A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A convincing blend of two author styles, 30 Apr 2008
I am a fan of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the Zenda stories of Anthony Hope. Therefore I was intrigued by the idea of an original story that brings the two together.

David Stuart Davies does a magnificent job with this short story. It inevitably reads more like a Holmes story but Hope's characters behave and act as they do in his own works.

My only criticism of this book lies in the fact that it takes no account of Hope's own sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda - Rupert of Hentzau. Anthony Hope wrote his own sequel to the events of his famous story and Davies' story takes no account of it and presents itself as the sequel to the original. The decidedly dark and sad ending of Hope's sequel is replaced with the upbeat and happy ending that modern readers tend to insist on. Such an ending was impossible at the time Hope wrote his originals but Davies, freed of such limitations, has been able to end the Zenda adventure on a high note.

I heartily recommend this book but readers should also make sure they read Hope's own sequel and appreciate how he envisaged the ending of the Zenda adventures.

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A convincing blend of two author styles, 30 Apr 2008
I am a fan of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the Zenda stories of Anthony Hope. Therefore I was intrigued by the idea of an original story that brings the two together.

David Stuart Davies does a magnificent job with this short story. It inevitably reads more like a Holmes story but Hope's characters behave and act as they do in his own works.

My only criticism of this book lies in the fact that it takes no account of Hope's own sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda - Rupert of Hentzau. Anthony Hope wrote his own sequel to the events of his famous story and Davies' story takes no account of it and presents itself as the sequel to the original. The decidedly dark and sad ending of Hope's sequel is replaced with the upbeat and happy ending that modern readers tend to insist on. Such an ending was impossible at the time Hope wrote his originals but Davies, freed of such limitations, has been able to end the Zenda adventure on a high note.

I heartily recommend this book but readers should also make sure they read Hope's own sequel and appreciate how he envisaged the ending of the Zenda adventures.

Good book, bad service., 01 Feb 2006
I ordered this book so I could read the Camus titles to start my A-Level French coursework. I ordered this (along with the outsider {as it is the only correct translation of the title I have found})a full 11 days ago, plus paying full price on delivery. I expeted for them to come in 2-3 days so I waited and this turned into a week. I phoned amazon.co.uk (yes they do have a phone number!) and the nice lady re-sent them. I am not sure if it is the fault of amazon or Royal Mail, but these are some of the most important books of my school life and they took 11 days to come! I was nearly tearing my hair out! All in all, the books are good and the service (in this case) was bad.

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life Around Death, 20 May 2004
What is the meaning of life? For many, that question is an abstraction except in the context of being aware of losing some of the joys of life, or life itself. In The Plague, Camus creates a timeless tale of humans caught in the jaws of implacable death, in this case a huge outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Algeria on the north African coast. With the possibility of dying so close, each character comes to see his or her life differently. In a sense, we each get a glimpse of what we, too, may think about life in the last hours and days before our own deaths. The Plague will leave you with a sense of death as real rather than as an abstraction. Then by reflecting in the mirror of that death, you can see life more clearly.

For example, what role would you take if bubonic plague were to be unleashed in your community? Would you flee? Would you help relieve the suffering? Would you become a profiteer? Would you help maintain order? Would you withdraw or seek out others? These are all important questions for helping you understand yourself that this powerful novel will raise for you.

The book is described as objectively as possible by a narrator, who is one of the key figures in the drama. That literary device allows each of us to insert ourselves into the situation.

Let me explain the main themes. Love is expressed in many ways. There is the love of men and women for each other. Dr. Rieux's wife is ill, and has just left for treatment at a sanitarium. Rambert, a journalist on temporary assignment, is separated from his live-in girl friend in Paris. Dr. Rieux's mother comes to stay with him during his mother's absence, so there is also love of parent and child. The magistrate also loses his son to the plague after a desperate battle. Separations occur because of the quarantine on Oran, which causes love to be tested. What is love without the other person being present? The characters find that their memories soon become abstractions. But they reach out to establish new love with each other. Tarrou, who is also caught in Oran, decides or organize a volunteer corps to help with the sick and dead. Rambert decides to stay in Oran to help after having arranged to escape the quarantine. The survivors find succor in increasing closeness with each other. Rieux and Tarrou become close, almost like brothers. Even Rieux's patients become people with whom he develops an emotional bond, even though the waves of death become an abstraction as he can do little to avert them. The priest figure also helps to explore the notion of love for God and God's love for us. The exile theme is reinforced by the quarantine. People cannot leave Oran. The disease itself causes that exile to become worse. If someone in your household becomes ill, each well person has to be quarantined. So you may be living in a tent in the soccer stadium wondering what is happening to the rest of your family. Cottard is a criminal who is on the run from the authorities. He is in despair as the plague begins, and tries to kill himself. The distractions of the plague keep the authorities from troubling him, so the period of the plague is an exile from his criminal past.

Suffering is easy to explain. Bubonic plague came in two forms in the book. Both brought painful and rapid death, with few reprieves. There is high fever, painful swelling or difficulty in breathing, and enormous pain. Those who tend the suffering also suffer, from the enormous workloads, the sense of futility, and the fear that they, too, will be next.

Camus does a nice job of pointing out that these themes also recur in everyday life. We just don't see them very clearly. The people in Oran live in an ugly city that deliberately built itself away from the beauty of the ocean on a sun-scorched plateau plagued by winds. They take little time to enjoy each other or the ocean, because they are caught up with making money. Commerce is their passion. So they cut themselves off from love, in an exile of spirit, which causes them to shrivel and suffer emotionally even before the plague comes. Tarrou also describes is own sense of the plague in everyday life when he discovers that his father is a prosecuting attorney who helps bring criminals to the justice of a firing squad. Even that faint connection of not trying to stop the legal killing causes Tarrou to feel like he carries the plague within him.

The book is masterful in its use of metaphor. In the beginning, dying rats and small animals presage the plague attacking humans. At the end, their return presages the return of normal life to Oran. The scenes alternate between illuminating the main themes in the context of the physical plague and the emotional plague. Religion is used as a bridge between the two, raising the fundamental question about what God's purpose is in unleashing the plague. The priest is fully tested in his love of God through this development, which is one of the most moving parts of the book.

I have read the book both in French and in English, and found this translation to be a perfectly appropriate one. There are few nuances that you will miss by reading this in English. Obviously, if you read French well, you should read the book in its original form.

This book is an excellent example of why Albert Camus was named a Novel Laureate in Literature.

After you read this great novel, I encourage you to consider the subject of complacency. That's the author's ultimate target. Where are you complacent in ways that cost you love, closeness with others, and happiness? What else is complacency costing you? How can you help others learn to overcome complacency in loving, happy ways without the spectre of death to help you?

Enjoy a more wonderful life by overcoming the plague of complacency about the most important human values and activities!

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A convincing blend of two author styles, 30 Apr 2008
I am a fan of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the Zenda stories of Anthony Hope. Therefore I was intrigued by the idea of an original story that brings the two together.

David Stuart Davies does a magnificent job with this short story. It inevitably reads more like a Holmes story but Hope's characters behave and act as they do in his own works.

My only criticism of this book lies in the fact that it takes no account of Hope's own sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda - Rupert of Hentzau. Anthony Hope wrote his own sequel to the events of his famous story and Davies' story takes no account of it and presents itself as the sequel to the original. The decidedly dark and sad ending of Hope's sequel is replaced with the upbeat and happy ending that modern readers tend to insist on. Such an ending was impossible at the time Hope wrote his originals but Davies, freed of such limitations, has been able to end the Zenda adventure on a high note.

I heartily recommend this book but readers should also make sure they read Hope's own sequel and appreciate how he envisaged the ending of the Zenda adventures.

Good book, bad service., 01 Feb 2006
I ordered this book so I could read the Camus titles to start my A-Level French coursework. I ordered this (along with the outsider {as it is the only correct translation of the title I have found})a full 11 days ago, plus paying full price on delivery. I expeted for them to come in 2-3 days so I waited and this turned into a week. I phoned amazon.co.uk (yes they do have a phone number!) and the nice lady re-sent them. I am not sure if it is the fault of amazon or Royal Mail, but these are some of the most important books of my school life and they took 11 days to come! I was nearly tearing my hair out! All in all, the books are good and the service (in this case) was bad.

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life Around Death, 20 May 2004
What is the meaning of life? For many, that question is an abstraction except in the context of being aware of losing some of the joys of life, or life itself. In The Plague, Camus creates a timeless tale of humans caught in the jaws of implacable death, in this case a huge outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Algeria on the north African coast. With the possibility of dying so close, each character comes to see his or her life differently. In a sense, we each get a glimpse of what we, too, may think about life in the last hours and days before our own deaths. The Plague will leave you with a sense of death as real rather than as an abstraction. Then by reflecting in the mirror of that death, you can see life more clearly.

For example, what role would you take if bubonic plague were to be unleashed in your community? Would you flee? Would you help relieve the suffering? Would you become a profiteer? Would you help maintain order? Would you withdraw or seek out others? These are all important questions for helping you understand yourself that this powerful novel will raise for you.

The book is described as objectively as possible by a narrator, who is one of the key figures in the drama. That literary device allows each of us to insert ourselves into the situation.

Let me explain the main themes. Love is expressed in many ways. There is the love of men and women for each other. Dr. Rieux's wife is ill, and has just left for treatment at a sanitarium. Rambert, a journalist on temporary assignment, is separated from his live-in girl friend in Paris. Dr. Rieux's mother comes to stay with him during his mother's absence, so there is also love of parent and child. The magistrate also loses his son to the plague after a desperate battle. Separations occur because of the quarantine on Oran, which causes love to be tested. What is love without the other person being present? The characters find that their memories soon become abstractions. But they reach out to establish new love with each other. Tarrou, who is also caught in Oran, decides or organize a volunteer corps to help with the sick and dead. Rambert decides to stay in Oran to help after having arranged to escape the quarantine. The survivors find succor in increasing closeness with each other. Rieux and Tarrou become close, almost like brothers. Even Rieux's patients become people with whom he develops an emotional bond, even though the waves of death become an abstraction as he can do little to avert them. The priest figure also helps to explore the notion of love for God and God's love for us. The exile theme is reinforced by the quarantine. People cannot leave Oran. The disease itself causes that exile to become worse. If someone in your household becomes ill, each well person has to be quarantined. So you may be living in a tent in the soccer stadium wondering what is happening to the rest of your family. Cottard is a criminal who is on the run from the authorities. He is in despair as the plague begins, and tries to kill himself. The distractions of the plague keep the authorities from troubling him, so the period of the plague is an exile from his criminal past.

Suffering is easy to explain. Bubonic plague came in two forms in the book. Both brought painful and rapid death, with few reprieves. There is high fever, painful swelling or difficulty in breathing, and enormous pain. Those who tend the suffering also suffer, from the enormous workloads, the sense of futility, and the fear that they, too, will be next.

Camus does a nice job of pointing out that these themes also recur in everyday life. We just don't see them very clearly. The people in Oran live in an ugly city that deliberately built itself away from the beauty of the ocean on a sun-scorched plateau plagued by winds. They take little time to enjoy each other or the ocean, because they are caught up with making money. Commerce is their passion. So they cut themselves off from love, in an exile of spirit, which causes them to shrivel and suffer emotionally even before the plague comes. Tarrou also describes is own sense of the plague in everyday life when he discovers that his father is a prosecuting attorney who helps bring criminals to the justice of a firing squad. Even that faint connection of not trying to stop the legal killing causes Tarrou to feel like he carries the plague within him.

The book is masterful in its use of metaphor. In the beginning, dying rats and small animals presage the plague attacking humans. At the end, their return presages the return of normal life to Oran. The scenes alternate between illuminating the main themes in the context of the physical plague and the emotional plague. Religion is used as a bridge between the two, raising the fundamental question about what God's purpose is in unleashing the plague. The priest is fully tested in his love of God through this development, which is one of the most moving parts of the book.

I have read the book both in French and in English, and found this translation to be a perfectly appropriate one. There are few nuances that you will miss by reading this in English. Obviously, if you read French well, you should read the book in its original form.

This book is an excellent example of why Albert Camus was named a Novel Laureate in Literature.

After you read this great novel, I encourage you to consider the subject of complacency. That's the author's ultimate target. Where are you complacent in ways that cost you love, closeness with others, and happiness? What else is complacency costing you? How can you help others learn to overcome complacency in loving, happy ways without the spectre of death to help you?

Enjoy a more wonderful life by overcoming the plague of complacency about the most important human values and activities!

What drove Samson?, 21 Nov 2007
Unlike the other volumes I have read in the Canongate series of Myths Retold, this book about the myth of Samson is not a novel, a retelling of an ancient myth into a modern setting, but rather a minute and scholarly examination of the biblical text, picking up every tiny nuance and finding significances in the way it is told that would escape the average reader (though Talmudic scholars have pored over them in the past). For example, the simple sentence that Samson's father Manoah `rose and followed his wife' should show us that how weak he was, for, as a Talmudic commentator had it, ` a man does not walk behind a woman on the road - not even his wife'.

The story narrated in the Bible is full of action, but is silent about the thoughts of the different characters in it. These silences Grossman fills out with ever more subtle psychological speculations, in the course of which Samson appears not so much as the `thug' or `the most stupid character in the Bible' for which one your reviewers takes him, and more as an inarticulate and tortured being, conscious of being driven from his conception onwards by a God-given destiny which makes him unhappily different from other men, something that also sets an uneasy distance between him and even his parents, so that he has never ever, from birth onwards, been truly loved. Deep down, he longs to be like `every other man', and perhaps it is that that makes him reveal his secret to Delilah.

Though Samson has at times been `read pejoratively in the Jewish tradition', he is also `inscribed in the Jewish consciousness as a national hero and a symbol'. Grossman, an Israeli, is a critical analyst of many aspects of Israeli attitudes and policies, and at one point he comments on the many echoes of the story in the position of Israel in particular: perhaps its strength is also a liability. He sees both Samson and Israel as troubled by `a deep existential insecurity'. I was expecting this line of thought to culminate in Grossman expressing the fear that out of its very strength Israel might one day bring the whole structure of the Middle East crashing down, in an apocalypse that would spell not only the destruction of her enemies but of herself also. He does not say so - but I wonder whether I dare speculatively interpret his silence in this not so far-fetched way?

Subtle and stunning, 13 Nov 2007
This is such a subtle and stunning book I can't recommend it highly enough. At first glance an analysis of a short Bible story may not appeal to everyone but the analysis not only draws out the complex humanity of the protagonist's predicament but in doing so it also draws out the humanity in the reader him/herself. The understanding achieved as you finish the final page is quite profound. You won't forget reading this book and will never be the same person again once you have.

A brilliant little book, 11 Aug 2007
David Grossman is for my money the greatest living Israeli writer. His late 80s novel 'See Under: Love' is significant as being one of the first, belated attempts by an Israeli writer to achieve some kind of imaginative sense of the cost of the Holocaust. His non-fiction book 'The Yellow Wind', a series of interviews with Palestinians, is famous in Israel for having more or less predicted the first Intifada. His last novel 'Someone To Run With' takes stock of the corruption and moral bankruptcy of modern Israeli society. He has written passionately and angrily about the plight of the Palestinians, which is more than you can say for many of his contemporaries. I can only assume that the reason he isn't read in English-speaking countries as much as he ought to be is that the Western, English-speaking readership for serious fiction has some sort of preconceived notion that Israeli writers have nothing to say to them.

They couldn't be more wrong. The other review of this book is remarkably insensitive to where Grossman is coming from. Kenneth Tynan says somewhere that what tends to move us in some kinds of writing is what it must have cost the writer to write it in the first place; I, as a very minor writer myself, am extremely moved by Grossman's agonised depiction of Samson's plight, the tragedy of a man who never really understood himself (how unlike the tragedy of Oedipus, where a man's search for self-knowledge ends up destroying him). Samson, in all his helpless incomprehension, his self-pity, his mixture of almost casual tenderness and outbursts of manic violence, is a hero to many Israelis, and in writing about him Grossman is taking a central myth of Israel on the chin. It's no coincidence that the open secret of Israel's nuclear capacity is sometimes referred to as the 'Samson option' - the unspoken threat that any country that tries to invade Israel will call down nuclear devastation, even if it threatens the existence of Israel itself, as it surely would.

Grossman himself is a strong critic of Israel's government, and his own son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon war; talking about Samson is not, for him, a polite exercise in playing about with myths, but a burning contemporary issue. This book is, among other things, an attempt on the part of a secular Israeli to explore the murkier and angrier depths of the Jewish imagination. It's a tribute to the secular, literary imagination that Grossman, on the strength of this book, understands the Israeli right a lot better than they will ever understand him. I salute him and recommend this book to anyone who is interested in good writing and/or the Middle East.

Missing the obvious, 30 Apr 2007
Grossman is a Samson apologist, he gives this violent, lawbreaking thug far more credit of action and depth of character than he deserves. Grossman gives many convoluted arguments to excuse his actions, which fall short or simply don't convince. He also misses the most blinding obvious characteristic of Samson that he is without equal the most stupid character in the Bible, lumbering from on disaster to another. Of the Canongate Myth series this contribution is the worst.

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A convincing blend of two author styles, 30 Apr 2008
I am a fan of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the Zenda stories of Anthony Hope. Therefore I was intrigued by the idea of an original story that brings the two together.

David Stuart Davies does a magnificent job with this short story. It inevitably reads more like a Holmes story but Hope's characters behave and act as they do in his own works.

My only criticism of this book lies in the fact that it takes no account of Hope's own sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda - Rupert of Hentzau. Anthony Hope wrote his own sequel to the events of his famous story and Davies' story takes no account of it and presents itself as the sequel to the original. The decidedly dark and sad ending of Hope's sequel is replaced with the upbeat and happy ending that modern readers tend to insist on. Such an ending was impossible at the time Hope wrote his originals but Davies, freed of such limitations, has been able to end the Zenda adventure on a high note.

I heartily recommend this book but readers should also make sure they read Hope's own sequel and appreciate how he envisaged the ending of the Zenda adventures.

Good book, bad service., 01 Feb 2006
I ordered this book so I could read the Camus titles to start my A-Level French coursework. I ordered this (along with the outsider {as it is the only correct translation of the title I have found})a full 11 days ago, plus paying full price on delivery. I expeted for them to come in 2-3 days so I waited and this turned into a week. I phoned amazon.co.uk (yes they do have a phone number!) and the nice lady re-sent them. I am not sure if it is the fault of amazon or Royal Mail, but these are some of the most important books of my school life and they took 11 days to come! I was nearly tearing my hair out! All in all, the books are good and the service (in this case) was bad.

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life Around Death, 20 May 2004
What is the meaning of life? For many, that question is an abstraction except in the context of being aware of losing some of the joys of life, or life itself. In The Plague, Camus creates a timeless tale of humans caught in the jaws of implacable death, in this case a huge outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Algeria on the north African coast. With the possibility of dying so close, each character comes to see his or her life differently. In a sense, we each get a glimpse of what we, too, may think about life in the last hours and days before our own deaths. The Plague will leave you with a sense of death as real rather than as an abstraction. Then by reflecting in the mirror of that death, you can see life more clearly.

For example, what role would you take if bubonic plague were to be unleashed in your community? Would you flee? Would you help relieve the suffering? Would you become a profiteer? Would you help maintain order? Would you withdraw or seek out others? These are all important questions for helping you understand yourself that this powerful novel will raise for you.

The book is described as objectively as possible by a narrator, who is one of the key figures in the drama. That literary device allows each of us to insert ourselves into the situation.

Let me explain the main themes. Love is expressed in many ways. There is the love of men and women for each other. Dr. Rieux's wife is ill, and has just left for treatment at a sanitarium. Rambert, a journalist on temporary assignment, is separated from his live-in girl friend in Paris. Dr. Rieux's mother comes to stay with him during his mother's absence, so there is also love of parent and child. The magistrate also loses his son to the plague after a desperate battle. Separations occur because of the quarantine on Oran, which causes love to be tested. What is love without the other person being present? The characters find that their memories soon become abstractions. But they reach out to establish new love with each other. Tarrou, who is also caught in Oran, decides or organize a volunteer corps to help with the sick and dead. Rambert decides to stay in Oran to help after having arranged to escape the quarantine. The survivors find succor in increasing closeness with each other. Rieux and Tarrou become close, almost like brothers. Even Rieux's patients become people with whom he develops an emotional bond, even though the waves of death become an abstraction as he can do little to avert them. The priest figure also helps to explore the notion of love for God and God's love for us. The exile theme is reinforced by the quarantine. People cannot leave Oran. The disease itself causes that exile to become worse. If someone in your household becomes ill, each well person has to be quarantined. So you may be living in a tent in the soccer stadium wondering what is happening to the rest of your family. Cottard is a criminal who is on the run from the authorities. He is in despair as the plague begins, and tries to kill himself. The distractions of the plague keep the authorities from troubling him, so the period of the plague is an exile from his criminal past.

Suffering is easy to explain. Bubonic plague came in two forms in the book. Both brought painful and rapid death, with few reprieves. There is high fever, painful swelling or difficulty in breathing, and enormous pain. Those who tend the suffering also suffer, from the enormous workloads, the sense of futility, and the fear that they, too, will be next.

Camus does a nice job of pointing out that these themes also recur in everyday life. We just don't see them very clearly. The people in Oran live in an ugly city that deliberately built itself away from the beauty of the ocean on a sun-scorched plateau plagued by winds. They take little time to enjoy each other or the ocean, because they are caught up with making money. Commerce is their passion. So they cut themselves off from love, in an exile of spirit, which causes them to shrivel and suffer emotionally even before the plague comes. Tarrou also describes is own sense of the plague in everyday life when he discovers that his father is a prosecuting attorney who helps bring criminals to the justice of a firing squad. Even that faint connection of not trying to stop the legal killing causes Tarrou to feel like he carries the plague within him.

The book is masterful in its use of metaphor. In the beginning, dying rats and small animals presage the plague attacking humans. At the end, their return presages the return of normal life to Oran. The scenes alternate between illuminating the main themes in the context of the physical plague and the emotional plague. Religion is used as a bridge between the two, raising the fundamental question about what God's purpose is in unleashing the plague. The priest is fully tested in his love of God through this development, which is one of the most moving parts of the book.

I have read the book both in French and in English, and found this translation to be a perfectly appropriate one. There are few nuances that you will miss by reading this in English. Obviously, if you read French well, you should read the book in its original form.

This book is an excellent example of why Albert Camus was named a Novel Laureate in Literature.

After you read this great novel, I encourage you to consider the subject of complacency. That's the author's ultimate target. Where are you complacent in ways that cost you love, closeness with others, and happiness? What else is complacency costing you? How can you help others learn to overcome complacency in loving, happy ways without the spectre of death to help you?

Enjoy a more wonderful life by overcoming the plague of complacency about the most important human values and activities!

What drove Samson?, 21 Nov 2007
Unlike the other volumes I have read in the Canongate series of Myths Retold, this book about the myth of Samson is not a novel, a retelling of an ancient myth into a modern setting, but rather a minute and scholarly examination of the biblical text, picking up every tiny nuance and finding significances in the way it is told that would escape the average reader (though Talmudic scholars have pored over them in the past). For example, the simple sentence that Samson's father Manoah `rose and followed his wife' should show us that how weak he was, for, as a Talmudic commentator had it, ` a man does not walk behind a woman on the road - not even his wife'.

The story narrated in the Bible is full of action, but is silent about the thoughts of the different characters in it. These silences Grossman fills out with ever more subtle psychological speculations, in the course of which Samson appears not so much as the `thug' or `the most stupid character in the Bible' for which one your reviewers takes him, and more as an inarticulate and tortured being, conscious of being driven from his conception onwards by a God-given destiny which makes him unhappily different from other men, something that also sets an uneasy distance between him and even his parents, so that he has never ever, from birth onwards, been truly loved. Deep down, he longs to be like `every other man', and perhaps it is that that makes him reveal his secret to Delilah.

Though Samson has at times been `read pejoratively in the Jewish tradition', he is also `inscribed in the Jewish consciousness as a national hero and a symbol'. Grossman, an Israeli, is a critical analyst of many aspects of Israeli attitudes and policies, and at one point he comments on the many echoes of the story in the position of Israel in particular: perhaps its strength is also a liability. He sees both Samson and Israel as troubled by `a deep existential insecurity'. I was expecting this line of thought to culminate in Grossman expressing the fear that out of its very strength Israel might one day bring the whole structure of the Middle East crashing down, in an apocalypse that would spell not only the destruction of her enemies but of herself also. He does not say so - but I wonder whether I dare speculatively interpret his silence in this not so far-fetched way?

Subtle and stunning, 13 Nov 2007
This is such a subtle and stunning book I can't recommend it highly enough. At first glance an analysis of a short Bible story may not appeal to everyone but the analysis not only draws out the complex humanity of the protagonist's predicament but in doing so it also draws out the humanity in the reader him/herself. The understanding achieved as you finish the final page is quite profound. You won't forget reading this book and will never be the same person again once you have.

A brilliant little book, 11 Aug 2007
David Grossman is for my money the greatest living Israeli writer. His late 80s novel 'See Under: Love' is significant as being one of the first, belated attempts by an Israeli writer to achieve some kind of imaginative sense of the cost of the Holocaust. His non-fiction book 'The Yellow Wind', a series of interviews with Palestinians, is famous in Israel for having more or less predicted the first Intifada. His last novel 'Someone To Run With' takes stock of the corruption and moral bankruptcy of modern Israeli society. He has written passionately and angrily about the plight of the Palestinians, which is more than you can say for many of his contemporaries. I can only assume that the reason he isn't read in English-speaking countries as much as he ought to be is that the Western, English-speaking readership for serious fiction has some sort of preconceived notion that Israeli writers have nothing to say to them.

They couldn't be more wrong. The other review of this book is remarkably insensitive to where Grossman is coming from. Kenneth Tynan says somewhere that what tends to move us in some kinds of writing is what it must have cost the writer to write it in the first place; I, as a very minor writer myself, am extremely moved by Grossman's agonised depiction of Samson's plight, the tragedy of a man who never really understood himself (how unlike the tragedy of Oedipus, where a man's search for self-knowledge ends up destroying him). Samson, in all his helpless incomprehension, his self-pity, his mixture of almost casual tenderness and outbursts of manic violence, is a hero to many Israelis, and in writing about him Grossman is taking a central myth of Israel on the chin. It's no coincidence that the open secret of Israel's nuclear capacity is sometimes referred to as the 'Samson option' - the unspoken threat that any country that tries to invade Israel will call down nuclear devastation, even if it threatens the existence of Israel itself, as it surely would.

Grossman himself is a strong critic of Israel's government, and his own son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon war; talking about Samson is not, for him, a polite exercise in playing about with myths, but a burning contemporary issue. This book is, among other things, an attempt on the part of a secular Israeli to explore the murkier and angrier depths of the Jewish imagination. It's a tribute to the secular, literary imagination that Grossman, on the strength of this book, understands the Israeli right a lot better than they will ever understand him. I salute him and recommend this book to anyone who is interested in good writing and/or the Middle East.

Missing the obvious, 30 Apr 2007
Grossman is a Samson apologist, he gives this violent, lawbreaking thug far more credit of action and depth of character than he deserves. Grossman gives many convoluted arguments to excuse his actions, which fall short or simply don't convince. He also misses the most blinding obvious characteristic of Samson that he is without equal the most stupid character in the Bible, lumbering from on disaster to another. Of the Canongate Myth series this contribution is the worst.

The greatest Holmes story - and the best, 09 Nov 2006
'The Hound of the Baskervilles' is certainly the most famous Sherlock Holmes story, and the greatest. But Holmes himself isn't at his best in it. The real hero of the book is Dr Watson, and the all-pervading character is the every-mysterious Dartmoor. 'The Valley of Fear', on the other hand, is scandalously under-rated. The first part, 'The Tragedy of Birlstone', is a dazzling detective story, and the second, 'The Scowrers', is the fore-runner of the great American hardboiled private eye novels. An amazing book. And this lovely hardback edition, combining the two novels, works out cheaper than a standard paperback! It's much nicer to look at and to handle. There's an informative afterword by author and editor David Stuart Davies. The print is clear and attractive, and the production values excellent - full-cloth binding, all gilt edges, head and tail bands, ribbon marker, and section-sewn. With the others in the set, this edition has an honoured place on my shelves.

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it.

A convincing blend of two author styles, 30 Apr 2008
I am a fan of both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the Zenda stories of Anthony Hope. Therefore I was intrigued by the idea of an original story that brings the two together.

David Stuart Davies does a magnificent job with this short story. It inevitably reads more like a Holmes story but Hope's characters behave and act as they do in his own works.

My only criticism of this book lies in the fact that it takes no account of Hope's own sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda - Rupert of Hentzau. Anthony Hope wrote his own sequel to the events of his famous story and Davies' story takes no account of it and presents itself as the sequel to the original. The decidedly dark and sad ending of Hope's sequel is replaced with the upbeat and happy ending that modern readers tend to insist on. Such an ending was impossible at the time Hope wrote his originals but Davies, freed of such limitations, has been able to end the Zenda adventure on a high note.

I heartily recommend this book but readers should also make sure they read Hope's own sequel and appreciate how he envisaged the ending of the Zenda adventures.

Good book, bad service., 01 Feb 2006
I ordered this book so I could read the Camus titles to start my A-Level French coursework. I ordered this (along with the outsider {as it is the only correct translation of the title I have found})a full 11 days ago, plus paying full price on delivery. I expeted for them to come in 2-3 days so I waited and this turned into a week. I phoned amazon.co.uk (yes they do have a phone number!) and the nice lady re-sent them. I am not sure if it is the fault of amazon or Royal Mail, but these are some of the most important books of my school life and they took 11 days to come! I was nearly tearing my hair out! All in all, the books are good and the service (in this case) was bad.

Love, Exile, and Suffering Illuminated by Life Around Death, 20 May 2004
What is the meaning of life? For many, that question is an abstraction except in the context of being aware of losing some of the joys of life, or life itself. In The Plague, Camus creates a timeless tale of humans caught in the jaws of implacable death, in this case a huge outbreak of bubonic plague in Oran, Algeria on the north African coast. With the possibility of dying so close, each character comes to see his or her life differently. In a sense, we each get a glimpse of what we, too, may think about life in the last hours and days before our own deaths. The Plague will leave you with a sense of death as real rather than as an abstraction. Then by reflecting in the mirror of that death, you can see life more clearly.

For example, what role would you take if bubonic plague were to be unleashed in your community? Would you flee? Would you help relieve the suffering? Would you become a profiteer? Would you help maintain order? Would you withdraw or seek out others? These are all important questions for helping you understand yourself that this powerful novel will raise for you.

The book is described as objectively as possible by a narrator, who is one of the key figures in the drama. That literary device allows each of us to insert ourselves into the situation.

Let me explain the main themes. Love is expressed in many ways. There is the love of men and women for each other. Dr. Rieux's wife is ill, and has just left for treatment at a sanitarium. Rambert, a journalist on temporary assignment, is separated from his live-in girl friend in Paris. Dr. Rieux's mother comes to stay with him during his mother's absence, so there is also love of parent and child. The magistrate also loses his son to the plague after a desperate battle. Separations occur because of the quarantine on Oran, which causes love to be tested. What is love without the other person being present? The characters find that their memories soon become abstractions. But they reach out to establish new love with each other. Tarrou, who is also caught in Oran, decides or organize a volunteer corps to help with the sick and dead. Rambert decides to stay in Oran to help after having arranged to escape the quarantine. The survivors find succor in increasing closeness with each other. Rieux and Tarrou become close, almost like brothers. Even Rieux's patients become people with whom he develops an emotional bond, even though the waves of death become an abstraction as he can do little to avert them. The priest figure also helps to explore the notion of love for God and God's love for us. The exile theme is reinforced by the quarantine. People cannot leave Oran. The disease itself causes that exile to become worse. If someone in your household becomes ill, each well person has to be quarantined. So you may be living in a tent in the soccer stadium wondering what is happening to the rest of your family. Cottard is a criminal who is on the run from the authorities. He is in despair as the plague begins, and tries to kill himself. The distractions of the plague keep the authorities from troubling him, so the period of the plague is an exile from his criminal past.

Suffering is easy to explain. Bubonic plague came in two forms in the book. Both brought painful and rapid death, with few reprieves. There is high fever, painful swelling or difficulty in breathing, and enormous pain. Those who tend the suffering also suffer, from the enormous workloads, the sense of futility, and the fear that they, too, will be next.

Camus does a nice job of pointing out that these themes also recur in everyday life. We just don't see them very clearly. The people in Oran live in an ugly city that deliberately built itself away from the beauty of the ocean on a sun-scorched plateau plagued by winds. They take little time to enjoy each other or the ocean, because they are caught up with making money. Commerce is their passion. So they cut themselves off from love, in an exile of spirit, which causes them to shrivel and suffer emotionally even before the plague comes. Tarrou also describes is own sense of the plague in everyday life when he discovers that his father is a prosecuting attorney who helps bring criminals to the justice of a firing squad. Even that faint connection of not trying to stop the legal killing causes Tarrou to feel like he carries the plague within him.

The book is masterful in its use of metaphor. In the beginning, dying rats and small animals presage the plague attacking humans. At the end, their return presages the return of normal life to Oran. The scenes alternate between illuminating the main themes in the context of the physical plague and the emotional plague. Religion is used as a bridge between the two, raising the fundamental question about what God's purpose is in unleashing the plague. The priest is fully tested in his love of God through this development, which is one of the most moving parts of the book.

I have read the book both in French and in English, and found this translation to be a perfectly appropriate one. There are few nuances that you will miss by reading this in English. Obviously, if you read French well, you should read the book in its original form.

This book is an excellent example of why Albert Camus was named a Novel Laureate in Literature.

After you read this great novel, I encourage you to consider the subject of complacency. That's the author's ultimate target. Where are you complacent in ways that cost you love, closeness with others, and happiness? What else is complacency costing you? How can you help others learn to overcome complacency in loving, happy ways without the spectre of death to help you?

Enjoy a more wonderful life by overcoming the plague of complacency about the most important human values and activities!

What drove Samson?, 21 Nov 2007
Unlike the other volumes I have read in the Canongate series of Myths Retold, this book about the myth of Samson is not a novel, a retelling of an ancient myth into a modern setting, but rather a minute and scholarly examination of the biblical text, picking up every tiny nuance and finding significances in the way it is told that would escape the average reader (though Talmudic scholars have pored over them in the past). For example, the simple sentence that Samson's father Manoah `rose and followed his wife' should show us that how weak he was, for, as a Talmudic commentator had it, ` a man does not walk behind a woman on the road - not even his wife'.

The story narrated in the Bible is full of action, but is silent about the thoughts of the different characters in it. These silences Grossman fills out with ever more subtle psychological speculations, in the course of which Samson appears not so much as the `thug' or `the most stupid character in the Bible' for which one your reviewers takes him, and more as an inarticulate and tortured being, conscious of being driven from his conception onwards by a God-given destiny which makes him unhappily different from other men, something that also sets an uneasy distance between him and even his parents, so that he has never ever, from birth onwards, been truly loved. Deep down, he longs to be like `every other man', and perhaps it is that that makes him reveal his secret to Delilah.

Though Samson has at times been `read pejoratively in the Jewish tradition', he is also `inscribed in the Jewish consciousness as a national hero and a symbol'. Grossman, an Israeli, is a critical analyst of many aspects of Israeli attitudes and policies, and at one point he comments on the many echoes of the story in the position of Israel in particular: perhaps its strength is also a liability. He sees both Samson and Israel as troubled by `a deep existential insecurity'. I was expecting this line of thought to culminate in Grossman expressing the fear that out of its very strength Israel might one day bring the whole structure of the Middle East crashing down, in an apocalypse that would spell not only the destruction of her enemies but of herself also. He does not say so - but I wonder whether I dare speculatively interpret his silence in this not so far-fetched way?

Subtle and stunning, 13 Nov 2007
This is such a subtle and stunning book I can't recommend it highly enough. At first glance an analysis of a short Bible story may not appeal to everyone but the analysis not only draws out the complex humanity of the protagonist's predicament but in doing so it also draws out the humanity in the reader him/herself. The understanding achieved as you finish the final page is quite profound. You won't forget reading this book and will never be the same person again once you have.

A brilliant little book, 11 Aug 2007
David Grossman is for my money the greatest living Israeli writer. His late 80s novel 'See Under: Love' is significant as being one of the first, belated attempts by an Israeli writer to achieve some kind of imaginative sense of the cost of the Holocaust. His non-fiction book 'The Yellow Wind', a series of interviews with Palestinians, is famous in Israel for having more or less predicted the first Intifada. His last novel 'Someone To Run With' takes stock of the corruption and moral bankruptcy of modern Israeli society. He has written passionately and angrily about the plight of the Palestinians, which is more than you can say for many of his contemporaries. I can only assume that the reason he isn't read in English-speaking countries as much as he ought to be is that the Western, English-speaking readership for serious fiction has some sort of preconceived notion that Israeli writers have nothing to say to them.

They couldn't be more wrong. The other review of this book is remarkably insensitive to where Grossman is coming from. Kenneth Tynan says somewhere that what tends to move us in some kinds of writing is what it must have cost the writer to write it in the first place; I, as a very minor writer myself, am extremely moved by Grossman's agonised depiction of Samson's plight, the tragedy of a man who never really understood himself (how unlike the tragedy of Oedipus, where a man's search for self-knowledge ends up destroying him). Samson, in all his helpless incomprehension, his self-pity, his mixture of almost casual tenderness and outbursts of manic violence, is a hero to many Israelis, and in writing about him Grossman is taking a central myth of Israel on the chin. It's no coincidence that the open secret of Israel's nuclear capacity is sometimes referred to as the 'Samson option' - the unspoken threat that any country that tries to invade Israel will call down nuclear devastation, even if it threatens the existence of Israel itself, as it surely would.

Grossman himself is a strong critic of Israel's government, and his own son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon war; talking about Samson is not, for him, a polite exercise in playing about with myths, but a burning contemporary issue. This book is, among other things, an attempt on the part of a secular Israeli to explore the murkier and angrier depths of the Jewish imagination. It's a tribute to the secular, literary imagination that Grossman, on the strength of this book, understands the Israeli right a lot better than they will ever understand him. I salute him and recommend this book to anyone who is interested in good writing and/or the Middle East.

Missing the obvious, 30 Apr 2007
Grossman is a Samson apologist, he gives this violent, lawbreaking thug far more credit of action and depth of character than he deserves. Grossman gives many convoluted arguments to excuse his actions, which fall short or simply don't convince. He also misses the most blinding obvious characteristic of Samson that he is without equal the most stupid character in the Bible, lumbering from on disaster to another. Of the Canongate Myth series this contribution is the worst.

The greatest Holmes story - and the best, 09 Nov 2006
'The Hound of the Baskervilles' is certainly the most famous Sherlock Holmes story, and the greatest. But Holmes himself isn't at his best in it. The real hero of the book is Dr Watson, and the all-pervading character is the every-mysterious Dartmoor. 'The Valley of Fear', on the other hand, is scandalously under-rated. The first part, 'The Tragedy of Birlstone', is a dazzling detective story, and the second, 'The Scowrers', is the fore-runner of the great American hardboiled private eye novels. An amazing book. And this lovely hardback edition, combining the two novels, works out cheaper than a standard paperback! It's much nicer to look at and to handle. There's an informative afterword by author and editor David Stuart Davies. The print is clear and attractive, and the production values excellent - full-cloth binding, all gilt edges, head and tail bands, ribbon marker, and section-sewn. With the others in the set, this edition has an honoured place on my shelves.

Dark and mysterious, 15 Jan 2008
The title of this novel intrigued me. It was the second Dickens novel that I read, the first being Great Expectations. This one is a good deal darker. Dickens always was an advocate for the poor and downtrodden but in this novel he takes on all of society's evils: The legal system and social stratification are the most obvious.

There is a veritable parade of wicked characters. The one who drove me nuts was Harold Skimpole. Dickens never says he's a parasite but it is obvious that he is so. It has been suggested that the character's mannerisms and speech were modeled after Dickens' friend Leigh Hunt. If so, it seems doubtful he was trying to say his friend was a leech.

There is a mystery running through this novel but I won't spoil it by telling about it.

The book contains the original illustrations by Phiz: They match the tone of the book. Many of them are dark and shadowy.

One of the complaints that have been made against Dickens is his good characters are 'too good'. I find I miss truly good characters in modern works. Bleak House would be unbearable were it not for the goodness of Mr. Jarndyce and Esther Summerson.

The Collector's Library edition is a beautiful one. Most of the books in the series can fit in your pocket but not this one! It is two and a half inches thick. Still it's a nice portable size and beautifully crafted with a sewn binding, cloth cover, gold page edging and ribbon marker. The blue white paper is pleasing and the binding surprisingly tight for its thickness. It does not loosen with use. This is a book that will last a very long time. Appropriate for a great classic.

A book for all, 24 Mar 2008
A wonderfully written book that appeals to all ages and remains fresh after all these years. The story about the friendship between Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad meanders gently along with a magical feel, nice touches of humour throughout while subtly mentioning the effects wrought on the countryside by modern technology. This doesn't detract in any way however from the fun of the book and you'll come back to it again and again.

It's for adults too!, 13 Dec 2007
I don't see why children (or with respect to the previous reviewer, grandparents) should have all the fun "Wind in the Willows" is a great book for all of us. I had a chance to read a copy of this book when a child myself - but dismissed it as "too young" which is a pity, for it took a couple more decades for me to realise what I'd missed!


It's easy to see us human beings represented by the creatures, here, and just as we do, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Toad's obsession with status symbols (his car) and speed, is a great one - how many people do we know like that, among our circles?

It's also interesting to note that originally the book was written for children of approximately 8 - 10 years, many youngsters of that range nowadays couldn't cope with the vocabularly within!

Times have changed, but the message is still a good one - for all of us. Go on - see for yourself!

Still One of the Best Children's Stories of all Time, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 06 May 2007

I purchased this story to read to my young grandson. The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a young child hearing it for the first time.

Until I started to read to my grandson I had forgotten what a wonderful story it is, far surpassing most of the modern tales for children. It still feels as fresh as the day it was written and is not dated at all.

For some reason, I don't know why children seem to be able to relate to stories about animals rather than about human beings, this is reflected in the number of programmes on children's television about animals.

Whether it be paper back or hard back with illustrations get the children in your family a copy of Wind in the Willows, I guarantee they will love it. Kenneth Grahame's stories are still among the best around for young children.

Still One of the Best Children's Stories, 28 Mar 2007
I purchased this book to read to my young grandson (4 years old). The book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood and the magical world the story gives to a