european

This book is the centerpiece of Penguin's wonderful and now tragically out of print Poets in Translation series, featuring selections from many translations with brief introductions. Editing a volume for Homer is to tackle a great volume of translations, many of them famous in their own right. The cut-off year is 1994, so the book doesn't include one of my favorite translations, Stanley Lombardo's, although it does have Fitzgerald and Lattimore excerpts; their texts are the other ones popular in schools these days.

While the Middle and Early Modern English selections could have used glosses, and some of the introductions are less than informative, the editors have done a fantastic job at digging up rare translations and finding examples of Homeria, Homer-inspired literature from Joyce to Keats to Walcott's OMEROS. One gets a sense not only of how Anglophone views of Homer have changed, but also how writing has changed. It demonstrates why certain translations (i.e. Chapman's, Pope's, Pound's First Canto) are justly famed.

If you like the idea of the Poets in Translation series, but not Homer, I suggest trying BAUDELAIRE IN ENGLISH or OVID IN ENGLISH, two of my favorites, and neither so overwhelmed by excess translators as this book can be. On the other hand, there will certainly be more than one Homer in this book to please even the most picky reader, and the joy of discovering another fine translation or inspiration makes this book worth 5/5 stars. Homer lives!

The Penguin Poets in Translation series has got to be one of the best publishing ventures of the past 25 years. What these volumes do is collect English translations and imitations over the past several centuries of major poets, in the case of "Homer in English" from Geoffrey Chaucer to William Logan. "Homer in English," edited by George Steiner, prints generous excerpts from the major translations of the Homeric literature: George Chapman, Alexander Pope, Robert Fitzgerald, etc. and scores from minor ones. And besides straight translations, Steiner has also included original poems inspired by Homer - among them John Keats's "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," Lord Tennyson's "The Lotos Eaters" and "Ulysses," Ezra Pound's "Canto I," W. H. Auden's "The Shield of Achilles," and many others. This volume is an excellent way to trace Homer's influence on the English-speaking world from the medieval period to our own time.

I wholeheartedly recommend anyone who enjoys this book to check out the other "in English" books in this series. Besides Homer, collections of Charles Baudelaire, Horace, Martial, Ovid, The Psalms, Seneca, and Virgil are already in print. Volumes of the Bible, Catullus, Dante, Juvenal, Lucretius, Eugenio Montale, Petrarch, and Rainer Rilke "in English" are in preparation.

Ever since I read Keats' poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," I've been looking for a copy or at least a sample of his words. Chapman was a contemporary of Shakespeare and his words are wonderful. But this book is more than a compilation of snippets from various translators. It includes related writings from Keats (the above poem, of course), Shelley, Chaucer, James Joyce's description of the young Homer and other authors. For Homerphiles, it is a nice book to have and a source that points to other authors who have also been smitten with the ancient bard.

For those of you not yet acquainted with Danilo Kis's rare genius of bringing his reader into strange, undefinable dreamworlds, then The Hourglass is a great place to start.

Set in 1942 in the ethnically mixed Vajdaság region of Hungary, the story traces the gradual descent into madness of one E.S., railway clerk, who realizes that insanity is the only dignified refuge left in an ever-darkening world. The first part of the novel is a grotesque, rambling catalogue of E.S.'s acquaintances, friends and family who all meet horrid ends as the wheels of the Holocaust start to churn. E.S.'s world slowly slips into the abyss as the pogroms, persecutions and deprivations slowly evolve into a full scale death factory, serviced by the same railways that E.S. is convinced are the only refuge of sanity and international neutrality in a Europe turned upside down. The truly fiendish irony is that these mobile 'Switzerlands' as E.S. calls them are what made the Holocaust possible in the first place. Fast, accessible anywhere and keeping to time, they fed the hellish ovens with their human fuel.

In the rest of the novel, E.S. lucidly describes his 'work' duties in a slave labor battalion, where he and his group of comrades were forced to make bricks under bestial conditions. All the while, E.S. writes down his 'Diary of a Madman,' no doubt a reference to Gogol's masterpiece, where an unknown inquisitor (Kafka's Trial?) mercilessly interrogates E.S. about the minutiae of his simple existence. Struggling to give some sort of rational explanation to the whole chaos surrounding him, he falls deeper into the black hole of madness. As does anyone who tries to rationally understand the inane senseless of the Holocaust.

Yet, despite his impending destruction, E.S. maintains his humanity. How? By writing it all down. Making that 'bourgeois horror novel.' By creating something out of the void and thus giving us hope that we shall all earn some measure of eternity by what we leave behind.

If Franz Kafka's Joseph K. had lived in the early 1940's and been ordered to wear a yellow star in Czechoslovakia, he would have resembled a character known only as E. S. in this story of wartime Hungary by Danilo Kis. The trial of an individual and his family at the hands of a vague and hidden totalitarian force are described with growing horror and gallows humor in ''Hourglass,'' a chilling novel in which time is running out for a marked man riding along the tracks of mortification.

One of the trains he takes eventually must lead to a concentration camp. But the journal of the final months of his life is told with such authority in this imaginatively constructed story that the doomed character appears to be in command of his own destiny. ''Hourglass,'' translated from the Serbo-Croatian by Ralph Manheim, is evidently rooted in firsthand family experiences. The reader is informed that a letter attributed to E. S. in the novel is based on an actual letter written by Kis's father two years before his death in Auschwitz. But the universal elements in the story - the attempt to carry on the everyday routine of life and the disbelief in an official policy of genocide - offer a parable about the extermination of the Jews by the Third Reich and its collaborative governments in occupied Europe. Trains were essential for the Third Reich to fulfill the quotas for the Holocaust, and trains play an essential part in the novel. At one point, the narrator sees himself, with trembling hands, gathering up his papers in his seat in the first-class carriage and stuffing them into his briefcase along with bottled beer and smoked-herring sandwiches. The author then transforms an ordinary train ride into an act of terror: ''Who was standing beside him at that moment? A young blond conductor, who was aiming his nickel-plated ticket punch like a revolver at the star on his chest.''

The interrogation of the narrator is bizarre. It shows the police mentality at work in a police state anywhere. The narrator is questioned about a piano in his home. The line of questioning goes: Can the piano be used to send signals? Where in the room is the piano? Can you describe what it looks like? Why was an open score on the music stand? How do you account for the fact that the piano was open and that someone had been practicing so early in the morning? Inevitably, the answers to dumb questions sound somehow suspicious and lead to more questions.

The nameless E. S. wonders how he can avenge himself against the armed police. He indulges in a small act of defiance for his own self-respect: ''Several times he had blown his nose into a newspaper with the Fuhrer's picture on it. Was he conscious of the danger he was courting? Definitely. He always folded the paper as small as possible before throwing it into dense brambles or the river, thus doing away with the corpus delicti of his insane and dangerous act.'' There are deliberate breaks in style as the author shifts back and forth in chapters that are labeled ''Travel Scenes,'' ''Notes of a Madman,'' ''Criminal Investigation'' and ''A Witness Interrogated.'' The year 1942 is a crazy time in the Danube Valley for the first-person narrator. He is trying to maintain a semblance of sanity while composing a letter to his sister that forms the spine of the story. If there is a theme in the novel, it is summed up in the last sentence of that letter:

''P. S. It is better to be among the persecuted than among the persecutors.''

''Hourglass'' owes a debt to ''The Trial'' by Kafka. In the narrator's musings, Kafka is cited: ''Everything that is possible happens; only what happens is possible.'' What distinguishes Kis's novel is its authorial independence. A conventional narrative structure is ignored; it is the author's musings and diversions that magically build suspense. Some paragraphs run on for pages, others suddenly break into short questions and answers between the omnipotent state and its helpless victims. Kis forces the reader to work for him, to pay attention. That he succeeds is a rare achievement...

Kis's novel is one of the most important in the entire Eastern-european literature. It gives an incradible picture of a desintegrating mind, following, in a way the steps of Youce and Woolf, but still making a step towards postmodernism

This book is a must have for any fan of great theater, intelligent novels, deep poetry, critical essays, or moving short stories: because it has all of them by the master of all of these genres.

From famous works such as, "Waiting for Godot," and "Krapp's Last Tape" (plays), that force a reader to rethink their world, to classic short stories, such as, "Dante and the Lobster," that is a dive into a surreal world: this book has everything.

1,000 words is not nearly enough to get into this book at any real depth, or to even give it a proper over view. This book covers the entire spectrum of one of Ireland's greatest writers.

Creater of the theater of the absurd, world renouned playwright, and man who single handedly made a place for the "shorter play," in a world that had come to expect a minimum of two acts, for a peice of drama to be considered serious.

This book contains novels, novel excerpts and short stories, all of which, redefined the genres that they belonged to. Prolific, constantly changing, and reaching new hights, Beckett redefined every genre that he wrote in, and set new levels of perfection for the rest of us to reach for.

One can not say enough things about this true literary genius. The best advice that I can give you is, buy this book, read it, and give yourself the perfect oppertunity to become aquainted with Beckett. This book gives a wondeful over view of each of Beckett's writing stages and the evolution of his work.

This is a very wise introduction to Samuel Beckett's work. If you haven't discovered one of the most profound voices of the 20th century, then this book is the way to do it. By far his most accessible work is the short play Krapp's Last Tape and it is in this volume complete. Waiting for Godot is also here as well as excerpts from Beckett's prose and some of his later plays like Not I. This book belongs on your shelf.

If you've never heard of Beckett, this is the first thing you should check out. Richard Seaver's introduction is an added bonus, which helps us understand Beckett even more. All in all, a fabulous book.

A beautiful book. The imagery is lovely, and I got hooked when one of the characters actually wanders into the ice palace. The descriptions of the light, and the interplay of the changing colors and shapes of the ice were mesmerizing--I stayed up late and couldn't go to bed. And in the morning it seemed it should be all ice outside instead of the height of summer. Tremendously atmospheric, simply splendid. The first book in about six months to make it straight to my read-again shelf. And short--a quick read if you're busy.

One of the most beautiful books ever written. You are not literate before you have read this book.

From the first sentence Tarjei Vesaas draws the reader into a world of icy chill and unspoken foreboding ,drawn with language as spare, beautiful and relentless as the wintry nordic landscape. Two girls on the brink of puberty experience a moment of furtive sexual and spiritual awakening that neither is emotionally prepared for; when one of them subsequently vanishes from her home the other is lost in a welter of guilt and confusion. An unusual and evocative exploration of emotional isolation, both real and self imposed

The quality of the reproductions in this book alone is worth the price tag. The fact that this book is in English (much of the material on this subject is not) makes it a valuable resource as well. Mireille Mentre is one of the leading students of Spanish medieval manuscripts, and this book surveys the most important pre-Romanesque (mozarabic) examples. This is a somewhat conventional art-historical analysis, as Mentre traces the development of the mozarabic style through numerous examples. The chapters are as follows:
1. Context and characteristics of mozarabic painting
2. Foundations and development of a distinctive style
3. The role and function of painting and illumination
4. Design and pictorial treatment
5. Painting and spirituality

There are also appendices listing principal mozarabic manuscripts and dated manuscripts, as well as an extensive bibliography about the subject.

This is the book to start your adventures in Medieval Spanish illumination. This looks at the influences of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic art - the fact that the majority of the plates are in color can only add to the value of the very reasonable price.

Highly recommended for anyone engaged in reproduction of this style of art. Beautiful rendition of the colors of the original MSS.

The fantastic pictures of the manuscripts alone are worth the pricetag on this book. But don't buy it for that reason alone. Mireille Mentre has managed to strike an impressive balance between descriptive text, academic discussion, and outstanding photography. While the organization of the book as a whole suffers slightly from what appears to be the publication of parts of an excellent doctoral dissertation, anyone interested in the history of medieval Spanish illumination (especially members of organizations like the Society for Creative Anachronism) would do well to add this text to their library.

This is one of the best books on illuminated manuscripts currently available. The book is hardcover, full color throughout, and many nice reproductions. There is a nice variety in the work shown and good commentary. If you get this at the discounted price, this is a hard book to beat in quantity and quality. Along with A History of Illuminated Manuscripts this is a must-have book.

What can I say? I have been researching this specific field now for the last five years, and rarely find such a magnificent reproduction as this! Excellent job on the colour balance, and many miniatures I have not seen in any other books. Well done.

Best "bang for the buck" period illumination book on the market. Every page is crammed with beautiful, clear color photos of ten centuries of period illumination styles. There are 'leaves' and 'hours' in there that I have never seen before. Best of all (and unlike other books I could name) it's affordable and within the reach of the true 'starving artist' (and it's about time).

Marc Cramer's book, Imperial Mongolian Cooking, rings true. Too often ethnic cookbooks err by either presenting recipes with ingredients and utensils so exotic that unless you happen to be travelling through the Khyber Pass, they are impossible to achieve. Or, cookbooks are so generic and bland that you'd wish you had eaten out rather than bought the book. Marc Cramer's Imperial Mongolian Cooking happily attains the golden mean where new techniques are introduced clearly, but with a combination of herbs, oils and spices that refreshes the palate, delights the nose and satisfies the appetite. I cooked a five course meal for my fiance -- who happens to be Mongolian -- using this book. I picked out recipes that reminded me of what I had eaten during my own travels to Central Asia, Inner Mongolia and the homes of my Ukrainian and Russian friends. Each dish -- from the lamb shashlyk in Georgian Plumb Sauce to the Uzbeki walnut cookies -- rang true. "Saihon oo!" he proclaimed, which is Mongolian for "Excellent!"

The book's only weakness is that I would have appreciated some drawings on how to fold cookies and shape pastries. Perhaps that is something that can be easily rectified when the book goes into its second edition.

One last note, for those who have thought for food and would like food for thought, I would again heartily recommend this book. Mr. Cramer does a wonderful job of mixing in stories of his family's Mongolian Russian roots and highlights of Mongolian history and culture into his excellent tome. Enjoy!

I was looking for something fresh and original when a friend told me about Imperial Mongolian Cooking. My curiosity got the better of me and I found I loved the book and the recipes. This is a very unusual cooking in concept, because it explores the cookery of Genghis Khan's empire, which included two dozen countries, but the recipes are carefully selected, easy to follow and just terrific. Loved it. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Just when I was beginning to lose hope of ever finding a genuinely interesting cookbook there's finally a fresh and original collection of recipes for us jaded cooks to enjoy. Imperial Mongolian Cooking is a collection of truly delicious recipes from the various countries that constituted the empire of Genghis Khan, including Asian and European dishes. The dishes are wonderfully exotic and tasty but they are also remarkably quick, easy, and economical to prepare. And fun, too. I really enjoyed the author's engaging introduction, which had as much flair and spirit as the recipes themselves. The chapters that followed really brought home the bacon with some truly imaginative recipes that were clearly written and resulted in some delightful meals. No, I haven't yet cooked everything in the book but I can always try. It's worth the effort because this cookbook really delivers. I especially enjoyed shashlyk, a Georgian-come-Russian shish kabob of marinated lamb that's smothered in delicious plum sauce. My wife loved the Persian spinach salad and the little ones wolfed down the Central Asian samsa walnut fritters like there was no tomorrow. If you are looking for a cookbook with a difference, you can't go wrong with Imperial Mongolian Cooking. This is one of the best cookbooks I've ever bought. Bravo!

I remember devouring this book series when I read it for the first time at age 12. Being so deeply affected by the impacting story, I recently sought out the books again sixteen years later and found myself plunged back into the story, coming up for air and food only two days later when I was done.

I appreciate the honesty and yet the hope that is offered in this story. This is shown through the beauty of the human spirit in dark times and also of a God who sees, loves and cares for His people.

I highly recommend this literature.

Journey Through The Night is an exciting glimpse into the daily life and struggles of a Dutch family and their community during the German occupation of Holland. Historical fiction at it's best with a continual and sometimes comical reminder of how precious true freedom and family are. It's an easy reading for the whole family and well worth the investment.

I cannot begin to express my love of this 4-book series. I read it when I was in grade school and have tried to reread the series at least once every few years. However, as I do not own the series, I must interlibrary loan it or borrow it from people who do own it. [This review can also double as a plea to the publisher to republish the series.]

This series was originally written in Dutch by Anne De Vries and was translated into English and published in Canada. The four books are: (v. 1) Into the darkness (v. 2) The darkness deepens (v. 3) Dawn's early light and (v. 4) A new day.

The series traces the German occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945 during World War II. The books are seen through the eyes of John De Boer, a Dutch teenager who grows up during the war and assists in the resistance movement. Filled with suspense, intrigue, and harsh reality, the series protrays what life was like during the war.

The books are written for middle school ages and up. The prose is easy to read, though not simplistic. A parent may want to read along with a younger child because parts of the books can be very emotionally disturbing.

This masterful book is one of the very best design books out today. the fabulous photos give richly detailed images of how the mind of Montoya turns dreams into reality. Colorfully planned rooms evoke reverence for things past and present. Montoya's use of religious references inform us of his link with humanity. Indirect lighting mixed with many different kinds of stone, granite, marbles and limestone create theatrical yet uplifing interiors that make beckon us to linger. Always sensitive to his clients' desires and wishes, he incorporates scale, harmony and balance while implementing function with style. Montoya is a master of surprise, you'll go back to this collection of his work time and again.

He tenido la oportunidad de conocer trabajos de diferentes maestros del diseño de interiores contemporaneos, pero sencillamente Juan Montoya ocupa un sitial especial entre ellos. Montoya demuestra una retrospectiva de su trabajo muy interesante dejando siempre señal de su excelente trabajo. Es por eso que me atrevo afirmar que Montoya es sinonimo de buen gusto, el Mercedes-Benz del diseño.

This 400 page pictorial of Juan Montoya's work, past and present, is an engaging look at the designer's commitment to creating living spaces with flair, refinement,and cultural aesthetic.

Juan Montoya reveals the inspirations for his designs - both furniture and interior design - coming from a broad range of technology; to foreign cultural artifacts that are used to enrich and enhance spaces.

The spaces he creates are magnificent - a miriad of textures and colors that blend harmoniously into a defined living space - which the self titled book reveals quite well. Large color images enable you to study subtle details of the various rooms. This book also gives you a certain time line of his experience and influences during recent decades. Much of the text is reprinted from Architectural Digest, among other periodicals and books. Not to miss is the spread that displays the custom furniture designs that have been created, and used in various client's residences and office spaces.

This is a great addition to anyone's design collection. Definately a keeper, as well as a great design resource.

Katie and the Mona Lisa is a truly excellent book. My 4 yr old daughter likes to both draw and read. This is ideal for our bedtime reading -- it engages her, helping to her develop her imagination and learn a bit about art. I'm looking forward to going to an art museum, where I intend to ask my daughter which painting she'd like to crawl into! I also can't wait to buy the others in the series. Honestly!

Katie is back visiting her favorite place, the art museum, with her Grandma. On this outing she stands in front of the picture of the Mona Lisa. "I wish I knew what is making you smile", she wonders. And with that, the Mona Lisa invites her into the painting. Katie steps over the frame and enters the world of the Italian Renaissance..... James Mayhew, author of Katie Meets the Impressionists, has written and illustrated another wonderfully inventive story, full of witty text and expressive artwork, that will transport youngsters back in time and send them on a very creative adventure. Poor Mona Lisa is sad and lonely, sitting in that chair without visitors for hundreds of years. So, Katie takes her "out" to meet new friends...They visit St. George from Raphael's St. George and the Dragon, dance with the beautiful women in Botticelli's Primavera and fly to Venice on Carpaccio's The Lion of St. Mark, causing a little trouble and leaving a bit of chaos in their wake. But fortunately, all is sorted out and put right in the end by the angel from da Vinci student's An Angel With a Lute. Katie and the Mona Lisa is an amusing and inspired story that will captivate children 4-8 with its magic and offers a terrific and imaginative introduction to the paintings of the Italian Renaissance.

I bought this book for my two year old daughter, and she loves it! The story itself is charming. As "Katie" steps into and out of various paintings in the art museum, she meets the people in the paintings. The author includes a little fact about each painting and/or artist within the text of the story. At the end of the story, the author gives more detailed information about every painting included in the book. The illustrations are also fabulous! Our whole family enjoys this book, and now our 2 year old recognizes the Mona Lisa when she sees "her."