Book Description
In The Old Manor House (1794), Charlotte Smith combines elements of the romance, the Gothic, recent history, and culture to produce both a social document and a compelling novel. A "property romance," the love story of Orlando and Monimia revolves around the Manor House as inheritable property. In situating their romance as dependent on the whims of property owners, Smith critiques a society in love with money at the expense of its most vulnerable members, the dispossessed.
Appendices in this edition include: contemporary responses; writings on the genre debate by Anna Letitia Barbauld, John Moore, and Walter Scott; and historical documents focusing on property laws as well as the American and French revolutions.
Customer Reviews:
A massive epic-scale novel set during the American Revolution, in both England and America........1998-04-13
This book is designed to create a bleak,desolate tone (a la Wuthering Heights), and it does so by describing the heroine's graduallyincreasing suffering and oppression. The novel, like so many of Arthur Conan Doyle's SherlockHomes stories, exposes the vices that can flourish in the lonely, isolated British manor. The hero'ssufferings come as a blast of fresh air and relief in the novel: Orlando goes to fight on the Britishside in the American revolution and ends up wounded with several Indians in a rather inaccuratelydescribed American landscape. There is a sort of sequel, The Wanderings of Warwick, which tells what happens to two of the characters who disappear for a huge portion of the novel. The heroine is rather pathetic for a good deal of the novel, but she gets a burst of feminist courage at the end of the novel as she sets out on her own and finds a job.
Average customer rating:
|
Old Halls and Manor Houses of Durham
Neville Whittaker
Manufacturer: Frank Graham
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0859830470 |
Average customer rating:
- military family....like mine
|
The Old Manor House
Barbara Holliday
Manufacturer: Royal Fireworks Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Mysteries
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0880920564 |
Book Description
It is 1963; the Andersons, a U.S. Air Force family, have rented an off-base, fully furnished, once-grand manor house from its owner, Mr. Edwards, who maintains an apartment in the rear wing. We are in Wiltshire, England, amid the gardens, damp weather, fog, inadequate heating system, and anti-American feelings. The manor house itself, reputed to have been built by a pirate in the mid-1600s, contains secret rooms, hidden passages, a treasure and a ghost. The three Anderson daughters, Nell age 5, Emily age 12, and Meredith age 16, have the adventure of their lives as they unlock its secrets.
The Old Manor House has two storytellers: first, Mr. Edwards, the somewhat secretive English gentleman who, while telling Emily of the manors history, enables the reader to sense the English love of history and tradition; second, Emily, the exuberant sixth-grader who narrates our current mystery.
Here is a high-interest novel of old-fashioned, positive relationships: the Andersons are a family who interact and like one another, the pirate was a loving husband and good man, the ghost was a loving mother and is a good ghost, Mr. Edwards is grand fatherly and a humanitarian, even the final disposition of three evil idols produces good results.
Customer Reviews:
military family....like mine.......2000-09-19
I kinda liked this book. It is about a very nice family that has stick together because the Dad is in the military like mine is and he has to move them around alot. There are ghosts and spirits in this book though. Does every book for us kids have to have all that witch stuff in it?
Average customer rating:
|
Old Manor Houses
Aldin Cecil
Manufacturer: William Heinemann Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDZ0XY |
Amazon.com
Think of it as an opportunity to give all those tattered old paperbacks away to younger adventurers. Just as Wizards of the Coast did with the Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogy hardbacks, this 1,000-plus page collector's edition pulls together some of Drizzt Do'Urden's best stories--Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, and Passage to Dawn--into one whopping volume.
Starting way back with 1988's Crystal Shard, the Icewind Dale books kicked off the celebrated Drizzt saga, while the Dark Elf prequel trio that followed detailed the scimitar swinger's shadowy beginnings in the drow city of Menzoberranzan. This third series essentially rolls up a bunch of random encounters from both worlds--all of Drizzt's cherished friends and newfound foes on the surface world, along with his old adversaries from the Underdark--throwing them into combat after combat to see who shakes out.
Legacy begins amicably enough, with Bruenor back on the throne and Cattie-brie and Wulfgar getting ready to tie the knot. But along comes a spider (the demon queen Lloth, in this case), and pretty soon the tunnels below Mithril Hall become a bloodbath. Starless Night takes Drizzt deeper into the Underdark in search of his lost friends, to Blingdenstone and on towards Menzoberranzan. Then Siege of Darkness nearly closes the series with its giant drow-dwarf battle finale, but the sea-faring followup adventure Passage to Dawn reveals the fate of one of Drizzt's fallen comrades, held in the Abyss by the demon Errtu. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
A collection of four New York Times bestselling novels by R. A. Salvatore.
The Legacy of the Drow Collector's Edition brings together four bestselling novels: The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, and Passage to Dawn. The adventure begins in seeming serenity as we find Drizzt Do'Urden enjoying a rare state of peace. But he did not arrive at this station without leaving powerful enemies in his wake. Lolth, the dreaded Spider Queen deity of the evil Dark Elves, counts herself among these enemies and has vowed to end the drow's idyllic days. Thus begins a severe and lasting chain of events that make these collected
Forgotten Realms novels unforgettable reads.
Customer Reviews:
wonderful story .......2007-10-01
this is a continuation of the icewind dale trilogy. it is an amazingly written story. salvatore makes you care for the characters and you want to know what happens next. great book
Great Book.......2007-08-27
Just another wonderful addition to the Drizzt series. I read it very quickly as it is just one of those books you can't put down. If you liked the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the Dark Elf Trilogy, then this book is for you. R.A. Salvatore gets better after every book he writes, and this collection proves it. A must have book.
Great continuation of the Drizzt story.......2007-08-06
After reading icewind Dale, I immediately went to amazon.com and ordered Legacy of the Drow. I loved this book. Not only is Artemis Entreri back, but Jarlaxle is introduced. I tend to favor bad guys in any story, usually the complicated ones who are not quite all evil. Entreri is pretty much evil, but I just love the conflict between him and Drizzt and how so similar he is to Drizzt yet so different. Jarlaxle is a type of character I love. He seems evil at first, but its a bit more complicated. Don't want to spoil anything, but he has become my favorite character in this series. You see how Salvatore has improved himself. great books
A great volume don't miss it.......2007-07-13
This was the first R.A Salvatore novel I read and I was impressed. While the writing wasn't perfect, the story was entertaining and I loved the character(especially Drizzt of course). Full of action this is a great book, but you might want to start with the Icewind Dale series, which would give you a better sense of whats going on. Still this is a fine book to start with, as it is much better than the Icewind Dale series, and is one of the better books I have read.
The Legacy.......2006-10-11
The Legacy
By RA Salvator
"It was no goblin piosed under the rock to spring the trap,however, but another two headed giant , an ettin."Read more in the "Legacy" By RA Salavatore.Renagade Drizzt Do'Urden has angered the great spider queen Lolth and caused her to send her greatest Dark elves chasing after drizzt.Will he survive can he defeat the great Queen Lolth and her evil minions then go read this book! In a stunning tale of sly attacks,murder ,cunning sword craft,and unbelievable magic the Legacy is a great read.
"The fearsome dwarves called their war toy "the juicer",and the puddle of goblin fluid that came out the back side of the crushing wheel showed it was a fitting title." I enjoyed this scene because it had a lot of action and stupid little goblins! This part was very cool because there was all this crazy battle confusion between the goblins and the disgiused juicer.
RA Salvatore described everything with great detail and care. This book held me on it's edge the entire time. I enjoyed how the words flowed when I read aloud, mostly when Drizzt was fighting his enemy's.Ialso liked when there were big battle scenes.Drizzt was a very interesting charecter
Average customer rating:
- Asimov's great robot murder-mysteries
- Great!
|
Robot Trilogy: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Complete Robot (Robot Series)
-
Robots and Empire
-
I, Robot
-
Foundation (Foundation Novels)
-
The Door into Summer
ASIN: 0345331192
Release Date: 1988-08-12 |
Customer Reviews:
Asimov's great robot murder-mysteries.......2005-10-03
Isaac Asimov, along with H.G. Wells, is perhaps the greatest Science Fiction writer of all time. He, above all others, brings science to the genre while writing in a very clever way. Not many SF authors were scientists before they became writers. Asimov clearly knows his science and, more importantly, the level of science the audience knows.
This "Robot Trilogy" is set two thousand years into the future; well after his "I, Robot" short stories which precede it and set up the now-universal Laws of Robotics, and before Asimov's 'Empire' novels. 'The Caves of Steel' (an acronym for the cities of the future) is set on Earth, while 'The Naked Sun' and 'The Robots of Dawn' are set on colonised planets elsewhere in the galaxy. Each story follows the investigations of detective Elijah Baley and his human-looking robot partner (mascarading as a 'Spacer'), Daneel Olivaw, as they solve murder mysteries on each planet.
These stories are well crafted and read like good old-fashioned murder mysteries. The unique aspects of these novels are their off-world settings and robot characters; the robots must obey the three laws of robotics, the first being that a robot cannot harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to be harmed. But loopholes exist which Asimov explores brilliantly. But what drives these stories is the relationship between Earthmen and Spacers (outer world colonialists). Here, the two are distinctly polar in every way, thus fueling the stereotypical fears between the two groups. For example, Earthmen are considered by 'spacers' as second-class citizens due to their idiosynchratic indoor-only nature and susceptibility to disease, while spacers are considered elitist by Earthmen as they don't allow physical contact. A number of other psychological and social problems are also addressed by Asimov, in particular the "Frankenstein" complex that humans have developed in response to creating robots - other sentient beings. Other themes include community versus the individual, change versus stagnation, and dependance on technology to prolong life.
What is really impressive about Asimov is the fact that he has accomplished what he has without violence. I don't recall in any Asimov novel a gun being fired!
Why buy this book? Each novel can be read individually but are really designed to be read one story after another. So buy this omnibus instead of purchasing three separate books. You will want to read "The Naked Sun" and "The Robots of Dawn" after reading "The Caves of Steel" anyway. Also, read "I, Robot" before venturing into his other novels as Asimov sets up his rules here.
(Asimov began his robot novels with the collection of short stories entitled "I, Robot" which was set in the years 2010 to 2050 roughly and presented for the first time the Three Laws of Robotics. These stories revealed man's distrust of robots which were created to serve man and his occupations, especially in Earth orbit and in the Solar System (the extent of exploration at this point in human history), and importantly, not on Earth.)
Great!.......1997-09-01
In these books, Asimov puts in views and theories and situations that may arise as well as fit in facts about books set in later eras, such as Foundation. Well written, sound bases. Gives a reader the feeling of "This is how it could be."
Amazon.com
The best chefs know that incredible meals don't start in the kitchen--they start with the farmers, butchers, and seafood merchants. Where you get your ingredients is the key to fine dining. In Harvesting Excellence, acclaimed chef Alain Ducasse, of Manhattan's Alain Ducasse at Essex House and two three-star Michelin restaurants, takes us on a journey across the United States to visit the people who supply restaurants with the highest-caliber ingredients.
"While each region had drawn from its terroir--the climate, soil, and sun--to yield singular products," says Ducasse, "the flare and individuality of the multiple cultural influences in the United States have set the stage for modern American cuisine." Visit Coach Farm in upstate New York, where fromager Miles Cahn makes fresh goat cheese daily with milk from his herd of 1,000 goats. From there travel to Portland, Maine, and attend a fish auction where a prize halibut goes for $20 a pound. In Silicon Valley, a four-generation family farm produces cherries and apricots in the midst of the booming technology empire--and prays that they won't lose their lease and fertile farmland to commercial ventures. A connoisseur of beef, Ducasse thinks the Makache cattle of Arizona, tended by true cowboys, rivals Kobe beef in flavor and texture. What an animal eats affects the flavor of its meat, so when pigs are fed apples (they prefer Macintoshes) their meat "tastes almost as though caramelized and resembles an old-fashioned candied roast." On this same farm in Pennsylvania, chickens are fed cornmash mixed with milk for a lighter, moister meal with a delicate flavor.
Whether visiting a farm famous for its smoked pepper or for its succulent Meyer lemons, Harvesting Excellence is an interesting, intimate look at the people who raise and cultivate the food so artfully presented to you at our nation's best restaurants. --Dana Van Nest
Book Description
Alain Ducasse, the celebrated French chef, has discovered throughout the country, an excellence in food products that has inspired and reshaped his vision of Haute Cuisine. Whether it be in the cold Atlantic waters off the northern coast of Maine or the crimson-colored Arizona mountains, Alain Ducasse has found fishermen, ranchers and farmers across the nation whose products rank among the world's finest food. Harvesting Excellence celebrates the men and women who devote themselves to the artistry of creating first-rate food products. Here is the ultimate gourmet tour of what lies at the heart of all great cooking - great ingredients. And as a final touch, top chefs from all over the country give tips on selecting and preparing the best products for traditional or creative cooking.
Customer Reviews:
The newest from Ducasse, Inc........2000-11-22
I have dined in all of Alain Ducasse's Paris establishments{including the just opened Plaza Athenee location}as well as his Monte Carlo establishment and consider him a genius however, with the overblown pretension of the New York restaurant and now this book, one has to ask can even a genius spread himself too thin. The two real cookbooks by Ducasse are treasures, this book is not worth the price or the trouble. It is basically the Master's musings about his sources and philosophy of freshness and source....nice filler in a real cookbook but,not worth or worthy of a whole book. Save your money for a real Ducasse cookbook.
Harvesting Excellence.......2000-11-11
This book should be an inspiration to both professional chefs and home cooks alike. It is beautifully written and photographed and conveys M. Ducasse's enjoyment of the abundance of the United States in it's many forms. To miss the inclusion of recipes is to miss the point. Of course the book is pointing out the bounty that is utilised at the restaurant, but it is there for all of us to enjoy and use. There are many, many farms across the U.S. similar to the ones profiled in the book, in every community. Many people just don't know that they are there. I would hope that this book is an inspiration to people to patronize their local food producers and to seek out farmers, fishermen, ranchers, cheesemakers et al who make it their life's work to produce something of quality for all to enjoy. Rarely has a chef written a book that is not entirely about themselves, to promote the work of others. And this chef is not even from this country.
Disappointing Harvest..........2000-11-02
Imagine my surprise when I opened the book and started looking for recipes,and found not a single one. The "tips" mentioned in the Amazon blurb consist of terse, extremly general,single line comments as to what sort of technique or garnish to use for the item at hand. The products discussed come from single vendors that most chefs, not to mention the home cook, will be hard pressed to get hands on. It would be nice if the man touted by some as the greatest chef in the world gave some specific ideas what he would do with the great products of this country. Alas, not a whisper. Other chefs,such as Alice Waters and Thomas Keller, do an admirable job extolling the virtues of American products and provide great ideas of how to play with them. This book seems like the first half of his L'Atelier book,wihout the culinary clues. If you're looking for a "cookbook",this is not it. I'm not sure what value the book holds,except as a peek at obscure vendors and a glimpse into a chef's thoughts.
Not what you'd expect from Ducasse (i.e. not a cookbook).......2000-11-02
This is not a cook book. It is a book about harvesting food in America. The pre-publication title was "America, Lands of Excellence," which has now changed to "Harvesting Excellence." Ducasse is a great chef (go to Paris with advance reservations for his restaurant, be ready to spend plenty ot time and money and you'll find out just how great)who demonstrates a great affection for food. This book demonstrates that affection, and it has beautiful photography. That said,to see beautiful full-color photos of lambs or ducks may not make some people hungry for lamb or duck. I personally don't have that problem with lobster.
Book Description
An expert looks at a wide variety of country arts that characterized early New England homes.
Book Description
“Spirals, coils, wraps, and wire mesh add up to a kind of jewelry that...can go from pieces of scrap to ear, neck, or hair in a couple of hours...the directions for 66 varieties of adornment featured here...including diagrams, designer credit, color photographs, materials lists, and step-by-step instructions...are whimsical enough for having great fun and feature such familiar characters as Santa and a bride and groom, and such creatures as a dragonfly and a spider.”—Booklist.
Average customer rating:
- Great insights and depth of biblical research
|
A Profound Mystery: The Use of the Old Testament in Ephesians (Novum Testamentum , Suppl. 85)
Thorsten Moritz
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Interior Design
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Study
| New Testament
| Reference
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Church History
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
New Testament
| Bibles
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 9004105565 |
Book Description
The primary focus of this study is the question of the extent and impact of Old Testament traditions in Ephesians. A close examination of the range of quotations, allusions and echoes found in the epistle shows that the Old Testament influence was greater and more deliberate than has hitherto been assumed. The main part of the book is a thorough exegetical study of various aspects of the question, ranging from identification of the relevant Old Testament texts to an examination of the ways in which they are appropriated and applied in the New Testament context. A number of implications emerge for our understanding of the letter's intended readership, and these are illuminating for the assessment of the epistle's relationship to the letter to the Colossians.
Customer Reviews:
Great insights and depth of biblical research.......2002-12-10
I had the privilege of studying biblical hermeneutics under Dr. Moritz and this book is an excellent synthesis of his research and it's practical application. This book has solid explainations of some of the most difficult texts in Ephesians and the word that comes to mind is "refreshing"! This book is solid in it's scholarship and it's commitment to the authority of Scripture. Expensive but a must have/read for the serious student of Ephesians and Pauline letters.
Average customer rating:
- wrong author name
- excellent contributors
- definitely worth buying
- A useful guide to modern design and the insights involved.
|
Graphics: Real-World Graphic Design Projects : From Brief to Finished Solution (Electronic Workshop)
Manufacturer: Rotovision
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Web Graphics
| Web Design
| Web Development
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Design
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 2880463157 |
Customer Reviews:
wrong author name.......1998-08-23
hey people, don't want to seem like a pedant but you've mixed up the author's name and the publisher's - ie Rotovision is the publisher while Paul Murphy is the author. How do i know this? I wrote the book.
Cheers
paul.murphy@bbc.co.uk
excellent contributors.......1998-08-04
what do Tomato think when they do a project? How does Paula Scher work? What about AMX Digital or Aboud Sodano who do ALL of Paul Smith's graphic design work. This book has got them all plus attik, April Greiman, VSA, scott makela etc.
The style is accessible and readable while following the development process in lots of detail.
definitely worth buying.......1998-06-23
As a working design professional i'm always disappointed by so many of the garish coffee table books that purport to be about graphic design but in reality are an embaressment. This book scores highly on several points: *a great range of contributors from Pentagram to Tomato *well written with lots of interviews with the designers *well chosen projects examined in depth and detail
This book also realises that great design isn't about the latest PhotoShop tricks but about real thought and creativity.
A useful guide to modern design and the insights involved........1998-05-25
I don't usually buy expensive art books, but something about the approach made me part with the hard earned cash.
As a struggling designer and artist, I am constantly on the lookout for books which lay out the technical and imaginative processes behind design and art, and this snapshot from some of the world's premiere electronic designers at the moment fulfilled my design fetishes.
While the processes are fascinating to follow through, though, the layout of the book somewhat lets it down, being a design project in itself, and lacks adequate depth to really illustrate the stages involved.
But on the whole, lots of very nice pictures, nicely laid out. With words.
Average customer rating:
- Nice varitey of projects shown, great artist insight
- Awful book waste of money
- Opinion may be a little biased, but
- Great selection of electronic projects from real people
- excellent state of illustration book
|
Illustration: Real-World Illustration Projects-From Brief to Finished Solution (Electronic Workshop)
Yolanda Zappaterra
Manufacturer: Rotovision
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Advertising
| Marketing & Sales
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Web Graphics
| Web Design
| Web Development
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Design
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 2880463300 |
Customer Reviews:
Nice varitey of projects shown, great artist insight.......2001-09-27
This book is geared primarily toward professional illustrators and graphic arts students who use computer graphics as a major design tool. It features the work of 16 different artists, presenting a case study of one project with each.
For each artist, there is a brief biographical background. Then the project is introduced and the artist's process of development and technique in carrying it out is described. The computer hardware and software used in each project is also listed. There is some narrative by the author, but most of the text describing each project is in the artist's own words.
There are a great variety of projects here, including work for comic books, record labels, newspaper supplements, web design and personal projects. The styles and approaches of the artists are just as varied and taken together they present a great overview of modern trends in illustration. The intention here is to show how computer graphics has expanded and enhanced the creative process, but this is not just about computer generated art. A variety of other media and source material have been used as well and it is the process of integrating it all that is emphasized.
There is a gallery of additional works by the featured artists in the back. This book provides some great artwork and fascinating insight into the artists' mind.
Awful book waste of money.......2000-11-22
This is a really useless book. It is overdesigned, like the old Wired magazine. Before I bought it, I thought it would be a book full of useful information because there were some illustrators that I'm familiar with profiled in it. But instead it is someone's portfolio piece. Save your money and buy the Pro Illustration series unless you like trendy, overdesigned garbage.
Opinion may be a little biased, but.......1998-10-31
I think this is a beautifully designed and well written book. The artists featured are all very talented and have some very good things to say about the processes illustrators and digital designers go through to arrive at various solutions. I was one of the artists asked to contribute and I have to say that I am extremely honored to have been a part of this book. Great job, Yolanda!
Great selection of electronic projects from real people.......1998-10-30
Zappaterra has dug up some fascinating work for this project-based look at the flourishing world of electronic creativity. As the title suggests, there's a strong pragmatic edge to the book, which gives good insights into creative minds involved in the creative process. It's clearly written and, in fact, the most difficult thing to understand is the author's name...
excellent state of illustration book.......1998-10-13
This is, I think, the second book in a series that seems to be looking to cover digital design. The first one was about graphics and this one continues in the same excellent style. Basically take some of the acknowledged greats of contemporary illutration and find out what they think about when they're working on a project. Insightful and with great pictures.
Amazon.com
When the 18-year-old, self-taught director Peter Brook brought his first play to the London stage he inaugurated a long and illustrious career. Perhaps best known for his London production of the play Marat/Sade and the nine-hour stage epic Mahabharata, Brook also directs film--Lord of the Flies is his best-known movie--and opera. In his uncommon autobiography, he assiduously avoids "personal relationships, indiscretions, indulgences, excesses, names of close friends, private angers" as well as "taboos [and] hang-ups." Instead, Brook focuses on the development of his artistic vision, his philosophical leanings and his quest for meaning in both of these areas. With Threads of Time, Brook proves that he is also a talented writer for he pulls together the strands of his experience and ideas to offer readers an evocative view of his fascinating life.
Book Description
The man described by the New York Times as "the English-speaking world's most eminent director" charts the aesthetic and spiritual journeys of his own remarkable career
In graceful and vivid scenes, Threads of Time chronicles the evolution of an extraordinary artistic intelligence, a man whose interests range worldwide from film and theater to myth and the inner life. Brook reveals the myriad sources driving his lifelong passion for finding the most expressive way to tell a story. Over the years we watch his metamorphosis from traditionalist to radical innovator, witnessing his expanding field of vision and sense of dramatic possibility.
Customer Reviews:
Candid Camera.......2006-06-09
Candid Camera
James Moore
Perhaps when Peter Brook celebrates his hundredth birthday we may anticipate a retrospect with some revelatory twist, stylistic shimmer, or special insight into this bafflingly complex character.
Meantime we have Michael Kustow's Peter Brook: A Biography, a well-meant journalistic reprise with all the poetry of "the time sponsored by Accurist". We are reminded that Brook's `white box' production of `A Midsummer Night's Dream' was a succýs fou; that his book The Empty Space re-energised theatre; and that he discreetly resonates to the spiritual teaching of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff.
During his long life Brook has met many people with interests similar to his own: and certainly many with magnetic readership pull - Castro, Grotowski, Hitchcock, Capote, Aleister Crowley, and Jean Genet (whom he alarmingly wanted to be Godfather to his daughter). Yet significantly A.W.O.L from Kustow's text and ten-page index is William Segal, hero of A Voice at the Borders of Silence.
If Kustow's is a dutiful exhumation, the Segal item (fulsomely prefaced by Brook) is an unindexed and undisciplined scrapbook, thrown together like a rich plum pudding by its subject's widow Marielle Bancou-Segal. So blatantly does it sacrifice critical vigilance on the altar of conjugal love that it bids to give hagiography a bad name. Everyone gets swept away in a Tsunami of mutual admiration: Segal thinks gods to Brook, while Brook recklessly asserts that Segal's "innermost core was an opening to eternity".
Thirty evocative photographs redeem Kustow's biography (not least David Farrell's trapeze-lofted Oberon and Puck in the fairy realm above Bottom and Titania) and Brook himself is modestly presented...Segal was anything but camera-shy, blatantly viewing his entire existence as a serial photo-opportunity. When young he was photogenic in All-American mode: in old age, following a drastic car accident, he deployed a monocle and piratical black eye patch. He was an artist too. "William Segal the painter", explains Brook, "looks at the outside world and leads us into William Segal the man." He certainly does. Most of his paintings are self-portraits; his motive being analytical - and apropos he nods kindly to Rembrandt.
Brook has powered forward from Doctor Faustus in 1943 to Tierno Bokar in 2004, like a self-fulfilling prophecy - "a man who has guided his own profusion to a rich simplicity" claims Kustow, in his best sentence. By contrast, the young New York sophomore William Segal, heralded as the speediest left halfback of a decade and sentenced to "a brilliant gridiron future", quickly swerved vocationally. Of Romanian Jewish ancestry and entrepreneurial flair, he somehow broke into fashion publishing and became emancipatingly rich. Looking down from his elegant office in Empire State Building, he would sometimes ruminate on profit margins, sometimes on difficulties facing "the average person", and sometimes on Meister Eckhart.
Aptly enough, in the early 1940s, aged about thirty-eight, Segal chanced to fall in with the author of Tertium Organum Piotr Demianovich Ouspensky ("a regular fellow in many ways"); in 1947, the year Ouspensky died, Segal met the prolix Zen theoretician Daisetzu Teitaro Suzuki - cultivating him and even taking him to meet Madame Ouspensky and watch sacred dances at Mendham, New Jersey; in 1948 and 1949 Segal won sporadic contact with Gurdjieff himself, teacher both of Ouspensky and of the avant-garde lesbian Jane Heap. By 1951 Brook, aged twenty-six, had become a pupil of Heap in London, and Segal had launched the bon ton journal Gentry ("It truly had a superior audience")...Curious lines were now converging.
It is Brook's endorsement of Kustow's biography which dignifies it; here then is the memorial or C.V. favoured by a first-rank cultural icon...Arguably more oblique is the American book's significance. The wearisome extolling and self-extolling of Segal ranks for nothing historically compared with the en passant disclosure of how traditional Gurdjieffian praxis was radically modulated by a hitherto unsuspected coterie; those photographs alone are as revealing as a C.C.T.V. camera.
Gurdjieff, who died in 1949, never went to Japan but Segal did - and became entranced. Arriving in a B-24 bomber carrying introductory letters from D.T.S. ("I could see I was on the beam with Suzuki right from the start") he hit the Zen Buddhist trail. As year followed year, Segal captured the interest of Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, Gurdjieff's de facto successor, and her son Michel the heir apparent. Respectively at Kita Kamakura and Ryutaku-ji monasteries Segal introduced the de Salzmanns to Suzuki and Soen Nakagawa Roshi (superb calligraphist, haiku composer, and innovatory celebrant of the tea ceremony using instant coffee and polystyrene cups).
The striking Sacred Dances which climax Peter Brook's film Meetings with Remarkable Men are supremely ranked in the portfolio of Gurdjieffian praxis, and no-one has prospered them more than Jeanne de Salzmann. In Japan she nevertheless allowed herself to be persuaded by an insistent Segal and Nakagawa that they needed buttressing by Zen-like meditation `sits'. Difficult to guess the critical moment when Madame de Salzmann acceded. Perhaps it was in cherry blossom time in 1966 when Suzuki, crying "Here, Mr Segal!", threw a startled cat at him. Certainly the grand policy shift delighted Segal: "Because you can sit for 100 years and still say, oh yeah, I feel good."
Segal died in 2000, aged ninety-six. And had he actually met Brook? Oh indeed, time after time (and sports ten photos to clinch it). As for his `enlightenment', one only wishes it were susceptible of forensic proof. Yet if this self-fixated pilgrim inspired just one "average person", let alone Peter Brook, that must suffice.
James Moore is author of `Gurdjieff:
the Anatomy of a Myth' (1991) and of
the Gurdjieff module in `Dictionary of
Gnosis and Western Esotericism' (2005).
This is perhaps his best and most revealing work.......1998-10-13
Mr. Brooks latest work is also his most personal. Not in the sense of the typical autobiography, which usually highlights the tawdry detials, but in a truly inner sense. His journey through both theatre and his inner world is illuminating, to both artists and non-artists alike. I was particularly facinated to read of Mr. Brooks experiences with the Gurdjieff work. His depth of insight into the importance of inner work in tandem with his insights into theatre and film provide great reading, for those familiar and unfamiliar with his work. I highly recomend this book, as well as his other works.
Books:
- The Oracle Glass: A Novel
- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies (Oxford Handbooks)
- The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei, Volume Three: The Aphrodisiac (Princeton Library of Asian Translations)
- The Royal Physician's Visit: A Novel
- The Ruined Map: A Novel
- The Sadeian Woman: And the Ideology of Pornography
- The Sari Shop: A Novel
- The Season of Lillian Dawes: A Novel
- The Second Death of Hamlet
- The Tall Pine Polka Your Oasis on Flame Lake
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin
- The Truth About Love: The Highs, the Lows, and How You Can Make It Last Forever
- The 2007-2012 Outlook for Calcium Channel Blocker Vasodilator Pharmaceuticals in Greater China
- The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
- The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, viscount St. Albans, and Lord High Chanc
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Essential Yoga Texts for Spiritual Enlightenment
- My Mother Gave Me The Moon
- Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space
- This Old Souse: A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery
Desmond (Broadview Literary Texts)
Zofloya: Or the Moor (Oxford World's Classics)
The Mysteries of Udolpho (Penguin Classics)
Emmeline
Confessions of an English Opium Eater (Penguin Classics)
