Average customer rating:
- Great!
- Excellent material in biotelemetry
|
Biomedical Telemetry
R.Stuart Mackay
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Family Health
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Natural History
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0471560308 |
Book Description
Bio-Medical Telemetry: Sensing and Transmitting Biological Information from Animals and Man, Second Edition This second edition of the classic Mackay text provides scientists with the necessary tools for studying animal or human subjects without interfering with normal behavior patterns. It presents engineers, scientists, and physicians with critical information about the possibilities and limitations of telemetering methods so that these may be incorporated intelligently into many fields. With substantial coverage of transducers and physiological measurements, Bio-Medical Telemetry gives biologists the necessary background in electronics to enable them to choose equipment wisely and to recognize proper performance.
You'll find especially valuable and current information on:
- Ultrasonic radio methods for telemetering
- Satellite tracking
- Underwater methods of tracking
In addition, Mackay describes the development and application of the first swallowable radio transmitter which can be telemetered as it travels along the GI tract. Medical practitioners and biologists alike will find this book an invaluable introduction to the applications of bio-medical telemetry.
Of great value to the bio-medical engineer as well as any reader curious about the subject, this volume describes the workings of the human nervous system as seen through the eyes of an engineer. With a broad scope and inviting writing style, it provides a fascinating alternative to the unwieldy sources written by life scientists.
Customer Reviews:
Great!.......2007-01-14
I've read the book countless times. From libraries that is. This is now from my copy, bought from a chap on the Marketplace. It is still well written and easy to understand. Strongly suggested.
Excellent material in biotelemetry.......2000-04-23
This book provides a good overview of telemetry issues focused on living beings. It is difficult to find such detailed explanations of telemetry approaches and solutions in general biomedical engineering books.
Although some of the material described in the book may be obsolote for today's technology, the priciples and approaches still remain quite valid. In any case, this book provides an excellent explanation of telemetry approaches, and those readers interested in finding more technologically modern solutions will be able to transplant the situations described in this book to today's technology. To my knowledge, there is not a similar book in the market today that substites this text.
Average customer rating:
|
Trees on Ball State campus
Clara Peirce
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Trees
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0007F21HS |
Average customer rating:
- A good book but misses one thing
|
Hidden Oregon 4 Ed
Maria Lenhart
Manufacturer: Ulysses Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Guidebooks
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Pacific
| West
| Regions
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Oregon
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
North America
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1569752532 |
Book Description
Perhaps no destination better reflects the Hidden series than the state of Oregon. It possesses all the beauty and sophistication of its more-famous neighboring states of California and Washington, but without the pretense, crowds, and corporate influences. Hidden Oregon offers great getaways and unique choices that reflect the true nature of this state, including extensive coverage of the state's parks and wilderness areas, campgrounds, beaches, lighthouses, covered bridges and microbreweries. Revealing all of Oregon's charm, this guidebook leads visitors to coastal inns where the only traffic is the passing parade of migrating whales, hiking trails where the only noise is from cascading waterfalls, and small towns where rush hour means that the morning muffins are hot out of the oven down at the town bakery.
Customer Reviews:
A good book but misses one thing.......2002-05-08
I was an Oregonian all my life until a few years ago, and was raised in the southern Oregon area. When I read the book, I was carefully examining the part about southern Oregon. I noticed that a very interesting part of southern Oregon wasn't mentioned, and the is the Vortex (also known as the House of Mystery) in Gold Hill, a small town about 12 miles outside of Medford, the main town in southern Oregon. This is a spot that was so interesting that even Albert Einstein corresponded with someone about it. The "House of Mystery" doesn't refer to a haunting, but is an old shack that slid down an embankment during a mud slide during the gold mining days. You enter the "house", and things such as what looks like it should run uphill runs downhill, a certain part where people that are taller appear shorter, etc. Animals avoid the area, which ought to say something. Now, I haven't seen references to it in other travel books except for one, and then it was only one sentence long. For a book detailing the "hidden" things to look for in Oregon, this is one place to visit.
Otherwise, the book is very good on detailing the eastern part of the state, and is accurate about the demographics (my aunt lived almost all her life in eastern Oregon). Compared to other books on traveling Oregon, I would recommend this one.
Average customer rating:
- Father & son
- coming of age being an immigrant
- A Unique Coming of Age Tale
- Kureishi is great!
- useless
|
The Buddha of Suburbia
Hanif Kureishi
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| Classics
| Contemporary
| General
| Historical
| Humor
| Letters & Correspondence
| Middle
| Old
| Poetry
| Renaissance
| Shakespeare
| Short Stories
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Kureishi, Hanif
| ( K )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Lonely Londoners (Longman Caribbean Writers Series)
-
White Teeth: A Novel
-
The Gangster of Love
-
Tinisima
-
Morvern Callar
ASIN: 014013168X |
Amazon.com
There's quite a bit of activity in Buddha of Suburbia. A bureaucrat becomes a suburban guru who marries a follower with a son who's a punk rocker named Charlie Hero. Consequently, the guru's son is propelled from his bland life into a series of erotic experiences in London. All the while, Hanif Kureishi keeps the tone lively with wry wit. On the description of suburban life: "We were proud of never learning anything except the names of footballers, the personnel of rock groups and the lyrics to 'I Am the Walrus.'" He also bends cultures, classes and genders while blasting the racism of British life in this 1990 Whitbread Prize winner.
Customer Reviews:
Father & son.......2007-08-03
This story is seen through the eyes of an adolescent from a middle class Indian-English family in the late hippies/early punk years in a suburb in London. Many characters play but, may be as pointed out by the title, the deeper story is the one of his father. The father to son difficult relationship is usually present in most Kureishi's works but in no case with such an intensity. The collapse of a family, its impact in the lives of many people including the character are ,in my view, the essential part of this novel. Karim's father character with its deep contradictions, his ups and downs is absolutely the best of the book. Their relationship is described throughout the novel among funny anecdotes of the life in a London suburb.
coming of age being an immigrant.......2006-04-21
Hanif Kureishi wrote the excellent "coming of age" novel set in London of the 1970s. The protagonist is a boy, Karim, from mixed family: his father is Indian, his mother English. He has a younger brother. They live in a London suburb of not the best reputation, the immigrant district, and feel it...
As Karim enters his teens, disturbing per se, his family collapses, his father, searching for his own path (quite good, actually, even nowadays: he becoomes a meditation guru), finds a lover, Eva, an eccentric woman with pretenses to be an artist. Meanwhile, his son falls in love with Eva's son, Charlie, and since then starts his struggle to recognize his sexuality. At the same time, he has to figure out what to do with his life... His best friend, an Indian girl with a sharp mind (a very interesting character), daughter of a shopkeeper, chooses to be a feminist, although initially she has no courage to oppose her father, traditionally bullying her into an arranged marriage,and marries an Indian from India, but quickly regains her position and goes back on the "modern" path. Karim is bright, observant, learns quickly (however he has no inclination for academic learning), ambitious (he wants to move up in society and not be regarded as an immigrant, who he, in fact is not) finally he figures out what he wants and becomes an actor.
This is a funny account, very much in the atmosphere of the hippie times, at the same time trying to grasp the 70s, tackling the immigrant problems in England from every possible angle, and describing the rebellious years of one youth. Maybe this is too much... The strory is a bit incoherent sometimes and has some boring moments,probably more interesting is the way it is written (an internal monologue), the humor and language, the sharp and witty character portraits, and the hints of autobiography (?). Although it is evidently not perfect, it only excited my curiosity as to other Kureishi's novels.
A Unique Coming of Age Tale.......2006-01-29
This book is vulgar, graphic, and crude. It's also witty, interesting, and entertaining. And that combination makes it unlike anything else I've read.
"I wanted to live always this intensely: mysticism, alcohol, sexual promise, clever people, and drugs." That's what the narrator, Karim Amir, states near the beginning of the story. As the book opens he's just a kid--a seventeen year old boy living in suburban London. His father is Indian and his mother in English, and that effects everything in his life, though the author never beats you over the head with his opinions on race relations.
The novel is set in the last seventies, and you follow Karim as he leaves the suburbs and gets caught up in the punk movement and socialist politics. His father wants him to be a doctor, but he realizes it's not for him and eventually pursues acting.
The story itself is not remarkable. It's a basic coming of age tale that follows the narrator through several years as he experiences sex, love, and first jobs. What makes this book fascinating is the writer's style. He mixes philosophy with references to pop culture. He's very blunt and possibly offensive when discussing sex or politics. The book is often humorous, sometimes even laugh-out-loud funny.
The whole things is very refreshing. Rather than reading a work of fiction it almost feels like reading letters from a friend. The prose is excellent, but you never feel like the author gets too poetic, so it feels realistic and you really believe that you're getting a story told by Karim without anything being sugar -coated.
I can't think of any authors who are exactly like Kureishi, but he does remind me of Vonnegut at times because the book is humorous, but there's also a lot of depth to it. You might also enjoy it if you like pop culture authors like Nick Hornby, but you're looking for a bit more substance.
Kureishi is great!.......2005-12-14
This novel, Hanif Kureishi's first, is a fascinating portrait of 1970s London. It focuses on a young Indian boy growing up with a father who styles himself as the eponymous Buddha of Suburbia. The father's character is great-- he has never been spiritual, but the yuppies of his suburb think that because he is Eastern, he must be Wise in All Things. The father begins to believe in his own greatness and leaves his wife and family in order to move in the circles of higher society. The entire cast of characters is a great bunch, often hilarious and very authentic.
The aspect of this story which I found most engaging was how well it told the tale of adolesence. Kureishi perfectly captures that process by which we move from being children to thinking we know everything to finally realizing we know nothing.
Kuresihi has since written several more novels, and I'm looking forward to hunting them down!
useless.......2005-10-01
what's that book about?
rebellion? i don't think to be a rebel is necessary to have sex with everyone you meet, both male and female.
is the intent of the author to shock you? he didn't shock me, he just disgusted me.
i didn't like this book at all, and if you are looking for a book with a meaning, you won't like this one.
Average customer rating:
- Mostly an outlandish and entertaining caper novel, but extremely disturbing in parts
- Really Escaping Home!!
- Don't buy if you have kids
- George and Ernie fight evil Buddhists
- Skip this one
|
Buddha's Money
Martin Limon
Manufacturer: Soho Crime
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Police Procedurals
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Limon, Martin
| ( L )
| Authors, A-Z
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Slicky Boys
-
Jade Lady Burning
-
The Door to Bitterness
-
Thirty-three Teeth
-
The Coroner's Lunch
ASIN: 1569473994 |
Amazon.com
Both Jade Lady Burning and Slicky Boys were praised for their blending of the noir thriller with the police procedural. In Martin Limón's third tale of George Sueno and his army CID partner, Ernie Bascom, the two are enmeshed in the dark and light sides of Buddhism as they again exercise their police skills in a thriller's world. When they come to the aid of a Buddhist nun who is being attacked by what appears to be a GI, Ernie finds himself the keeper of "Buddha's money." He'll need the sacred money as he and George pursue the kidknappers of Mi-ja, the adopted daughter of ex-infantry sergeant, Herman the German. What Herman, Ernie, and George soon discover is that Mi-ja is only the grisly negotiating tool of a man who believes himself the reincarnation of an ancient conqueror. This madman is in relentless pursuit of a jade skull supposed to be the key to the future of the Pacific Rim. A trade--the skull for the girl--seems like the easy solution. But Lady Ahn, the proclaimed heir to the Dragon Throne of China, is not about to give it up.
While this mosaic of Buddhist cults and supernatural relics sounds like the stuff of a 1940s radio drama, it is grounded and modernized in Martin Limón's fascination with his two main characters. In particular, Limón holds a powerful magnet to George Sueno's moral compass, and the consistency in George's voice, as twisted as it is, invites the reader into a world that is teeming with desparate "business girls" and wasted souls. Ernie's penchant for violence and dark humor complements George's cynicism. Gradually, one is moved from fascination to repulsion before settling into a steady enjoyment of an exotic mystery. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
"Fast and confident . . . well-drawn and vivid."-The Seattle Times
"A slam-bang thriller. . . . Limon keeps the action coming at a furious pace."-Albuquerque Journal
"The locations . . . are as amazingly vivid as ever, and his wild men heroes are just as good company."-Los Angeles Times
George and Ernie are American military cops in Korea. They work the neon alleys of sin districts, chasing felons and black marketeers. It's not glamorous, but somebody's got to do it. The kidnapping of a child, held ransom for a priceless jade artifact, is more than these seedy cops can handle. They urge the father to pay it. The only problem is, dad hasn't got it. From that point on, officers Sueno and Bascom are pushed into intrigues way over their heads and expected to unravel conspiracies that are beyond them. Can two disheveled, disrespectful army foul-ups cope with all this? Then again, it's not like they have a choice.
Martin Limon retired from US military service after 20 years in the US Army, including a total of 10 years in Korea. He and his wife live in Seattle. He is the author of Jade Lady Burning, which was a New York Times Notable Book, and Slicky Boys.
Page 278 of Buddha's Money:
Customer Reviews:
Mostly an outlandish and entertaining caper novel, but extremely disturbing in parts.......2007-01-03
This is the first book I read by Limon. The book has a schizophrenic feel to it.
Most of the book is really an over-the-top caper novel, like an early Ross Thomas or Len Deighton novel set in Asia instead of Europe. It reads great if you don't think about it too much and simply kick back and enjoy the ride. The protagonists are appealing, there is a lot of entertaining local color that is richly drawn, detailed, and seems reasonably authentic. There are a host of entertaining secondary characters who like their counterparts in a Ross Thomas novel are completely duplicitous, and much of the plot consists of the protagonists responding to their plots and double-crosses. If that were all the novel was, I would have given it four stars, and recommended it as a well-written and very entertaining read.
BUT interspersed among the antics of the protagonists and the other characters, there are some really gruesome and completely gratuitous passages involving the kidnap victim. I am pretty thick-skinned, but these were horrifying, so much so that I almost quit and pitched the book into the trash. In the end, I simply skipped them and continued reading. I say gratuitous because as horrifying as they were, they contributed almost nothing to the development of the plot, in the sense that the remainder of the story developed as if they hadn't happened. Bizarrely, even after the protagonists were aware of these unspeakable horrors and had caught up with the perpetrators, they treated them with a certain amount of humorous but wary indulgence, like some of Ross Thomas' protagonists treated the grifters and con-men they came across. These passages are such non sequiturs that they come across like something that might have been inserted by a demented hacker who had gained access to the author's computer just before the manuscript was sent to the press.
Another grating aspect of the plot was that the villains, who according to every single description of them in the book were clearly recognizable as non-Korean, seemed to be able to move as a group around Seoul and indeed Korea without attracting any attention to themselves. Moreover, they dressed distinctly, especially their leader. It wasn't even clear that they spoke Korean. A number of developments that required the villains to operate as a group either in Seoul or in more remote areas where they would probably have come to the attention of law enforcement just didn't seem plausible.
That said, there was enough that I liked about the remainder of the novel, in particular the protagonists, the rich detail and local color, the deftly sketched minor characters, that I have decided to read the remaining novels in the series. From looking at some of the other reviews, it sounds like the consensus is that they are stronger novels than this one, and it was my misfortune to start this series by reading this one. So if you are browsing through Limon's books, and looking for one to start with, don't start with this one.
Really Escaping Home!!.......2006-09-11
If you pick up wierd off the wall stuff every so often just so you can leave home a long way behind, this is one of those. I cannot figure out any good reason I picked it up except that it was a wierd shape, a wierd color, and about a wierd place to me --- South Korea in the 1970's....a place and a time I admit I truly just don't care about....which made for perfect escapist reading. A whole new place and I admit, I had never contemplated what being an MP in SoKo in 70's might be like. Funny, fast, although the misogynist attacks and torture of women was over the top and unnecessary.....
Don't buy if you have kids.......2006-07-20
First of all I love Martin Limon's books. I think this is a great series and I buy them as soon as they come out. Having said that, Buddha's Money was a bit disappointing. The story was the usual but there was some horrible torture of a little girl. To the point of being repulsive. This just turned me off an otherwise pretty interesting book.
George and Ernie fight evil Buddhists.......2005-07-24
I really, really like Martin Limon's series and his irrascible protagonists George Sueno and Ernie Bascom. Limon is an extremely talented writer who has not received the attention and acclaim he deserves; he can transport you to a time and place (in this instance, 1970's Korea) and make you feel instantly at home. George and Ernie are military investigators nominally tasked with keeping an eye on the free-wheeling black-market and barter economy outside Korean army bases and insuring US servicemen neither get in too much trouble nor cause too much trouble. Their intrepretation of their role is a lot less rigid than probably what their supervisors had in mind and so they often turn a blind eye to much of what they are supposed to police, nor are they are not above having a good time in the adult wonderland themselves. Their attitude to policing vice outside the army bases is simply a very realistic assessment on their part because there is only so much you can do when a country is flooded with 19 year old soldiers with big paychecks and the local populace is only too accomodating in finding compelling and interesting means to separate them from their money. George and Ernie, two fun rogues if there ever were any, do take their job seriously though. They may not try to fight human nature if a seviceman wants to barter cigarettes for sex, but they do take violent exception to kidnapping the daughters of US servicemen and beating, torturing, and raping the local Koreans.
Our villains in this outing are evil Mongol Buddhists (isn't an evil Buddhist an oxymoron somehow?) and George and Ernie blow out all the stops in this action-packed adventure as they track down and come to grips with their adversaries. I really enjoyed this book and adventuring again with the boys but..........this book is also fairly dark, much darker than the previous two novels. There are some scenes in this book that are very disturbing involving torture and rape of women and children that I found very hard to deal with. George and Ernie also find it hard to deal with these events and very naturally lose much of their light-hearted banter and sense of fun in the face of events. This is actually a grim and disturbing book and while I would recommend the first two novels whole-heartedly I am not sure I would recommend this one to anyone, not because it is a bad book; it definitely is not, it is actually an excellent book. But there should be a big red sticker on this one though that warns of some very disturbing scenes. Granted, half of what is published now is chock full of serial killers and brutal, violent, senseless tortures and gratuitous, gore-spattered homicide of minors. It's not really my cup of tea though and I didn't expect it when picking up this book. I didn't even expect it even while I was reading this book until it actually happened. The acts I am talking about are not gratuitous here, they do propel the plot forward but even so I was deeply bothered. So I give this one four stars. I enjoyed the novel, but am still troubled by events in it, leaving me conflicted. If you love George and Ernie, or are not bothered by violence to women and children, you'll enjoy this novel. Otherwise just be aware that I am putting a danger sticker on what is otherwise a very good book.
Skip this one.......2005-05-09
This book was awful. Jade Lady Burning, which was excellent, must have been a fluke. What happened to Ernie?? In Buddha's Money he's a complete bore with a personality of tree bark. Oh...and get this. Midway through the book our heros swim to a mysterious island to fetch a jade buddha skull and they're attacked by a giant sloth. HELLO...giant sloths became extinct in the ice age. Why not just have them be attacked by a sabre tooth tiger? Pass this stinker up..
Average customer rating:
- Ugh
- Powerful Book, Good For a Friendship or Peace Theme/Unit
- Buddah boy
- Koja makes the Best of the Year list. Again.
- Buddha Buddy
|
Buddha Boy
Kathe Koja
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Fiction
| Self-Esteem & Self-Respect
| Social Situations
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Buddha
| Buddhism
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Being a Teen
| Social Issues
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fiction
| Self-Esteem & Self-Respect
| Social Situations
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Buddha
| Buddhism
| Religion & Spirituality
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Being a Teen
| Social Issues
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Define "Normal"
-
Straydog
-
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (P.S.)
-
Al Capone Does My Shirts
-
A Wreath for Emmett Till (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards))
ASIN: 0142402095 |
Book Description
The kids at school call Jinsen Buddha Boyhe wears oversize tie-dyed dragon T- shirts, shaves his head, and always seems to be smiling. He's clearly a freak. Then Justin is paired with him for a class project. As he gets to know Jinsen and his incredible artistic talent, Justin questions his own beliefs. But being friends with Buddha Boy isn't simple, especially when Justin realizes that he's going to have to take sides. What matters more: the high school social order or getting to know someone extraordinary?
Customer Reviews:
Ugh.......2006-06-21
This book is awful. The blurb makes it sound like a story of ostracism in high school, but the characters are cardboard-flat. It's more of a preachy spiritual trip for the author than a story. There's no reason for the narrator, Justin, to befriend the school outcast (who is a Christian-raised white boy trying to live as a Buddhist monk). The narrator's friends are bratty and too obviously shallow. The school bully is a stock stereotype who does all the predictable bully things. I got about halfway through and quit.
Powerful Book, Good For a Friendship or Peace Theme/Unit.......2006-06-09
I found this book really riviting and also surprising. I recommend it as a read aloud for the classroom if you take out the swear words. The main character, Justin, finds himself stuggling to like the new boy, Jinsen. Jinsen acts like a Buddhist and is an incredible artist, but he won't defend himself against those who torment him. Read the book and find out why. It's really worth your time. I look forward to rereading this book!
Buddah boy.......2005-01-26
Buddha Boy review
Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja is a realistic fiction story of a religious young boy named Jinsen, who is new at Rucher High School. The kids make fun of him for his dragon t-shirts and peaceful ways. Especially McManus, a popular hot-shot that likes to put others down. McManus does things like shoving Jinsen into lockers and jamming Jinsens locker. Justin, another student at Rucher High became friends with Jinsen despite the names other people were calling him. Justin's father is an artist and does not visit Justin very often. Jinsen just happens to be the best artist in the school. This draws Justin to Jinsen. Can Jinsen overcome what other people think and sketch his way to the top? You will have to find out yourself.
I would have to give this book a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. I enjoyed this book so much because of the simple writing style that was easy to follow yet effective to tell the story. This author really puts you in the shoes of Justin who is becoming friends with Jinsen. One thing that I didn't like about this book is the fact that it was a mere 117 pages which really turned me off when I saw this book. I really wish I could have kept on reading this book. I believe that you will love the story of Justin and Jinsen, 2 boys trying to make their way at Rucher High School.
Koja makes the Best of the Year list. Again........2003-12-12
Kathe Koja, Buddha Boy (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2003)
I got to the point about eight years ago where I finally gave in to the temptation to predict an author. After the back-to-back triumphs that were Skin and Strange Angels, I figured that from here on out, anything Kathe Koja would release would be brilliant, and every book she released would find its way onto my top ten for whatever year in which I read it.
Then she started writing kidlit. I approached Straydog with some trepidation, but it not only made last year's best-of list, it topped it. So I had no such qualms hunting down her second piece of young adult fiction, Buddha Boy. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised, at least not by the quality.
Justin is an Everyman in an Everyman's high school; if you went to high school in America, you'll probably recognize all the archetypes to be found here. The school gets a new student, Jinsen. To call Jinsen, an aspiring Zen monk, different would be the understatement of the year. And we all know what happens to different kids in high school.
Justin, however, assigned to a class project with Jinsen, discovers that Jinsen is one of the finest artists Justin has ever come across, and thus grudgingly befriends the kid the others at school call Buddha Boy. From all this springs this small, delicate tale.
Koja's writing is, as usual, short and to the point. Even the slowest reader will probably get through Buddha Boy in no more than a couple of days. Most people will be able to find someone here to identify with (though many won't like what they see in the book's looking-glass), and the story is compelling enough to draw the reader through, perhaps in a single gulp. Nothing surprising there.
What is surprising, perhaps, is the language she chooses. It seems, especially in comparison with Straydog, that Koja's language is slipping back towards that she used in her adult novels. Not that she talked down to the audience in Straydog or that she elevates them here; it's a slight difference in tone, a barren quality from Skin and Strange Angels that was (despite the painfulness of Straydog's subject matter) absent from the previous book.
She's got a new one coming out any day now, The Blue Mirror. I can't wait. **** ½
Buddha Buddy.......2003-08-08
When a new artistically talented boy shows up at Rucher high, calling himself Jinsen instead of his real name, and acting strange, sophomore classmate Justin doesn't understand why, but he also doesn't know why Jinsen tolerates the continual harassment by the other students without complaint. More of a portrayal of friendship than of Buddhism, Buddha Boy shows how the practice of religious tenets can turn a person's life around. Koja manages to do this in a non-preachy way, noting through Justin's observations that all religions are about the same thing but that religion doesn't seem to make any difference in making people better or changing the way they act. Several chapters begin with Justin's comments on karma or other issues and then flash back to the events that formed them. Justin's growing concern about the way his classmates treat his friend, and how the school officials ignore it to serve their own interests, trigger actions that result in karma for both of them.
Average customer rating:
|
BUDDHA BOY
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I146EM |
Average customer rating:
|
Buddha Boy
Kathe Koja
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJEGO8 |
Average customer rating:
|
Flat Frog: Buddha Boy
Steven D. Barley
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
ASIN: 1411636864 |
Books:
- Bronx Ecology: Blueprint For A New Environmentalism
- Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace: International Perspectives in Research and Practice
- Cactus Desert (One Small Square)
- Carolina StarWatch: The Essential Guide to Our Night Sky (Starwatch: The Essential Guide to Our Night Sky)
- Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People
- Collected Works of Sigurd F. Olson: The Early Writings, 1921-1934 (Olson, Sigurd F//Collected Works of Sigurd F Olson)
- Complete Book of Parakeet Care, The (Barron's N)
- Conversations with God, Book 1 Guidebook: An Uncommon Dialogue
- Cotswold Gardens
- Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Death Comes for the Fat Man
- Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Beh
- Whole Cloth
- Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the Modern World
- American Girls About Town: They're Not Just the Girls Next Door....
- Black's Law Dictionary
- Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance
- Living Knowledge: The Dynamics of Professional Service Work
- Wow! Resumes for Sales and Marketing Careers
- Madagascar Business & Investment Opportunities Yearbook