coming to the book, this book is intended to be used as two semester course. the first semester you usually end up reading the first 13 chapters. It is here i recommend to use caution, as they form the foundation for the remaining chapters. The first chapters through alcohols and alkenes is presented excellently with the author meticulously providing the reaction mechanisms. although the material presented is overwhelming to the intro students, you have to be patient and always make sure you do your homework by solving the problems and reviewing the concepts before you proceed to the next level. The author has presented an excellent recap at the end of the first 13 chapters. Quite honestly, it will teach you the logic behind the product formation, which u should be able to deduce by logic.

it is the second part of the book, where it gets a little stinky. the author didn't provide a good recap at most of the reactions in the chapter ending, but nevertheless presented the logic, behind the formation of the product, so if you can recap yourself after each chapter with notes, then by the end of the next 13 chapters you should pretty much be able to reasonably predict the product for almost most of the reactions. concepts like the use of different oxidising and reducing agents, enolate formation and the carbonyl compounds have been dealt almost thoroughly. i would say it could be dealt in further detail, but it suffices for someone who wishes to learn organic chemistry.

i have read the book and solved the exercises, and trust me, i knew nothing about org and in about six months out of my own interest i am now at a stage with hardwork able to pursue synthetic chemistry as my expertise. i believe this book not only helped to learn org chem, but helped me to make my career choice.

a good book teaches you the concepts behind the theory, but a great book inspires you. i belive this to be a great book.