european

I've now slogged through four books on Middle Age church architecture and this one is by far the best. The book is written clearly and not unnecessarily burdened with "professor-speak." At the same time, it provided more information, and more interesting information, than the other three books combined.

A couple of cautions: the book focuses on Gothic architecture; Romanesque architecture is discussed more as an introduction to Gothic architecture. And it doesn't have a glossary, which is a downside for readers not familiar with architectural terms.

I have used _Monastery and Cathedral_ as a teaching text and as a guidebook. It's worth lugging through France, even by train: photos are b/w but well chosen & informative, and follow the text well. Stoddard gives good contextual background and is clear in his description and explication of the most important medieval churches in France. Could do more with sculpture and symbolism: the main focus is architecture. But his section on treasures, manuscripts & stained glass is a good start. I'm about to use it as a text for an on-site summer course: it's a tried and true old friend.

Professor Stoddard's opus Art and Architecture in Medieval France : Medieval Architecture, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Manuscripts, the Art of the Church Treasuries is still a viable and valuable work to study for any student of the Gothic era. The information provided allowed me to understand the cathedrals of France clearly and was an indispensible aid when I was lucky enough to visit several of the cathedrals addressed. While not a "light" read, Dr. Stoddard is the standard for the era. I envy any student of his, those lucky gargoyles!!!

Illustrations are well chosen and well sized. Text is readable and authentic. Text is well referenced. Chronological/political/ cultural chart in appendix is excellent.

Drawback is the impossibility of actually seeing or visiting in one trip everything that has whet your appetite by reading A & A of Spain one trip. I leave for Seville next Thursday knowing that at least two more trips will have to be taken. The cost as part of the trips makes the book a real investment.

This book is great because not only are the pictures wonderful, but they were able to get pictures of those things that tourists are not allowed.. A definite must for your coffee table.

This book truly gives a reader the full experience of what makes Spain so beautiful, its art and architecture. Many of these beautiful places in Spain, the traveler is not able to take pictures, so this book captures the beauty of these places in a way that no amateur photographer can imagine being able to. If you want to see Spain in all of its glory, buy this book.

I am totally madly, deeply in love with Venice and its 15th and 16th century artists. After having spent a fortune on art books about Venice, I stumbled onto this book at London's National Gallery. I have probably seen everything in this book in the original Venetian locales, but they are photographed so superbly that some actually are better than live-and-in-person. For example, some of my favorite paintings by Bellini in the Accademia are deliberately kept in dimly lit rooms by the conservationists, and Tintoretto's famous ceiling at Scuola de San Marco are neck-cringing and dark. So, to study these and any of the other scores of paintings you need this book. Every single photo is in large format, sumptous color. This is easily the best book bargain I bought last year. And I paid twice what Amazon is offering for it now!

I found this book in my local library where I was looking for images that I might use in some way in a collage I'd started working on. I immediately knew that I must own it. Not the usual cofee table book of travel type photographs of Venice - but concentrating on the history, art and architecture of that fascinating city. Tho I've been there on two separate occasions, 30 years apart, this book has given me an irresistable longing to see the beauty that I somehow missed both times.

First, a word of warning: I was in Venice last fall to visit my daughter, who was studying there for the semester. I fell in love with Venice and wanted to buy a book to remember it by. I finally found this beautiful volume with wonderful pictures of all the magnificent art, architecture, and general feel of this magnificent city. Its title was "Venice." When I got home, I thought I'd buy a book on Venetian art, so I got this title. To my surprise, it was the same book I'd bought in Venice! No problem. My daughter was home for Christmas, and it made a nice gift. Now, assuming you haven't already bought this under its European title, I heartily recommend it to anyone who either loves art, or who loves Venice. It is an excellent art book, complete with all the necessary information about the artists and architects and their beautiful creations, all of which are shown in large color pictures. But it is also a wonderful travel book, with many superb photos of all of Venice's glorious landmarks, which, of course, fall under the classification of "art" as well. All in all, a superb title, and the price is well less than its value. (Most books of this quality go for about $60-$75.)

Born in 1948 in a town near St. Petersburg, Gorbachev's magical paintings are very Russian, but at the same time universal. Most famous for his Stolichnaya ads, his art is totally unique, with a rich surface. His creations are of a fantasy world that delights the eye and uplifts the soul.

This book has wonderful examples of his art, with glossy reproductions of this brilliantly colored work. It's separated into 8 different "series", starting with "Mythological, Theatrical & Holiday Series" (part human creatures, joyously playing instruments, etc.), "Still Life, Landscapes & Animals", "Circus", "Balinese Icons", "Csar", "Icons", "Evolution", and ends with the Stolichnaya Holiday paintings. There is also a biographical essay, bibliography, chronology, collections, exhibits, and several photos of Yuri.

His technique is unusual and lacquer recipe kept secret. Painted in oil, with gold, bronze and copper over canvas. Many of them are as large as 48 x 84 inches. As well as the 91 paintings illustrated there are 9 detail plates, which make me marvel at his skill. Yuri's art is enchanting, and to quote him: "I have to make people happy. It sounds banal, but it's energy, this positive energy, that frees people and has no pretensions".

I thought this book had some beautiful paintings in it. I especially liked the horses and landscapes. They are all so cheerful to look at. The details and colors in each painting are just incredible. I also found Carey Goldberg's essay at the beginning of the book easy to read and very entertaining. Looking through this book makes me want to take up painting again.

Well written essays, very informative and fun to read. the artist is colorful and appealing and very versatile. I especially liked his "Evolution" and Czar series. Where can I buy some paintings?

I don't think Svevo is an artist that can be ruined or even significantly damaged by a translation, any more than Tolstoy can be messed up by Constance Garnett - it may not be as true to the quality of their prose, but for the most part I think their rare value is communicated as long as the translation is accurate: and this one is. The comparison to Tolstoy is apt, because I think Svevo is sort of a bridge between that tradition and Proust, where the writing starts drawing a great deal more attention to itself - and the internal workings of consciousness come to the forefront.

Svevo strikes the perfect balance between the 19th century's skill at construction complete characters (well, at least the Russians and George Eliot) and the 20th century's desire to focus intensely on processes of thinking, to lay bare the way they function. What Joyce did by actually splitting up and writing Bloom's individual thoughts, Svevo accomplishes with sentences that have the precision and wit of a French aphorist, while retaining a level of compassion that can coexist with his irony.

I remember a passage in The Confessions of Zeno (I read the Zoete translation on that one too) where, after a hilarious sequence when Zeno ends up marrying a woman that he has no interest in marrying, he comes to realize - many years later - just how much he's come to love her. Svevo is, I think, the most warm-hearted of great 20th century writers, even though all of his books are supposed to be merciless unmaskings of ineffectual men.

As much as I loved The Confessions (or Conscience) of Zeno, this is the more complete work of art. The five linked stories in Zeno didn't really cohere (especially the last chapter), but this book is beautifully paced and constructed, the work of a young man who is already a master - funny and sad and wonderful. A book to treasure.

(Incidentally: I like Joyce's title, As a Man Grows Older, but it would have been nice to have Svevo's original title back - which was only abandoned because they didn't think anyone would buy a book called Senility - certainly very few people bought Senilita when it was in Italian. And people were, understandably, confused, since there's no one in this book who is old, or any discussion in it of aging or senility.

But the whole book is filled with an atmosphere of last things: it is also about virility, and the lack of it, and the desire to both have and get away from the mental clarity that comes with intelligence. Senility: a great writer knows how to come up with a great title. But this is still a lovely book in a beautiful edition: another wonderful reissue from NYRB.)

I understand the concern with finding a correct translation of Senilità, but I do not share the opinion that it is a huge problem that the Beryl de Zoete version is translated a bit more "freely." I am writing this after having studied Svevo in the United States and in Italy and having read it in Italian at least three times and in the de Zoete translation twice. This may not make me more of an authority but hopefully will temper the following comments:

Essentially, the problem with translating Italo Svevo's work (if it is a problem) is that it was already been translated once from Austrian German thoughts (Svevo was born Hector Schmitz in Trieste, an Austro-Hungarian port city) into Italian. When you read Senilità (or its forerunner, Una vita - which is painful to read) you get an idea of how hypercorrect Svevo's writing was. This was not by accident, but rather through his desire to write perfectly in Italian. While this makes it an exceptionally easy read in Italian, if you translated it too closely, it would read more like Hemingway than anything else. In translations, I like the de Zoete translation (Bantam Modern Classics) because it is a little more fluid.

On to the merits of the book, whatever the translation or title, it is a masterpiece of Italian decadentism. The protagonist, Emilio Brentani is the last member of a dying family who must find a way to keep it going. He is getting on in years (which I guess early in the 20th century was mid-30s) and this is his last opportunity to do it. The book traces his battle with Angiolina, who is more element of nature than human, and the story takes him through a vortice vitale (the vortex of his life) into old age.

He carries out this battle against the background of caring for his sick sister Amalia and taking lessons from his libertine friend and sculptor Stefano Balli as they walk along behind the dog catcher. The time frame is Carnevale, the period before la Quaresima (Lent). The basic story is of his farewell to meat (so to speak) before the long fast that concludes his life.

I think this book makes a great introduction to Svevo and the svevian concept of "inept" man, and it is more focused than La coscienza di Zeno. I give it the thumbs-up.

Readers should be aware that this translation, by Beryl de Zoete, is much older, freer, and less accurate than the newer one, published by Yale Nota Bene, translated by Beth Archer Brombert as "Emilio's Carnival." Don't be fooled by the classy NYRB edition; the usually impeccable editors of that series have passed this "vintage" translation into print with nary a warning. Of course, older translations may be your thing (they're certainly mine much of the time) but you should know that this edition isn't all it seems. For more information on de Zoete as a translator, see William Weaver's excellent introduction to his wonderful translation of "Zeno's Conscience," which nicely dispatches de Zoete's "The Confessions of Zeno" to the dustheap of translation history.

Yo quisiera saber mucho mas de lo que dicen la palabras escritas
por el Maestro Dario en ese ensallo de (Azul)titulado "A una Estrella". Mi conocimiento literario en el idioma Espanol es muy
limitado y desafortunadamente no me codeo con gente que tengan
la menor idea de lo que estoy hablando. Yo tengo varias preguntas
acerca de este "Ensallo" del maestro Dario, por ejemplo unas de mis
preguntas es: Cuando el maestro Dario se dirige "A una Estrella"...es en realidad que el se esta dirigiendo a una mujer
cual cuyo amor es inalcansable?...tengo otras muchas mas preguntas pero quisiera que alguien erudito en la materia me
contactara. Gracias, Benjamin

"Azul" es una obra con la que facilmente podemos definir que tipo de escritor fue el célebre Rubén Darío. En este libro encontramos una puerta que nos hace ver mucho mas allá de lo que generalmente el ojo capta. Nos hace reconocer las realidades de nuestra sociedad y abrir la jaula en nuestra cabeza para que nuestros pensamientos vuelen...

Me gustaría encontrar las palabras exactas para definir este libro, pero no las tengo. La verdad, es que este es uno de esos pocos libros que de definen por si mismos. Es un pasaje a un mundo oculto, lejos de nuestras persepciones, además de ser uno de los mas dignos ejemplos de literatura hispanoamericana.

Muy bien, compren el libro y vean que tengo razón.

This author was new to us and we will be looking for her from now on. The pictures are sooo wonderful they transport you. The information is well done and clear, yet not watered done. This is someone that REALLY understands writing books for children that adults can enjoy using as teachers or parents. I recently bought alot of books on Shakespeare, for use in the school room this year and we have found 4 authors that made the grade on this subject! This is a keeper!

Stanley is a masterful writer/illustrator when it comes to creating longer picturebook biographies (with heavier text). Her bios on da Vinci, Cleopatra and Shakespeare are fabulous. It amazes me that she has not won a Caldecott Honor yet! I can't wait to see her bio about Michelangelo!

Our family has recently discovered the wonderful Peter Vennema/Diane Stanley biographies. They are vivid, engaging, and thorough, yet short enough for younger readers to sit through (my daughters are 4 and 6). Bard of Avon and Good Queen Bess are our favorites so far, and they go very well together since neither Shakespeare nor Queen Elizabeth would have been the same without the other. Unlike other histories or biographies for children, this book makes a destinction between what we know about Shakespeare's life and times and what are only guesses. It is nice for children to see that the study of history is not just memorizing facts and dates, but piecing together clues in the context of what is known about a time period. As a former high school English teacher, I wish that I had had this book when I was teaching Shakespeare plays because it would have been a wonderful introduction.

If you were to travel through Europe and wanted to come home with the best photographs of Baroque art, you would hope it would be half as good as this book. Almost 500 pages are filled with photographs which are almost all in colour and always remarkably clear. The views are expertly chosen for the best angle with vivid details. If you are interested in Baroque art, you will love this book, it has everything. As expected from the title, it covers Baroque painting of the seventeenth century. Sculpture and architecture are explored in the late Baroque and Rococo movements.

The appendix includes an excellent glossary of art and architecture terms, complete with sketches, when necessary.

Another wonderful feature: if you are reading about art or architecture from another book, this one is likely to have all the photographs the other is missing. What good is a mention of an art work without seeing it in front of you? This will solve that frustration. This coffee table volume is unsurpassed in picture books on Baroque Art.

What do you expect from Konneman? If they keep churning out quality books like BAROQUE at such criminally low price they will exterminate all competitions. I had to miss half-day of work just to go through half the book.

The cover alone will stop you in your tracks, a magnificent photograph of the Hofburg Library in Vienna. Open the cover and you will find page after page of amazingly detailed color photos of architecture, sculpture, and paintings. And to top it off, the text is generally interesting without any mindnumbing pedantic nose-in-the-air commentary. I have been an architect for 25 years and have never stopped searching for a reasonably priced book of Baroque with high quality pictures and text. This is it.

Fun to read; even more fun to cook from. This cookbook will send you scurrying to find Belgium beers to add to stews and desserts.

This book offers a humorous look at the history of the Belgian frite (french fry) as well as offering traditional Belgian recipes. You will learn how to pick the right Belgian beer to accompany your food, as well as how to prepare your own Belgian frites! And if you are in Brussels, they even give you suggestions on where to find the best, and the most unique, Belgian foods! Overall a great book!

Namely, Denis and Andre's Belgo in Covent Garden. Unfortunately, I've found nothing like it back home. Fortunately, there's Belgo the cookbook. Equal parts moules, frites and beer, I've been able to bring Belgo home. Their book explains all: where mussels come from, which to pick, which to avoid and of course how to cook and eat them (with a discarded shell).

And while the recipes are quick, simple and delicious, this is more than a cookbook. There's also a beer hunter's guide, Belgian music suggestions while cooking, Belgian jokes and plenty of silly photos of the restranteurs. Essentially a primer on the Belgian good life.

Did I mention it's beautifully designed?

I don't know what the previous reviewers were critiquing-- what follows is about S Sangl's brilliant and unique book. It is safe to say that in every respect -- text, photos, and production values --- this unique volume fulfills its mission to present the tradition of German(ic) interior design at the highest level. Although the photos are true 'eye candy', this book is intended as serious discourse and rises far above the typical coffee table ballast.

I agree with the previous reader, this is it ... the definitive book on Charleston Farmhouse. Although I think this book is more than a glimpse of the house and garden for those unable to visit, it is a surperb reference for those of us that have visited and wish to recall the house, etc. The photography is stunning, the text is informative. A worthwhile addition to any Bloomsbury book collection.

i stumbled across this book on a beautiful indian summer sunday afternoon....it is a treasure for those unable to physically saunter through the rooms and out to the walled garden that is charleston. all photos in colour, all rooms as they were when vanessa bell, duncan grant, family and friends lived and worked there. inspirational.