european

Macunaima, the typical hero of Brazil, as the author introduces the book, passes through many weird and fantastic situations told as legends, ancient myths, that actually are aspects of the Brazilian culture. Macunaima, the hero, creates many traditions of Brazil during his adventures. Mario de Andrade style of writing is funny by itself, and the whole story is very ingenuous, funny and interesting. The author plays with the popular way of distorting the truth taking facts that are told later as legends and fantastic myths. This was the best book I ever read of Brazilian literature!

Mario de Andrade's Macunaíma is a "Sui Generis" book that shows the high-level of Brazilians authors literature, with a so well-humorated and creative history that keeps you hooked with the book all the time. The mix of all brazilians folklore is something great and nice to read and learn. Try...It's pretty good!!!!!!!!!

Mario de Andrade - writer, folklorist, musician, poet - published "Macunaíma, the hero with no character" in the 20s. It's a fantastic trip throughout Brazilian culture, music, ethnic origins, geography, folklore, all sewed together in the delicious adventures of the ultimate Brazilian, Macunaima. He's born an Indian, becomes Black, and then White, and never loses contact with his previous lives. It's not just exotic, magic and adventurous. It's intelligent, challenging, first class literature.

My AP European History students are required to purchase this book - and we basically read it from cover to cover. I have looked at literally hundreds of primary source readers - and can honestly say, this book is the best. The great thing about this book is that it weaves together primary source material with outstanding commentary and interpretation.

The selections are short but normally they contain the basic idea of each thinker. In here you can find all sorts of thinkers; philosophers, artists, scientists, theologians, and literary figures. If they impacted Western civilization - they will probably be included in this volume.

Pretty inexpensive volume - just think about it, you get to converse with some of the greatests minds that have ever lived. Not a bad way to spend an evening. :o)

Baumer crusades to teach us from a historical perspective why we think the way we do -- much as genealogies teach us about the way we look and act. While my interests lie in economics, Baumer's narratives on developments of western thought provide a relevant and thoughtful backdrop. Why not, of course, the study of economics is all about the study of human behavior.

This anthology is a must-have for any student or teacher of Western history. Its impeccably selected collection of excerpts from all fields of study makes it an invaluable resource for capturing the essence of any era in modern history.

If this be gossip, then it is the best kind. Engaging account of the rivalry/synergy of Matisse and Picasso and the interactions over half a century, with a Gertrude Stein introit at the beginning. This competition is fairly lightweight stuff as far as I can see although throwing rubber suction darts at a Matisse painting gets close to borderline rascalian--Picasso probably loses points on adolescent misdemeanours, but the art of both leaves us unable to judge, save that a third here could not be found.

This is an excellent work for art history enthusiasts. It depicts
many famous works of art by Matisse and Picasso. Classically,
Matisse is known for the artful use of color; whereas, Picasso
is credited with the unique form of Cubism which pervades
his artwork. Flam depicts important works by both artists.
For instance, Matisse's "The Woman With The Hat" is shown in
full color. Picasso's "The Acrobat's Family" is depicted
together with "The Two Nudes". These pictures show the emotional side of Picasso's work in contradistinction to
Matisse's exercise of restraint. This book would make a
perfect gift for a friend, relative or art buff.

Before there was Andy Warhol, the ultimate in art cool, there was Picasso. And before there was Picasso, there was Matisse. Picasso and his cronies used to make fun of Matisse's primitive style and threw fake darts at Matisse's portrait of his daughter, and people laughed in the salons at Matisse's Joy of Life but no artist influenced Picasso more than Matisse, from his works to his introduction to African and Iberian art, Matisse was one of the few constants in Picasso's life, always keeping the paintings that he had of Matisse. These two heavyweights, more than anybody, have influenced the way we make art today. This books does a great job fleshing out the relationship between these two artists and how they affected each other in a well written and highly accesible format. An excellent book worthy of the excellent artists.

I agree with the reviewer who said, "no duds!" I love every recipe I've tried, and regularly use more recipes from this cookbook than from any other I own. Most are very easy, all are delicious, and friends to whom I've given it as a gift agree. I never thought I could make stuffed vine (grape) leaves myself, but they're delicious. Other favorites are the Orzo mi Spanaki casserole, tzatziki, Frittata Primavera, and Tarte au Citron, which I made, as suggested, with tangerines at Christmastime. Delicious! If you like lamb, I also recommend the Souvlakia from a Greek Island. I'm sorry this is out of print. I'll never part with my copy!

This is a WONDERFUL book full of easy to do recipies. I have never bought a book where there are no duds until I purchased this one. I am now eager to buy more of the authors books. What a find! I have recommended this book to friends and passed along many of the recipes. All winners.

Marlena Spieler does a survey of Mediterranean Cuisine with recipes of many of the foods we like in Greek and Italian restaurants that we have eaten in. Living in Alaska we often can't hop over to take in the nearest culinary delight and we have to learn to do it ourselves. Spieler's book has tasty recipes that stay within our diets and the recipes are easy to follow and relatively quick to produce. It also includes Turkish and other cuisines that you might not find a matching restaurant for.

if you believe that travelling trough time is possible, then you should read this book. the author describes the extraordinary environmentt in the xvii century in Portugal. the literary style is one of the most original contributions ever made to the postmodern languange.

SPOILER: Set in the Portuguese 17th Century, BALTASAR AND BLIMUNDA is one of the most touching love stories I have ever read. Baltasar is a cripled war survivor that lost his left hand and got a hook instead. He has his own views about God, namely that, He, too is a cripled since nowhere is his left hand refferred to (Christ sits at His right hand, etc.) Blimunda is a mysterious Girl whose mother is accused of Witchcraft and burned at the stake in front of her by the Inquisition. At that moment the girl sees Baltasar who is also (like most of the City's people) attending the Act of Faith, and Blimunda's soul is blended to his by legacy of her mother's soul. Blimunda inherited also other of her mother's gifts, most prominent of them, the ability to see inside people... Literally. An uncanny gift against which Blimunda has only one remedy: to eat bread right after waking up. They choose to stay with each other... Unmarried. Together they are hired by Jesuit savant priest Bartholomew de Gusmão, who has his own dangerous views about God, Science and Faith in this time of fierce Inquisition. They are to help him with his very secret, very daring project: a flying machine... The Baroque Age is at its greatest splendour. The Horrors of the Inquisition are at their most terrible and the King of Portugal does not have a heir. He makes a promise to God that he'll have built the biggest convent that Portugal has ever seen if he's blessed with a Son. The Queen gives birth. And the Convent will be built! If you enjoyed baroque stories like RESTAURATION you will be dazzled by this Jewell. The author, Saramago writes with a neverinding, unponctuated paragraph style, that reminds the ancient royal chroniclers. Please, PLEASE don't let this draw you back from the book. Make an effort to go through the first two chapters and you'll get used to it. More: you'll be hooked.

If you enjoyed baroque stories like RESTAURATION you will be dazzled by this Jewel. Nobel Prize of Literature 1998 José Saramago, writes with a neverending, unponctuated paragraph style, that reminds the ancient royal chroniclers. It is a sort of oral text, almost meant to be read aloud. Please, PLEASE don't let this draw you back from the book. Make an effort to go through the first two chapters and you'll get used to it. More: you'll be hooked.

I would like to question Mr Saramago in regard to his views on Cinema. He has alowed adaptations of this book for Theatre (November premiere in Portugal)and Opera (BLIMUNDA, premiered 1990 LA SCALLA - Milan). So why his persistent refusal to allow a Cinema adaptation? Is Cinema necessarily a minor art for him in comparison to Opera and Theatre? Has he heard of Welles? Preminger? Lang? Ford? Hawks? Casavetes? Truffaut? Visconti? Fellini? Pasolini? Tarkowski? And if you argue these are all dead, what about the active ones: Bergman? Goddard? Proyas? Konchalovski? Mikhalkhov? Cameron -- Picture Leo DiCaprio as Baltazar? :-) Sure Hollywood produces Godzilla and such, but that's not all there is to cinema.

Personally I believe directors like Mike Figgis (leaving las Vegas, One Night Stand)or Jean Paul Rapenneau (Cyrano de Bergerac, Horseman on the Roof) or even Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror, Les Miserables) would do a good work with this Novel. (In terms of Spectacle this would be Spielberg Material --I'm suspicious of him though after AMISTAD where among many other historical inacuracies the Portuguese spoke Spanish?? - although he partially redeemed himself with Priv. Ryan. Richard Zimler's THE LAST KHABALIST OF LISBON --Search AMAZON for this one-- would be a great Spielberg Film, too)

Not too long ago I saw Mr. Saramago in a talk show (Falatório)on Portuguese Pubcaster RTP2 admiting to host Clara Ferreira Alves that he never quite grasped why this novel had such a mammouth success while his other subsequent works, while very successfull, never quite measured to it.

Well, it feels very simple to me: First it's a spectacular and epic rendition of history and fantasy. And second, it's a breathtakingly beautiful love story. How much closer to public appeal can you get?

I ordered an out of print American Edition of this book from Amazon to offer a friend. It arrived the day Saramago won the Nobel. I think it was prophetic.

This is a good bible for the Midwinter enthusiast. My in-laws have been collecting the Stonehenge Midwinter patterns for years without a reference guide. They'll be thrilled as I was with the chronological history of this company and the pottery they created. Great color photos.

This book is a wonderful reference volume for the lover of mid 20th Century design, and invaluable for the Midwinter enthusiast! The colour photos are exceptional and the patterns are also explicitly described in chronological order. If you even have a passing interest in 50's-60's design, this would be a wonderful addition to your reference library.

If you are crazy about Midwinter pottery and want to know pretty much all there is to know about it's production processes, the designers and their designs then this is the book for you. If you are interested in the designs of the 1950s and 60's it will also provide a valuable reference tool. There are plenty of colour pictures to help with identification of different patterns whilst out at boot sales in search of treasure (Becoming increasingly rare to find at reasonable prices now). Read the book but leave the china for me.

This book was fabulous! I loved the fact that pictures of street signs were depicted in the book - which helped before we came upon them to know what they meant. I also liked the specifics on speed limits (and what repercussions to expect with traffic violations!)and other traffic laws that change at every border. We even used it to drive in Eastern Europe and were pleased with the accuracy of the author's information. I agree that motoring through Europe is the only way to go; the freedom is unbelievable! I'm disappointed to learn that this book - which seems to be the only one of its kind - is out of print.

This is easily one of the best travel guides I've ever come across. If you plan on travelling Europe by car, you would be crazy to not get this book. Even if you don't plan on driving, it is still a wise investment because of all the other travel information that it contains. It is well written and very informative. The author also makes a great case on why you SHOULD travel Europe by car. This book is a must have for European travellers.

This guide provides a wealth of information, and I agree with its premise that traveling Europe is best done via automobile. I also thought the physical make-up of the book was excellent. It was created in a way that allowed one to open to a page, and the book would stay open. This sounds of little benefit, but I was constantly referring to it as it lay on the passenger seat while I drove. Traffic signs, language translations, local customs - everything was covered. I loved the introduction detailing his first trip to Paris - funny stuff! He also addresses the myths associated with European driving. Buy it! You won't regret it.

A biography of a Roman emperor should concentrate on the life being observed but must also convey the events that occurred in the empire. Otherwise, the biography will be incomplete. However, the author runs the risk of writing a history without providing insight into the biographical subject. Miriam Griffin understands this and although she writes at length on the history of the principate she does not bury her immediate subject. Nero's life emerges from the sources that have come down to us (mainly by Tacitus, Suetonius, Seneca and Dio). As far as the book evoking a flesh and blood Nero, Ms. Griffin refrains from speculation and does not add her opinion although she seems to want to. Perhaps this will not be to the liking of some readers, and I think the lack of information invites intelligent theorizing about what Nero was really like.

This is an excellent study of Nero and has become the standard study to many. There are excellent appendices on historical sources and Nero's coinage. I agree that the book is a thoroughly researched and well-written but it could use some updating. I found it a little odd that Ms. Griffin brings the story of Nero's life to an end and then has chapters dealing with events in the empire, such as the Jewish revolt and Nero's tour of Greece. I think it would have been better to avoid this division. I was interested in some more detail about the Jewish revolt. Ms. Griffin also contrasts Nero with Caligula and Domitian, I think incorrectly. The issue of Caligula declaring himself a god is raised in contract with Nero (who did not). However, I think it is clear now that Caligula only authorized the worship of his numen. In a similar vein, Ms. Griffin recalls that Juvenal called Domitian a bald headed Nero, and relates how both killed off their relatives. This is a rather superficial comparison. Nero appears to have launched a campaign to eliminate all possible rivals and, while it is true that Domitian had his cousins executed, several years separated these actions and were the result of a conspiracy and treasonable activity.

In short, this is an admirable book that adds to our perspective on Nero and I highly recommend it.

A rather dry, scholarly account of Nero's reign (not quite biographical, but with some like elements). Obviously, this isn't a completely entertaining book, and if you're looking for a more "novelistic" account of the popular image of Nero, there are plenty of books that indulge in that excess. This is the finest resource on Nero that I know of : a complete, belated modern analysis. Griffin presents upfront the remaining contemporary accounts of Nero (Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio) and other evidence, especially coinage, to piece together the reign of Nero, debating it point-by-point to find the most likely of occurances. Many myths of Nero are dealt with in this probing, even-handed professional history that, I believe, paints a pretty convincing picture of his personality and politics.

If you love Roman history, this deserves to be in your library.

If you thought Caligula was the last word in Caeserian depravity, you must check out the life and times of Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors. And Ms. Griffin's splendid biography is an excellent place to begin. She's both a classically trained (Oxford, Harvard, Columbia) historian and a gifted writer,

Thus, this biography is both scholarly and fascinating in a grisly rise and fall of an ancient psychopath sort of way. What follows is just a partial list of Nero's major crimes: matricide, parricide, fratricide, uxoricide, foeticide, homicide, suicide and maybe arson. Ironically, arson for which his name is historically synonymous, is the one felony for which hard evidence is lacking. However, he probably did play the lyre (not the fiddle) while Rome burned to the ground. Nero was absolutely devoted to the arts.

Ms. Griffin, like all good historians, has her own educated slant on Nero, but uses the primary sources--Roman historian Tacitus, Roman biographer Suetonius (The Twelve Caesars) and Greek historian, Cassius Dio--extremely well: she doesn't agree completely with any of them. My own favorite among this group is Suetonious. He's gossipy, entertaining, highly opinated and sometimes accused of not always being totally reliable because he was writing not too long after Nero's death and his sources were, for the most part, then current word of mouth:

"Besides abusing freeborn boys and seducing married women, he debauched the vestal virgin Rubria. The freedwoman Acte he all but made his lawful wife, after bribing some ex-consuls to perjure themselves by swearing that she was of royal birth. He castrated the boy Sporus and actually tried to make a woman of him; and he married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil, took him to his home attended by a great throng, and treated him as his wife."

Abusing boys, seducing women, debauching vestal virgins, bribing public officials, castrating and then marrying a boy. And that's just a small sampling of Nero's criminally insane imperial career. He also enjoyed slipping out of the palace in disguise of an evening and robbing and beating (sometimes to death) ordinary citizens. Sometimes he donned the skins of wild beasts and tortured male and female prisoners who had been tied naked to stakes. He kicked his pregnant second wife, Poppea, to death. For reasons known only to himself, he demanded that his tutor and chief advisor, the distinguished and blameless stoic philospher Seneca, commit suicide. And there were some exceedingly dark suspicions about the true nature of the relationship between him and his mother, the notoriously manipulative Agrippina. Optima Mater (Best of Mothers) was the first Praetorian guard watchword of Nero's reign. Eventually, they had a serious falling out which ended very badly for Agrippina.

Nero's reign lasted from his seventeenth year to his thirty-first. By then he had been pronounced a public enemy by the long-suffering Senate. They planned to punish him in the ancient fashion: the criminal was stripped, fastened by the neck in a fork [two pieces of wood, fastened together in the form of a "V"], and then beaten to death with rods. On hearing that ghastly sentence Nero, who had fled from Rome to hide in a country manor, wept and wailed for a long time about how the world was losing "a great artist." Finally, as the posse charged with bringing him in approached, and with the help of his private secretary, he managed to stab himself in the throat. His bugged-eyed corpse horrified everyone who saw it.

Nero's three immediate successors were Galba, Otho and Vitellius. All had brief, insignificant reigns. And all were brutally slain within months of assuming the imperial throne. Sic transit gloria mundi.

I'm a middle-aged English professor, but I love this book now, as I did when I was a kid. If I had to whittle my personal library down from its present size (maybe 3000?) to a hundred books, I'm sure I'd still keep this one. I read these stories now to my children and remember how I loved the stories when I was their age. When I'm a senior, I'll remember how I shared this book with my kids, as well.

I lived near Oslo from Aug. '85-Jan. '86. One fall Saturday, at the checkout counter in a bookstore across from Slottsparken, I said to the clerk in Norwegian "You speak English like an American!" Her sharp tongue shot back "You speak Norwegeian like an American!" She responded to my questions why she (American) was there with "I was married to one of them" and couldn't "go back" because she didn't fit anymore. She recommended a book and also told me she'd translated some Norwegian Folk Tales into English. My host told me later it was Pat Shaw.

My daughters (then 8 and 12) read the book from cover to cover many times. Without the availability of an English grade school library filled with teen and preteen romances my daughters read pretty much whatever was placed on the coffee table. They enjoyed Shaw's translation very much, although I also occaisonally translated directly (with effort) from Asbjørnsen and Moe. This translation gives us in English a look at 'the soul of the Norwegian people', as a good friend describes the folk tales.

My 9-year old was enthralled with the stories in this book, begging for more every night until we finished it. I disagree with his Freudian interpretation, but Bruno Bettelheim is right that folktales touch something wired within us, fulfilling an innate need children have to comprehend the adult world.

Although not as well-known as the German Grimm's collection in the United States, this book is widely revered in Norway. Both are teutonic cultures, but these stories are different in character and feel from the Grimm Brother stories. While they contain elements common to all european fables, this book is filled with trolls, and the reformation seems like a recent event. Norsk tales have a unique and compelling charm.

My favorite fable is in this collection--the one about the mill that explains why the sea is salty. Read it yourself--I don't want to spoil the ending.

From a purist point of view, drawings detract from stories such as these, but two of Norway's most most well-known illustrators are represented, and the artwork is compelling.

This paperback is a reprint of the original English-language translation from 40 years ago. I have that original text packed away somewhere lost, so it was a real treat to be able to buy a new copy to share with my son.

This book is so good. It i the story of a group of friends and how their lives have changes due to men, politics and ways of life. It captures womanhood, friendship and the many faces of women. An wonderful book.

This book is realy the mingle of several diferent short stories related to the lives of diferent woman. The character I liked more was Isabel.

NOSOTRAS QUE NOS QUEREMOS TANTO. POR: Marcela Serrano

Las mujeres de los noventas, las mujeres de siempre, asediadas por sus traumas y sus problemas internos, enfrentándose a un mundo de hombres que cada vez es mas de ellas, es cada vez mas abierto, pero a que precio? Cuantas mujeres tuvieron que perecer para que las mujeres de este siglo tuviesen libertad y derechos. Marcela Serrano se gana el corazón de los hombres sensibles con esta obra. Una verdadera disección de la mujer latina de clase media alta de los noventa, con sus neurosis y sus inquietudes, odiando y amando a los hombres a la vez, recreándolos a cada paso de su vida, inventadolos de la manera que ella quisiera que fueran, odiándolos cuando lo intentan y amándolos cuando son desdeñosos con ellas. Esas mujeres son las waiting to exhale de Latinoamérica, claro a nuestro modo de ver la vida desde la óptica subdesarrollada de nuestros países... Ella recrea a las cuatro amigas pero solo una de ellas es la que narra y no se narra, la que cuenta y no es contada, la que plantea LOS problemas de las otras y no deja ver los suyos. Sospecho que esa Ana tan impersonal en la novela, con tan poca historia sea la voz de la autora, pero la novela le quedo regia Mis felicitaciones a la autora....

Luis Mendez Un hombre sensible a pesar de ser varón, jajajjaja.