european

When I read the title of the book, I was immediately interested in reading the rest of the book. The beginning of the book is sort of boring and has lots of details, but after you get into the story line you begin to feel for the characters, and you realize that they have gone through alot to get here. This book is based on the authors journey to america, and includes many of the hardships that he went through as well. I would recommend this book to any one who wants a feel good book to read on a rainy day, and if you like the first one there are two more books in the trilogy: "Peder Victorious" and "Our Fathers God." Have fun reading these exellent novels!!

I couldn't stop reading this amazing book once I had started. There is a intricate mixture of folklore, fantasy, and the cutting reality of life in the days of the pioneers. There was something almost haunting about the power that the untamed land held over the characters in the novel. Rolvaag writes his characters with a lucidity and truthfulness that is almost on a mythical level.

Very,very boring in the beggining but then turns out to be pretty good, actually great. I thought it was going to be a horrible book at first because we had to read it for literature class. But read it, it is good!

Inspiring, eloquent and heartening for all God-seekers.

I was inspired by this poetry and came to understand the inner life better by reading it. There is freedom of spirit working here, unhampered by age-old traditions and habits. I recommend this to readers of all ages.

A friend of mine alerted me to this book which I have read and reread. I want to let others know about it. Excellent.

Somehow I had managed to remain totally unfamiliar with Friedrich Durrenmatt until I stumbled across a used copy of The Physicists a few months ago. Fortune has again favored me; I just located a copy of The Visit, a tragi-comedy by Durrenmatt.

Friedrich Durrenmatt created his imaginative tragicomedies in the 1950s and 1960s. His quirky plots, eccentric characters, and dark humor remind me of stories by Kurt Vonnegut.

The pessimism found in Durrenmatt's plays is not entirely surprising as the European psyche was slow to recover from the devastation of WWII. What did surprise me was the remarkable ability of Friedrich Durrenmatt to blend comedy with this pessimism. He uses comedy to entertain us and we do laugh. But, nonetheless, we readers remain aware that this comedy, no matter how funny, is only a superficial layer covering a more serious topic.

Fifty years have passed and Claire Zachanassian, now a multi-millionairess, returns to her childhood home, the small town of Guellen, not due to nostalgia, but to exact revenge. She offers the people of Guellen a fortune in return for justice, that is, the killing of her onetime sweetheart.

Claire Zachanassian is an intriguing character, rich enough to do what ever she desires. She seemingly approaches revenge in an disinterested, almost passive manner. Neither rational arguments nor pleading for compassion have any influence on her. In his short postscript Durrenmatt suggests that her role might best be enacted as a Greek tragic heroine, something like the legendary Medea.

I highly recommend the two plays, The Visit and The Physicists. I am already looking for his other plays.

Impoverished townspeople are hungry and eager for an economic boost... what will they do to please a potential benefactor? A benefactress, a citizen from the town's past, returns for a visit. As it turns out, the wealthy woman will not donate freely, but only in return for the townspeople exacting some horrible deed. As in his other plays, Durrenmatt wrote a fascinating plot which examines themes like revenge and responsibility.

Durrenmatt novices should probably start with THE VISIT, his most famous play... if you've enjoyed THE VISIT, I will recommend my favorite among Durrenmatt's plays: ROMULUS THE GREAT, which is scarce, but well worth a read.

THE VISIT was adapted for the screen as a movie entitled THE HYENAS, set in Africa.

Incidentally, the author's novel THE PLEDGE was also made into a movie, starring Jack Nicholson.

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"The Visit: A Tragi-comedy," by Friedrich Durrenmatt, has been translated from German into English by Patrick Bowles. This three-act play has a copyright date of 1956, and the English translation has a copyright date of 1962.

This is an outrageous tale with a strong satiric flavor. The story takes place in Guellen, a European town that has fallen into economic depression and decay. As the play opens the townspeople are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Claire Zachanassian, a hometown girl who has gone on to become super-wealthy. The townspeople hope that her financial generosity will save Guellen. But from early on in the first act, Claire hints that she has a sinister, even deadly, ultimate goal.

This is a colorful, richly peopled dark comedy. It's full of arresting dialogue, suspense, and grotesque characters. A major theme is the tension between capitalistic greed and the Western humanistic tradition. The play is also about sex, lies, and injustice.

With her artificial body parts, bizarre retinue, and colorful backstory, Claire is one of the most remarkable characters in the history of drama--perhaps the most commanding female stage character since Lady Macbeth. She is charming yet sinister, grotesque yet oddly sympathetic. The creation of this character is, in my opinion, a great triumph for Durrenmatt.

For companion texts, I would recommend the following: "Rene's Flesh," by Virgilio Pinera; "Bedside Manners," by Luisa Valenzuela; and "The Doorman," by Reinaldo Arenas. Each of these works is, in its own way, as bizarre and stimulating as "The Visit."

When I first learned of this collection of Dutch fiction, I was enthusiastic about the concept (a literary anthology for the traveler to Amsterdam) but at the same time a bit apprehensive about whether selections could be found which would give a taste of this historic and many-sided city without compromising either readability or literary merit. I needn't have worried. For the most part the translations are first-rate, and the short stories and excerpts from longer works are well chosen, both for quality and the information they convey about various aspects of the city. It is refreshing to see the work of eminent, but little-known (in the English-speaking world, at least) Dutch writers like Gerard Reve and Maarten 't Hart in English. The beauty of a book like this is that it can mentally prepare you for a visit to Amsterdam (or possibly even inspire you to plan one) in a much more subtle and ultimately more enjoyable way than any standard guidebook can do.

Anyone who has ever visited Amsterdam knows the curious magic of that city, its canal-lined streets, polyglot population, and unconventional mores. But few are aware of Amsterdam's rich literary life. Manfred Wolf brilliantly redresses that cultural gap in Amsterdam, A Traveler's Literary Companion.
In what may be the best in an excellent series, Wolf, Professor of English at San Francisco State University and leading expert on Dutch literature, introduces the reader to an Amsterdam of gaiety and sadness, beauty and squalor, hope and despair. The selections are arranged thematically and geographically and include "City and People," "Canals," "Red-Light District," "Gay Amsterdam," and "Jewish Amsterdam." Among the provocative essays and stories are Remco Campert's "Soft Landings," Hermine Landvreugd's "Staring out the Window," and Margo Minco's "The Return."
To read this fine collection is to come a step closer to overcoming what Cees Nottebom observes in the opening selection, "Amsterdam": "This is my city, a token for the uninitiated. She will never reveal herself to the outsider who does not know her language and history, because it is precisely language and names that are the keepers of secret moods, secret places, secret memories."

Divided into sections including "City and People," "Canals," "Red-Light District," "Gay Amsterdam" and "Jewish Amsterdam," Manfred Wolf's wonderful new volume, "Amsterdam," is both travel guide to this quirky, classy, multi-cultural city, and an introduction to the writings of a number of Dutch literary greats. Through these samplings one is exposed to Dutch traditions of tolerance, freedom of expression, hatred of fanaticism, love of compromise and at the same time the occasional and peculiar manifestations of Dutch small-mindedness. It is the perfect book to accompany a visit to Amsterdam as well as the perfect volume for gaining insights into this imminently civilized city, if one lacks the opportunity to travel there. Don't miss it.

This retelling of the old fairy tale adds deeper emotions to the story with gorgeous, jewel-toned paintings. The portrayal of the father as a broken man, the beast as a misunderstood animal, and Beauty as all that is selfless and good in pre-modern Europe follows the timeworn pattern. Although the text does not stand out among retellings, the framed, haunting oil paintings that accompany the words on each opening as love turns the beast into a prince make the text superfluous. The images are ageless, but the text I would recommend for ages eight and up.

The Mayers present a stunning edition of Beauty and the Beast in this picture book. Marianna's story is simply and beautifully told, and Mercer's illustrations are stunning, full of detail, and create the perfect mood for this classic fairy tale. I highly recommend this book.

A thousand words cannot begin to describe this book. Marianna Mayer took a story that all readers would be familiar with and without drastically changing it, gave us a breath of fresh air from our childhood. Her prose is outstanding but the true standout is the way she portrays emotion. In too many fairy tales, the characters are cool and aloof and the only human emotion portrayed is love. In this "Beauty and the Beast," the lucky reader can see the depth of Beauty and the Beast's despair and hope. As for the illustrations, they are breathtaking! Mercer Mayer's fairy tale work is incredible and full of detail. Beauty's rooms are rich and colorful. Beauty is gorgeous and the Beast is a tad scary. Unusual details include the Egyptian motifs scattered thourghout the castle, especially the sphinx off in a distant room. I highly recommend this book, no matter what your age. This book has an heirloom quality to it and the story is as beautiful and as timeless as the mountains outside Beauty's window.

Amado's literary output falls rather neatly into two periods. His early work is imbued with a strong sense of social responsibility, a fact for which he had some difficulty under the Vargas regime, and I believe he may have even done a short stint in jail over. The second period, the post-"Gabriela" books, are a lot more laid back and anecdotal.

Sorry to say that in general the second period is the one that's more fun to read, and the books he wrote in the second half of his life are what established his international reputation. A lot of his earlier stuff is not that great, with one exception - this book.

The story is about the kids on the street in Fortaleza, back in the 1930's. To say that they're poor doesn't do justice to it - they live on the street. By necessity they're thieves, but you can't help liking them. They have aspirations of their own in life.

Explaining it in a few words like that may make the American reader think that he's dealing with some "Angels with Dirty Faces" sort of story. It's not. This is not a sentimental novel. It's a reflection of some of the hard realities of Brazilian life, like the urban poverty that never seems to disappear. But it also reflects some of the inherent optimism and the very un-American concern with each other that Brazilians manifest - features of their society that make Brazil such a wonderful place.

hey, I know that this book is awesome, but is old too, the reality of Brazil is not that anymore, some people tend to form opinions about things that they don't know, that they have never seem with their own eyes. But the best thing is that it still is a really interesting novel, and if you read you won't forget, it is just the best book I ever read.

I would recommend this book to anyone as an absolute must read. I read it in the original Portuguese at the suggestion of a friend and if you have the ability, I suggest you do the same. The translation simply doesn't portray the magnificence and beauty of Amado's original. After living in Brazil for sometime, this novel is, to me, the most incredible portrayal of these youth and the circumstances in which they live. The book may be 70 years old, but it is certainly as applicable today as anything else I've read.

Goethe comes alive as a very real person, not just the famous German author, in this travel memoir detailing the two years he spent in Italy in the 1780's. A wonderful description of travel before airplanes and cameras. Somewhat tedious descriptions of geology and of his works-in-progress are frequent, but never too long.

It might be helpful to read (or re-read) the introduction after having read part of the book (say, into the first Roman visit).

In preparation for a trip to Italy, I began reading the accounts of famous travellers to that land: D.H. Lawrence, Charles Dickens, Tobias Smollett, and now Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I had no great expectations but was knocked for a loop from page one.

Never before had I encountered a questing mind quite like Goethe's. Almost from the moment to left Carlsbad in September 1786, he was noticing the geological structures underlying the land and the flora and fauna above it. He sits down and talks with ordinary people without an attitude -- and this after he had turned the heads of half of Europe with his SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER. Here he was journeying incognito, apparently knowing the language well enough to communicate with peasants, prelates, and nobility.

One who abhors marking books I intend to keep, I found myself underlining frequently. "In this place," he writes from Rome, "whoever looks seriously about him and has eyes to see is bound to become a stronger character." In fact, Goethe spent over a year in Rome learning art, music, science, and even sufferings the pangs of love with a young woman from Milan.

Bracketing his stay in Rome is a longish journey to Naples and Sicily, where he becomes acquainted with Sir Warren Hamilton and his consort Emma, the fascinating Princess Ravaschieri di Satriano, and other German travelers. One of them, Wilhelm Tischbein, painted a wonderful portrait of Goethe the traveller shown on the cover of the Penguin edition.

The translation of W.H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer is truly wonderful. My only negative comments are toward the Penguin editors who, out of some pennywise foolishness, have omitted translating the frequent Latin, Greek, and French quotes. I am particularly upset about the lack of a translation of the final quote from Ovid's "Tristia." In every other respect, this book is a marvel and does not at all read like a work written some 215 years ago. It is every bit as fresh and relevant as today's headlines, only ever so much more articulate!

This was billed as a good introduction to Goethe. I don't know, since this is the first Goethe I've read--but I'm delighted. It starts as a sojourn south, with detailed notations of rocks, geologic information and topography. Don't let that deter you! His description of eating just bread and red wine on his sea voyage to Sicily (because of his rolling seasickness) had me running for a bottle Italian Barbera! As my late great aunt would have said: "A nice, nice book."

If you have any interest into the life and work of J.W.Waterhouse this is a fantastic book - the pictures are simply stunning and the author has an obvious love for the subject - I was very pleased with the book and would encourage anyone to purchase it. :)

This book is a detailed chronicle of Waterhouse's life and many of his important works. The paintings are lavishly reproduced in large formats. It will satisfy the most demanding reader.

I loaned out this book from a library with the intention of scanning a few good pictures to learn from. I ended up marking up for scanning dozens of them that were too good to pass up. So I decide to purchase my own copy of the book instead.

If you are artistically oriented, this book will give you hours and hours of enjoyment, and if you spend time to read the text, which is well researched, well written and prodigiously informative, you will as soon become an authority of sorts on J. W. Waterhouse.

This has to be the best book yet on the works of Waterhouse. Its got historic facts and stories about his young life to a successful artist in Britain. The author goes in depth about concepts and theories of how Waterhouse think in terms of painting and storytelling. It also talks about the other Pre-Raphealists that lived at the same time as Waterhouse; their influence and relationship to him. What I love about the most is the high quality of the prints. The book is big in scale and the prints are marvelous in fullfilling the space.
If you like Waterhouse or Pre-Rapheal artworks this is one book that you won't want to miss.

Two centuries or so before "modern" writers began writing experimental novels, Denis Diderot, the force behind the Encyclopaedia effort, wrote this strange and indeed very "modern" novel in which the author leads a conversation with the reader, asking him where he (or she, of course) would want to go and what to do with the characters and the story. Here we see the author in the very process of creation, exposing his doubts, exploring his options, and playing with the story.

There is really no plot as such. Jacques, a man who seems to believe everything that happens is already written "up on high", but who nonetheless keeps making decisions for himself, is riding through France with his unnamed master, a man who is skeptic of Jacques's determinism but who remains rather passive throughout the book. Fate and the creator-author will put repeatedly to test Jacques's theory, through a series of more or less fortunate accidents and situations, as well as by way of numerous asides in the form of subplots or stories.

The novel is totally disjointed and these asides and subplots blurb all over the place, always interrupted themselves by other happenings. The most interesting of them is the story of Madame de Pommeroy and her bitter but ultimately ineffectual revenge on her ex-lover.

Diderot confesses to having taken much from Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" and Cervantes's "Don Quixote". This last novel's influence seems obvious at two levels: Cervantes also talks to the reader, especially in Part Two, and also reflects abundantly on the creative process. Moreover, the tone and environment of the book is very similar to the Quixote: two people engaged in an endless philosophical conversations while roaming around the countryside and facing several adventures which serve to illustrate one or antoher point of view.

Diderot's humour is bawdy and practical and the book is fun to read. The exact philosophical point is not clearcut, but it will leave the reader wondering about Destiny, Fate, and Free Will.

Yeah. Believe all the reviews below. This book really is amazing. It would feel like it was written yesterday, if it was more derivative -- but it's fresh! The language is incisive, no waste, and the pacing and structure are brilliantly fluid. It's smart and funny, too, and completely unpredictable, filled with weird offhand bursts of bewildering narrativity. And yet balanced, apparently sane. I truly enjoyed reading it. It's great.

This book is amazing. It will make many of your conceptions of where things belong in the history of the novel fall apart. Not coincidentally, that is one of the points of this book, being an exercise more than a message: that all apparent armatures of order are one more perspective away from disintegration. This book is really quite sneaky as well. In the beginning, the constant references to the inscriptive certainties in the heavens seem silly. But then little explanations come along (like the geneology of Jacques' crazy horse), and the novel heads down a dark, yet very enchanting road, into a fuzz that's every bit as modern as any you've read. This thing alternately looks like Bunuel, Zola, Stendhal, Faulkner, Kerouac. The picaresque, the uncertain narrator, the structuralists, all seem to be swimming around in this amazing book.

Surely many writers and artists from this era (like Goya) depicted the nobles as effete and incapable of carrying out the governance of the most basic requirements of existence, but here, they also appear (in the image of the 'master') as so withdrawn from the world as to be blind. If you take away all the stories that are told, the only thing that's left of a plot here is the master having his horse stolen right from under his nose while Jacques was gone and then Jacques finding it for him at the end in a beautiful, mock sort of deus ex machina.

The illustrations in this book are fantastic. The translation purports to be Mary Howitt's, with "only the smallest adjustments...in concession to contemporary pace and attitude." I find it more romantic, however, to fly through the aether and risk being crushed to pieces rather than the more scientific "sailing through the atmosphere" and being crushed to "atoms." The editor also decided to omit the term "slaves"; apparently she'd prefer to hide from human history instead of facing it. Still, an edited Howitt is significantly better than the insipid prose issued by Disney.

The Little Mermaid is a timeless story to be revisited, cherished, and loved for one's entire life - beyond - for generations. In this remarkable book Charles Santore's breathtaking illustrations bring out the very essence of Hans Christian Anderson's classic fairy tale. He takes his audience directly to this imaginary kingdom where only infinitely beautiful souls exist - the Little Mermaid, whose love was too pure for this world, the prince, whose love for the Little Mermaid was just the wrong kind of love, even the sea-witch, who gives the Little Mermaid the only opportunity to find her prince. Santore has you fall in love with all of Anderson's characters, breaking your heart ever so delightfully.

I read the story when I was 9, it was for school and I hated it. I always thought it is a girly book. Now I read it again with the fantastic illustration of Charles Santore, I know why Disney adopt it into a movie.
If you are looking for beautiful modern children illustration works, this is the book you have to get. Charles Santore brings out the mysterious mood of ocean merfolk, which is something missing from any other little mermaid illustrations I've encountered.
The book is a bit pricy but it is worth every penny. It is a classical novel with the quality of classic art.