Book Description
In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.
Combining classic themes of fairy tales and war literature, this haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children, and tells a resonant, riveting story.
Customer Reviews:
What's in a Name?.......2007-09-17
As they are chased by the Nazis through the Polish countryside in November 1943, a father and stepmother decide the best way for the family to survive is to send the two children into the forest. Hopefully, they will find a friendly farmer to take them in, and with their own lightened load, the father and stepmother can move faster and outrun the Nazis and their dogs. Knowing the children's Jewish names can mean death, the stepmother tells them their names are now Hansel and Gretel and to never utter their real names again. Through starvation, terror, betrayal and the horrors of life in hiding, the children never do utter their names again--and then they can no longer remember them. Their loss of identity is symbolic of all the Jews in Poland who died en mass, buried in unmarked graves or burned to ashes in the crematoriums as the Nazis tried to obliterate them from existence. In the end, the children have lost their names, seemingly forever, until someone finds them and knows their story. Their story is that of all the Jews who were not lost to us forever, whose names and stories live on in our memories, our museums and in our texts.
Morality play.......2007-09-17
A couple who are close friends of ours recommended this book. The man is a Polish American who was born in a Jewish slave camp during WWII. If the parallel to the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel doesn't bother them, then it doesn't bother me. This tale is well-written, well-researched, and deeply troubling. The characters are complex and well-developed; the entire novel is a beautifully orchestrated morality play. One part of the story is so horrific that I skipped five pages or so.
The Holocaust was not a fairy tale.......2007-09-10
The subject of this novel is all too real, and spinning it into a version of a fairy tale is totally inappropriate. The novel is cleverly written, and the author has contrived the facts of the Holocaust to fit into a fairy tale story. This trivializes the actual events, which destroyed millions of lives. The Holocaust was not a story to be cleverly twisted and "spun" into something else. It really happened, and a novelistic treatment of it still needs to respect the tragedy of it, and not use it for a clever exercise. I don't know what drew the author to write about this subject. Judging by her name, she isn't Jewish, Polish, or German. She apparently has no first-hand knowledge of the Holocaust, has never been to Poland, and has no other apparent connection to the events of this novel. So creating this novel was just an outlet for her creative talent, without true emotional content. This subject should not have been used that way.
Not recommended for children.........2007-03-13
I was so disappointed with the crude language in this book. We have been doing a WWII unit study for school and have read MANY holocaust books. THis is the worst one we have tried to read because of it's terribly gross language and description. It is not for children.
A True Fairy Tale.......2007-02-17
More hopeful yet darker than the tale it is based on, this book had me in its grip from the first sentence. In short, this is a modern version of Hansel and Gretel set in Poland during World War II. The author managed to weave elements of the original tale into the story without being forced or obvious. This is a beautiful tale of the darkness and the light that humans hold and act upon and a prime example of a modern day fairy tale.
Book Description
It's a cold Christmas season in Cologne, Germany, when the relic of the Three Kings is stolen from the cathedral! Only Bishop Blackie Ryan can solve the case. But as each lead brings greater danger, even Blackie could use a Christmas miracle to help him find Cologne's most prized present.
Customer Reviews:
Loved it, mostly!.......2003-02-17
This Blackie Ryan novel was truly entertaining, and is one of my favorites in the series. It's a good one to read around the Christmas holidays. I'll admit that Cinda-Sue's dialect can be a bit distracting, but I found her quite well-rounded as a character once he developed her a bit, and learned to live with her. Let's face it, we all have dialects, but few of us recognize it because most of those around us speak in the same way. I think Father Greeley uses dialects and slang as a means of helping his readers distinguish between characters. In his mysteries, there tends to be lots of characters with the same last names or similar chracteristics, so the dialects and slang are helpful identifiers for those of us who get a little befuddled about who is who after a few days away from the book. I just wish he would drop the "Like-Ohmigod!" valley girl talk he tends to give the virtuous Meaghans and any other teenage girl in his novels. I haven't spoken with a teenager who uses speech pattens like that since 1983. Keep cranking the Blackie Ryan novels out, Father Greeley!
Good grief, Padre!.......2002-03-08
I really tried to read this book. I've read most everything the Good Father has written, both fiction and non-fiction, but I just couldn't finish this. Cinda-Sue's dialect is distracting, incorrect, and extremely offensive. I have lived in the south most of my 62 years and I have never heard anyone begin a sentence with "happen", nor have I ever heard the word "bodacious" used. The "Hollywood" / "Beverly Hillbillies" / "Hee-Haw" representation of the south and Southerners are stereotypes that need to die.
Once you get past (if you can) Cinda-Sue the plot is convoluted, cumbersome, and boring. Don't waste your time with this book.
Blackie Visits Germany.......2001-04-22
This was an intriguing plot, and the various church leaders were interesting. Frankly,I am tired of Cinda Sue! I hope she is not in future books. Her "mountain girl" talk is too much for me.I have lived in the South and known many Southerners but they do not sound like her. I especially was interested in the exsoldier priest,who mourned the death of his wife. Blackie is delightful, as usual.
I *WANTED* to love this book!.......2001-01-17
I have a shelf full of well-loved and often read Andrew Greeley. The Bishop and the Three Kings will NOT be joining them!
The mystery plot line was intriguing and could have been delightful in typical Blackie Ryan style if it had not been derailed early on by the secondary storyline and the Appalachian dialect. I found both the courtship and "mountain talk" to be distracting, cumbersome, and worst of all, "too, too cute". If this introduces a new and ongoing character, let's hope she'll begin using "Standard" English in both her conversations and internal dialog. If so....we might actually care about her rather than hoping the romance doesn't flower so that we won't be subjected to her further!
Blackie Ryan in Europe.......2001-01-05
As a reader that has become adddicted to the Blackie Ryan series, I found found his adventure in to Germany an enjoyable read. Greeley is becoming a legend in the mystery genere as well Catholic Literature.
Average customer rating:
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Sundered Realm
Robert Vardeman
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Vardeman, Robert
| ( V )
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| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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ASIN: 0425059596 |
Average customer rating:
- God's healing hand
- Factual/scientific report on praying and medical rcvry
|
The Faith Factor: Proof of the Healing Power of Prayer
Dale A. Matthews , and
Connie Clark
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Alternative Medicine
| Health, Mind & Body
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Healing
| Alternative Medicine
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General
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Similar Items:
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The Healing Power of Faith: How Belief and Prayer Can Help You Triumph Over Disease
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Prayer Is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer
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God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection
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Spirituality and Patient Care: Why, How, When, and What
-
Healing Words
Accessories:
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RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
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Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
ASIN: 0140275754 |
Book Description
Drawing from the latest scientific research, as well as numerous illustrative case studies, The Faith Factor offers convincing proof that religious practices can and do enhance the healing powers of medicine. And nationally renowned physician Dale A. Matthews offers a program any patient can follow to incorporate faith into their own healing.
Dr. Matthews points out that encouraging an integration of religious beliefs and practices in medical settings can have important benefits for the entire medical community--from patients and doctors to national health policy makers. He shows how the national trend toward rediscovering religious values has led many patients to use prayer in conjunction with conventional treatment, and that the results have already confirmed that faith and religious practice can be valuable medicine. Finally, Dr. Matthews helps readers explore the connection between faith and medicine in their own lives through methods of prayer, community worship, and study of Scripture.
Customer Reviews:
God's healing hand.......2006-01-11
It is ironic how many people try to use science to disprove a healing God. Meanwhile, this book uses science quite eloquently and articulately to demonstrate the healing power of God. "Faith Factor" is a good longitudinal review of the literature linking faith and health. Although Mathews is a Christian, he tries desperately (and I believe successfully) to keep his own faith from biasing the book by examining how faith in any religion seems to improve health.
Factual/scientific report on praying and medical rcvry.......1998-09-11
Gives amazing evidence on the effects of prayer on the health and recovery of medical patients. Includes this charge to the medical profession:"It is entirely possible that, a century from now, people will look back at twentieth-century medicine and say, 'Can you believe that those doctors never prayed with their patients? Just think how many lives could have been saved-if only they had set up intercessory-prayer teams in every hospital as we have today!' Will they be as stunned then that we didn't pray for our patients as we would be today if doctors didn't wash their hands before treating patients' wounds?" (Dale Matthews, The Faith Factor, p. 58) I sent it to three physicials I know to consider incorporation into their practice. This book is not for the religious per se, but the medical profession. Very encouraging!
Book Description
Chef Marco Perez delivers a panoply of yogurt dishes that range across every facet of the dinner menu, from aperitifs to desserts. More than sixty recipes are accompanied by superb photographs of the completed results.
The book begins with an introduction that comments on the history and cooking of yogurt, its impact on good health, and its culinary applications. The recipes that follow use yogurt in innovative ways that deliver a host of delicious and surprising flavors. Each recipe is accompanied by wine recommendations.
Average customer rating:
- excellent photos but dubious information and prices
- A definitive guide for collectors.
|
Telephones: Antique to Modern/a Collector's Guide
Kate E. Dooner
Manufacturer: Schiffer Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Americana
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
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General
| Electrical & Electronics
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| Professional & Technical
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Telecommunications
| Engineering
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Applied
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ASIN: 0887403867 |
Customer Reviews:
excellent photos but dubious information and prices.......1996-11-27
kate has taken some beautiful photos of actual collections;
however, she tends to believe whatever prices or information
someone gives her; for example the 5302 set is described as being between
manufactured between the 302 and the 500; if the 302 was made
from 1937 to 1952 and the 500 from 1950 to 1985 i'm not sure
how the 5302 could be between them; in any case the 5302 was
REMANUFACTURED from old 302 sets between about 1956 and 1965;
also she gives a value of $5 to the clear Stromberg-Carlson 1212; these
are only two examples,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, e has taken beautiful pictures of actual collections;
A definitive guide for collectors........1996-08-15
Although there is no index, it is arranged by types of phones, such as wooden, pay phones, candlesticks, novelty, etc. Also includes chapters on memorabilia, companies, and includes historical information on the first telephones. Lots of photos
Book Description
The telephone you stashed away in your attic years ago is likely to be a magnificent treasure today! Enjoy this wonderful depiction of innovative telephones in over 500 color photographs tracing the development of the telephone from Bell's first experimental equipment. The book pictures exquisite examples of wooden box phones, vanities, upright "candlesticks," and desk stand or "cradle" phones, including some Canadian and European models. This volume has become an important reference for the novice and avid telephone collector alike, with full descriptions of the numerous telephone companies and manufacturers and, in this 2nd edition, an updated value guide. This is the most expansive work ever compiled on collecting antique telephones, helping it become a growing and exciting hobby.
Customer Reviews:
Good reference book for US telephones.......2001-02-27
Kate Dooners book is refreshingly simple but full of good information. Well laid out, there are excellent photographs of telephones. She has categorised them easily so a prior knowledge of telephones is superfluous - hence this book has a lot of appeal to non professionals. The actual size of each portrayed phone is given in inches, the year of manufacture is noted and to round it off, current market value in US$.
The quality of the photographs are very good with details easily discernable consequently making it rather easy to identify whether Granny's old phone really is worth dispalying.
The only potential drawback is that the book has predominately American manufacturing companies and American phones. A similar book focusing on non US phones would be a wonderful companion and extremely valuable. Can't you imagine the same book with arabic or mandarin writing on the dials? Gilt, colours, different woods....
However in the meantime this book is a pleasure to browse through and for telephone amateurs and professionals well worth purchasing
Book Description
This collection of more than 75 Valentine box ideas emphasizes creativity and uniqueness. Each box design is illustrated in detail and includes easy-to-follow directions that parents, teachers, and group leaders will appreciate. There are a variety of box themes to choose from, including cutest, creative use of candy, recycled, unusual card slots, easy to make, and puns and poems. Each box relies on everyday supplies that are readily available in most homes, such as shoeboxes, wrapping paper, fabric, and ribbon.
Average customer rating:
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Barbican: Penthouse Over the City
David Heathcote
Manufacturer: Academy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
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Residential
| Building Types & Styles
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Urban & Land Use Planning
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ASIN: 0470851430 |
Book Description
Penthouse Over the City sheds light on one of the most ambitious, and controversial, architectural undertakings of the last century; the Barbican Estate.
This leviathan project, with its futuristic vision and Byzantine intricacy included, in its final incarnation, the highest apartments in Europe, an underground railway and an arts centre composed of a theatre, concert hall, art galleries, cinemas and a library.
Its grand-scale conception included elements drawn from the rustication of Florentine palaces, the water and walkways of Venice, the elegant squares of Georgian London and the high-rise designs of the U.S.
Today, the cultural and architectural communities are re-assessing the site's significance in light of the achievement it represents. To its residents, Barbican living is an addiction. Its story spans decades or changing ideologies and tastes, and this book tells its full story for the first time.
Average customer rating:
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The Art of Watercolor (How to Draw and Paint series #5)
Walter Foster
Manufacturer: Walter Foster Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
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Watercolor Painting
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
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Watercolor
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
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General
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ASIN: 0929261569 |
Book Description
Walter Foster's classic How to Draw and Paint series provides aspiring artists with an exceptional array of art instruction books featuring all subject areas and media. Each title includes easy step-by-step exercises as well as finished illustrations or paintings that will inspire artistic talent in anyone.
Packed with practical information, helpful tips, and fundamental techniques, the How to Draw and Paint series offers a complete library of resources to which artists of all skill levels can refer again and again.
What you'll learn from this book ...
• A step-by-step process for painting in watercolor, from sketches to final details
• Important colors for a basic watercolor palette, and how to blend to achieve secondary hues
• Tips for creating special effects, including how to work wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry
• What materials you will need, and how to set up your studio
• The basics of good composition, and the value of a line of rhythm
• Methods for adding background elements to create a finished work of art
Customer Reviews:
Watercolor review.......2000-06-25
With this book, it is easy to learn how to paint with watercolors. I enthusiastically recommend it.
Average customer rating:
- An ideal introduction for beginners.
- A book to treasure
|
How to Draw and Paint Animals in Pencil, Charcoal, Line and Watercolour
Linda Birch
Manufacturer: David & Charles Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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Drawing and Painting Animals: Problems and Solutions
ASIN: 0715309307 |
Book Description
All in color! Capturing the beauty, majesty, and personality of animals often proves daunting for an artist, but in fact, anyone can paint or draw animals if they want to. In this essential, lavishly illustrated handbook, a specialist in animal painting explains everything you need to know to depict domestic or wild animals, both as individual studies and as elements of a landscape. Using a plethora of her own drawings, sketches, and finished works as examples, the author explains how to choose the right medium and tools for a subject, examines the basics of anatomy and simple methods for constructing form, offers suggestions for making quick records when dealing with a moving subject, explores the range of fur and skin textures, and much more. Trim size: 7 3/4 x 11.
Customer Reviews:
An ideal introduction for beginners........2000-02-04
Linda Birch's How To Draw And Paint Animals tells how to draw animals using pencil, charcoal, line and watercolor, with color photos and drawings of both finished and half-complete subjects making for an excellent guide.
A book to treasure.......1998-04-02
This book's modest title fauils to describe its full worth. It is full of good sense, sound technical information and really excellent drawing. Linda Birch has a mastery of all media,and her writing displays the confidence of a gifted teacher. Her authority stems partly from her own obvious love of animals and her careful observation of them. She faces the question "Oh dear, I shall never be able to do that" with an encouraging "Yes you can, and I will show you how". Everything is here - texture, movement, anatomy, all brought together through many years of experience of teaching. Linda offers regular painting courses in Durham, and in other parts of England. Her students will be very fortunate, having the benefit of the fluency and wit which shines from these pages. A book to treasure.
Average customer rating:
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How to Draw and Paint in Watercolor and Gouache
Manufacturer: Book Sales
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1555210473 |
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Painting With Watercolors (How to Paint and Draw Series)
Paige Henson
Manufacturer: Rourke Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1571033122 |
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Boats in Watercolor (How to Draw and Paint Series)
Duane R. Light
Manufacturer: Walter Foster Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 0929261704 |
Average customer rating:
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Chinese Brush 2: Learn to Paint Step by Step (How to Draw and Paint Series)
Helen Tse , and
Rebecca Yue
Manufacturer: Walter Foster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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All 4-for-3 Deals
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ASIN: 1600580467 |
Book Description
Accomplished painters Helen Tse and Rebecca Yue invite you into their artistic worlds and show you how to paint a variety of subjects in the style of Chinese brush. With this 2000-year-old art form, each stroke simply suggests the spirit and character of the subject. Over the years, the materials and subject matter used for Chinese brush have expanded, but the basic principles remain the same. In this book, you'll find information on the history, tools, and techniques of this elegant art form. From a colorful Chinese landscape to a lucky dragon,
Chinese Brush 2 also features 14 inspiring step-by-step projects. Follow each project stroke by stroke, using a graceful, deliberate motion that captures the subject's mood and energy. Soon you'll develop the skills you need to render your own beautiful collection of Chinese brush paintings.
Average customer rating:
- Rich And Strange
- The Whole Career
- What a bunch of junk!
|
Orson Welles: The Stories of His Life
Peter Conrad
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Entertainers
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Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles
-
This is Orson Welles
ASIN: 0571209785 |
Book Description
Orson Welles was a metamorphic man, a magical shape-changer who made up myths about himself and permitted others to add to their store. On different occasions, he likened himself to Christ--mankind's redeemer--and to Lucifer--the rebel angel who brought about the fall. His persona compounded the roles he played--kings, despots, generals, captains of industry, autocratic film directors--and the more or less fictitious exploits with which he regaled other people or which they attributed to him. Hailed in childhood as a genius, he remained mystified by his own promise, unable to understand or control an intellect that he came to think of as a curse; and he ended his days shilling wine and performing magic tricks on talk shows. At times, he saw the collapse of his early ambitions as a tragedy; in other moods, he viewed his life as a humbling comedy, and settled down--like another favorite character, Shakespeare's Falstaff --to eat, drink and be irresponsibly merry.
Rather than producing another conventional biography of Welles, Peter Conrad has set out to investigate the stories Welles told about his life--the myths and secret histories hidden in films both made and unmade, in the books Welles wrote and those he read. The result takes us deep into Welles' imagination, showing how he created, then ultimately destroyed himself.
Customer Reviews:
Rich And Strange.......2005-11-15
Entertaining glimpse into a big man's many personalities. Conrad's schema is sweet: each chapter takes an established archetype and then shows the many ways in which Orson Welles seemed to try out each role and alter it as he saw fit.
Welles seems corny, as though he actually believed that he was bigger than life, but ultimately Conrad saves Welles from himself and his own delusions of grandeur.
One of the roles is "Everybody." There was a decidedly essentialist streak to Orson Welles, and when he directed Eartha Kitt as Helen in his version of Faustus, she was confounded when he told her his directorial rules, that she was required to play "every woman at every age in every historical time period." Sometimes Conrad plays the game a little too wellm he could cut himself he's so clever, as when he notices that the Mercury Shakespeare Welles edited was originally published as "Everybody's Shakespeare." But even as this example shows, it's telling all the same, and says something about Welles that I had never thought of before, and I don't expect any previous writer on Welles has either.
There's a chapter on "Mercury" (aha, thought of one already!), on "Prospero," on "Quixote," on "Peter Pan," "Kurtz," "Falstaff," and chapters on such vaguer archetypes as the "Lord of Misrule," the "Sacred Beasy," the "Renaissance Man," each chapter packed with dozens of insights and more than your ordinary share of whimsy.
If you're up for making the trip, this could be a valuable book. If not, you might find it too rich, like Jack Horner pulling plum after plum out an impossibly greasy pie.
PS, all the archetypes are very male, I wonder if Conrad considered any female archetypes for surely Welles tried these on too?
The Whole Career.......2005-07-11
I thought this was a very interesting book on Welles. It is not a conventional biography. Peter Conrad covers Welles' career by looking at the various archetypes that Welles played/embodied/wrote about during his career: boy genius, Faust, Falstaff, etc.
It takes a while to get used to the book. Making a judgment after five minutes is a mistake. Once you get into Conrad's groove, leaping from Welles' radio work to stage, to movies in the space of a chapter makes sense. He shows how echoes of "Citizen Kane" recur in later Welles' projects, and how unrealized things like "Heart of Darkness" influenced the projects Welles was able to pull off.
The best thing about the book was that it covered all of Welles' career, instead of saying: "And after RKO took 'Magnificent Ambersons' away, Welles became a big fat loser." Conrad shows there was a consistency and throughlines in Welles' disrupted career.
What a bunch of junk!.......2005-06-03
I'm a librarian, and I threw this book away after five minutes. Conrad is the kind of author who tries to find some significance in comparing (Welles' made-up term) "pan-focus" with aspects of the god Pan. The book was filled with this sort of unrelenting BS word-play and devoid of any real research or insights. "Despite the System" offers a far better return of time and money for the Welles fan.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 3097 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Films of Orson Welles.(Book Review)
Author: Sidney Gottlieb
Publication:
Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 30
Issue: 2
Page: 66(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Twentieth Wife: A Novel
- The View from Sterling Bluff: From General Oglethorpe to Henry Ford to Today
- Thugs And The Women Who Love Them (Thugs)
- Two Dollar Bill (Stone Barrington Novels)
- Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
- USA Track & Field Coaching Manual (USA Track & Field)
- Vertical Dive
- Visions and Visionaries: The Art and Artists of the Santa Fe Railway
- Warrior of the Light: A Manual
- We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel (P.S.)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance
- Twelfth Night
- The Insect Viruses
- The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton
- The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism
- The Way We Live by the Sea
- The Wheelman
- Jon Jerde in Japan: Designing the Spaces Between
- The Medieval Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt
- The Portable Promised Land: Stories
Briar Rose
Eye Contact
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Water for Elephants: A Novel
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
