Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–1885) By Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None is a philosophical novel by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885. Much of the work deals with ideas such as the "eternal recurrence of the same", the parable on the "death of God", and the "prophecy" of the Overman, which were first introduced in The Gay Science.
Described by Nietzsche himself as "the deepest ever written," the book is a dense and esoteric treatise on philosophy and morality, featuring as protagonist a fictionalized prophet descending from his recluse to mankind, Zarathustra. A central irony of the text is that Nietzsche mimics the style of the Bible in order to present ideas which fundamentally oppose Christian and Jewish morality and tradition.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13123468/Freidrich_Nitzsche_Thus_Spake_Zarathustra.pdf.html
Gandhi - A Political and Spiritual Life By Kathryn Tidrick
This fresh and original interpretation of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary personalities shows for the first time how Gandhi's religious beliefs, political career and personal behaviour form a coherent whole. Tidrick revealingly examines Gandhi's ideas about the relationship between sexual control and power, and the bizarre and scandalous behaviour that resulted, and explores his interest in new religious and philosophical thinking. Drawing on material neglected by earlier biographers, the portrait which emerges does not show the secular saint of popular myth but a difficult and self-obsessed man driven to pursue the world-changing destiny he believed was marked out for him.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13123424/Gandhi_A_Political_and_Spiritual_Life.pdf.html
Osama bin Laden - A Biography By Thomas R. Mockaitis
offers a concise, fact-based portrait of a man whose rise from obscurity to notoriety coincides with some of the most traumatic events of the 21st century.
It follows bin Laden's story from his life in Saudi society in the 1960s and 1970s to his religious conversion,
his emergence as a jihadist leader, his horrifying terrorist attacks, and his near-mythic status in parts of the Muslim world today.Drawing on a wide range of sources,
Osama bin Laden finds the political and religious roots of a worldview that combines devout faith with a belief in violence and terrorism.
The book pays particular attention to the spread of radical Islam from Egypt to Saudi Arabia and beyond, as well as the development of Al Qaeda and its current scope and capabilities.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13122863/Osama_bin_Laden_A_Biography_2010_.pdf.html
The Satanic Verses (1988) By Salman Rushdie
Plot
The novel consists of a frame narrative, using elements of magical realism, interlaced with a series of sub-plots that are narrated as dream visions experienced by one of the protagonists. The frame narrative, like many other stories by Rushdie, involves Indian expatriates in contemporary England. The two protagonists, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, are both actors of Indian Muslim background. Farishta is a Bollywood superstar who specializes in playing Hindu deities. (The character is partly based on Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rama Rao.) Chamcha is an emigrant who has broken with his Indian identity and works as a voice over artist in England.
At the beginning of the novel, both are trapped in a hijacked plane during a flight from India to Britain. The plane explodes over the English Channel, but the two are magically saved. In a miraculous transformation, Farishta takes on the personality of the archangel Gibreel, and Chamcha that of a devil.
After being found on the beach, Chamcha is taken into custody by the police, who suspect him of being an illegal immigrant, while Farishta looks on without intervening.
Both characters struggle to piece their lives back together. Farishta seeks and finds his lost love, the English mountaineer Allie Cone, but their relationship is overshadowed by his mental illness. Chamcha, having miraculously regained his human shape, wants to take revenge on Farishta for having forsaken him after their common fall from the hijacked plane. He does so by fostering Farishta's pathological jealousy and thus destroying his relationship with Allie. In another moment of crisis, Farishta realizes what Chamcha has done, but forgives him and even saves his life.
Both return to India. Farishta, still suffering from his illness, kills Allie in another outbreak of jealousy and then commits suicide. Chamcha, who has found not only forgiveness from Farishta but also reconciliation with his estranged father and his own Indian identity, decides to remain in India.
Download: http://www.ziddu.com/download/13122670/Salman_Rushdie_The_Satanic_Verses.pdf.html
The Satanic Verses (1988) By Salman Rushdie
Plot
The novel consists of a frame narrative, using elements of magical realism, interlaced with a series of sub-plots that are narrated as dream visions experienced by one of the protagonists. The frame narrative, like many other stories by Rushdie, involves Indian expatriates in contemporary England. The two protagonists, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, are both actors of Indian Muslim background. Farishta is a Bollywood superstar who specializes in playing Hindu deities. (The character is partly based on Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rama Rao.) Chamcha is an emigrant who has broken with his Indian identity and works as a voice over artist in England.
At the beginning of the novel, both are trapped in a hijacked plane during a flight from India to Britain. The plane explodes over the English Channel, but the two are magically saved. In a miraculous transformation, Farishta takes on the personality of the archangel Gibreel, and Chamcha that of a devil.
After being found on the beach, Chamcha is taken into custody by the police, who suspect him of being an illegal immigrant, while Farishta looks on without intervening.
Both characters struggle to piece their lives back together. Farishta seeks and finds his lost love, the English mountaineer Allie Cone, but their relationship is overshadowed by his mental illness. Chamcha, having miraculously regained his human shape, wants to take revenge on Farishta for having forsaken him after their common fall from the hijacked plane. He does so by fostering Farishta's pathological jealousy and thus destroying his relationship with Allie. In another moment of crisis, Farishta realizes what Chamcha has done, but forgives him and even saves his life.
Both return to India. Farishta, still suffering from his illness, kills Allie in another outbreak of jealousy and then commits suicide. Chamcha, who has found not only forgiveness from Farishta but also reconciliation with his estranged father and his own Indian identity, decides to remain in India.
Download: http://www.ziddu.com/download/13122670/Salman_Rushdie_The_Satanic_Verses.pdf.html
Moonwalk By Michael Jackson
Moonwalk is an autobiography written by American musician Michael Jackson. The book was first published in February 1988, less than a year after the release of Jackson's Bad album, and named after Jackson's signature dance move, the moonwalk. The book was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.
The first manuscript of the book was written by Robert Hilburn, which was refused by the publishers, Doubleday, because it lacked "juicy details". A second manuscript was written by Stephen Davis, which Jackson drastically edited. Jackson finally decided to write the book himself, with help from Shaye Areheart (although there were reports that Areheart later quit after Jackson threw a snake at her). Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis edited the book and wrote a three paragraph introduction.
Due to the public interest in Jackson, Moonwalk was prepared for publication in secret. Relatives of Doubleday employees were hired as couriers, to deliver portions of the book from the company's head office in Manhattan to the printing plant in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. At the printing plant, the book was given the code name "Neil Armstrong", after the first "moonwalker".
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13121231/Michael_Jackson_Moonwalk.pdf.html
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Plot
The Alchemist details the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to the pyramids of Egypt to find treasure. On the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity and disaster. One of the significant characters that he meets is an old king named Melchizedek who tells him that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core philosophy and motif of the book.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120451/Paulo_Coelho_The_Alchemist.pdf.html
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Synopsis
The book examines the history of scientific knowledge about the universe. It starts with the Ionian Greeks, who claimed that nature works by laws, and not by the will of the gods. It later presents the work of Nicolaus Copernicus, who advocated the concept that the Earth is not located in the center of the universe.
The authors then describe the theory of quantum mechanics using, as an example, the probable movement of an electron around a room. The presentation has been described as easy to understand by some reviewers, but also as sometimes "impenetrable," by others.
The central claim of the book is that the theory of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity together help us understand how universes could have formed out of nothing.
The authors write:
Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.
The authors explain, in a manner consistent with M-theory, that as the Earth is only one of several planets in our solar system, and as our Milky Way galaxy is only one of many galaxies, the same may apply to our universe itself: that is, our universe may be one of a huge number of universes.
The book concludes with the statement that only some universes of the multiple universes (or multiverse) support life forms. We, of course, are located in one of those universes. The laws of nature that are required for life forms to exist appear in some universes by pure chance.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120533/The_Great_Design.pdf.html
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Contents
A Brief History of Time attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics.
The author notes that an editor warned him that for every equation in the book the readership would be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc2. In addition to Hawking's notable abstention from presenting equations, the book also simplifies matters by means of illustrations throughout the text, depicting complex models and diagrams.
The book ends with: "If we find [a unified theory], it would be the ultimate triumph — for then we would know the mind of god"
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120455/stephen_hawking_a_brief_history_of_time.pdf.html /1.44 MB
The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin S Sharma
"The monk who sold his Ferrari" is a tale, which provides an approach to living a simple life with greater balance, strength, courage and abundance of joy. The fable format is a refreshing change from the tiresome listing of all the good things we could do for ourselves but do not. It makes the message being conveyed linger in our minds. Although most of the principles dealt with can be found in countless other books on self-help and spirituality, there is a difference in the way of Sharma has put things together.
This well crafted story by Robin S Sharma is the tale of Julian Mantle, a lawyer brought face to face with a spiritual crisis. Julian's spark of life begins to flicker. He embarks on a life-changing odyssey and discovers the ancient culture of India. During this journey he learns the value time as the most important commodity and how to cherish relationships, develop joyful thoughts and live fully, one day at a time.
The eleven chapters are meticulously planned and flow seamlessly from one to the next. Julian Mantle, a very successful lawyer was the epitome of success. He had achieved everything most of us could ever want: professional success with an seven figure income, a grand mansion in a neighborhood inhabited by celebrities, a private jet, a summer home on a tropical island and his prized possession a shiny red Ferrari parked in the center of his driveway. Suddenly he has to come terms with the unexpected effects of his unbalanced lifestyle.
John, who is a friend as well as co-worker of Julian, narrates the story. He begins by describing Julian's flamboyant lifestyle, his exaggerated courtroom theatrics, which regularly made the front pages of newspapers and his late night visits to the city's finest restaurants with sexy young models.
Julian Mantle, the great lawyer collapses in the courtroom, sweating and shivering. His obsession with work has caused this heart attack. The last few years Julian had worked day and night without caring about his mental and physical health. That helped him become a very rich and successful lawyer but took a toll on his health and mental state. At fifty-three he looked seventy and had lost his sense of humor. Julian refused to meet any of his friends and colleagues at the hospital. One fine day he quit his law firm and took off without saying where he was headed.
Three years passed without any news from Julian. One day he paid a visit to his friend and former colleague John, who was now a cynical older lawyer. But Julian, in the past three years, had been miraculously transformed into a healthy man with physical vitality and spiritual strength.
Following his heart attack Julian Mantle had sold all his property (Yes, his Ferrari too) and left for India. The author tells us about Julian's Indian odyssey, how he met the sages of Sivana who had a life changing effect on him. Julian Mantle shares his story of transformation, his secrets of a happy and fulfilling life with his friend John. Julian describes Sivana- a small place located in the Himalayas, the land of rose covered huts, placid blue waters with white lotuses floating, youth and vitality, beautiful glowing faces, fresh and exotic fruits. He tells John about the sages of Sivana who knew all secrets of how to live life happily and how to fulfill one's dreams and reach one's destiny.Julian relates his experiences with yogi Raman the leader of the sages of Sivana and the person who taught Julian his secrets of a happy and fulfilling life. He narrates to John the fable that contained the seven virtues for a life abundant with inner peace, joy and a wealth of spiritual gifts. He tells John the techniques that he learned from yogi Raman on how to master our minds with simple techniques like "the heart of rose technique" and "the secret of lake technique". He tells John how to cultivate the mind and how to use setbacks for expanding knowledge of the self.
He talks about setting and following our own purpose and teaches John the ancient art of self-leadership with techniques such as "do the things you fear" and "the 5 step method for attaining goals". He waxes eloquent about the value of self-discipline and respect for time. He describes techniques such as "the ancient rule of 20" and "the vow of silence". He teaches how to focus on the priorities and thereby maintain a balance and simplify life. He gives examples that prove that willpower is the essential virtue of a fully actualized life.
Julian teaches John the virtue of selflessness in serving others. He asks John to embrace the present and live in the present - "Now", never to sacrifice happiness for achievements and to savor the journey of life and live each day as his last one. At the end he asks John to spread these secrets for the benefit of other people. Embracing John like the brother he never had, Julian leaves.
For the reader who might be in the rat race for material success and money, this book might be food for thought. But the message is a trifle too clichéd and the lectures too pedantic for the reader who is more or less conversant with the principles and insights garnered by Julian Mantle from the sages of Sivana. The presentation in the form of a story redeems the book to some extent. The book might perhaps be more satisfactory for readers who are unfamiliar with and hungry for oriental wisdom. All in all, a book of wisdom.Download: http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120453/TheMonkWhoSoldHisFerrari.pdf.html
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by a suggestion from Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie. It was first published in 1937 during the Great Depression. It remains the biggest seller of Napoleon Hill's books - a perennial best-seller after 70 years (BusinessWeek Magazine's Best-Seller List ranked Think and Grow Rich as the sixth best-selling paperback business book 70 years after it was first published). Think and Grow Rich is listed in John C. Maxwell's A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List.
Content
The text of Think and Grow Rich is founded on Hill's earlier work The Law of Success, the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill's close association with a large number of individuals who achieved great wealth during their lifetimes.
At Andrew Carnegie's bidding, Hill studied the characteristics of these achievers and developed 16 "laws" of success intended to be applied by anybody to achieve success.Think and Grow Rich condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120452/Think_and_Grow_Rich.pdf.html
Nancy Drew:Mystery of Crocodile Island By:Carolyn Keene
Mystery of Crocodile Island is the fifty-fifth volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. It was first published in 1978 under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The actual author was ghostwriter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13120414/Nancy_DrewMystery_of_Crocodile_Island_ByCarolyn_Keene.pdf.html
: The Complete Collection Of Sidney Sheldon
Novels
- The Naked Face (1970)
- The Other Side of Midnight (1973)
- A Stranger in the Mirror (1976)
- Bloodline (1977)
- Rage of Angels (1980)
- Master of the Game (1982)
- If Tomorrow Comes (1985)
- Windmills of the Gods (1987)
- The Sands of Time (1988)
- Memories of Midnight (1990)
- The Doomsday Conspiracy (1991)
- The Stars Shine Down (1992)
- Nothing Lasts Forever (1994)
- Morning, Noon and Night (1995)
- The Best Laid Plans (1997)
- Tell Me Your Dreams (1998)
- The Sky Is Falling (2001)
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2004)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2004) By:Sidney Sheldon
Plot
In four cities across the world, four people die violently and mysteriously. The dead share a single crucial link: each was connected to an all-powerful environmental think tank. Two of the victims' widows—accomplished artist Diane Stevens and international supermodel Kelly Harris—may hold the key to their husbands' demise. Terrified for their lives, suspicious of each other, and armed only with their own wits and guile, they must join forces in a nightmare cycle of hunt-and-kill. At stake is the shattering truth about the tragedies that robbed them of the men they loved...and about an awesome conspiracy whose ultimate target is as big as the earth and as close as the air we breathe.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13107884/Are_You_Afraid_of_The_Dark.pdf.html
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2004) By:Sidney Sheldon
Plot
In four cities across the world, four people die violently and mysteriously. The dead share a single crucial link: each was connected to an all-powerful environmental think tank. Two of the victims' widows—accomplished artist Diane Stevens and international supermodel Kelly Harris—may hold the key to their husbands' demise. Terrified for their lives, suspicious of each other, and armed only with their own wits and guile, they must join forces in a nightmare cycle of hunt-and-kill. At stake is the shattering truth about the tragedies that robbed them of the men they loved...and about an awesome conspiracy whose ultimate target is as big as the earth and as close as the air we breathe.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13107884/Are_You_Afraid_of_The_Dark.pdf.html
The Sky Is Falling (2001) By:Sidney Sheldon
Plot
A spellbinding novel of glamour, sex, power,and murder that spans the globe
If America had a royal family, the Winthrops would wear the crown. The popular, charismatic Winthrops have captured the imagination of the world with their public service, their enormous charity, and their glamorous lives. But in a single year, all five members of the family are killed in a series of accidents.
Dana Evans, a beautiful young anchorwoman with a Washington television network, believes there is something more sinister behind their deaths. She begins an investigation and starts uncovering compelling evidence that she can hardly believe.
In her determined pursuit of the truth, Dana never anticipated the cat-and-mouse chase that leads her through a half-dozen countries in search of a remorseless killer. As she closes in on her suspect, the shocking secrets she then unearths place Dana and her young son in dire jeopardy and -- in an unexpected turn of events -- Dana becomes the hunted.
Can Dana outwit her pursuers and expose the truth that will astound the world? Readers should prepare themselves for the breathtaking journey through the skillful twists and turns of the plot that are Sidney Sheldon's hallmark.
A dynamite thriller filled with all the elements that have made his previous works phenomenal bestsellers, The Sky Is Falling is Sidney Sheldon at his sizzling best.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13110322/THE_SKY_IS_FALLING.pdf.html
Tell Me Your Dreams (1998) By:Sidney Sheldon
Plot
The main character of the book is Ashley Patterson, an introverted workaholic, and her co-workers, Toni Prescott, an outgoing singer and dancer, and shy artist Alette Peters and a policeman.
The three women do not get along very well, because of their dissimilar natures. Toni and Alette generally maintain a friendship, with Alette a calming influence, but Toni dislikes Ashley and criticizes her harshly. All three women have issues with their mothers having told them they'd never amount to anything.
Ashley fears that somebody is following her. She's found her house lights turned on when she comes home from work, her personal effects in disarray, and someone has written "You will die" on her mirror with a lipstick. She thinks someone's broken into her house. She requests a police escort, but the next morning, the police officer assigned to this duty is found dead in her apartment. Two other murders have already taken place, with an identical pattern.All the murdered men had been castrated and were having sex before being murdered.Evidence points to the same woman being involved in all three cases. When a gift from one of the murdered men to Toni is found in Ashley's things, she is identified as the killer and arrested. At this point, it is revealed that the three women are three selves in a multiple personality group.
Ashley's father persuades an attorney friend to represent Ashley. The second half of the novel deals with the trial, complete with endless squabbling between opposing psychiatrists as to whether or not MPD is real. Finally when Ashley's advocate introduces Toni, the violent alter of Ashley, the court is convinced that Ashley is innocent. Ashley is committed to an insane asylum and in the course of therapy is introduced to her two "alters" and relives the horrific events that shattered her mind.She was sexually abused by her father during childhood and this made her to develop a strong hatred towards men.
There in the asylum , doctor Gilbert treats her for the MPD. He is attracted to her and during her crisis he also feels her pain and wants to comfort her.In the end, you believe she is cured after a long struggle. It's found out that her father was the one who sexually abused her, and caused her to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder.
The Indian movie Anniyan was inspired by this novel. Anniyan is based on multiple personality disorder.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13110327/Sydney_Sheldon_Tell_Me_Your_Dreams.pdf.html
The Best Laid Plans (1997) By:Sidney Sheldon
Plot
Oliver Russell, a man with a desire for power, is fated to rise to the highest office, that of President of the United States. Leslie Stewart, his betrayed fiancé, is a woman dedicated to the single purpose of bringing Oliver Russell to ruin. After amassing her own media empire and marshaling all her forces against him, she stands poised to destroy Russell on the eve of his most dazzling triumph. Thinking only of preventing Oliver from winning the Presidency for a second term, little did she know that she was about to fall into her own trap.
When Oliver returns from Paris married to Jan, Leslie vows to avenge him. However she keeps her thoughts concealed. This makes Todd Davis, Jan's father, introduce her to one of his friends, who owns a newspaper. A brief introduction followed by marriage sees Leslie man her husband's empire. With his falling health and subsequent death, Leslie becomes the sole owner of his properties. In spite of all the other businesses, Leslie takes an immense liking for the media empire, with which she intends to destroy Oliver. During this part, Dana Evans, who stars in Sheldon's other novel "Sky is Falling" appears as an inquisitive reporter who adopts a boy from war torn Sarajevo.
In the meantime, Oliver becomes the president and alongside occur a series of death, all due to toxicity of Liquid Ecstacy (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).While Leslie is convinced it is Oliver who is behind these murders, goes on to publish the news of his arrest before it is confirmed. Dana Evans in the meantime unmasks the real culprit, while the president reveals a shocking secret.
The book ends with the proposal of a peace pact by the Arab nations, while Leslie is left wondering if she had gone a bit too far.
Download:http://www.ziddu.com/download/13107879/Best_Laid_Plans.pdf.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)