that - a tale of three women who marry in very different circumstances. Mrs. Baines, the mother, is a life who is only briefly touched upon. However, the seperate lives of the two sisters, Sophia and Constance, are the crux of the book. Each life takes its' turn. We are first told about Constance, then about Sophia, and finally, about their reunion. Constance, whose name is not a coincidence, lives a simple provincial life, and Sophia, whose name also matches her persona, chooses romance and adventure. There is only one villain, and yet, he is perhaps the most powerful and chilling of all villains, Time. His grasping, clutching, suffocating presence is ever felt throughout the book, and looms even larger once that final page is turned. In the end, Sophia and Constance each pay the price for their choices, and the true cost of those choices is left for the reader to decide. As unique as we are, we will each believe something different about Sophia and Constance in the end, and that is precisely the point.

To sum up the experience of The Old Wives Tale, a tale of three women living their lives, and their lives changing them (or perhaps not changing them, is that it is the most honest approach to human psychology I have ever read. The lives we read about, Mrs. Baines, Sophia, Constance, and even those who surround them, could be anyone's. In fact, most of us can find someone in this book we could point to and say "that's me". No character, no matter how brief their exit or entrance into this story, is insignificant. Each person gives us a fresh perspective on the human response to events and to, of course, other humans. The three main characters are presented with sheer, unsympathetic, yet respectful honesty. We are not introduced to inhuman, perfect, idealistic souls in this book. Nor are we looking through the eyes of the wicked. Instead, we are searching the souls of ordinary people and in the end, are left with a question about our own existence.

In fact, it should be a large clue to readers when they see that the title of the fourth section is, What Life Is. It is here that something occurred which I totally unexpected, and it left me quite shaken - in fact, desperate. I found that I had been brought from the comfortable vantage point of observing these fictional lives, which are at times inexplicably amusing and heroic, to a sudden uncomfortable sensation that the characters were real and had turned toward me - the reader - begging the question "What of your life? What have you done with it? What have you accomplished?"

That subtle change of vantage point was shocking, and ingenious. Without criticizing his own creation, the author was able to communicate the importance of living our lives to the fullest without telling us how. This fact alone shows great wisdom. Sophia and Constance experience remarkable things, no more remarkable than most people, but remarkable just the same. Each reacts differently because they are different, and each has a different idea about how to find happiness and how to deal with life's disappointments. Both are frequently of the opinion that they could improve someone else's life, yet have not found real satisfaction in their own. Each makes mistakes, and each perform the heroic. The author will on the same page be blunt about their faults and tender with their plight. He tells their story without judgement, and yet in the end, you feel you have read a very wise judgement on the nature of the human race. Here, reader, you will find no prescription for life, but a question that begs a diagnosis. The author makes it starkly clear that the remedy, or whether a remedy is even required, is up to you.

The Old Wives Tale is not a dark story. It is not a comedy. It is not high adventure or mystery. In fact, it is many of these things put together to create something REAL. And it has shaken me to the core. ... Read more

Product Description
This classic personal time-management book originally published in 1908 has inspired generations of men and women to live deliberate lives. Not just another collection of timesaving tips, this book is more of a challenge to leave behind mundane everyday concerns, focus on pursuing one's true desires, and live the fullest possible life. Reflection, concentration, and study techniques make it easier to accomplish more truly rewarding undertakings than anyone ever dreamed possible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Written in 1910 by wealthy clueless spoiled arrogant Mo Fo!!!
Are the other reviews some kind of joke?Real time saving tip from page 12:Instruct your servant to leave a tray with two biscuits, a teapot with leaves and a spirit lamp so you can make your own tea in the morning!He rips the common man for being lazy and wasting his life with sleep yet brags about reading 5 english and 2 french newspapers a day!Worthwhile activities to push yourself to achieve in your spare time include reading fine literature or enjoying a cigar at a classical symphony!The thought that wealthy owners in 2010 would relate to this fills me with rage and makes me want to burn cities to the ground!To the aristocrats like Arnold Bennett:When the revolution comes men like me will eat you for food!

A book that is 50 pages long shouldn't spend 30 telling me to read the last 20
I was very disappointed in this book. I had read some great reviews and was really looking forward to reading it.
The book was only about 50 pages and the first 30 where given to the author ranting about how stupid we are for not caring about time management.

I do think it goes to say that we are interested, since we bought the book.
This patronizing tone went throughout the book and the author repeatedly "proved" how much smarter he was then the average Joe and of course his readers were average Joe's.

It was very annoying but I stuck it out since I had been recommended to read it. I was sure that the last 20 pages would be packed with great tips.

They had 1...

Scatter Brain
After reading this book I realized that almost everyone has a problem (even ever so slight) with focusing. I learned this by trying out a technique on my way to work.

1. Book 10 minutes to solitary thought, uninterrupted; shut off the phones, turn of the computer screen, lock the door. You need 10 minutes alone (if you can get more, that is good).

2. Focus you mind on 1 subject. It doesn't matter what subject as long as you hold it in your mind and think about it. It could be anything from a meeting you have next week, a movie you have seen, a book you are reading, it doesn't really matter.

3. Every time your mind starts to stray, pull it back. Force yourself to focus on this one subject your full 10 minutes. Take control over your mind and discipline it.

The difference this has made for me has been surprising.
I have been using this technique 10 minutes per day for 5 days and already I feel as though my ability to focus has improved greatly.

I have taken charge of my mind in a completely different way and have gained additional mastery over its potential.

Now that I have told you the one give away I found there isn't much more of a point to the book. But you might still be able to find advice that appeals to you even if it didn't appeal to me, the book has helped many others.

Tiny book with a huge content
This amazing little book talks about some of the most important aspects of a full existence: the awareness of the passing time and methods of utilizing it to one's unique advantage. It lays out a structure to a possible way of filling one's time, and points to the obstacles and dangers lying in this execution.

The author's style is extremely honest and clear. Although it is an old book and some examples may not apply to you, the core of the approach definitely applies to every individual living in the present day.

So take this book, read it, reflect on what it says, try out its suggestions, then I guarantee you that you will have a fuller/happier life. What more can one expect from any book, let alone a small one such as this?

P.S.: I also suggest "The human machine" by A. Bennett, if you like this one.

A delight to read, and read again, (and again)
Rare is the book that stands the test of time.Rarer still is the book that can be read multiple times and still be engaging.This is decidedly one of those books.Each time I pull it off the shelf, I find once again how current it is, how useful, and also entertaining.Bennett is a pleasure to read and very insightful.I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.You can find a short write-up on this and other related books of his online at Wikipedia.

When it comes to self-help books, quality dilutes with time
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution first in England and then quickly following in America, more and more of the workforce transitioned into what we call white-collar jobs, where the workplace was outside and often far from the home. Because these new jobs more reflected our modern 21st-century jobs, in which the work was tedious, repetitive and the ambiguous results not always readily apparent (as compared to building carriages, homes, and other work in which the fruits of our labor are real and immediately visible), it was harder for workers to take the kind of craftsman pride and ownership in their work as their fathers and grandfathers might have in older trades that were phased out or in the process. Mr. Bennett writes to this new class of salarymen, who are alive and well today and joined by their sisters, mothers and wives. He assumes that MOST employees cannot take much joy in work that is allotted to them during their eight hours of work per day (as opposed to owners who take joy in their work not necessarily because the work engages them, but because they know the profits flow directly into their bank accounts; good motivating force).

I agree with him that most people cannot become truly (internally as opposed to portraying enthusiasm for promotion) enthusiastic when it comes to mundane, repetitive tasks that are characteristic of clerical and accounting-type jobs. Humans were not meant to be computers, and it shows in their passive resistance to such tasks, regardless of the what economy demands. Where I disagree is that one cannot approach ones job like a craftsman to some degree. You may not like the job you do or look forward to going to the office everyday, but you can try to take pride in doing a good job in whatever you do, as even banal tasks are the foundation for forming character that will come to bear in later more monumental tasks that you DO care about (I will mention William George Jordan later). I also disagree in that, one can FIND a job that has meaning, even if it doesn't pay much. My wife is a social worker, and she approaches menial clerical tasks knowing that they are essential to the welfare of her clients, and that little mistakes can sometimes cause a lot of harm. A person CAN find meaningful work, if they are willing to take a big pay cut and restructure their lives. Those aside, all of his advice and opinions rest on sound, tested wisdom.

The book argues that, while you may have no control over the eight of so hours you are chained to the office desk, you DO have control over the other 16. He argues for a program of self-improvement as a means of achieving happiness, and then goes about the details of how you can squeeze 90 minutes at least three times a week for active self-improvement activities to wake you up to the splendor and vibrancy of life, rather than living like a zombie before and after work time, which is the state at which most TV-addicted Americans are at today. Being a salaryman in Tokyo, where almost everyone rides the trains to and from work and where my own commute takes the roughly 50 minutes he projected, I found the parallels with my own life to be frighteningly close. His main point here is not that everyone should ride trains to use their time more efficiently, even though riding trains DOES free up time for the reading and philosophic reflection he recommends. It is that you should be much more aware of the little time wasters in your life and try to use your spare, limited minutes for activities that will improve your spiritual station in life.

I was not surprised that he recommended reading such Stoics as Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, for two reasons. First, any philosophy of self-improvement or self-help that rests on ageless, tested wisdom of the past will give central importance to willpower and reason. Aristotle and his descendants the Stoics were some of the first to write about overcoming obstacles in life using reason and the power of our own wills. Bennett even write in his book how others may promise you techniques that will make hard work easier, but he rightly and harshly reproaches the reader for their foolishness in thinking that any hard task can be anything but hard. Realizing that self-improvement is hard, and that there are no short-cuts, is the most important point a person can embrace who is on the verge of beginning such an endeavor. The Stoics also realized that self-perfection was nothing but a long, hard road of constant self-checking, self-doubt and brutal honesty about oneself. That is one reason why the mention of such Stoics is not surprising. The second reason I was not surprised was that the Stoics made something of a comeback around this time. The influence is evident in similar self-improvement works of the Industrial Revolution by Samuel Smiles (Self-help (1859), Character (1871), Thrift (1875), Duty (1880)) and William George Jordan (The Majesty of Calmness (1900), The Kingship of Self Control (?), etc.). None of these works sugar-coats self-improvement like authors do now. All state clearly that there are no easy routes to improving oneself, and that self-improvement and improvement of character is a lifelong process until our dying breathe. I have read many self-help books, but have abandoned modern ones for these older ones for many reasons, the above being just one.

Authors at this time realized that life was a struggle, any way you looked at it, with little rest stops up the mountain to pause briefly and enjoy some of the fruits of our hardships. In that sense, their philosophy and style of writing is far more reflective of real life than all of the wishy-washy New Agey self-help bores that stock the shelves today. None of them, including Covey and similar business authors have absolutely NOTHING new to say that hasn't been covered by these men or later men like Carnegie and Napoleon Hill (commissioned by Carnegie to research and write his books). And in fact, theirs is a watered down version of these past authors, with none of the grit to get you through hard times. These past authors integrated Stoic ideas into their work, because only a Stoic, resilient mindset could brace against the many dramatic changes in society at the times due to industrialization and all the wars magnified by the technical revolution and trials people experienced during those times. Is it no wonder that modern readers addicted to self-help books continue to read through the whole stack still unfulfilled and still no closer to where they want to be in life?

I therefore recommend this book, as well as those by the authors I mentioned above. Things could get a little bumpy for Americans in the 21st century. All of the pampered, upper-middle-class self-help philosophies will be trampled underneath when the $%%#$ hits the fan and the whole materially-abundant superstructure that sustains the disappearing middle-class lifestyle collapses. In hard times, only philosophies embraced by those who have seen dark, trying times can be relied on. The Stoics, and their 19th-century revisitors (the guys above) will be a strong pillar to brace against. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Excerpt:
ordinary gift of radiating heat into the apartment instead of up the chimney. The shaded Welsbach lights of the chandelier cast a dazzling luminance on the tea-table of snow and silver, while leaving the pictures in a gloom so discreet that not Ruskin himself could have decided whether these were by Whistler or Peter Paul Rubens. On either side of the marble mantelpiece were two easy-chairs of an immense, incredible capacity, chairs of crimson plush for Titans, chairs softer than moss, more pliant than a loving heart, more enveloping than a caress. In one of these chairs, that to the left of the fireplace, Mr. Curtenty was accustomed to snore every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and almost every evening. The other was usually empty, but to-night it was occupied by Mrs. Curtenty, the jewel of the casket. In the presence of her husband she always used a small rocking-chair of ebonized cane. ... Read more

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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:CHAPTERTHE LAWHra tranquil tone disguised the immense anarchy within. Silas 'Angmering had evidently been what is called a profiteer. He had made his money "out of the war." And Silas was an Englishman. While Englishmen, and—later—Americans, had given up lives, sanity, fortunes, limbs, eyesight, health, Silas had gained riches. There was nothing highly unusual in this. Mr. Prohack had himself seen, in the very club in which he was now entertaining Softly Bishop, a man who had left an arm in France chatting and laughing with a man who had picked up over a million pounds by following the great principle that a commodity is worth what it will fetch when people want it very badly and there is a shortage of it. Mr. Prohack too had often chatted and laughed with this same picker-up of a million, who happened to be a quite jolly and generous fellow. Mr. Prohack would have chatted and laughed with Barabbas, convinced as he was that iniquity is the result of circumstances rather than of deliberate naughtiness. He seldom condemned. He had greatly liked Silas Angmering, who was a really educated and a well-intentioned man with a queer regrettable twist in his composition. That Silas should have profiteered when he got the chance was natural. Most men would do the same. Most heroes would do the same. The man with one arm would conceivably do the same.But between excusing and forgiving a brigand (who has not despoiled you), and sharing his plunder, there was a gap, a chasm.Few facts gave Mr. Prohack a more serene and proud satisfaction than the fact that he had materially lost through the war. .He was positively glad that he had lost, and that the Government, his employer, had treated him badly. . . . And now to become the heir of a profiteer! Nor was that all! To become the co... ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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The Author's Craft is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Arnold Bennett is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Arnold Bennett then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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ReadHowYouWant publishes a wide variety of best selling books in Large and Super Large fonts in partnership with leading publishers. EasyRead books are available in 11pt and 13pt. type. EasyRead Large books are available in 16pt, 16pt Bold, and 18pt Bold type. EasyRead Super Large books are available in 20pt. Bold and 24pt. Bold Type. You choose the format that is right for you.

This is Volume Volume 3 of 3-Volume Set.To purchase the complete set, you will need to order the other volumes separately: to find them, search for the following ISBNs: 9781427005137, 9781427006851

It is a beautiful novel revolving around the lives of three women, Mrs. Baines, Sophia, Constance, and those who surround them. The narration follows occurrences that change life. It is so realistic that one can find one's life in any of the described characters. Bennett compels the reader to search the souls of ordinary people and in the end leaves one with a question about one's own existence.

To find more titles in your format, Search in Books using EasyRead and the size of the font that makes reading easier and more enjoyable for you.

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook contains twenty works by noted British author Arnold Bennett, including 'The Old Wives' Tale,' 'The Card,' and 'Clayhanger.'Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.


Contents:

The Grand Babylon Hotel
Anna of the Five Towns
Leonora
A Great Man
Sacred and Profane Love
Hugo
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
The Ghost
Buried Alive
The Old Wives’ Tale
The Card
Clayhanger
Helen with the High Hand
Hilda Lessways
The Regent
The Price of Love
The Pretty Lady
The Roll-Call
Mr. Prohack
Riceyman Steps
... Read more

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Webster's edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of synonyms and antonyms for difficult and often ambiguous English words that are encountered in other works of literature, conversation, or academic examinations. Extremely rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority in the notes compared to words which are ¿difficult, and often encountered¿ in examinations. Rather than supply a single synonym, many areprovided for a variety of meanings, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of the English language, and avoid using the notes as a pure crutch. Having the reader decipher a word's meaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not noted on a page, chances are that it has been highlighted on a previous page. A more complete thesaurus is supplied at the end of the book; synonyms and antonyms are extracted from Webster's Online Dictionary.

PSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE¿, AP¿ and Advanced Placement¿ are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

This book did not convince me of anything...
I guess this is another "self-help" book.But I find myself in fundamental disagreement with the ideas in it. This may be because I am retired; if I were just starting out in life, I might get more out of this book.

To summarize: you only have a limited amount of time, and so you must devote as much time as possible to "strenuously" improving yourself. In a way, this is probably good advice to people around the world who devote their leisure time to watching sports on TV --- or the other nonsense broadcast on TV.

But the author apparently sees no value at all in lying back on the sofa and day-dreaming, or simply taking a rest.In a way, he strikes me as a strict Puritan in Time Management, who offers no reason at all to follow his advice.

And the book is dated.He recommends beginning the study of poetry with Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "Aurora Leigh" (?!?!) and he thinks that the greatest intellectual of his time is Herbert Spencer.His philosophical greats are the Stoics: Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus.

Maybe I don't particularly like this book because I didn't really need it.I've been reading all of my life.:-)

But I also appreciate "time off" and going out to have "meaningless" fun with friends.

It's funny, but the novels of Horatio Alger are a lot more interesting, and persuasive.

A Jolly Good Read
This book was recommended as a 'must read' in Dale Carnegie's 'How to develop self-confidence and influence people be public speaking' which I had picked up for a group presentation.

I immediately downloaded it onto my kindle. It is a short book. I read it about an hour and a half, and I am a slow reader.

The author is British and the book was written in 1905. So by modern standards the advice it contains may seem a little harsh and paternalistic and the language somewhat stilted. But I really enjoyed the presentation compared to many modern politically correct but stylisticaly banal works. The humor is subtle but effective. The arguments are witty and thought-provoking and ultimately persuasive.

He begins with urging us to review our day and set aside time from outside our work hours, that we often waste by doing nothing, to do something truly worthwile. He recommends literature and the arts for building self and character but acknowledges that if one truly has no inclination towards these areas then they could do whatever else they enjoy that is interesting and mentally stimulating.

Besides the activity itself, though, he urges mental discipline and reflection. He stresses that the path to self-development is difficult and requires hard work and persistence. He warns against taking on too much to start with since that could result in failure and lowered self-esteem. He also cautions against going down the path only to become an insufferable prig looking down on everyone else.

While these are some of the bare-bones points he talks about, it is his language and style that makes the book such an enjoyable and inspiring read.

Recommended.

Time management was the same struggle 90 years ago
The author has a authoritative style that preempts your rationalizing why it won't work.This style is very pleasant and you can feel that the author truely desires that the reader finds improvement and a better life.

It is fun to read that people 90 years ago had the same thoughts and struggles as we do today.

Every hour is brand new
I was attracted to this book because it is short. I'm one of those "No time for anything!" kind of guys.But this book changed my opinion on time mangement. I used to be constantly disappointed in my failure to keep to a strict schedule.Read the book and find out why I'm now much more relaxed and efficient.

Feeling taken...a waste of money.
You are basically told to view your allotted 24 hours a day as the number of hours that exist outside of your job, and to spend them doing something that will engage you.Many references to literature.And the author is English, so be prepared to read words like "programme" versus "job".Following his use of words and trying to determine the American equivalent was interesting...especially if you've not encountered this before.

There are no tips or hints as to how to "save time" doing this instead of that - or doing it differently - for example: clean a room in your house each day and by the end of the week, you won't need to spend a day of your weekend cleaning.I was hoping for these types of time-savers - but unfortunately did not see that this was not that type of book.At best, he tells you to use your commute time on the train to work each day, and back, to reflect on who you are, where you are headed and what makes you happy.He recommends not wasting that particular lot of time reading the paper - althought he recommends you still fit that in during the day - just not during your commute??He focuses on starting with 7+ hours of the week and using them for something that will - again - engage you.

Some valid points.A very short read.However, save your money and locate this book at your local library if you truly wish to read it. ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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Life on the Western Front during World War 1
The title of this book is a phrase used by the British and Americans during World Wars 1 and 2 to indicate continental Europe, where the fighting was taking place. This book was written during World War 1. The Western Front in the subtitle is the line where the westward-moving German army was being met by the armies of the countries they were invading. Arnold Bennett was a novelist who was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information during the war. That's the background, on to the book...

Bennett tells of the time he spent moving from town to town in France and Belgium along the Front. He is always escorted by a military officer, and they often walk through trenches and have to take cover if an artillery shell explodes nearby. He frequently goes into detail about towns and buildings that have been damaged or destroyed by the Germans. It's not a very personal book- he seldom writes about people he meets or relates conversations. Occasionally he muses on the absurdity of what the Germans are doing, and what it is costing in terms of people's lives and livelihoods. His cynicism shines through at those moments. The book will be best enjoyed by war buffs, but it's short, and an excellent description of a war zone, so I recommend it to people who don't normally read war books as well. ... Read more

Product Description
1911. Contents: mental efficiency: the appeal, replies, cure, mental calisthenics; expressing one's individuality; breaking down the past; settling down in life; marriage: duty of it, adventure of it, two ways of it; books: physical side, philosophy of book buying; success: candid remarks, the successful and the unsuccessful, inwardness of success; petty artificialities; secret of content. ... Read more

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Appealing
Along the lines of James Allen and OM Swett - a great read for those who are interested in early motivational and self help authors in the field of life management and business success. ... Read more

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The Author's CraftLiterary Taste: How to Form ItThe Feast of St. Friend ... Read more

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A novel about a boy growing to manhood in the last quarter of the 19th century. The first in a trilogy, it includes a portrait of an autocratic father. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An enjoyable read.
The story of a man from leaving school to middle age, set in an industrial town in the English midlands at the end of the 19th century. Sounds boring, but it isn't. Slow for the first few chapters, but then I found itunputdownable, you really get interested and want to know what happens.Lots of description of the environment of the time. No sex or violence,written no long after these actual times, so some bits of old fashionedprose. This aside, reminded me of Len Deighton's style of writing. I was abit doubtful about buying this book, but I'm pleased I did. ... Read more