Paris

Superb. My first try at Balzac and I'll definitely be reading more. He makes you want to reach into the book and strangle those two horrible daughters.

This was my first Balzac novel and it definitely got me hooked on the Comedie Humaine!

I thought that this was a superb novel, containing an intriguing plot, rounded characters, along with an examination of thought-provoking issues.

Despite the title, "Old Goriot" is really the story of the law student Rastignac's attempts to make it in Parisian society. Rastignac is living at a run-down boarding house, the inhabitants of which include Old Goriot. There's a mystery surrounding Goriot and his connection with a couple of young women. The key phase of the novel, however, is when Rastignac comes under the influence of the cynical Vautrin.

There are echoes of other works in the novel - Old Goriot could be seen as a Lear-like figure, Vautrin as a kind of Mephistopheles. The main theme, however, is the ruinous effect of the pursuit of money and position for their own sakes: other more decent and human values are sacrificed on the altar of personal gain. Vautrin tempts Rastignac with a means of advancing his place in society, a method totally founded upon an amoral view of the world.

At the end of the novel, it's up to the reader to decide which of the characters was right all along. Was it Vautrin?

this was a pretty good book it wasn't what i expected a little expensive but the pictures are wonderful and the story is very cute.its a good book for a quick read at night.

This Kitty's dynamite! She's sophistocated and smart, and the book has great graphic images, lucious color and a lot of charm. Hope to see more of her adventures!

This cat is hot! I purchase this book as a gift for my girlfriend, because she loves fashion and she loves the color pink. (And, she has a white kitty named snowball.) She just loved it and hopes there will be a follow up to it where French Kitty goes to Milan or Tokyo!

This book is a beautiful collection of photographs of Paris, from the sky.

The aerial photography is wonderfully executed, and shows all different sides of Paris. I lived in Paris as a college student for a few months. I fell in love with the city and I purchased this book because I wanted something to remember the beauty of Paris by. This book did not disappoint. It presents a clear view of Paris, a city often shrouded by rose-colored glasses.

I especially enjoyed the comparitive photographs that are included in the collection. Some photographs show Paris of 100 years ago, and again from the same view, modern Paris.

The city of lights is beautifully presented in this well-done collection. If you hold Paris close to your heart, you will love this book.

This is a stellar exploration of Paris and its environs via aerial photographs. Armed with a map and this book, you can take a wonderful tour of Paris from a bird's-eye perspective, becoming familiar with the layout of the city, the location of the most famous spots in relation to other structures, and a feel for how the city is built around the various physical landmarks, including hills and the waterways. There is also a wealth of photographs from the surrounding areas of Paris.

The photographs are of the greatest imaginable clarity, with a wealth of detail in every picture. Although it is possible to flip through the book, the best approach is to take it and carefully study each picture, teasing out all the details that each one can reveal. I will confess that I have never been to Paris, but thanks to studying this as well as other books enabling one to study the layout of the city, I honestly believe that I could negotiate between the landmarks if I were suddenly plopped down in the center of the city.

I have only two complaints with the book. First, the first section of the book features both historical and modern views of the same areas. I would have liked to see a lot more of that. For me, these were by far the most interesting photos in the book, and I wouldn't have minded if this constituted the bulk of the book. Second, while the pictures are of the highest imaginable quality, most were taken from approximately the same elevation. If one compares the photographs here to those in Jan Morris's OVER EUROPE, you will find in the latter a much greater variation in elevation. In the Morris book, they were able to many instances to use a remote control balloon with a camera to get much, much lower than Cameron was in this volume. Pierre Salinger's intro details some of the difficulties they had in getting permission for low-level photographs. Minor quibbles, but I do believe that more variety in the book would have increased its attractiveness and value.

Really, it is rather rare and pleasant to come across the books devoted to aerial photos of Paris. I have only one more. And it is twice pleasant to have such a solid and interesting book. Besides it contains good and well done photos, this book is intersting because you have the chance to compare Paris of 80-s and present Paris if you have been there. If not - no way, it will help you to get more about Paris when you'll have the chance.

Perhaps 9, rue Git-le-Coeur will never be one of those addresses that everyone immediately recognizes. Yet, for a brief period of time, it was home to Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Peter Orlovsky, Brian Gysin, and was infamously known as The Beat Hotel.

"The Beat Hotel" serves as an extended biographical sketch, presenting detailed glimpses into the histories of these artists - Burroughs' accidental shooting of his wife, his intense love affair with Ian Sommerville, Ginsberg's problematic relationship with his mentally ill mother, the "Howl" obscenity trials, his affairs with Burroughs, Kerouac and Orlavsky.

What results is an often frank, always engaging depiction of the drugged out, free-loving world that produced such classic as Burroughs' "Naked Lunch" and Ginsberg's "Kaddish."

It's to the author's credit that he achieves and exceeds his goal of increasing the reader's appreciation of these often neglected rebel artists.

Like, baby, I am not a big fan of the beats, dig? I was too young for it - it was dead by the time I was aware of it. And in hindsight it seems so self-indulgent.

But.

This book is really great. I lived in Paris for a spell, not far from said hotel (though it was long gone) and this is wonderfully interesting chronicle of ex pat life in Paris during the late 50s, early 60s, a bunch of fabulously interesting characters - reminiscent of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London (or whatever it was called) which was pretty darn clever (and if you like this, you have to read that.)

The first time I read this book, I turned back over to the first page and read it again. It was that good. I am a huge Burroughs fan, and I learned a new appreciation for Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Brion Gysin. The grist of this book provides insight into the day-to-day maze of creativity whose epicenter happened to be Post WWII Paris. If you are looking for a fresh, lively, intelligent glimpse into the creative process of Burroughs, Gysin, Corso, Ginsberg and others, this is the book for you.

This is a scaled down version of the regular Eyewitness Paris book.

I have to confess up front. I love these books. I must have a dozen. I really like the Paris book, and the one for Prague, and Stockholm, and South Africa, and .... You get all the detailed material similar to other great travel books plus you get great visuals.

The photos and descriptions and cutaway drawings are excellent and more than make up for any lack of small detail. But there is lots of detail here. The book includes the history of Paris and many details on the art, art galleries, parks, cutaway views of historical buildings, and many other things of interest. That is the good part.

The bad part is why buy this book when there is a much better Eyewitness Travel book on Paris for a few extra dollars. The big book is 5 stars. This is an edited and scaled down sibling.

Recommendation: skip this thin 2 star or 3 star book and just buy the regular book which is easily a 5 star book.

Jack in Toronto

I spent four great summer days in Paris last year, and this little book was indispensable. Going through it before I hit Paris got me in the traveling mood, and I used it constantly while I was there. If you only have room for a single Paris guidebook, this is the one.

The fold-out Metro map expedited my travels around the City of Lights (once I got the hang of how the trains ran). Each Top 10 section helped me prioritize my wanderings, locate various sites, and gave good concise historical background. For example, the Top 10 exhibits in the Louvre are pictured and described, which provided a necessary focus in such a huge, overwhelming museum. However, the guide's Louvre map was not quite up to speed, although I didn't consider that to be a big issue.

The compact format was easy to use, and the color pictures were a great visual aid. It also fit perfectly in my Eagle Creek shoulder bag or my pantleg cargo pocket, so it wasn't a burden. When I was getting ready to depart Paris for London at the Gard du Nord, I left the book on a table and watched from the upstairs to see who would take it. I hoped the guide would serve them as well as it did me.

Looking for other information on Paris or France to prep for your trip? I found Rick Steves' books and the "Let's Go" guides helpful as well, and "60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow is great for insight into France and the French. Happy travels!

I bought this book to show me what I should do on my vacation to Paris this spring. The book is fabulous. It has wonderful color pictures of all the sights. It organizes everything and is such an easy read.
I highly recommend this book.

"Good Morning, Midnight" tells the story of Sasha Jensen in post-war Paris. The author gets inside Sasha's head and exposes to the reader her low sense of self-worth and her misaligned priorities. We get glimpses into Sasha's past to give clues as to what has brought her to this state of depression. Sasha cares too much about what others around her think of her; she is always concious of how she must appear to waiters in cafes, people on the street and workers at the hotel where she is staying. She is always putting thoughts in their head of how they must percieve her. Sasha also does not have her financial priorities straight since she buys a fancy new hat and plans on buying other new items for her wardrobe and in the meantime is neglecting to eat.

I found "Good Morning, Midnight" a fascinating insight into a woman in a "low" psychological state. This book is not recommended if you are looking for an uplifting, feel-good story. "Good Monring, Midnight" would probably lead to great discussion for book groups.

I have a sentence from 'Good Morning Midnight' tattooed on my right arm. There is no higher acolade.

It is no wonder that after the publication of this novel people assumed Jean Rhys had committed suicide. It is a dark, introverted, soul-searching novel. It's brilliance lies in the compassion with which Sasha is treated. This is a woman who is unquestionably at the end of her tether. Life occurs almost unconsciously to her. She drinks non-stop and thinks of fashion before eating. But these aren't superficial choices. They are the few soft whispers of a woman about to go over the brink. Throughout the novel you are given brief glimpses of her past as a shop assistant and the troubles in her marriage. In themselves the troubles which result from them are not ample enough to drive a normal woman to such desperation. You feel that the reason for her state of mind is more the result of a profound neglect of her individual spirit by men. She is led on to believe in a progression of being, but is abandoned to clutch at the ghosts of her old haunts in Paris. This is a sharp contrast to the ideas that we have about artistic scene of Paris in this time period. It is a more sincerely concentrated personal experience than most accounts. It is interesting to think of the end in contrast to the jubilant yeses of Molly Bloom in Ulysses. Sasha's yes is one of doom and resignation to a world that has flown past her.

Despite its depressing character, this novel is a fascinating look at a tendency to sink into a psychological state often ignored. It is also a subtle portrayal of an identity built on a knife's edge. Luckily, Ms Rhys did survive this novel (however unhappily). It is a miracle that she did considering the violent lack of self worth of Sasha; to have imagined such a person must have been terrifying indeed.

This book is a transliteration of G. speaking to an audience and answering their various questions. Moving, succinct, and of course, different from his other books.

There is no doubt that "In Search of the Miraculous" by Ouspensky is presenting Gurdjieff's ideas very much like they were delivered mainly in Russia in 1915-1918. However, the talks in "Views from the Real World" have for me even a more authentic tone, although the presentation is not systematic.

Many of the talks in the "Views" are delivered in du Prieuré, Paris or New York in 1922-1924 and only one after his accident in 1924 (1930 in New York). The book has also over 30 pages of the article called "Glimpses of Truth" that Ouspensky was listening to when he was first introduced to Gurdjieff and the aphorisms that decorated the Study House in du Prieuré.

A sample of what I mean by 'even a more authentic tone' is the way Gurdjieff explains in a talk called "Now I am sitting here..." the process of self-remembering, the technique used to access the state of consciousness, which he defines as 'self-consciousness', in which we are more awake than in our normal 'waking state'.

He explains first how we can differenciate between sensations and feelings giving examples of sensations of the body, like warmth, posture and eating and the feelings resulting from memory of his mother and other similar feelings.

On p. 239 he says:

"For primary exercises in self-remembering the participation of all three centers is necessary, and we began to speak of the difference between feelings and sensations because it is necessary to have simultaneously both feeling and sensation.

We can come to this exercise only with the participation of thought. The first thing is thought.... At the beginning all three need to be evoked aritificially.... I repeat: artificial things are necessary only in the beginning."

This book is one of the books that should be read by all who are seriously interested in the work of attaining self knowledge. I can personally say that John Pentland (who was instrumental in publishing this book) was a man in the real sense of the word, free from dependance on any one's teachings. I knew Lord (John) Pentland and he was one of the great humans I have been fortunate enough to meet in my life. While he understood the teachings of Gurdjieff he had his own way of working and did not in any way or form practice or engage in any sort of cultism. Quite possibly Lord Pentland was present at some of the meetings from which this book is sourced.

This book is written in French. Since I do not reed this language I am unable to review the book. I am looking for one written in English.You should indicate the language the book is written in before selling. I am giving the book to my local library.

The story behind the story is that deMaupassant, at the time he wrote Le Horla, was himself going insane, dying of syphilis. So is the horla in the story only in the story, or did deMaupassant actually think that HE saw the creature? Or did he really see the creature...?

It's not for no reason that The Horla is widely regarded as the best horror story ever told. I advise anyone who contemplates reading this to pour themselves a good stiff gin before turning the pages!

The Horla is written in the style of a diary, and is set in a rural area of northern France, near the medieval city of Rouen. The author of the diary is a rich, reclusive gentleman who wants for nothing, and spends most his time and energy contemplating the great philosophical questions of life. He enjoys the simple pleasures of his existence - such as watching ships whizz along the Seine.

The story begins in a happy mood with the diarist full of life and complety content, but as the days pass by he becomes ill. At first he believes the ailment is physical, but it soon becomes apparent that the illness is mental. As strange things begin to happen around him - which can only be explained rationally by his own actions of which he is not aware - the reader is drawn into the mystery that forms the crux of the plot: is he really mad, or are supernatural forces at work?

Maupassant leaves us guessing all the way, and while initially it looks like a clear-cut case of madness, the diarist contemplates other, more terrifying explanations of the bizarre incidents that seem to take place in his house. The story ends in a shocking climax - which I won't spoil by revealing it here!

What makes The Horla the masterpiece that it is, is that it "works" on so many levels. The entries in the diary reveal that the author is completely clear-headed and lucid, and because he admits the possibility of being mad, this gives his later ideas of the supernatural the credibility they need to make the reader think twice about his condition. The horror builds gradually, and much of it is left unsaid. The reader is forced to employ a lot of imagination.

This a gem of a tale, and no self-respecting connoisseur of horror worth their salt should go without The Horla on their bookshelf!

When she learns of her stepfather's death, Anne Cartier joins handsome Colonel Paul De Saint-Martin in a trip to Paris. She is certain that he could not be guilty of the murder and suicide that the French officials have accused him of. Once in Paris, however, Anne learns that her stepfather's death is part of a larger scheme--a scheme involving some of the most important men in Ancien Regime France and huge thefts of precious jems and art works.

Through a repeated series of lucky coincidences, Anne, a teacher of the deaf, discovers a secret witness to the murder her stepfather was accused of, narrowly averts being abducted into a sadists lair, and discovers the secrets of the jewel thefts that shock all of France. Despite a complete unwillingness to take any precautions, Anne somehow manages to survive, eventually uncovering the full magnitude of the plot.

Author Charles O'Brien has set his historical mystery, MUTE WITNESS in the fascinating time immediately before the French Revolution. France continues to reel under the debt load it took on in its efforts to help America win its independence and is held hostage by bankers with ever-greater power. Thomas Jefferson walks the streets of Paris and Voltaire, Rousseau, and the other intellectual giants of the enlightenment are remembered firsthand.

Underdeveloped characters and a string of lucky coincidences marr a novel that shows real promise.

A deftly woven web of intrigue that unfolds in 18th century London and Paris. The heroine's sensitivity to and training in the needs of the deaf enable her to win the confidence of a frightened mute witness to a crime and solve the mystery of her stepfather's death.

The vivid background descriptions capture the ambience of the period and pull the reader right into the settings. The cobblestone streets, the elegant castle interiors, the lush landscapes spring to life before the mind's eye.

O'Brien's erudition leaves its imprint in the authenticity of the novel's historical context; the social injustices of the time and even international politics are interwoven in the plot.

The budding romance between the strong-willed heroine and a chivalrous nobleman is allowed to develop just far enough to whet the reader's curiosity about how their relationship fares. One hopes for a sequel!

Mr. O'Brien has not only succeeded in creating a gripping story: he has animated historical places and characters, weaving them effortlessly with the twists and turns of his plot. I was a history major, but never learned about revolutionary or pre-revolutionary Paris/France, and have never had a chance to travel there -- a good work of historical fiction is probably the best way to learn. Mute Witness has left a wonderfully alive picture of the times and places its characters inhabited.

WARNING: If you are prone to reading-induced insomnia, have someone hide this book before bedtime.

Hey! People if you want an exciting and extraordinarily funny, but realistic fiction story by the great author named Joan Bauer, I recommend the book Sticks. The 2 boys in the book are the main characters. Mickey Vernon is 10 has freckles, blisters on his finger sand Arlen Pepper has glasses, carries his calculator, and a protractor that why everyone called him the math wiz. He is very intelligent with any kind of math and science. Ever day Vernon always got beaten the big fat bully named Buck Pender.

Once in the pool hall of Cruckston, New Jersey [Where Mickey's family lived] when Mickey was young, he wanted to be the pool best player like his dad who had died. Arlen and Mickey are searching for secrets of pool. One day Vernon 's grandmother Poppy stuck up a poster that said," 10 to 13 Year Old Pool Tournament". Absolutely. Mickey was going to join, but he'll have to be much better in pool because Buck is joining, too. Days went by, but something strange happened at the pool hall. When Mickey is practicing pool a man with reddish beard came to Mickey and tells him that Mickey will win the tournament. The next morning day when Arlen and Mickey are walking Buck and his ugly friends came to block Mickey and Arlen from walking. The man from the pool hall came with his green truck and scared the bully off. One day that man came to the pool hall and talk to Ruthie [Mickey's Mother]. Mickey and his sister Camille were watching them as they talk. Then Ruthie introduce the man to Mickey and Camille who his name is Joseph Alveraz one of Mickey's dad best friends. Mickey rushed to him and asked him if he can teach him pool? He said, "Yes". Ruthie sigh and said, "Okay". They both together play Ping Pong and archery to make Mickey focus. Days went by until something bad happened. Joseph has to go to someplace away from New Jersey, before leaving he said not to play a single match with Buck. What do you know? Mickey didn't obeyed Joseph's command. He played a game with Buck and loses and other bad news Mickey broke his left arm because Buck slammed him on the floor. The doctor said it will cure in 3 weeks and real bad news that the day that the tournament is starting. Will our Mickey Vernon be able to practice only for a week to win the tournament? If you want to know, go ahead buy the book Sticks by Joan Bauer and you'll not be bored ever.

For a person who likes to play pool, this is a good book to read. If you dont really like to play pool, this is still an incredible book. This book is by a fantastic author and she wrote this book like she was the main character. When I read this book I didnt really like to play pool but when I was reading this book I could veiw all the book and when they were playing pool in the book it seemed like I was one of the fans watching the game. It is kind of sad when it talks about the kids dad dieing but when his best friend comes and teaches him like his dad taught his friend it cheered the boy up and he got really good at the sport pool and started to win alot more games and their is this one boy who the boy hated he might of beat but your going to have to read the book to find out what happens to the boy and other awesome events. I will have to stop writing now or I'm going to spoil the book for you.

The book I am recommending is called Sticks, by Joan Bauer. This book takes place in a modern day pool hall. The main character is Mickey Vernon. Mickey wants to win a pool tournament so badly that he would do anything to win it. He is a very determined boy. Arlen is Mickey's best friend and is a math wiz who helps Mickey with some of his pool shots. Mickey couldn't get a better friend than Arlen. When a kid named Sledgehammer begins to whack balls into pockets like a giant machine, and Mickey doubts he can win. Sledgehammer wants to win the pool tournament too. I love this book because you just don't want to stop reading it once you've begun. I recommend this book because it shows you how a determined person can really be to reach a goal, and that you should always try your best.