Knitbone Pepper 2: Knitbone Pepper and the Last Circus Tiger tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Burkhard Goertz bg_photographie — From Library Journal Completed shortly before anthropologist-shaman Castaneda's death in April 1998, this book serves as the fulfillment of a task his teacher, the Yaqui Indian sorcerer Don Juan Matus, gave him many years ago, when Castaneda was instructed to collect the significant events of his life. This was not, however, meant as a collection of major milestones in his physical existence but as a selective work describing the transcendent moments and meaningful insights that changed his life and brought him new understanding. Castaneda excels as a storyteller. Incidents both poignant and empowering form a solid thread through his shamanic development and ultimately total embrace of the world view of the Yaqui sorcerers. This basically autobiographical work is more personal than Castaneda's previous books, presenting a human portrait of a remote, mysterious figure. The supernatural occurrences defy explanation yet help to provide a fascinating look at a complex life.

Merve Eyvaz merveyvaz — A gay friend of mine named Eric (He claims he's not gay, whatever doesn't really matter to me) insisted I read this book. He claimed it was great! Perhaps I was in a bad place at the time or maybe because my rambunctious friend hyped it too much but, I just wasn't all that impressed... HOWEVER (a huge however) it has the most amazing love story in it. I recommend watching the movie, one of the few cases where a movie (in my opinion) turned out better than the book. Anyway, back to the love story, maybe the best I've ever read/heard/saw I spent the whole movie/book literally on the edge of tears wishing beyond all hope she could just tell him!!! Damn it! Just say it! One other interesting part was when one of the geisha's told the story of 'the little eel finding its way into the cave' OMFG-LMAO! too funny. P.S. in the movie many of the actors were Chinese (as opposed to Japanese which is who they portrayed) but, you wouldn’t know it if no one told you; they pull it off quite well.

Catarina Gonçalves catarinagoncalves — This book, this five lb. book was what I lugged around for four years. My lovely survey book. I would be lost without it. Filled with post-it notes and highlighter marks. Stokstad's Art History survey is amazing. If you are looking for a great coffee table book with lots of amazing info inside this is the book for you. This edition is not the one I had, mine was from 1999 but I think that one is out of print now...

Andrew Van andrewvandermerwe — ** spoiler alert ** Ferragus comprises three novellas showcasing the power and reach of The Thirteen, a secret society of companions called The Devorants who looked out for each other free of any moral or scruple. These novellas are Ferragus, or La Rue Soly; La Duchesse de Langeais or Ne touchez-pas a la hache; and La Fille aux Yeux D'Or My summaries of the other two novellas are on separate versions of this book because they won't all fit here. This is not a review, it's a summary because I like to keep track of my reading of Balzac's La Comedie Humaine in detail (so that I can refer back to the summary later. SO BEWARE: IT'S ALL SPOILERS Ferragus, or La Rue Soly Part 1: Madame Jules Balzac begins with this marvellous description of the streets of Balzac's Paris. Certain streets in Paris are as degraded as a man covered with infamy; also, there are noble streets, streets simply respectable, young streets on the morality of which the public has not yet formed an opinion; also cut-throat streets, streets older than the age of the oldest dowagers, estimable streets, streets always clean, streets always dirty, working, laboring, and mercantile streets. In short, the streets of Paris have every human quality, and impress us, by what we must call their physiognomy, with certain ideas against which we are defenceless. There are, for instance, streets of a bad neighborhood in which you could not be induced to live, and streets where you would willingly take up your abode. It is the reputation of one of these streets that leads to disaster in the story of Madame Jules. The Baron Auguste de Maulincour, a young man of a good family which survived the Revolution by the skin of its teeth, is devastated when he sees his lady-love, Clemence, Madame Jules Desmarets, wife of a banker in the Bank of Nucingen, disappear into a house in one of those streets that means instant loss of a woman's reputation. She is married, but his is a pure love and part of the attraction is her virtue. He loves women like this because he has been brought up to be sentimental; too naive to recognise that women may want to enjoy passionate emotion without reciprocating it. In this he is contrasted with the Vidame de Pamier who is scornful of women and thinks that faithfulness is folly. What can be more contrary to their nature than a tranquil, perfect love? They want emotions; happiness without storms is not happiness to them. Women with souls that are strong enough to bring infinitude into love are angelic exceptions; they are among women what noble geniuses are among men. Location 290 Neither of the Desmarets had wealth or position but with good fortune and hard work, Monsieur Jules had made his fortune and was well-liked in society. He and his wife were genuinely fond of each other and the only blight in their lives was a calumny that their good fortune was due to 'high protection dearly paid for'. (location 379). The accuser was despatched in a duel but still there is occasional quiet gossip about it, and when Maulincour discovers Madame Jules' secret visit it frees him to pursue her with more vigour, because she is no longer pure. Chapter 2: Ferragus He becomes a spy, enjoying the pleasure of becoming a thief and a rascal in the interests of his passion but has no luck in finding out the reason for her surreptitious visit - until one day he chances upon a letter addressed to someone who lives in the very same street, one Monsieur Ferragus, whose residence is at la Rue des Grands-Augustains, corner of rue Soly. Naturally, he reads the letter, an epistle of woe from a young woman called Ida, who betrays her class with poor grammar, spelling and punctuation. Henri has wronged her in some way and she beseeches him to make contact with her while she is still residing (unwillingly) at Madame Meynardie's. ... When Maulincour returns the letter to the 'beggar' who had dropped it, Madame Jules is there, caught out in her lies and in weepy embarrassment. Auguste returns home in triumph, ready to tackle Madame Jules the next day but is deterred by an 'accident' which occurs the very next day: a building block just happens to fall on his carriage, killing his servant but only injuring Auguste slightly, though enough to give him a fever brought on by nervous shock. Ten days later, recovered, he suffers another 'accident' this time more serious, and an investigation shows that the carriage axle was tampered with. Fearing that the next attempt will involve poison, he arranges for his grandmother's trusted servant to buy his food, but dread itself poisons his enjoyment of life. Eventually he brings in his old friend the Vidame who loves Auguste like a son. The Vidame sets his roguish valet on the case, and he discovers the real identity of his opponent: it is Henri Gratien Bourignard, at one time Ferragus XXIII, chief of the Devorants, (who, as we were told in the introduction, were a guild traditionally an association which rebuilt the temple at Jerusalem but now are a group of companions with criminal intent). Auguste is advised to travel, but he refuses. This was unwise. The next mysterious attempt on his life occurs at a ball, where he is inveigled into a duel over a paltry jest involving the sister of Monsieur de Ronquerolles' sister, the Comtesse de Seriz. Ronquerolles' wounds Auguste much more severely than the offence warranted, and while nursing him back to health Auguste's grandmother receives a worrying letter signed only F, which accuses him of spying on Madame Jules and warns him that there is no escape from the death he deserves because his actions have imperilled the lives of three other people. The Vidame now brings in the police, whose investigations reveal that Bourignard has a criminal record, and in due course Auguste receives a letter advising him that Ferragus is dead. Chapter 3:The Wife Accused But at a ball, Auguste discovers to his dismay that his foe is very much alive. He flees but is identified as M de Funcal, a Portuguese. Auguste tackles Madame Jules – for whom he now feels only enmity – but she denies everything, although this in itself arouses suspicion in her mystified husband. For the first time their perfect love is tested, and despite her assurances Monsieur Jules asks Auguste what's going on and he tells all. This is countered by a letter purporting to be from Auguste's grandmother which tells that he is suffering from a mental illness and therefore his claims should be ignored. But Monsieur Jules isn't silly. He sees signs that his wife has gone out, and no sooner has she denied it than Ida arrives to accuse Madame Jules of taking her man. She reveals that Madame Jules visits Ferragus every day and departs, leaving Jules to confront his weeping wife. Now, believing he is betrayed, he is angry, and he demands to know what's going on. Has there been, as the gossip says, some kind of protection deal with the criminal Ferragus, an accusation for which he killed a man in a duel? She extracts a promise from him that he will wait two days and then she will explain; he writes a new Will. Chapter 4: Where go to die? Monsieur Jules goes to see Auguste who is dying, poisoned, he says, when Madame Jules grasped his hair at the ball. The letter claiming him to be insane is revealed to be a forgery and his man Justin has suffered a convenient accident and is dead. Jules returns home in dismay, only to find that his wife went out in his absence to post a letter. He instructs servants to bring him any return mail, and he sends for a trusted friend Jaquet who is able to decipher the grid code in which it is written. It reveals that Madame Jules conspirator has had some kind of operation, and has left the sanctuary of the Portuguese embassy for the home of Madame Etienne Gruget, Ida's mother. Off he goes to check it out and (for an agreeable fee) set things up with Ida's mother so that he can be hidden to observe his wife's visit to Ferragus, recovering from his 'cautery'. There he sees Clemence arrive, and discovers that Ferragus is her father, long thought dead, whose surgery is to complete his assumption of another man's identity so that he can freely visit her without being recognised. With the backing of the other Twelve, he will become M de Funcal, with King John VI of Portugal his accomplice. These revelations are interrupted (this story is nothing if not melodramatic) by a scream: Ida's mother has found her suicide note. Ida is convinced that Henri Ferragus has betrayed her with Madame Jules, so the house is in uproar. Madame Etienne confronts Monsieur Jules; Madame Jules rushes downstairs and finds him there and flees; servants are despatched to try to save the life of Ida and Monsieur Jules wanders the streets of Paris in a daze as well he might. When he gets home, Madame Jules has lapsed into illness and we know she will die (because it's the only way Balzac can tidy up this mess). Guilt-stricken, her husband goes to the meddling author of their misfortunes, Auguste to avenge her. There is no need however, for he is now as good as dead, the poison has aged him prematurely and his memory is gone (Strangely, Monsieur Jules doesn't seem to be bothered by his wife's association with someone who would do this, but it's all academic anyway because she is to die in his arms shortly thereafter.) But (despite her failing strength) Clemence has managed to write a very long and coherent letter which explains everything. It turns out that her mother was an almost virtuous woman who loved unwisely. Clemence did not know her father, believing him to be dead, but her mother on her deathbed revealed that it was he who helped to make their fortunes for them. This mother extracts a deathbed promise that Clemence will take her place to comfort this man of dubious reputation – and she knows that Monsieur Jules will not love the daughter of Gratien Bourignard so she keeps this secret. Auguste's meddling spoils everything. Everything Bourignard and his friends (the Thirteen) did was to protect her and to ensure that she could take her place in society. They bought a dead man, a reputation and a fortune so that 'a living man might live again'. It was all meant to be secret, but it matters not now because (hey presto!) Bourignard is soon to die himself. (Or so she thinks). Her deathbed request is that Monsieur Jules should burn their chamber so that nothing remains of it. Chapter 5: Conclusion Monsieur Jules wanders the streets in a daze, only to return home and find Ferragus and his friend Jaquet, maintaining a vigil by her bedside. Their hostility manifests itself in the arrangements for her burial. There is a grand funeral, which Ferragus without asking takes on himself to pay for, and all Monsieur Jules' attempts to exhume the body for cremation are frustrated by bureaucracy (which provides Balzac with the opportunity for a little rant against the government). At the cemetery (where Auguste's burial is simultaneously taking place) he learns of the singular occurrence of thirteen mourning coaches for Clemence and only one with anyone inside it. He decides to be buried beside her when his time comes. But Bourignard is determined to frustrate this desire. Ida's body is found shortly afterwards but her burial is a simple affair. It is an easy matter for a mysterious man present at her despatch to deliver to Monsieur Jules an urn which for all intents and purposes contains the ashes of Madame Jules. Many, many years later, Monsieur Jules chances upon the aged and feeble Ferragus in the care of an old woman. His only thought is that this man loved his daughter too.

Fabien Selli fabien74 — Book 2 in this comedy/mystery series about a family of private investigators. The characters are quirky--which I like, but the mystery part is only so-so.

Tim Girvan _irvs — Just a sheer classic. I have read this countless times. Loved the rest of the series too. Brilliant.