In the year 2002, the Berlin Zoo acquires a new specimen: "Fritz", a biped from "Brecht''s planet." Fritz is intelligent, and his keepers treat him with a mix of courtesy and disdain; he is kept in a display with another (presumably female) biped and the two are required to work for a living, transcribing tapes made by explorers to their planet. One day, Martin Naumchik, a human male, is visiting the zoo when his personality and that of the biped are interchanged. The switch is the unintended consequence of an experiment in time travel that takes place at another location. The remainder of the story follows the two characters as they come to terms with their new bodies and new feelings. Martin quickly becomes aware of the degradation of being a zoo animal, while Fritz is forced to cope with life in a confusing and threatening alien society. Martin tries, and fails, to convince his captors that he is imprisoned in the biped''s body; the biped, in Martin''s body, eventually comes into contact with Martin''s colleagues and his lover, and manages to continue with Martin''s life. The novel also deals wryly with the theme of sexual identity. Because Fritz is provided with inguinal glands resembling a human male''s, he is presumed to be male. But it turns out that the organ has nothing to do with reproduction: Fritz is a female, and the smaller primate with whom he shares a cage is a male. To reproduce, the female aggressively bites off an egglike knob from the male''s forehead containing the semen. Martin (in Fritz''s body), and the reader, only learn this at the end of the novel, when he is overcome by passion and commits the act.

Mind Switch

Trelawny of the ''Wells tells the story of Rose Trelawny, a popular star of melodrama plays at the Barridge Wells Theatre (a thinly disguised Sadler''s Wells Theatre). Rose gives up the stage when she decides to marry her sweetheart, Arthur Gower, in order to please his conservative family. She finds life with Arthur''s grandfather and great-aunt, Sir William and Lady Tralfagar, unbearably dull and they detest her loud and unrestrained personality. Rose runs back to the theatre, abandoning Arthur. But her experience of the ''real world'' has killed her talent for melodrama, and she cannot recapture the liveliness that had made her a star. Meanwhile, Arthur has secretly run away to become an actor at the Bristol Old Vic. The problem is solved when Rose encounters Sir William again, and she reawakens his memory of admiring the great actor Edmund Kean as a young man. Sir William offers to help Rose''s friend Tom Wrench, an aspiring playwright who dreams of staging plays in a more realist style than the melodramas that dominate the stage. Tom stages the play with Rose as the star, and her newfound seriousness fits his style perfectly. Tom secretly arranges for Arthur to play the leading male role, and the lovers are reunited on stage.

Trelawny of the ''Wells''

Koestler starts off the book by looking back into his childhood about his philosophy of the world. He states that when he looks at the world, he looks at it as how the Babylonians did. He goes on to talk about where the Babylonians and Egyptians left off and the Greeks took over philosophy. "Homer''s world is another, more colourful oyster, a floating disc surrounded by Okeanus." A central theme of The Sleepwalkers is the changing relationship between faith and reason. Koestler explores how these seemingly contradictory threads existed harmoniously in many of the greatest intellectuals of the West. He illustrates that while the two are estranged today, in the past the most ground-breaking thinkers were often very spiritual. Another recurrent theme of this book is the breaking of paradigms in order to create new ones. People - scientists included - hold onto cherished old beliefs with such love and attachment that they refuse to see the wrong in their ideas and the truth in the ideas that are to replace them. "The conclusion he puts forward at the end of the book is that modern science is trying too hard to be rational. Scientists have been at their best when they allowed themselves to behave as "sleepwalkers," instead of trying too earnestly to ratiocinate."

The Sleepwalkers

The local rabbits have been much help to the Bean animals, so it is a surprise that some are vandalizing and stealing. Confronted, instead of apologizing, a rabbit criticizes Mrs. Bean, then gives ridiculous evidence that her husband was eaten by the Beans. Freddy and Jinx the cat investigate, discovering that the Grimby house in the woods next to the farm is used for political meetings. The speaker, inside a mechanical man that amplifies and distorts his voice, encourages the animal assembly to be "free" of humans. Freddy guesses their foe Mr. Garble is behind it. The A.B.I. (Animal Bureau of Investigation) is alerted to watch. Freddy’s friend Mr. Camphor is asked to run for governor. This does not suit him ("I could sound like a fine governor, if I didn’t have to do any governing." p.&nbsp;32). Camphor asks Freddy to visit the political meeting at his mansion, to say bad things about Camphor’s suitability. The pig, in his disguise as Dr. Hopper, invents faults, including that Camphor giggles in church and during speeches. But the political committee manages to see the bright side of these faults. Money was stolen, and Mr. Bean’s handkerchief found at the crime scene. Since Mr. Bean’s laundry was stolen by rabbits, Freddy suspects a plot to organize animals against humans, telling lies that might be eventually believed. Miss Anguish, Camphor’s sister, is one of the guests. Her thinking is spacey, but it may be an act. She states that Freddy is a Hollywood film director. (So now Freddy is dealing with three odd sorts of thinking at once.) Freddy tries convincing the committee again that Camphor is an unsuitable candidate: He proposes that all animals be given the right to vote! While the committee is deliberating, Freddy investigates the money theft. Before he can collect evidence, Mr. Bean is jailed. Camphor joins the local Indian tribe to hide. Jinx discovers Simon the rat has returned, and with Mr. Garble is encouraging all animals to revolt and take control of farms from humans. To infiltrate the group, Jinx determines to pretend he has joined the revolution. Freddy and Camphor’s butler, Bannister, are unable to convince Camphor to return; he has disguised himself as an Indian. The A.B.I. discovers the hideout where Garble is managing the revolution. They capture him, and smash the mechanical man used to make speeches. It is too late to stop the revolution, however. Farms are taken over, including the Bean farm, which is then run by Jinx. Since the Bean animals do not know Jinx is undercover, he takes considerable abuse. To strike at the revolution, Freddy gets the cooperation of the captured Garble by convincing him that the Indians will burn him at the stake. Then Freddy turns to Simon, and for a while follows Jinx’s lead — only to trick Simon into sitting a cage disguised as a throne. With Simon out of the way, Camphor decides to appeal directly to the animals of the revolution, promising them the right to vote — which will make them the equals of people. This strikes a chord, and the revolution falters. Employing the aid of the dogs, who have generally stay loyal to their human masters, the farms are gradually recovered. Garble escapes. He captures Freddy, Miss Anguish and Jinx, holding them for ransom. Miss Anguish tries to confuse their captors, but finally in desperation they set a fire to attract attention. Garble is recaptured and sent to prison. Simon and his criminal family are packed in a crate that is indefinitely shipped from place to place. The revolution fails. With the animal vote, Camphor becomes governor.

Freddy and Simon the Dictator

The protagonist is a French mining engineer, Victor Cyprien. He moves to the Griquland district to study the formation of diamonds. While he is there he falls in love with wealthy landowner Mr. John Watkins'' daughter, Alice. He asks him for her hand in marriage but is denied on his lack of money and stature in the community. He decides that he could amass a fortune by mining with a partner, Thomas Steel. They buy a mining claim and proceed to dig. Victor hires a team of Africans to mine the claim. The claim collapses when Victor''s team of hired help is digging. He manages to rescue one of them, Mataki. Achieving no great finds, Victor is disheartened for there are many more eligible suitors than he. Alice begs Cyprien to returns to his studies. So Victor decides to attempt to artificially make a diamond. His experiment seems to work as a 243 carat (48.6 g) diamond is produced. He gives it to Mr. Watkins for Alice. Mr. Watkins holds a banquet in honor of Cyprien and his accomplishment. The diamond, christened as The Star of the South by Alice, is on display during this banquet. Midway through the banquet, the diamond vanishes as well as Victor''s African hired help, Mataki. Mataki appears to flee with the diamond and Mr. Watkins, enraged, offers Alice''s hand to whoever brings the diamond back. Victor and three other suitors set off to hunt Mataki down. They prepare to travel across the Veld. Victor brings along two companions his laundry man, Li and a member of his digging team, Bardik. Along the way, the other three of his companions perish at the hands of animals or disease. Victor captures Mataki and Mataki states he does not have the diamond. The only reason he ran was because he was afraid he would be hung unjustly for the diamond''s disappearance. Victor returns to Griqualand and finds the diamond in the stomach of Alice''s ostrich, Dada. Cyprien is almost hung because his discovery of making artificial diamonds threatened the livelihood of the miners. He is only saved by Mataki''s confession. Mataki found the diamond when he was covered by the landslide and stuck it in Victor''s experiment in gratitude. Victor is shocked. Not caring about the diamond''s origin, Mr. Watkins is glad for the recovery and holds another banquet. Mr. Vandergaart, the original owner of the land bursts in with a certificate saying that the land is once again his. John Watkins is devastated and is even more devastated when the Star of the South disintegrates. Shocked he dies the next day. Victor and Alice marry and live happily ever after.

The Vanished Diamond

One of the most quoted parts of the book deals with the distinction which Bonhoeffer makes between "cheap" and "costly" grace. But what is "cheap" grace? In Bonhoeffer''s words: :"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." Or, even more clearly, it is to hear the gospel preached as follows: "Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness." The main defect of such a proclamation is that it contains no demand for discipleship. In contrast to this is costly grace: :"costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." " Bonhoeffer argues that as Christianity spread, the Church became more "secularised", accommodating the demands of obedience to Jesus to the requirements of society. In this way, "the world was Christianised, and grace became its common property." But the hazard of this was that the gospel was cheapened, and obedience to the living Christ was gradually lost beneath formula and ritual, so that in the end, grace could literally be sold for monetary gain. But all the time, within the church, there had been a living protest against this process: the monastic movement. This served as a "place where the older vision was kept alive." Unfortunately, "monasticism was represented as an individual achievement which the mass of the laity could not be expected to emulate"; the commandments of Jesus were limited to "a restricted group of specialists" and a double standard arose: "a maximum and a minimum standard of church obedience." Why was this dangerous? Bonhoeffer points out that whenever the church was accused of being too worldly, it could always point to monasticism as "the opportunity of a higher standard within the fold - and thus justify the other possibility of a lower standard for others." So the monastic movement, instead of serving as a pointer for all Christians, became a justification for the status quo. Bonhoeffer remarks how this was rectified by Luther at the Reformation, when he brought Christianity "out of the cloister". However, he thinks that subsequent generations have again cheapened the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and this has seriously weakened the church: "The price we are having to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organised church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy of making grace available to all at too low a cost. We gave away the word and sacraments wholesale, we baptised, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation without condition. Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving... But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard."

The Cost of Discipleship

In the Spring 1942 Jenkins is working in Whitehall as Pennistone''s assistant, looking after the Poles in Allied Liaison under Finn. He attends a Cabinet Office meeting, chaired by Widmerpool, where he finds Sunny Farebrother and a dejected Peter Templer. Jenkins visits the Polish HQ in Bayswater, which turns out to be the Ufford Hotel. His driver on this occasion is Pamela Flitton, Stringham''s niece. Pamela brings the news that Stringham was captured at the fall of Singapore. Jenkins is living in a flat in Chelsea in early 1943 and is promoted in his liaison duties to supervising the Belgians and Czechs. One night during the Summer 1944 Jenkins, sheltering in the flats from a flying bomb attack, encounters Pamela Flitton with her current lover Odo Stevens. Following prophecies into their futures by Mrs Erdleigh there is a row between Stevens and Pamela. Promoted to major, Jenkins escorts a party of Allied military attachés on a tour of Normandy and Belgium led by Finn. A meeting in Brussels with Bob Duport brings news of Templer''s death in the Balkans. Summer 1945 sees Widmerpool engaged to Pamela Flitton and Miss Weedon affianced to Sunny Farebrother. Pamela accuses Widmerpool of murdering Templer. The victory thanksgiving service at St Paul''s Cathedral is attended by the military attachés, including a Latin-American, Colonel Flores. Nick fails to recognise Flores''s wife, who proves to be Jean. Finally Jenkins is demobbed. *Adapted in part from material published by the Anthony Powell Society with consent

The Military Philosophers

It is Christmastime. A living lump of coal falls off a barbecue grill. He wishes for a miracle to happen. The lump of coal is artistic and wants to be an artist. He goes in search of something. First, he finds an art gallery that, he believes, shows art by lumps of coal. But when he comes in, he sadly discovers the art is by humans who use lumps of coal. He then finds a Korean restaurant called Mr. Wong''s Korean Restaurant and Secretarial School, but he goes in and discovers that all things used must be 100% Korean (although the owner does not use a Korean name or proper Korean spices). The lump of coal continues down the street and runs into a man dressed like Santa Claus. The lump of coal tells the man about his problem, and the man gets an idea. He suggests he put the lump of coal in Jasper (his bratty son)''s stocking. The son finds it and is ecstatic; he has wanted to make art with coal. So he makes portraits and he and the lump of coal become rich. They move to Korea and open an actual genuine Korean restaurant and have a gallery of their art.

The Lump of Coal

It is 1794 and Paris, "despite the horrors that had stained her walls - has remained a city of pleasure, and the knife of the guillotine did scarce descend more often than did the drop-scenes on the stage." The plot begins when Sir Percy, the Scarlet Pimpernel, reluctantly agrees to take Armand St. Just, brother of his wife, Marguerite, with him to France as part of a plan to rescue the young Dauphin. Percy warns Armand not to renew any friendships while in Paris, but it doesn''t take long before Armand has ignored his warnings and renewed a friendship with the scheming Baron de Batz (in the pay of the Austrian government), who wants to free the Dauphin himself and despises the Scarlet Pimpernel and all he represents. Whilst attending the opera with De Batz, Armand foolishly tells him that he is in the league of the Scarlet Pimpernel. While there, he falls in love with a young actress named Citizeness Jeanne L''Ange. De Batz introduces the couple backstage at the theatre and once they have fallen for each other, De Batz tells Citizen Heron of the general committee of Public Safety where and when they have arranged to meet. After covering for Armand at her house, L''Ange is arrested and thrown into jail. Learning of her peril and in the throes of passion, Armand fails to trust Sir Percy who has told him that he will rescue Jeanne, and forgets his promise to his leader. Armand, desperate to share Jeanne''s fate, runs to the gate of the Temple prison and screams, "Long Live the King." There he''s intercepted by none other than Percy''s arch enemy, Chauvelin. Faced with the death of his love, Armand betrays Percy, unaware that The Pimpernel has already secured Jeanne''s freedom. Sir Percy is then captured and imprisoned by Chauvelin and Heron in the cell that was home to Marie Antoinette in her last days. Chauvelin insists that Percy is to be deprived of sleep in the hope that he will be weakened and disclose where young Capet, the uncrowned King of France, is being held following his rescue. After 17 days in prison, Percy is sure that the dauphin has been transported safely into Holland. He then contrives, by pretending to crack and confess the dauphin''s whereabouts, to make his escape. He tells Chauvelin and Heron that the dauphin is being held in an area in the north, near the coast of France, but that he has to show them, rather than tell them, because the paths are nameless and too small for them to find without him. Chauvelin and Heron, skeptical, bring along Armand and Marguerite as hostages. Once in the north, Percy takes advantage of a chance when Chauvelin and Heron are separated, and darkness, to subdue Heron, bind and truss him, put on his clothes, and direct the guileless French soldiers (who think that the bound Heron is Percy) to put him in the gated yard of a church. Percy, still thought to be Heron, drives a carriage with Marguerite and Armand inside to the coast, where his ship is waiting for them. de:The Scarlet Pimpernel fr:Le Mouron rouge

Eldorado

This story is about the life of Janie, who later renames herself ''Leshaya''. The book starts with Janie recalling a memory at toddler age, where she was drowning because of her mother''s neglect to Janie''s personal safety. Linda, Janie''s mother, is a heroin addict, and because of the neglect that nearly led to Janie drowning, Janie was placed in foster care. Janie lived in a strict foster home for roughly 4 years with her foster brother Harmon, who soon gets adopted by Mr. and Mrs. James, leaving Janie alone until she is kidnapped by Linda, who then trades Janie to her dealer, Mitch, for heroin. Janie lives for years with "Mama Shelly" and "Daddy Mitch" but then, while at a shopping trip she meets her former foster brother Harmon. She then moves in with Mr. and Mrs. James when her former foster parents get arrested for drug possession. Life with Mr. and Mrs. James was hard, because of her bad childhood she never could live with a good "normal" family. Instead Janie goes with a local jazz band and falls in love with the band''s 18-year-old songwriter, Jaz. Under the influence of beer and cocaine, Leshaya (Janie) loses her virginity to an unknown man at the party, and gets impregnated. She soon after finds herself living with a woman named Joy Victoria, who fostered Janie during her pregnancy. 9 months later, 13-year-old Leshaya gave birth to a baby girl who she names Etta Harmony James, after one of "The Ladies" that she listened to as a small child. She convinces herself and everyone else that Harmon is Etta''s father, due to wanting to have had sex with him (So much so that she had left her panties in his bed before running off with Jaz), and smuggles Etta back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to give her to Harmon, who is bewildered at how he could be the father. Harmon, in the end, takes Etta so that she could grow up like a normal child. She then lives with Paul, who is also a musician. She lives with Paul on good terms until she breaks a major rule that Paul had set for her, no drugs. And after he (Paul) found a dead man, Jed, in his bed from an overdose. (Jed was who Lashaya was with at the time). She is then forced to move out from Paul''s place. She soon ends up at Mama Linda''s beach house, who is dying of AIDS. Leshaya, seeing her mother in this state, stays with her for her final days, and while with her, looks at herself, and comes to peace with the past. The book ends when Leshaya travels back to Tuscaloosa to re-unite with Etta, but after seeing Etta living happily in a normal family life, Leshaya instead, leaves Etta with Harmon. Through this decision, Leshaya finds a new sense of personal identity, and sets out to meet her own future.

Born Blue

David Mingolla is an artillery specialist in the United States Army serving in a near-future Central American war (references are made to then-future "Afghanistan in ''89" and a nuclear weapon that destroyed Tel Aviv). As his unit serves in "Free Occupied Guatemala", Mingolla goes on leave and meets a woman named Debora in a cantina. They gradually become lovers; however, as they get close to each other, Mingolla feels intense mental pain later identified as a psychic probing his mind. Soon after this, Mingolla is recruited into the Psicorps, an elite group of psychics the United States has assembled to counter the Soviet Union''s own. Debora, a veteran of the revolt that led to American intervention in the first place, is designated his target. On his way through Psicorps training to refine his mental abilities, Mingolla learns that this front of the Cold War (published before 1991, before USSR''s fall) as well as the war itself is a manipulation by two Panamanian families, the Madradonas and the Sotomayors, over three centuries to increase psychic potential in humanity as well as their own genetic diversity. Mingolla and Debora meet and part several times before their meeting with the Madradonas and Sotomayors in Darién, Panama and become embroiled with the members of Mingolla''s former squad in a firefight which culminates in the nuclear destruction of Panama City. David and Debora leave the city and their former friends and antagonists behind them, deciding that ultimately what matters is their love for one another, the only item that has not been blatantly manipulated. The fictional work excerpted several times in the novel, Juan Pastorín''s short story collection The Fictive Boarding House, gives clues to the nature of the novel and Mingolla''s experiences himself in a type of foreshadowing. The lyrics of Prowler heard or sung or thought among members of Mingolla''s unit which bookend Life during Wartime serve this function as well. As a nod to science fiction author Philip K. Dick''s work, the text itself does not present a clear or objective account of what truly happened to Mingolla or what was hallucination on his part. (At one point on Mingolla''s journey, an AI combining a downed Sikorsky helicopter and a long-range guided missile imparts "revelation" to him.) PsiCorps'' intensive drug therapy to hone Mingolla''s potential as well as the presence and use of "Sammy" (short for Samurai, an intense stimulant) and Frost, a super-addictive version of cocaine, make the third person point of view essential for this novel. es:Vida durante la guerra (novela)

Life During Wartime

The story starts in Spanish Guinea with a Frenchman on vacation, who finds a man named Toundi. He has been injured and soon dies. The Frenchman finds his diary, which is called an "exercise book" by Toundi. The rest of the story is of the diary (exercise book) that the Frenchman is supposedly reading. There is no further discussion of the Frenchman after this point. The first "exercise book" starts with Toundi living with his family. His father beats him constantly, and one day he runs away from his home. He runs to the rescue of Father Gilbert, a priest who lives nearby. His father comes back for him, telling Toundi that everything will be alright if he comes back. He denies his father''s offer and after this point he no longer acknowledges his birth parents. Toundi treats Father Gilbert as his new father. Father Gilbert teaches Toundi to read and write, and he teaches Toundi about Catholicism. Toundi believes in Catholicism, but as the story progresses he drifts from his beliefs until the end, when he does not believe in God. Father Gilbert dies in a motorcycle accident a few months after meeting Toundi. Toundi is eventually taken to live with the Commandant, the man in charge of the surrounding colony. He serves as the houseboy for the Commandant, and later Madame, the Commandant''s wife. It becomes very clear that the events that go on in the house are more important to Toundi than his own life. After about six months since Toundi comes to live with the Commandant, Madame, the Commandant''s wife arrives from France. She initially is a warm and caring woman, who is very beautiful. She catches the eye of almost every man in town, much to the Commandant''s dismay. Soon after Madame arrives the Commandant leaves to go on tour again. Toundi is left with Madame to take care of the house. As time goes on, Madame becomes more and more hostile and disrespectful towards Toundi. When the Commandant returns, she is portrayed as a ruthless woman. While the Commandant was still on tour, it becomes obvious that she is bored with her life. She begins to have an affair with M. Moreau, the man in charge of the prison. M. Moreau is perceived to be ruthless against the Africans. One of Toundi''s first experiences with M. Moreau had him whipping two other Africans nearly to death. The Second Exercise book begins. The Commandant returns from touring, and it is later discovered that he knew about his wife''s affair and returns because of it. The Commandant has a terrible argument with her, but after a few days they are getting along again. Madame becomes very disrespectful towards Toundi, partly because she does not like being there anymore, but mostly because she knows that he knew about her affair. Sophie, the lover of the water engineer is accused of stealing his workers'' salaries with the help of Toundi. He is taken to prison where he is tortured in order to confess a crime he had not committed. Toundi is held in a hut near the police headquarters. Fortunately he has a friend who works there named Mendim, who is described as a very muscular man. He is feared by most other people but he soon comes to be known as Toundi''s ally. M. Moreau orders Mendim to beat up Toundi, but Mendim throws ox''s blood on him to make it look like he is injured. They spend the rest of the day playing cards. Toundi becomes sick and Mendim takes Toundi to the hospital. They have to wait a very long time to see a doctor because the black doctor is the only doctor there, the other white doctor was promoted to captain. The doctor finds out that Toundi''s ribs are broken and have punctured his bronchi. While still at the hospital, while Toundi is in a dazed state, M. Moreau returns with the white doctor. He talks about punishing Toundi some more. At this point, after M. Moreau has left, Toundi escapes the hospital, not knowing exactly where to go. At the end of the novel Toundi questions his faith enough to give up his belief in God. fr:Une vie de boy sv:En boys liv

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

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Mind Switch

By Damon Knight

Trelawny of the 'Wells'

By Arthur Wing Pinero

The Sleepwalkers

By Arthur Koestler

Freddy and Simon the Dictator

By Walter R. Brooks

The Vanished Diamond

By Jules Verne

The Cost of Discipleship

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Military Philosophers

By Anthony Powell

The Lump of Coal

By Daniel Handler

Eldorado

By Baroness Emma Orczy

Born Blue

By Han Nolan

Life During Wartime

By Lucius Shepard

Houseboy

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