Touche Definition

Showing posts with label france. Show all posts

A History of Civilizations Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy A History of Civilizations? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on A History of Civilizations. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

A History of Civilizations ReviewWhen Fernand Braudel originally published this text in the sixties, he became a pariah at the Sorbonne. In retrospect that disapprobation was the kind of seal of approval that "banned in Boston" came to embody. Previous histories drilled deep into one facet of history. Braudel's was a pioneering effort in multidisciplinary historical analysis. It captures the historical flow that evolves civilizations, sacrificing only the detail outside the themes. Even subsequent to "A History of Civilizations," other historians have been unable to write a thematic survey that matches this original. And don't be tempted to skip the "soft" introductory chapters with titles like "The Study of Civilization Involves All the Social Sciences," and "The Continuity of Civilizations." These tee up the hard topics, like "The Greatness and Decline of Islam." There's method in Braudel's approach, and it takes patience. Braudel's translator, Richard Mayne had his job cut out for him. The complex syntax is that of a French intellectual of the sixties, and it is retained in Mayne's text, but you become accustomed to it. Don't look for maps or photographs in this Penguin Paperback; the text alone is six hundred pages. There's only one other book in this space, "From Dawn to Decadence," by Jacques Barzun. In my view they are complementary.A History of Civilizations Overview

Want to learn more information about A History of Civilizations?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) ReviewThere are mainly two reasons why Montequieu's book is important. One is for his ideas, which still have relevance for current political issues, such as separation of church and state. The second is that it represents an important historical milestone in political thought. The real bonus is that, in the translation, his work reads in a way that is both intellectually engaging, by which I mean he gets you thinking about the issues, and also engaging (if entertaining is not quite the right word) as a series of philosophical perspectives delivered in a direct way generally free of jargon.
The most interesting part of his book for me was at the outset, in his comparison of despotism, republics and democracy.
The really important aspect of his book is that so many of the threshold policitical issues that he discusses are still live issues. How much should the state intervene? What constitutes good laws? What parts of life in a political society are the business of the state?Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Overview

Want to learn more information about Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers ReviewI like to think of myself as a person who is curious about a wide range of things, especially in the realm of culture and the arts. Most art history books, however, put me right to sleep, with their endless catalogs of curatorial details about brushstrokes and paint textures and influences and provenance. These detailed analyses almost never situate the paintings in any sort of context and almost never explain WHY we should be interested in these details, other than to prove ourselves worthy connoiseurs to others in the know. Clark's book is a refreshing change from such mandarin drivel. Clark begins with a lengthy discussion of the social context of the paintings he is about to discuss and only then proceeds to extended analyses of particular paintings. Clark is interested in the larger ideas and trends of the period and, most important of all, actually USES the details of the paintings as evidence in the course of making an ARGUMENT about what the paintings mean (hint to other art historians: having an argument contributes significantly to the interest of a book or article). In addition, Clark's argument about the nature of the social changes occuring in France in the 1860's and 70's is compelling and thought-provoking (be forewarned: some Marxism is involved). I found myself actually learning things about the paintings Clark discusses, and looking at them over and over again, trying to find more in them, in much the same way as I would go back to a book or a poem after reading a good piece of literary criticism. I think this book will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about either 19th-century French painting or 19th-century France. Clark is a stimulating and perceptive guide to this crucial period in the history of painting. Bravo!The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers Overview

Want to learn more information about The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt ReviewI wrote my college entrance essay on this book (Let's not say how long ago, but I was accepted.) and just recently went back to reread it and compare my impressions now to my impressions then, when it was one of my favorite books. I found it still holds up as a fine piece of literature as well as an inspiring example of personal courage. As another reader has pointed out, Camus was ostracized, more or less, by the French literary establishment after the book's publication. I still find the chapter on metaphysical rebellion the best. Camus has a fine understanding of the English Romantic poets and what, for many, their rebellion consisted of: "The Byronic hero, incapable of love, or capable only of an impossible love, suffers endlessly. He is solitary, languid, his condition exhausts him. If he wants to feel alive, it must be in the terrible exaltation of a brief and destructive action. To love someone whom one will never see again is to give a cry of exultation as one perishes in the flames of passion. One lives only in and for the moment, in order to achieve 'the brief and vivid union of a tempestuous heart united to the tempest'(Lermentov)" This is as an acute a dissection of the raison d'etre of the "Byronic hero" as I've read in any English criticism (and believe me, I've read a lot!). The passages on Nietzsche are also exquisite. He gets to the root of many of the great thinker's ideas by quoting the lines that come from the heart: "the most painful, the most heartbreaking question, that of the heart that asks itself: where can I feel at home?"-The passages on Milton are exquisite as well.-The whole book is a well-rounded philosophical enterprise that touches both the heart and the mind. This is not sentimentality, as one reviewer contends (such criticisms usually come from those jaded souls who have had their hearts burnt out in grad school). It is decency...unshakable decency, according to the review by the Atlantic on the back cover of my edition. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the wherefores behind man's many different states of rebellion. It is the best and most readable I know of.The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt Overview

Want to learn more information about The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Writing Degree Zero Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Writing Degree Zero? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Writing Degree Zero. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Writing Degree Zero Review*Writing Degree Zero* is one of those 100-page books you need a 500-page book to really understand. You know you're in trouble when, like me, you find yourself having a problem fully comprehending even the `explanatory' preface. In which, by the way, Susan Sontag warns of the difficulty of the text and states that *Writing Degree Zero* serves as a kind of précis of Barthes' early views that presupposes the reader's familiarity with the literary argument of the time, specifically as it was presented in Sartre's book on the subject *What is Literature?*
That all said, there was still much that I found of interest in this slim volume. The main thrust of the argument seems to be the `impossible' dilemma inherent in the act of writing. And, by `writing,' we mean here the act at its highest level of intent. How, for instance, can the writer compose an authentic text when the very tools he's forced to use--the conventions of language and Literature--are those that belong to a tradition he had no part in choosing, let alone creating? How can he write a text socially and historically engaged in the present when this tradition is handed to him from the past? How can he avoid slipping into cliché, commercialism, and sloganistic propaganda, all pitfalls of the present, and yet still make himself understood and relevant to his time?
Barthes makes much of the distinction between speaking and writing, the former more genuine than the latter in his view, inasmuch as speech is less bound by `Order,' which is, by its very nature, always closed and authoritarian. Yet all attempts to convert the idiosyncratic, free-form rhythms and authenticity of speech into text ((as in the works of Celine)) remains, in the final analysis, when written, artifice.
What's a writer to do? Barthes advances the notion of `modes of writing,' a conscious attempt on the part of the writer to approach the act of writing by first choosing from among various strategies of presentation. He also speaks of a `neutral' manner of writing, `degree zero,' but he's quick to point out that this can also degenerate into a mere mannerism and, in its turn, become just another literary convention to escape. It seems to me that Barthes is saying that a writer is trapped, like a rat in a box, condemned to chasing its own tail. Perhaps the only possible escape is for a writer to constantly switch `modes of writing,' to invent new ones for every utterance? Well, that's my own solution, but if Barthes thought it were as simple as that, you'd think he would have said so, right?
Besides, what do I know? I think I was practically making up my own theories as I went along in trying to understand what I was reading.
Abbreviated, dense, and elusive as it might be, as intellectually handicapped as I might be, *Writing Degree Zero* is so full of intriguing insights and lines of thought that even understanding maybe one-third of it, I felt it was time well spent. It has certainly inspired me to read further into the ideas of this paradoxical theoretician.
Writing Degree Zero Overview

Want to learn more information about Writing Degree Zero?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Just Like Tomorrow Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Just Like Tomorrow? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Just Like Tomorrow. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Just Like Tomorrow ReviewFirst off, may I just say how happy I was to learn the author was 19 when she wrote this, after Kaavya Viswanathan's plagiarism was excused because of her age, as if it's impossible for a young writer to write an original story without "internalizing" half a dozen other (better) books. This is patronizing and untrue.
Anyway, (getting off my soapbox) the book is a coming of age novel about a Moroccan teenager whose father has left her and her mother, and who lives in a low income part of France. The heroine's economic situation is the polar opposite of Holden Caulfield's so her cynicism about her future doesn't come across as a pose. Things are bleak all around, but eventually, they improve for her and her mother. To tell more would be giving away too much for the book is fairly short.
The book is compulsively readable, and Doria, the heroine, is an engaging and perceptive narrator. However, there were a few flaws. When I read a novel, I expect the scenes to eventually build up to a climax, rather than just be strung together. With this book, it felt like things improved a bit, the narrator told us (rather than the author showing) that she was now more optimistic and then it ended, just like that. It felt like the author got called away for dinner mid-scene and never went back to wrap things up in a more cohesive manner. The heroine seemed to jump from pessimism to optimism rather abruptly, rather than growing progressively happier. But the reader won't begrudge her, her better fortune.
Just Like Tomorrow Overview

Want to learn more information about Just Like Tomorrow?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

The Field of Cultural Production Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Field of Cultural Production? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Field of Cultural Production. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Field of Cultural Production ReviewBourdieu's analyses of class, taste and culture are seminal and serve as a framework for deeper examination of the embeddedness of class structure in the choices of individuals.The Field of Cultural Production Overview

Want to learn more information about The Field of Cultural Production?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language Review

The Archaeology of Knowledge and The Discourse on Language

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language Review"Archaeology Of Knowledge" finds Foucault at his barest, trying to build up his own theory. Like others have said, it is fascinating to see how much he tries to encompass and how extremely difficult his own enterprise is. Foucault spends many pages trying to explain to us what he means by "discoursive formation", "object formation", "formation of concepts", etc., and the place where his own theory stands vis-à-vis a so-called "history of ideas". You can learn lots from this book, because, like myself, sometimes you get lost in Foucault's magistral writing, his fabulous way of weaving history and thus cannot clearly follow his own particular method of research. If you want to see some of his (earlier, almost stricly discourse-oriented) key concepts clarified, reading this book will prove very fruitful. As always, you're left with a lot of questions and with a distinctive feeling of "now what?". But then again, that's what's so utterly beautiful and engaging about Foucault... he forces you to think for yourself and provides you of the right tools to do it.
I read the spanish translation of this book so I can't comment on the english one, but the contents of this book are priceless.The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language Overview

Want to learn more information about The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discourse on Language?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition ReviewIt was easy to make this dictionary the default dictionary on my Kindle 1 (go to "Settings"). But it is a fairly primitive dictionary. For instance, I looked up the words in this line, "l'on effarouche son orgueil; vous le". The dictionary returned entries for "son", orgueil", "vous" and "le", but not for the word I wanted to know, "effarouche." That is because the first person singular form of the word is not in the dictionary. The infinitive, "effaroucher", is in the dictionary, however, and one can find it by doing a global search on the computer for "effaroucher". This is time consuming.
I look forward to a better dictionary (I would pay a lot for a good one), but I will use this one in the mean time.
Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition OverviewYou can set this dictionary as your default Kindle dictionary and look up words while reading. The default setting is The New Oxford American Dictionary included on your Kindle, but you have the option to change your default setting to this compatible dictionary after purchase.

Want to learn more information about Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only) ReviewMy favorite movie of all time, too see absolutely, I saw it 20 times. The music is gorgeous and unforgettable...Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only) Overview

Want to learn more information about Angelique : Integrale (5 DVD Box Set) Digitally Remastered in HI Definition (French Audio Only)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions) ReviewI've read many books that fall into the "Holocaust literature" category. This one may actually be a book that is written in a style that COULD be read by a child but should be read by adults. Whether it is suitable for children depends on how sensitive your child is- and how well you think he or she could handle some very graphic details. They aren't "graphic" in the sense of being spelled out in detail but the reader's imagination can fill in the blanks. At age 9, this book would have been far too intense for me - and the main character in this one, Bruno, is age 9.
The author used a technique which was brilliant, taking readers into the mind and thoughts of a child whose father work for the "Fury" (the Fuhrer) and who is sent to live in Out-With (Auschwitz), on the safe side of the fence, in an actual home.
The novel is labeled "a fable" and I think this was a wise choice by both author and publisher. After all, no one knows exactly how a 9 year old son of a German officer would think and young Bruno seems remarkably naive sometimes. But just as light sets off shadows more vividly, I think his exaggerated innocence allows readers to experience the horrors of Auschwitz that much more. For that reason, I don't think the accuracy of Bruno's character is all that important. The effect on the reader (THIS reader, anyway) is profound and deep.
After moving to Out-With (Auschitz) Bruno meets a boy "on the other side of the fence", one who is the same age, a lad named Schmuel. At first Bruno is envious of the boy who gets to wear striped pajamas all day and who seems to have lots of companions.
On Bruno's side there are few playmates and he doesn't realize that he has so much compared to Schmuel. There is a sudden twist in this tale and I can't write about that. I will say it is the one reason adults should read this book before sharing it with children.
The book isn't quite like any other of this type I've read, not even The Diary of Anne Frank. Each chapter has a simple headline (Bruno Makes a Discovery, Bruno Tells a Perfectly Reasonable Lie) that reads like something a child could write. So do the words of each chapter and I think the child's voice should speak to both the child and adult residing in readers. It certainly did for me!
You'll be haunted by this one. If you get the edition with a Reading Guide included, you will find all sorts of extra features, includng an interview with the author, John Boyne.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Fable. by John Boyne (Definitions)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory) ReviewIf anything, Badiou's book poses a serious challenge to the dominance of Heidegger in continental philosophy today. Philosophy can never announce its own end, the end of philosophy. Neither can philosophy pretend to lose itself in the linguistic turn, in the shift from logic and reason to poetry. Philosophy, Badiou argues, must be distinguished from sophistry. Just as Plato founded philosophy from the thralls of sophism of his age, we too must recapture the 'Platonism' of philosophy in an age of anti-Platonism. Badiou's middle course between Plato, on one hand, and the likes of Heidegger and Deleuze, on the other hand, proposes the ideal of philosophy that is not-yet and, more importantly, not reducible to extreme conclusions, i.e., the rejection of philosophy as a dead endeavor. Philosophy is not the antithesis of sophism, and in this the true opposed to the false, but Badiou contends that sophism is a necessary partner of philosophy. In this schema, philosophy must be distinguished from sophism; that is, we must uphold a conception of truth, or rather, of truths. Philosophy seeks the truth in the plural, truth as multiple but which is nevertheless truth and not relative 'truth.'
In 'Manifesto,' Badiou engages with the dominant currents of philosophy today in order to reimagine the possibility of philosophy despite the skeptics. In the anglo-american vs. continental split in contemporary philosophy, one is often left to choose two impossible alternatives: logic or poetry. In 'Manifesto' Badiou opens up another way, a way that is a return to that which has always been with us all along.Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory) Overview

Want to learn more information about Manifesto for Philosophy: Followed by Two Essays: "the (Re)Turn of Philosophy Itself" and "Definition of Philosophy" (Suny Series, Intersections, Philosophy and Critical Theory)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

CATEGORY