european

Despite all of the desire that flows in and out of these pages, La Batarde does not gratify. Leduc refuses to stoop to pander to panting hearts - she simply gives you words of poetry to describe her ugliness, her love affairs, small joys and solitude. And yet, she is not all poetry. She is experimental, and is relentless is driving forth her need to tell you about what a horrible being she is - and yet in the end, you find that you feel not only sympathy but a aching heart when she falls and rises again.
From her childhood trials in provincial France, to her affairs with her classmate Isabelle and her teacher Hermine, to her forced departure to Paris (for being found out with her affairs with the music teacher), to her discovery of Gabriel, to her abortions and black-market activity during World War II, the character that Violette portrays herself is no saint, but in refusing to give herself some pride she emerges as a martyr - of fate (being born with, as she says, an ugly nose). There is no question about her ugliness - even de Beauvoir is reputed to have made fun of her behind her back. Yet this woman must have had charisma, for designers gave her clothign to wear and show off on the streets. A contradiction, this woman was, and this quality of hers is very much shown to the reader in her autobiography.

From her early beginnings with a distant mother to her activities during World War II in the black market, Violette Leduc opens her life to us in stark detail. On her journey to find her voice and become a writer, she experiences life to its fullest and darkest extents. From her love affairs with women to her failed marriage to her adoration of a gay man, she explores her seemingly tragic life to show us the beauty in every molecule of life. Definitely not a slow read, this memoir proves Leduc's mastery of expression and whets the reader's appetite for more self-spelunking.

Violette Leduc invented her own poetics of solitude. Her writings are the ravings of a mad schoolgirl, feverishly and sensually neurotic, and achingly romantic. As unhappy as Violette claims to be, you want to be her, to have her heights of perception, and to desire as intensely as she does. If you like it light and breezy, skip this writer. But if you like to take that queasy peek behind the mask, this is for you.

Ante todo resulta incómodo ver valoradas con estrellitas (de 1 a 5) las obras maestras de la literatura universal.
La Celestina forma parte de esa veintena de obras maestras que forman lo más destacado de la literatura en cualquier idioma y de cualquier época. Sin lugar a dudas, la más fascinante, moderna, entretenida y asequible de su época. Una auténtica novela (dialogada) moderna.

Entre sus mejores momentos: la comida en casa de Celestina con los criados y prostitutas, el primer encuentro de Celestina y Melibea, Melibea esperando a Calixto en el jardín, y un final que te deja un nudo en la garganta. Ah!, y por supuesto la sabiduría popular de Celestina.

La comparación con Romeo and Juliet de Shakespeare no tiene sentido. Las dos obras son opuestas. Por otra parte no cabe duda de que La Celestina es muy superior (más compleja, densa, apasionada, humana, personajes más solidos y destacados...)

Cito a Riquer en su extraordinaria Historia de La Literatura Universal:

Cuando Calixto llega al jardín de Melibea por vez primera persiguiendo un halcón y queda herido por la belleza de la joven (escena de caza frecuente en las novelas cortesanas medievales, por ejemplo en el Cliges de Troyes), se levanta un vendaval que lo arrasará todo, lo bajo y lo elevado, el afecto más gratuito y la codicia más interesada. Y el lector tras tanta belleza, tantos primores, tanta poesía, tanto realismo y tras una tan bien conducida historia de unas almas en desasosiego, ve que la tragicomedia de Rojas, a pesar de su declarada intencion moralizadora, cae en el vacío, como Melibea al arrojarse de la torre, porque después de la muerte de los dos jóvenes Rojas sólo deja entrever un "infierno de enamorados"

Celestina is amusing, ironic, and while the prose and dialogue is long and descriptive, it is never boring- I really enjoyed this play.

Fernando De Rojas captures the truth of the love between man and woman in a time when novels were rarely written. This book plays out of a drama that inhabits the first concepts of the tragedy of love. It is what books like Romeo and Juliet are compared to.

la historia de un amor y de un viaje,,dicen que el poeta dante vio a beatriz cuando era nino y que jamas la toco o hablo con ella;no he tenido tiempo de averiguar si es verdad, pero lo que si se es que es la historia de un amor llevado a la adoracion extrema, la carne ya no interviene en el, tan solo el espiritu.

es como amar a dios, por eso es la mezcla entre el viaje iniciado por el poeta,por el infierno, el purgatorio y el cielo al final, con beatriz, beatriz en el cielo con diamantes y angeles mientras el poeta deja a virgilio, su acompanante en el purgatorio, despues de haber recorrido el infierno y despues de algunas escenas jocosas donde contemporaneos del poeta reciben su castigo en ciertas secciones del infierno.

es tambien un libro muy matematico, pero ese es otro aspecto que voy a dejar para que cada uno lo descubra. este libro es el tipo de libros que debe ser descubierto por cada generacion, porque cada generacion dara al poeta su sitial que se merece, como lo han venido haciendo desde el primer momento.

LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

It's a very good book, with a very interesting story. Dante had an amazing imagination and a great way to put it in words, he was a great poet. You'll enjoy it.

ý want to "la Divina Comedia" book

The source of "The Fire and the Rain" lies, as is common knowledge in The Mahabharatha. It is an obscure story which a certain sage narrates to the Pandavas, and to a lay reader, passes off as insignificant.

What however, Girish Karnad has done is to transform it into a masterful piece of drama by depicting conflicting human emotions through the characters. It is an excellent combination of the elements--human, metaphysical and supernatural that constitute the core of the play. Karnad successfully makes use of the divine element--especially in the climax where the hero holds a conversation with the Gods, and the final result of the rain pouring on a drought-ridden land.

The play also focusses both on the negative and positive human emotions--jealousy, betrayal, deceit, as well as selfless love (evidenced by the hero and the heroine, Nittilai)and sacrifice. The hero, like most of Karnad's heroes is a man torn between moral righteousness, love and duty. It is interesting to trace this path of the hero to its fitting end.

Karnad has stated that "the play lived in my mind for 37 years" before assuming its present form. It is in short, a splendid culmination of his creative intelligence. As stated earlier, the story is so obscure that none gives a second thought to it, and to translate the same to a play requires immense skill, which is evidenced by the book. It only shows that with each of his play, Girish Karnad is only getting better.

A must read!

This is probably different from other book reviews because I have read the play, and seen an excellent theater production of it too. It is the combined effect of the two that remains in my mind; during both phases the experience was gripping and the effects linger even today.

I have waited for a long time for Girish Karnad to return to his roots in theater, after his sojourn in the world of cinema and commercial movie making. In my opinion, he has exceeded all expectations. The Fire and the Rain is a complex play that weaves contemperory and ancient, Indian and European themes and metaphors.

It is a must read (and perform) GrecoVedic tragedy for theater buffs of all cultures around the world. It is so insightful in its observation of fundamental human behavior, and theatrically so malleable that its relevance to local contexts and audiences, worldwide, will be obvious. It is truly a play for global audiences, transcending political, cultural, and geographic boundaries.

I haven't read a better book in recent times. It's another great piece of work from a person so talented. A must read.

A wonderful yet small collection of reproductions of Manet's last works. A very great artist, at the end of his days, paints exquisite small works of flowers. What else could you want?

As an art student studying the techniques of the masters, this little book has been invaluable to me. This is for anyone who seriously wants to experience Manet's genius. His little florals leap off the page! The printing is good, too. Faithfully shows detail and tone well. While nothing replaces seeing these works in person, this book is one every artist should have.

During the last months of 1882 Edouard Manet was gravely ill. This was to be the last year of his life. He no longer had the strengh for large ambitious work. With frequent rest periods, he had just completed "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere."

Due to his ebbing energy he began to paint on a smaller scale, simple bouquets of flowers in a variety of glass vases. Often these were the flowers friends brought to the convalescing artist.

"The Last Flowers of Manet" is a little gem of a book presenting 16 of these elegant, magical paintings. There are ethereal white lilac blossoms and slashes of pink peony petals shimmering before rich, black backgrounds. There are roses and tulips in warm, golden shades.

Just as Matisse in his last days could not make a false stroke when creating his cutout compositions, so Manet brings total mastery to these exquisite, soulful still lifes.

Perhaps this book is the only one about Alma tadema-the greatest master of Victorian age- which deals with his life and works the way it should be. It contains a great collection of his works as high quality pictures as well as a great biography. Just buy it and see what you have missed all this time.

This is an excellent book - well-printed, with beautiful reproductions of Alma-Tadema's work, and well-written. Too often, art books lump Alma-Tadema generically with the pre-Raphaelites or shun him entirely (because his paintings catered to Victorian tastes). This book is almost, but not quite, too much of a good thing, with an in-depth view of Alma-Tadema's career, especially the mentors and travel experiences that shaped his style. Very early paintings and watercolor studies which I had never before seen are included, and I paticularly like the side-by-side presentation of watercolor studies with finished oils of the same scene. Alma-Tadema was a skilled artist whose lush, decorative style and atmospheric historical scenes prefigured the art of Maxfield Parrish. It's about time that a collection of this quality has become available.

This is the best book I've ever seen about alma-tadema. Includes high quality pictures of his masterpieces. If you love Almatadema's works you should have this special book.

This book teaches kids how they should not be greedy and they should help someone if they want something in return. This book is about a hen who plants, cuts, beats, takes the wheat to the mill all by herself and bakes some bread. Then her friends want some when it is done but since they didnt help the hen eats it all by her self. This book is a really good book i think it can teach kids a lot.

I have this exact book from when I was little and now I am reading it to my 2 year old. The relatively simple text and repetition makes it a hit with budding readers. My son especially likes the "Not I" Said the Cat, "Not I" Said the Dog parts because the book incorporates different pics of each animal into the text each time this is repeated. (Making goofy voices for the cat, dog and mouse is a big hit too.) A nice lesson in the pay-back for working hard vs. laziness.

Teaches a valuable lesson about teamwork and helping out. Great illustrations. Easy to read for beginning readers. Paul Gladone has another winner!

A few years ago, our son, an art student, decided that Pompeii would be the perfect place to do an architectural dig. He came back with all kinds of strange stories about a stray dog for every excavated room, poor protection for delicate fresco paintings, and incredible heat and dust. Having been fascinated by volcanoes since I was a youngster, that meant that I had to get to Pompeii and see what was up.

Three years ago, the opportunity arose to spend part of a day there during a quick trip to the Naples region while visiting in Rome. I was totally astonished by what I saw. Pompeii is much larger and richer than I would have ever imagined. As I went from fascinating room to fascinating room, I found myself wishing I had months to spend there . . . and someone to explain what I was seeing in much more detail. There is much to pique one's curiosity . . . including the many graphic references to bacchanalia. What was life there really like?

Until I found The Lost World of Pompeii, I had no answers to my questions. I deeply regret that this book was not available to me before visiting Pompeii. Whether you will ever get to Pompeii or not, this book is a must for those who are interested in the story of Pompeii, Roman life and art history.

The book is divided into 7 sections, each of which addresses a different aspect of Pompeii:

(1) The city's destruction through the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79. The current thinking on the destruction is different from what I was told by more tour guide at the time of my visit.

(2) How Pompeii was rediscovered and excavated (with much work left to be done). This unveils the city and explains the slow development of archeology as applied to the city.

(3) Voices from a Lost World captures what life was like before the eruption. There are also helpful maps and a great top-down view of the site.

(4) The Pompeian House is an excellent explanation of architecture and how homes were used then.

(5) Life and Art looks at what the many paintings and sculptures suggest about the pleasure-seeking life of those who lived there.

(6) The Grand Tour investigates how visiting Pompeii influenced other Europeans during the last three centuries.

(7) The Legacy of Pompeian Style examines some ways that Pompeii became a template for more modern expressions of the architecture and decoration for those who admired the Pompeii look.

The essays in each case told me much more than I knew to ask and were very helpful.

But the greatest strength of the book is in its many wonderful photographs of the current site, art objects and paintings inspired by Pompeii. The book exceeded my expectations of what might be included, and the quality of the images is remarkable. You would have to travel for weeks just to see all of the images captured here.

As I finished reading the book, I found myself wondering how our decorations and entertainments from today could be misleading to people 2000 years from now. Is it possible that abstract art will be confused with religious worship? Will remnants of today's pervasive pornography lead people to think that we lead wild lives? Will soap operas be seen as reflections of daily life?

How, too, are we misreading the Romans? It's interesting to think about.

Collaboratively written and presented by Colin Amery (Directory of the World Monuments Fund in Britain) and Brian Curran, Jr. (West Coast Consultant for the World Monuments Fund), and enhanced by the photography of Chris Caldicott, The Lost World Of Pompeii is a lavishly illustrated history, filled from cover to cover with full-color photographs, showcasing what history and archaeology can tell us of the ancient Roman seaside community and culture of Pompeii that suffered sudden oblivion from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. An erudite text combines with revealing artworks and the results of archaeological excavation to make The Lost World Of Pompeii a truly immersive, informative, and enthusiastically recommended reading experience.

Of all the fascinating sites in the world few have continued to draw as much interest or conjecture as Pompeii. It was on August 24, AD 79 that this well-to-do Roman city located in central Italy fell victim to one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded. Some 20,000 people lost their lives when the volcano Vesuvius erupted and spread hot ash and rock over the city. Pompeii was so buried for centuries to come.

Archaeologists did not begin excavating until 1748 as is revealed in this beautifully illustrated volume, which details the ancient city's history from its beginnings to its fatal ending. An extremely well researched text reveals not only the city's politics and commerce but also everyday life.

Also discussed is the great meaning the discoveries at Pompeii have for art, archaeology and interior design. And, we learn that this work is not over as restoration continues to take place today.

Generously illustrated the volume holds 100 color and 50 black and white illustrations. Those who have an interest in ancient history will find "The Lost World of Pompeii" indispensable.

- Gail Cooke

As someone who is learning Norwegian (which makes Swedish, the language of Sodergran's poetry, intelligible to me), one of the strong points of this book is the that the poetry appears in its original language facing pages of English translation. This is always a great idea when reading translated poetry, and happily it's done here. Katchadourian is a very fine translator as far as I can judge, but it's still nice to see the original and "check" your own translation against hers. There is a time or two I interpret something differently!

Edith Sodergran was a very talented, singular poet in her own time, and the power and beauty of her poetry hasn't faded. That is most likely because she was ahead of her time in both the form and content of her poetry, and because, like all great poets, the particular truths of her life echo and illuminate human existence, period, and she writes with a great sensitivity to language. This volume contains selections from each of her books, and although how Sodergran wrote about things changed as she experienced life and searched for peace and truth through various philosophical/religious traditions, there always remain her underlying themes: a reverence for nature, a respect for her particular experience as a woman, and a concern for the meaning of various forms of suffering--war, poverty, hunger, disillusionment, illness, loss, and loneliness make up the short list! In her own time, Sodergran's poetry was, for mainstream Finland, a shock, a scandal, or a joke. Nowadays, it isn't--or at least is less so. I hope this fine translation continues to widens her appreciation in areas outside of Scandinavia. I would recommend this book to fans of what one might call feminist poetry.

After a three-week trip to Finland in summer 2000, a great friend gave me this book as a going away present. Rarely has a single book or poet so deeply reached my heart and soul. Edith Sodergran is a wonderful writer, who should be much more well-known worldwide than she is. She was far beyond her time; give her your time now. You will not be disappointed, and I promise you that Sodergran will make a place in your heart.

"We are the least expected and the darkest red,/
tigerspots, taut strings, fearless stars." --Edith Sodergran, "Violet Twilights"

The marvelous poetry of Edith Sodergran is unfortunately not well known outside of Scandinavia. Stina Katchadourian has done a nice job of translatiion, (always difficult with poetry), and the bilingual presentation lets readers get some of the flavor of the original. The translations in the Bloodaxe Press series are in some cases better than Katchadourian's, but this book is stil well worth reading. The description of Sodergran's life in the preface is a little overromanticized as well - while not generally popular during her lifetime, she was appreciated by many in the younger finlandssvenska reading public.

It is that funny - amazing update of an old art form - thoroughly enjoyed reading it - would love to see it produced -
highly recommend

: My daughter was in a performance of this play a few years ago. I don't know anything about commedia dell'arte or anything about theatre history related. She is the one who knows all that. I am just Mom. ;-) Because she acts I end up seeing a lot of plays. I do know that this was one of the funniest plays I have seen in a long time. I was more entertained than I was at some Broadway shows! I laughed the entire time. It was just perfect lighthearted fare but still had some very clever story telling going on. I guess it's a compliment to the writer that I had no idea until I was told afterwards that this play was many centuries old!

I have been teaching this play in my high school level Drama class for quite a while and had grown just a little tired of students not reading it and insisting it was too boring and out of date. As frustrating as it was as an educator, I also couldn't help but feel there must be a better way to present this great story without it being bogged down in jokes so old you need a footnote on every line. I began asking my colleagues if anyone knew of a better version. Several years later, I'd still had no luck. (Word to the wise, the DiGaetani version, which seems to be one of the more modern, is pretty awful. It must have lost a good deal in the translation for not only is it not that funny, but it's also rather disjointed and poorly written.) A friend of mine had seen this play produced at Bucknell University at Lewisburg, PA in 2002 and was very impressed with that version both in terms of the story line and the comedy. She had recommended that I find out what edition that director had used. It turned out that the director had the same problem with finding a good version of the text and had decided to re-write the play herself and that her version was currently available on Amazon and BN. Once I finally had the opportunity to read this version myself I was amazed at the difference the text had in DePiano's hands. The story line is a bit different than the original, I don't want to say too much to give it away, but it's taken on a sort of fractured fairy tale feeling with characters and plots gone awry. (The Speaker of the Prologue is now the Narrator and he quickly became my favorite character!) It is simply wonderful! Not only is the story engaging and the characters far better developed than in any previous version I had read, but the play is very very funny. It is a full playtext, not a scenario, and while there is still plenty of room for improvisation, there is a structure to the narrative which makes it easier to use as a text for classroom study. I handed out this version in class a few weeks ago and, for a glorious change, every last one of them not only read it this time: they loved it! A few of them have been pestering me do it as our straight play next fall! I have to admit it would be an excellent choice for not only is it a great ensemble piece, it also has many roles that could switch easily from male to female and back again (always a plus when the gender balance is skewed as it is in our school). I have never written a review on Amazon before and I apologize if I am gushing a bit, but after so long a search, it is wonderful to finally find such an accessible version of this text to teach my class! Rest assured that this is the best version of the versions out there!