Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control and Artificial Intelligence (Complex Adaptive ... Intelligence (Complex Adaptive Systems) - J H Holland

Advantages: old style mystery set in early 20th century Britain
Disadvantages: hard to get in to initially

...A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine Barbara Vine is also known as the crime writer, Ruth Rendell and in ‘A Dark Adapted Eye’ she writes a mystery that keeps the reader intrigued from the start. The style is that of a Victorian mystery rather than the fast paced modern crime thrillers. The reader is given hints and clues gradually as the story unfolds but it is not until almost the final chapter that we learn the whole story. There are still questions that the narrator tries to work through even after the reader finds out what happened. It is a rather old fashioned story and its problems are those of the time and these would not have become problems today in my opinion so it is important to read the story knowing the period it is set in. I initially found it quite complicated to sort out the cast of characters as we meet them through... Read review

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Advantages: Entertaining and educational
Disadvantages: Some bits are more interesting than others

...It’s hard to define a book that incorporates etymology, history, culture, sociology and a huge amount of humour; the best I can do is to rather vaguely term it “a complete success and a pleasure to read”. Literary Review puts it a little more succinctly as “a triumph”, but I don’t think that even that high praise describes exactly how much information and entertainment Bill Bryson has managed to pack into this book. On the surface, it is an investigation of American English and how it’s been shaped through America’s relatively short history, but (as I hope you will see by reading this review) Made In America is so much more than that... This is a book for all those snobs who sneer at ‘Americanisms’ and claim that the influx of American words, phrases and usages are damaging English – they will be shocked to learn just how much... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Strong characterization and some textual trickery.
Disadvantages: Does not perhaps supply a strong enough background detail with regards to the new South Africa.

...The central theme of Disgrace is the tragic frustration of personal passions and desires by unsympathetic forces, symbolised by its setting: the violent and anarchic new South Africa. Its protagonist David Lurie is a lecturer on Romantic poetry, whose lechery towards attractive female students results in his forced resignation and humiliation. Lurie refuses to change his ways for the disciplinary committee and instead flees to stay with his daughter Lucy who runs a farm in the countryside. Thus far the style is poetic but slightly languorous, reflecting Lurie’s head-in-the-clouds attitude to life and love, but when the farmhouse is invaded by a gang of bandits who rape Lucy and set fire to Lurie, the novel’s momentum quickens. Lucy’s peasant neighbour Petrus is suspected of foul play when one of the rapists is spotted... Read review

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