The Shunra and the Schmetterling

Average customer rating:

"Butterflies stood at the edge of the eye."

The Shunra and the Schmetterling
Yoel Hoffmann
Manufacturer: New Directions Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The One Facing Us: A Novel

Katschen & the Book of Joseph: & The Book of Joseph (New Directions Paperbook)

Mr. Mani (Harvest in Translation)

The Invention of Solitude

The Heart is Katmandu

ASIN: 0811215679

Book Description

Yoel Hoffmann, "Israel's celebrated avant-garde genius" (Forward), undertakes a story strictly from the child's-eye view and creates one of his most beautiful books to date.

Shunra is Aramaic for "cat." Schmetterling is German for "butterfly." In Yoel Hoffmann's new book, these and numerous other creatures, cultures, and languages meet in a magical shimmering hymn to childhood. Hoffmann traces his hero's developing consciousness of the ways-and-wonders of the world as though he were peering through a tremendous kaleidoscope: all that was perceived, all that is remembered, is rendered in fluid fragments of color and light. With remarkable delicacy and sweep, Hoffmann captures childhood from the amazed inside out, and without the backward-looking wash of grown-up sentiment. Instead, the boy's deadpan registration of the human comedy around him is offered up as strangely magical fact. Beautifully translated by Peter Cole, The Shunra & the Schmetterling is fiction for lovers of poetry and poetry for lovers of fiction—a small marvel of a book, and one of the author's finest to date.

Customer Reviews:

"Butterflies stood at the edge of the eye.".......2004-05-29

Lively images of the cat (shunra) and the butterfly (schmetterling) chase and play through the memories of a poetic child as Yoel Hoffmann, one of Israel's most celebrated writers, recreates childhood and the coming of age. More than sixty years have passed since the speaker first lived in Rabat Gan, and the passage of time has intensified some memories, eliminated the irrelevancies from others, and connected the fantasies of childhood with the perennial mysteries of adulthood. As he begins to recall images from his life, the veranda on which his grandfather sat rises from memory, "like that legendary bird rising from its ashes" and becomes "the veranda of the world itself," a symbol of the experiences of the family and, ultimately, the history of the Jewish people, a veranda with "A broken railing. Grillwork like Auschwitz. A floor laid with tiles of pogroms...Nuremberg laws in the plaster..."

Not a manifesto or catalogue of wrongs, this "memoir" is the vivid and poetic evocation of one boy's life, the people he remembers from a seemingly ordinary Israeli village, and his discoveries about dreams and the passage of time. Impressions from past and present flow through the speaker's consciousness, unfiltered, with one idea reminding him of another from another place and time. Gradually, the reader meets the speaker's grandfather, father, and deceased mother, the neighbors, his teachers, and his friends, all of whom have sought sanctuary in Israel from other places. Words in Aramaic, Hebrew, German, Yiddish, and even Icelandic, are sprinkled casually throughout the story, a natural part of the speaker's memory and the collective memory of his village and country.

Though "A butterfly big as a volume of Talmud stood above our heads" throughout the speaker's childhood, the adults in the village have had more difficult lives, all of them having escaped from various wars. Soon it is time for the speaker to serve in his own army and fight in his own war, an experience which marks him forever. Nature imagery--of birds, animals, clouds, and the sky--permeate this impressionistic painting of a poet's life, giving depth and color to instants in time and to moments in history. Through intense, compressed and sometimes elusive pictures, the story--and our understanding of the speaker--do gradually emerge, insinuating themselves into our own consciousness and speaking directly to us, a powerful communication between author and reader which transcends time and place. Mary Whipple

Average customer rating:
Yoet Hoffmann. The Shunra and the Schmetterling.(Book Review): An article from: World Literature Today
Leslie Cohen
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B0009Y99L8
Release Date: 2005-07-25

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on May 1, 2005. The length of the article is 491 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: Yoet Hoffmann. The Shunra and the Schmetterling.(Book Review)
Author: Leslie Cohen
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2005
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 79 Issue: 2 Page: 109(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Better than the first one??.......2002-09-08

I reread the Cygnet and the Firebird every other year or so. It was so magnificently done. Each character in there is unique. First, you have Nyx Ro, the land-heir to Ro Holding, who is an eccentric soceress/bog witch/mage and who tries to help Brand, a man that was turned into a firebird for mysterious reasons. And then you have Nyx's cousin--strong and honor-bound Meguet--whose natural powers allowed her to overcome the time-stopping spell of a strange mage who had come to steal something from Ro Holding. I guess you just have to read it yourself to see what I'm talking about. It might mean more to the reader if she had read the "Sorceress and the Cygnet" first, where you see more character development of Nyx, Meguet, and Corleu (the main character of that book). This book focuses on the mysteries surrounding Brand, the strange and powerful mage, and the whole different world that they come from.
Whenever I read one of Mckillip's work, I am always amazed at how people are missing out on her stories. They're always so original and beautifully written--this one is no different. So buy it and read it before it goes out of print like the first one!

one of her best.......2001-02-16

This is undoubtedly one of her most poignantly written books. McKillip has a sensitivity to the human mind that is simply unparalleled. She explores that part of ourselves we see only glimpses of in dreams, and realizes them in this novel. The stories are real to life--there is no happily ever after, yet still there is closure to all of the conflicts that develop throughout the book. Her prose is both beautiful and surreal; often times I felt like I was reading an archaic composition of music or an enchanted poem. If you have not read one of her books start with this one; it will blow you away.

I loved it!.......1999-04-25

It was a bit confusing at first to swallow all the details. I found it discarded on a "free table"; it other words, its previous ower had not wanted it and simply tossed it away... I will never understand just WHY. It is magnificent. The characters seem to have a maturity that I have not found in McKillip's other works (or maybe this is just because the kingdom was described differently than in McKillip's other masterpieces--I can't quite put my finger on the EXACT reason). I loved it! It got me into Patricia McKillip's other books, and I am an avid fan now, trying to get my hands on McKillip's latest "Song for the Basilisk." I don't EVER get bored of McKillip's books. The second book of this wonderful author's that I read was Winter Rose, which is just as bewitching (is that the right word...?--maybe enchanting fits better...). Buy it. Read it. Or don't, and know that you are missing on something BIG

Mckillip wins again!!!.......1999-04-12

My, my, my. What are publishers thinking when they reprint a sequel but not the first installment? When I brought this book home I was literally scorched by the words "Mckillip returns to the world she created in The Sorceress and the Cygnet" Not that I wouldn't have bought it anyway.(Trust me, if you ever see ANYTHING by Mckillip, buy it!) But I decided right then and there that I wouldn't read this book until I found the first installment. I thought it would be years but luckily it only took a couple of months until I found The Sorceress and the Cygnet buried in the back of a used book store.

To those of you who will read this novel without reading it's predecessor first: you have my pity. She explains nothing, but OH what a payoff!

Although two distictively different stories, this series serves as a literary one two punch. Some of Mckillip's most magical and entertaining work can be found here, and I recommend both books to readers of every age. Once I started reading I was stuck. The rest of the world did not exist for me. (A warning for students: don't read these books around the time you should start studying for Finals. You will fail miserably!)

Even if not all can be as lucky as I have in finding the first book, you should definitely read The Cygnet and the Firebird. It is a story unto itself. Sorceress... adds more texture and history to the story, but is not needed to make this novel a success. Either way, this is one book not to be missed!!

Slow going, but glad I stayed with it........1998-11-06

I grew to like McKillip because of the Riddlemaster of Hed series. This didn't have the same immediate attraction. Part of that was due to the slow going, as the author set the psychological scene of the main female characters coming to an awareness of their identities, limits, and desires. Part of it was also due to the fact that I became aware that these characters had already been developed in a previous novel. I didn't know that, and I suspect my enjoyment would have been enhanced had I read "The Sorceress and the Cygnet" before reading this one. Toward the end, I again got caught up in McKillip's beautiful images, especially in the desert as the story climaxes. She can weave them well.

Average customer rating:

The Cygnet and the Firebird
Patricia A. McKillip
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000M28OPO

Average customer rating:

The Cygnet and the Firebird
Patricia A. McKillip
Manufacturer: Ace Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPJTZI

Product Description

Batgirl Year One. The complete 9 part limited series. 2003 DC comics. Includes Book One: Masquerade, Book Two: Future-Tense, Book Three: Afterglow, Book Four: Cave Dwellers, Book Five: Moth to a Flame, Book Six: Bird of Prey, Book Seven: Hearts Afire, Book Eight: Seasoned Crime Fighter, and Book Nine: Ashes and Blood.

Counterpoint to a City: The First One Hundred Years of the Women's Musical Club of Toronto

Average customer rating:

Counterpoint to a City: The First One Hundred Years of the Women's Musical Club of Toronto
Robin Elliott
Manufacturer: ECW Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1550223062

The Niv Adventure Bible: A One-year Devotional

Average customer rating:

The Niv Adventure Bible: A One-year Devotional
Robin Schmitt
Manufacturer: Zondervan (J)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0310714478

Average customer rating:

Memorable word images that come alive

One Thousand Years
Corinne Robins , and Joyce Romano
Manufacturer: Marsh Hawk Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0972478566

Book Description

One Thousand Years, a rich tapestry of poetry and art, infuses 9/11 New York sensibilities into medieval legends and images. A collaboration of art critic and poet Corinne Robins with artist Joyce Romano, ONE THOUSAND YEARS offers, "The truism that life is but a pilgrimage takes on new beauty in Robins' lyrics of chivalry, castles and abbeys even as Romano explores images medieval architecture" in this handsome and memorable book from Marsh Hawk Press.

Customer Reviews:

Memorable word images that come alive.......2004-07-17

Poet, art critic, and educator Corinne Robins enhances her volume of poetry with occasional black/white photographs that she took in Sweden and Denmark. One Thousand Years is her fourth published collection and documents her abilities to craft memorable word images that come alive in the reader's "theatre of the mind". Bringing Down The Sky: A gloved hand leads,/riding the gauntlet,/talons her weapons,/a bead in the wind/hearing that whistle.../The wild one, closed-eyed one/inside castles/where meat is mete to have/tucked late into the night/perching at my lord's left wrist,/perching in a room of dark droppings.//Murderous love bound to his hand,/I and my, beautiful feathers, curved beak/sharing blood and breathing space./Distance increases./The day's air has a different weight./Released into the singeing wind,/the lure at liberty, bright-eyed/peregrine having no mercy,/flies to that sound,/that trust beyond touch/making the sky her reach./Rules waiting to plunge and carry,/wings wide, catch-as-catch-can gone beyond/flat featureless speed --/razor-sharp heart's predator,/hunting partner, sky sailor/soars above the hill.

Average customer rating:

Praise & Worship Year One Preschool

Manufacturer: David C. Cook Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

Product Description

Leader's guide includes songs, activities, action rhymes for preschool worship. Includes reproducible worship-at-home folders for children to take with them, bible verses selected for ages 3 and 4, special lessons for the holiday season, and ideas to make the most of pre-session time.

Robin: Year One (Number Three of Four) DC Comics (Batman)

Average customer rating:

Robin: Year One (Number Three of Four) DC Comics (Batman)
Chuck Dixon , Scott Beatty , Jadier Palido , and Robert Campanella
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Batman | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Batman | Characters | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000MHCLQM

Robin: Year One 4 of 4 (Robin: Year One)

Average customer rating:

Robin: Year One 4 of 4 (Robin: Year One)

Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic

Batman | Media | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000IAIP04

Product Description

Squarebound prestige format comic book. Features Dick Grayson as Robin in the first year of his career.

Two Decades in British Politics: Essays to Mark Twenty-One Years of the Politics Association, 1969-90

Average customer rating:

Two Decades in British Politics: Essays to Mark Twenty-One Years of the Politics Association, 1969-90
Politics Association (Great Britain)
Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Practical Politics | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0719035325

Book Description

" . . . a book that will appeal to everyone who has ever choked down the pre-packaged, bargain-basement camp food (or gone bankrupt buying the good stuff)." --Canoe & Kayak

. . . if you're on the lookout for a way to bring real meals to the field, [this book] might have the answer." --Field & Stream

Life in the outdoors revolves around food--cooking it, eating it, packing it, carrying it. We even fantasize about it, especially after a week of eating store-bought provisions. This book is all about fulfulling those food fantasies and avoiding those expensive disappointments. Trail Food tells you how to remove water from food, to make it lighter and longer-lasting, without removing its taste. Learn to plan menus and prepare meals just like the ones you left behind, using fresh foods from your garden or market, prepared and seasoned the way you like them.

Why fantasize when you can have the real thing?

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic for backpacking meals..........2007-09-02

As a boyscout leader, we like to outdo the scouts on our creative cooking to inspire their creativity. It is a great book, to show how to make creative meals without the weight of heavy food items. This has been great!! Thanks C>

very nice.......2007-07-22

good and informative book for the price. I tried a few of the recipes and was able to improvise from there.

Backpackers Rejoice!.......2007-05-12

Good airflow throughout the cabinet meaning everything dries close to the same rate. The sound is basically is low and unobtrusive - lower than a humidifier. I like the square shape because it maximizes counter space in the kitchen. I dehydrate entire meals for backpacking. In addition to the standard fruit and veggies, I've dried chili, lasagna, chicken enchilada & rice, tuna noodle, spaghetti & sauce, lemon lentil soup, and more. Again, size of the trays and airflow work great for spreading out the food and getting it dried evenly. Rehydrating food out on the trail is much easier and tastes better than carrying ingredients separately and combining them out there. Dehydrating my favorite recipes for the trail also beats a week of store bought mac 'n cheese type foods out there. Geez, I should have been doing this years ago.

Preserve Your Own Food.......2007-04-12

Learn to use a food dehydrator and pack for those camping and hiking trips. There are also great tips on preserving fruits and vegetables.

Very good little book!.......2007-01-12

If you're looking for condensed information and ideas on how to purchase & use a food dehydrator, preserve fruits vegetables and mushrooms, meats for home use, as well as ideas for planning back country packing meals, this is a very good little book.

Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling

Average customer rating:

Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling
Alan S. Kesselheim
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OG111C

Average customer rating:

great starter book

One of the best dog training books ever written

A great resource

A Value

Pat rocks!

Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog
Pat B. Miller
Manufacturer: Dogwise Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Care & Health | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Training | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Power of Positive Dog Training

The Other End of the Leash

How to be the Leader of the Pack...And have Your Dog Love You For It. ("How to" booklets from Dog's Best Friend)

The Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way to Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs

On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals

ASIN: 1929242158

Customer Reviews:

great starter book.......2007-06-20

this is a good book when you first get your puppy and i really like her techniques but i was looking for more tricks.

One of the best dog training books ever written.......2007-04-19

No matter what breed or age your dog is, this book can help you train your furry friend. A must have for dog owners and professional trainers alike.

A great resource.......2007-03-22

We recently adopted an adult dog who is incredibly timid. We know "normal" training with any negative re-enforcement would be a disaster for her. This book was fantastic. All the steps are positive and she has responded very well to it. I do think it takes a little longer to train with only positive re-enforcement, but the emotional benefits are fantastic. This book is not a substitute for taking your dog to a training class, but it is a fantastic resource to use at home. I particularly appreciated the sections on how dogs learn and interpret things. In particular, I found very valuable the advice that every moment you're with your dog is a training situation. If you are not actively training your dog, then your dog is actively training you. :)

A Value.......2007-01-30

I'm not a professional dog trainer, just the owner of a Golden Retriever pup that is finally learning how to behave. This book is full of practical ideas that answered many of my questions and presented all kinds of tips for getting through to my pet. It's amazing how a little training can make life less stressful.

Pat rocks!.......2005-07-21

This is one of two books that I include with my dog training classes in Seattle. I like it because the chapters are in bite-size, informative, entertaining pieces. Pat Miller is one of the premier trainers in the country, and she's brought us a gem with this book!

Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT
Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle

Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog

Average customer rating:

Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog
Pat B. Miller
Manufacturer: Dogwise Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Important examples of French provincial furniture in museums and private collections in France. Most are of grand scale: draped poster beds, armoires, secretaries, buffets, credenzas and commodes. But chairs, tables, clocks and other accessories are depicted as well, often in typical room arrangements. Most are shown on full-page plates, so that the rich detailing of the carving can be seen clearly. A must for collectors, scholars, decorators and enthusiasts of French provincial furniture.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent source for design ideas and stylistic details.......2005-01-22

I am a woodworker by hobby and would like to incorporate design elements from 15th-through-17th century French furniture into my projects. This book is a great source for ideas as well as actual details were I to try a reproduction. The proportions, designs, and dimensions are clearly depicted. The pictures are black and white which is why I'm only giving it four stars.

Customer Reviews:

History book.......2006-07-03

I must say the techniques that WERE given in this book were well done, but half of the book is historical with photographs and there was definitely a lack of actual techniques.

Useful information about natural, ancient techniques.......2000-06-12

Ms. Innes' quest for the origins of many of the finishes and techniques that have been in use since ancient times has resulted in an excellent resource for design professionals and decorative artists alike. The recipes for such esoteric materials as gesso, limewash and marmorino make this book worth the price. I have not found another book to compare with it. The projects are not for the faint of heart but are acheivable and are useful in grasping the fundamentals of each of the techniques.

Useful information about natural, ancient techniques.......2000-06-12

Book Description

Eat This! is the anti-diet guide, the perfect pick-me-up for anyone with the diet blues. It's packed with 365 humorous musings on why diets are no fun, don't work, and will never compare with the pleasures of a chocolate eclair. Author Mary McHugh brings a much-needed dose of common sense to the world of dieting, extolling both the pleasures of homemade macaroni and cheese, as well as the satisfaction of burning 353 calories learning to salsa dance. Eat This! celebrates the woman who's sassy, sexy, and who'd be a lot happier if she stopped worrying about her weight. Shaped like a miniature refrigerator, Eat This! is the perfect gift for a friend or sister who's fed up with diets.

Eat This! 365 Reasons to Stop Dieting (Gift Books from Hallmark)

Average customer rating:

Eat This! 365 Reasons to Stop Dieting (Gift Books from Hallmark)
Mary McHugh
Manufacturer: Becker & Mayer! Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TMC6II

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books