[T122.Ebook] Download The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, by Ted Chiang

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The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, by Ted Chiang

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In medieval Baghdad, a penniless man is brought before the most powerful man in the world, the caliph himself, to tell his story. It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by their future; it includes not just a beloved wife and a veiled seductress, but also long journeys taken by caravan and even longer ones taken with a single step. Above all, it's a story about recognizing the will of Allah and accepting it, no matter what form it takes.

• Sales Rank: #2250734 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-23
• Released on: 2007-07-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .45" h x 5.66" w x 8.24" l,
• Binding: Hardcover
• 62 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This curious time-travel novella from Hugo-winner Chiang (Stories of Your Life and Others) is a gracefully told lesson about accepting fate—or, as better suits this medieval Arabian setting, the will of Allah. A Baghdad merchant discovers an alchemical device that can send a traveler back in time 20 years. Despite the alchemist's warning that "what is made cannot be unmade," and three illustrative tales about others' attempts to alter the past, the merchant is determined to return to an earlier time to save his long-dead wife. Half lyrical Arabian Nights legend and half old school cautionary SF tale, this skillfully written story and its theme of insurmountable fate may comfort as many readers as it makes uncomfortable. (July)
Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In the manner of the Arabian Nights, Chiang wraps�stories�within a story, and all of them interrelate to argue that "the past and the future are the same." Not that past and future are identical, but that they stay the same and cannot be altered, even�if one could journey back to the former or forward to the latter to change it. In medieval Baghdad, a merchant obtains an audience with the caliph to�apprise him of�a merchant-alchemist who�has created doors between past and future. He relays the tales the door maker told him about a rope maker and a weaver who�each�ventured through a 20-year-spanning door more than once, and then the tale of the well-to-do man's wife who did the same—all before he�imparts his own time-hopping adventure. Eventually, interconnections between the four stories�surface, and they boggle the mind, more so, perhaps, than any�of the tales of similar�effect in Chiang's dazzling Stories of Your Life and Others (2002). Could fantasy be more intelligently exquisite�and, ultimately and surprisingly, morally sound than this? Olson, Ray
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved

Most helpful customer reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Fantastical and thoughtful
By H Waterhouse
I really enjoyed this noodly time-travel causality story. If it had been written with a more sci-fi setting, it still would have been good, but less fantastical. As it is, the middle-eastern, arabian-nights style setting adds an extra layer of interest.

The future has always been altered.

Read if: You like noodly paradox stories.

Skip if: You have an allergy to the exoticization of the near East.

Also read: Among Others for a similar feeling about time and cause.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Charming story about time travel
By Amazon Customer
As with all of Chiang's work, this story is thoughtful, contemplative about its subject and empathetic to its characters. Please note, this is a short story, not a novel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Beautiful short story
By Patrick Moore LMT Educator
This is my second time reading it.. almost as enjoyable as the first.

I will read everything i can find by Ted Chiang, twice.

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[B782.Ebook] Fee Download The Future Of Nostalgia, by Svetlana Boym

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Can one be nostalgic for the home one never had? Why is it that the age of globalization is accompanied by a no less global epidemic of nostalgia? Can we know what we are nostalgic for? In the seventeenth century, Swiss doctors believed that opium, leeches, and a trek through the Alps would cure nostalgia. In 1733 a Russian commander, disgusted with the debilitating homesickness rampant among his troops, buried a soldier alive as a deterrent to nostalgia. In her new book, Svetlana Boym develops a comprehensive approach to this elusive ailment. Combining personal memoir, philosophical essay, and historical analysis, Boym explores the spaces of collective nostalgia that connect national biography and personal self-fashioning in the twenty-first century. She guides us through the ruins and construction sites of post-communist cities-St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague-and the imagined homelands of exiles-Benjamin, Nabokov, Mandelstam, and Brodsky. From Jurassic Park to the Totalitarian Sculpture Garden, from love letters on Kafka's grave to conversations with Hitler's impersonator, Boym unravels the threads of this global epidemic of longing and its antidotes.

• Sales Rank: #1722822 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-21
• Released on: 2001-03-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.75" h x 6.50" w x 1.50" l,
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The future of nostalgia isn't what it used to be, or at least it won't be once this book starts making its way through academic circles. A sort of training manual for the wistful, Boym's book alternates "between critical reflection and storytelling, hoping to grasp the rhythm of longing, its enticements and entrapments"; along the way, the author not only gives new life to an old idea but also offers a number of original terms that can be used to describe the experience. The first part of Boym's study surveys the history of nostalgia as a disease and introduces two varieties, a "restorative nostalgia" that may contain conspiratorial elements (the notion that a certain "they" have destroyed "our" homeland, for example), and a "reflective nostalgia" that leads to a sense of not being able to go home again. Part two deals with postcommunist cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg (where Boym, now a Harvard professor of Slavic and comparative literature, worked as a tour guide in the late '70s) and may be of more interest to pure Russophiles than to intellectuals in general. The book's third and final section examines the work of Nabokov, Brodsky and other artists whom Boym calls, in her most useful contribution to critical vocabulary, "off-modern." Neither modern nor postmodern, these artists (and their ranks include such odd ducks from the last century as Igor Stravinsky, Walter Benjamin, Julio Cort�zar and Georges Perec) "explore side shadows and back alleys rather than the straight road of progress." Thus the past may be conceptualized in any number of ways, and apparently, at least according to the author, the only truly pernicious nostalgia is the prefabricated, Disney-fied kind that keeps one from thinking about the future. Otherwise, says Boym, the sky, whether it's the one you see overhead or the one you remember, is the limit. (Apr.) Forecast: This is an interesting addition to cultural history, but a bit esoteric, and is unlikely to find a readerhip outside of the literati.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The current U.S. craze for nostalgia runs from automobiles (the PT Cruiser) to fashion (the return of bell-bottoms) to television (TV Land reruns). Despite modern technology and conveniences, we enjoy looking back to yesterday. Boym (Slavic and comparative literature, Harvard Univ.; Death in Quotation Marks) divides her study of nostalgia into three parts. In the first section, she examines the history of nostalgia, once seen as an ailment to be cured. The second part focuses on cities, specifically Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Berlin, and on post-Communist memories. In Part 3, Boym probes what she calls the stories of exile, looking at the writings of Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, and others who wrote of lost homes. She also examines how nostalgia affects us today, citing movies like Jurassic Park and the subsequent interest in dinosaurs. This multifaceted work gives the reader much to ponder in regard to what we hold dear. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic collections. Ron Ratliff, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Boym exposes the cultural and political dynamics of nostalgia, showing that the yearning for an idealized past can infect not only the individual psyche but even entire nations. In illuminating the ways that nostalgia has helped to falsify history, Boym traces its malign influence on modern ideologues of the left and right. But from literature and art, she gleans a different, less destructive nostalgia, one that reconciles us to our losses and invests our grief with meaning. Omnivorous scholarship yields a subtle typology of nostalgia, with illustrations from Dostoyevsky's novels and Baudelaire's poetry on the one hand, and from Jurassic Park and Revlon ads on the other. Boym's imaginative and scholarly gifts serve her especially well in explaining the mutating types of nostalgia that are transforming post-Communist countries and in probing the complex emotions of immigrants from such countries, exiles at once saddened by and fearful of their lost heritage. Serious students of modern culture will find no better book for explaining why a society increasingly dependent upon globalized hyperspace is also a society awash in nostalgia. Bryce Christensen
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved

Most helpful customer reviews

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Wonderfully perceptive
By Debra Jacob
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time -- fiction or nonfiction. Boym is quite perceptive about the immigrant mindset, expectations, and associated nostalgia. Unfortunately, she died only a few months ago. Her obit in the New York Times provides a nice overview, in case you are not familiar with her work.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
I Miss Nostalgia and Now I Know Why!
By Norman Lipson
One of the most fascinatingly themed books I have read in many years, but once it moved from its major theme, Nostalgia, to the second half of the book, her excruciatingly detailed narratives of the internal issues within Russian cities,quickly became very tedious and boring to a non-Russian.

In reality, Nostalgia is two separate books and each could well stand on its own.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
Exile's disease
By Eileen G.
This amazing book has been efficiently described by its Editorial Reviews. It is ingenious, absorbing, and by turns difficult and thrilling. Do not be misled by the kitschy or simplistic associations you might have to the term "nostalgia." Exile, either voluntary or forced - no small thing either way - is its precondition.
Many, but far from all, of the examples and references are Russian and Eastern European. Each of the seventeen chapters is an essay of depth and precision. They are greatly satisfying: rich and dense with associations and references from art and literature, and the entire span of recorded human history.
Boym names Part One "Hypochondria of the Heart," and variously introduces her kaleidoscopic interests in nostalgia - as an "epidemic." Nostalgia, she asserts (and proves convincingly) is "the disease of an afflicted imagination." It afflicts those who would become assimilated to their new worlds - as well as those who (variously and often highly individualistically) resist. The second section, "Cities and Re-invented Traditions" contains five chapters that focus on Russian and European conceptions and realities. The final part, "Exiles and Imagined Homelands" is my favorite. Its chapters cover among other things the excess of souvenirs to be found in immigrants' apartments (knickknacks of identity and remembrance that would not ever be displayed back home); cyberspace, which "makes the bric-a-brac of nostalgia available in digital form"; the persistence of immigrant eccentricity; the preservation (and transformation) of attitudes, and various phenomena of adjustment. Some of the personages discussed (for there is never mere name-dropping in this book) are Adam and Eve ("the first exiles") Ovid, Telemachus, Oedipus, Odysseus, Walter Benjamin, Freud, Hanna Arendt, painter Ilya Kabakov, Joseph Brodsky, and Vladimir Nabokov - to name a few.
I loved this book. There isn't a slow page in it. Boym is passionately interested in art, history, psychology, signs and symbols, literature, urbanism, politics, and people. She's a deep thinker who is guided by her considerable ability to keep several balls in the air at once, to teach with clarity, and to really understand what makes people tick. There's a good index and over thirty pages of notes that enable a lot of further reading in this big and interesting subject.
A great book that deserves more than five Amazon stars.

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[O173.Ebook] Free Ebook The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake

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Fresh out of prison, Dortmunder plans a heist that could mean war. John Dortmunder leaves jail with ten dollars, a train ticket, and nothing to make money on but his good name. Thankfully, his reputation goes far. No one plans a caper better than Dortmunder. His friend Kelp picks him up in a stolen Cadillac and drives him away from Sing-Sing, telling a story of a $500,000 emerald that they just have to steal. Dortmunder doesn't hesitate to agree. The emerald is the crown jewel of a former British colony, lately granted independence and split into two nations: one for the Talabwo people, one for the Akinzi. The Akinzi have the stone, the Talabwo want it back, and their UN representative offers a fine payday to the men who can get it. It's not a simple heist, but after a few years in stir, Dortmunder could use the challenge.

• Sales Rank: #3791071 in Books
• Brand: Brand: The Mysterious Press
• Published on: 2012-11-06
• Released on: 2012-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.50" h x .56" w x 5.50" l, .70 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Features

• Used Book in Good Condition

Review
“Westlake’s novel comes awesomely close to the ultimate in comic, big-caper novels; it’s so filled with action and imagination.” —The New York Times Book Review�“Westlake is a master hand at the running gag this Westlake brought on such a case of the laughing bends that I required decompression.” —The Washington Post�“[Westlake’s] most durable character. Whatever can go wrong in the man’s elaborate attempts at larceny invariably does, and in the most amusing and unexpected ways possible.” —Los Angeles Times

About the Author
Donald E. Westlake (1933–2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950s, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and a ruthless criminal named Parker. His writing earned him three Edgars and a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.�Westlake’s cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson’s noir classic.

Most helpful customer reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful.
What a gem!
By D. Kaplan
Within a few hours of being released on parole, John Dortmunder, a small-time thief and con artist is embroiled in a new caper. He has been commissioned to steal a valuable emerald for a newly-formed small African nation. John handpicks the men who will assist him in this heist, each of whom brings their special skills to the job at hand and their off-center behavioral traits. This is not exactly your gang that couldn't shoot straight. Rather, these misfits just seem to be the victims of events often beyond their control. No matter how much inventive planning goes into each robbery, they never seem to walk away with the prize. It is constantly back to the drawing board for Dortmunder and each robbery calls for more innovative and daring methods.
At times, the dialogue reads like the old "who's on first, what's on second" routine made famous by Abbott and Costello. At other times, the humor is much more subtle. Either way, you will find yourself chuckling or, if you are in the safety of your own home, laughing out loud.
Living in New York, I was amazed at how well Mr. Westlake knows the city and the outer boroughs. Having grown up in a rather obscure part of one of these boroughs, I think that unbeknownst to me, Mr. Westlake must have lived next door to me. He can describe stores and houses on the smallest side street with pinpoint accuracy.
This is not the type of book that I would normally seek out. However, I had recently read a short story by Mr. Westlake that caught my fancy. I liked the style of writing so much that I decided to try one of his books.
If you like a well written action caper that will have you laughing throughout, I suggest you pick up a copy of "The Hot Rock." As for me, I am going to order the next few books in the Dortmunder series as soon as I submit this review.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful.
The Perfect Start to the Perfect Series
By Ivy
If you haven't devoured the whole Dortmunder series by now, wait no longer: start with this one, and as soon as your stomach muscles recover, move on to the rest. This is the kickoff to the funniest mystery series ever written.
Our hero is Dortmunder, a very recent ex-con. His opponent is the Balabomo Emerald, a gem with a history, a price on its head, and, apparently, a nasty sense of humor. Hired by the representative of an African nation that wants the jewel for religious and political reasons, Dortmunder assembles a team of the finest, funniest men ever to make a dishonest dollar. They make attempt after attempt (as the blurb says, giving new meaning to the term repeat offender) at the job, striking by helicopter, train, and mesmerism, among others. Any one of the plans should succeed. But fate - or the emerald - has other ideas.
The plot is only part of the humor, though. In a way, the Dortmunder series is very like Terry Pratchett's Discworld series; they both rely on language and character as much as situations for laughs, and they both get incredible results from the strategy.
Seriously, this book (and the series it spawned) is a better antidepressant than any pharmaceutical I've ever encountered. If you're just now starting here, wow, do I envy you. (But how did you live this long without Dortmunder?)

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
One of the Greatest Comic Heist Novels
By Donald Mitchell
If you have not yet read The Hot Rock, you have an amazing treat ahead of you. With brilliant plotting, amusing characters and a strong sense of irony, The Hot Rock makes side-tickling fun of just about everything you can imagine. This book also introduces the character, John Archibald Dortmunder, who stars in the marvelous series of books that followed this one.
Dortmunder is about to get out of prison on parole, and is looking forward to the $300 that another inmate will pay him for his old cell. That plan is scotched when the warden decides to personally escort Dortmunder out of the prison. So there he is with regret for his lost $300 and poor prospects. Then it gets worse! A Cadillac chases him onto the sidewalk against a wall. And that's just the first three and a half pages!
Dortmunder's old pal, Andy Kelp, has lined up a job that requires Dortmunder to do the planning for the caper. A former British colony in Africa has recently become two independent nations, Talabwo and Akinzi, each run by a different tribe. The Akinzi have possession of the Balabomo Emerald, worth $500,000, and the UN Ambassador from Talabwo, Major Patrick Ito, is offering $30,000 a man (for up to five men) to retrieve the emerald which is now residing in the New York Coliseum at a Pan-African display. Dortmunder needs money, so he decides to take the job . . . if the major will pay a little walking around money in the meantime.
Soon, Dortmunder has developed a brilliant plan that requires some special props, which the major provides. Into the Coliseum go four of the five, and three return . . . minus the emerald. After this setback, the plot starts to get really complicated. The book is filled with hilarious characters including the optimistic Andy Kelp who loves to steal new cars with MD license plates and always assumes that everything will succeed just fine, the driver Stan Murch who loves to listen to traffic noises and talk about his travels routes while nursing a draft beer with salt to recreate the foam, the model train aficionado Roger Chefwick who loves to play in his basement, the easily distracted strong man Alan Greenwood, and the sleazy lawyer Eugene Andrew Prosker, Esq. whose greed knows no limits.
Most books like this build up the suspense around one heist. You get more than that for your money with this one. The action is nonstop . . . right up to one of the most imaginative escapes you will ever read about.
The book's ending scene is too delicious for words. I don't dare hint what it is all about . . . but be ready for something wonderful.
If you enjoy this book, be sure to go on to read Bank Shot, the next book in the series . . . which is almost as good.
After you finish, think about where else Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong will) can cause problems to your best-laid plans. Then replan until there's no room left for Murphy.

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The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake PDF
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The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake PDF

The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake PDF

The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake PDF

The Hot Rock, by Donald E. Westlake PDF