Passage

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As the son and grandson of physicians, Sinclair Lewis had a store of experiences and imparted knowledge to draw upon for Arrowsmith.Published in 1925, after three years of anticipation, the book follows the life of Martin Arrowsmith, a rather ordinary fellow who gets his first taste of medicine at 14 as an assistant to the drunken physician in his home town. It is Leora Tozer who makes Martin's life extraordinary. With vitality and love, she urges him beyond the confines of the mundane to risk answering his true calling as a scientist and researcher. Not even her tragic death can extinguish her spirit or her impact on Martin's life.

Book Description

Written at the height of his powers in the 1920s, the three novels in this volume continue the vigorous unmasking of American middle-class life begun by Sinclair Lewis in Main Street and Babbitt. In Arrowsmith (1925) Lewis portrays the medical career of Martin Arrowsmith, a physician who finds his commitment to the ideals of his profession tested by the cynicism and opportunism he encounters in private practice, public health work, and scientific research. The novel reaches its climax as its hero faces his greatest challenges amid a deadly outbreak of plague on a Caribbean island.

Elmer Gantry (1927) aroused intense controversy with its brutal depiction of a hypocritical preacher in relentless pursuit of worldly pleasure and power. Through his satiric exposé of American religion, Lewis captured the growing cultural and political tension in the 1920s between the forces of secularism and fundamentalism.

Dodsworth (1929) follows Sam Dodsworth, a wealthy, retired Midwestern automobile manufacturer, as he travels through Europe with his increasingly restless wife, Fran. The novel intimately explores the unraveling of their marriage, while pitting the proud heritage of European culture against the rude vigor of American commercialism.

Download Description

This concise supplement to Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith helps students understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.

Customer Reviews:

An endless zigzag.......2007-03-22

Sinclair Lewis defines Martin Arrowsmith as `a young man who was in no degree a hero, who regarded himself as a seeker of truth, yet who stumbled and slid back all his life and bogged in every obvious morass.' He is `a snuffing beagle', who in his lifespan covered in this book never was in control of his destiny.

This book touches all kind of important themes:
- Commercialism and the religion of a scientist: `Knowledge is the greatest thing in the medical world, but it's no good whatever if you can't sell it.'
- Commercialism and profession: `Explain to a patient, also his stricken and anxious family, the hard work and thought you are giving to his case, and so make him feel that the good you have done to him, is even greater than the fee you plan to charge.'
- Public v. private health system: `to get rid of avoidable diseases and produce a healthy population is killing commercialization, making money. Therefore doctors must become public health officers.'
- Psycho-analysts as guess-scientists.
- General human problems: `the cruelty of nature kicking human beings by every gay device of moonlight and white limbs into heaving babies.
- Influence of the Church on the irrationality of the masses. Its battle against free-thinking.
- Personal problems: alcoholism, marriage.
None of these themes is properly developed.

The scientific basis of this book is very poor: fighting the plague with bacteriophages.
Into the bargain, there is virtually no plot: the human relations with friends, colleagues, professors or women are more or less accidental. Also, after a far too long itinerary, the story ends abruptly.

This book is a big disappointment and can only be recommended to Sinclair Lewis fans.

At last: Sinclair Lewis writes a hero.......2007-01-18

Sinclair Lewis is the bookend to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both were born in Minnesota. Fitzgerald went to Princeton, Lewis to Yale. Both wrote their best books in the 1920s. Both drank, had women trouble, and turned bitter.

But Fitzgerald is everyone's favorite author --- even the high school kids who are clueless about metaphors swoon over "The Great Gatsby." You need an appreciation of satire to love Lewis; nobody does, and he goes unread.

It's understandable. What would you rather read --- a romantic tale about a poor boy's rise and violent death on the glittering shores of Long Island (Gatsby) or a withering take on narrow-minded life in the midwest (Main Street)? Who's more interesting --- a criminal who went to Oxford (Jay Gatsby) or a blowhard whose ambition is total conformity to soul-deadening values (George Babbitt)?

And yet. If you ask who describes America better, the more necessary writer is Sinclair Lewis. Main Street and Babbitt made his name, and most readers stop there. They shouldn't --- my wife, who once attended a one-room schoolhouse in Minnesota --- recently read "Main Street," and found it a very close description of life in our chic Manhattan neighborhood. Dodsworth --- later made into a toweringly great movie --- is as fine a love story as Fitzgerald ever dreamed up, and a lot more realistic one, at that. It Can't Happen Here is a powerful political drama with a subject that's not as far-fetched as you might think: how fascism comes to America.

And then there's Arrowsmith, which has an actual hero. Set in the midwest, it doesn't lack for satire; as Lewis depicts it, happiness in a small town seems to havbe the shelf life of about a year. And for a writer who won the Pulitzer Prize (and refused it), Lewis can write some dreadful dialogue. But the heroism thing --- that's compelling, and if you can move sprightly through the first half of the book, you'll find yourself getting excited and turning pages quickly for the right reason.

The hero is Martin Arrowsmith. We meet him in 1897, in the midwest town of Elk Mills ("a dowdy red-brick village, smelling of apples"), where he is the 14-year-old helper of the local doctor. Martin is prone to hero worship --- he sees magic in the old man's love of puttering in a lab. That ignites a dream in Martin, and so, seven years later, he's in medical school. There he falls under the spell of bacteriology professor Max Gottlieb: "tall, lean, aloof" --- and a Jew.

Gottlieb's love of science is pure; in an environment where many students and faculty think only of money, he alone seems to have ideals. Martin blossoms. But he's still a rube. He falls for a snooty graduate student in English and proposes marriage; later, he meets Leora, a nursing student, and proposes to her as well. His inept solution: to bring them together over lunch. Leora loves him more. They marry.

Leora's family is important --- in their tiny town of Wheatsylvania, North Dakota. But don't call them cultured: They lived in a house "that has a large phonograph but no books." Money talks, though. They bankroll Martin's first practice, and he settles into the life of a country doctor.

The novel is about the impossibility of "settling" --- as Martin climbs the medical ladder, he can't ignore research, his first love. He has a knack for it, and, to his delight, he's invited to join Gottlieb at a prestigious New York research institute. And now the novel kicks into high gear --- the plague has broken out in the Caribbean, and the vaccine that Arrowsmith has been working on might just be the cure.

Let me not spoil the thrill of these pages by revealing too much. Let's just say: success always comes at a price. And success doesn't always bring people what they most want. "Arrowsmith" is a book about the forces that fight to dominate us. As Lewis has it, that fight never ends.

"Arrowsmith" is smart about the world of research, and drug companies, and the modest ambitions of many men and women in white coats. It is also about the love of knowledge and the desire to heal; it gets the blood pumping. My brother --- one of our best AIDS researchers --- tells me that "Arrowsmith" is the book that made him decide to study medicine. Long before page 450, I could see why.

Not Bad but Not Great Either.......2006-10-16

The book traces the life of Martin Arrowsmith from his college days as a medical student through various careers ending with Martin in his mid-40's. The main themes of the book seem to be about the pursuit of money vs. the pursuit of science and about the character flaws of many research scientists and medical practitioners.

What's good about the book is that the plot is pretty interesting. I kept wanting to know what would happen next and how it would all turn out. Unfortunately, the ending wasn't so great. I end up agreeing with another reviewer that after the part on St. Hubert's island (about 3/4 of the way through) the rest is pretty dull--at least in comparison.

The main problem with the book is that the characters are one-dimensional, especially the female supporting characters. The main character, Martin, is too cold, heartless, and selfish to really get behind even though I don't think Lewis intended it. He marries two women during the course of the book. The first one, Leora, is a boring little dishrag. As for the second wife, I didn't see the point of introducing her so late in the book since she didn't really seem to motivate any purpose or action, other than Martin's continued heartlessness in leaving her and their son. However, since she was pretty much just a rich society type with no real personality or apparent goodness, I didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for her and the kid was like a non-entity so I didn't get too worked up about him either. I could go on, but that's the main problem with the book --- no characters that I could care about.

Recommended.......2006-07-21

I read below that several reviewers didn't appreciate this story even though it won a Pulitzer Prize. It may be true that some parts of the story are alittle drawn out. The "cure" for that is to perhaps "skip ahead" when the book is slow. But, the "good parts" are very "good" in that the themes are important subjects such as the evils of "materialism", the evils of "making money" at all costs, specifically the "bad" practice of doctors who are "in it just for the money", the importance of science and doing science to obtain "truth"----not for fame or monetary gain. See, these and other topics in the book are IMPORTANT TOPICS for our society and our culture. Thus, the book is deserving of it's Pulitzer Prize even though it may be a longish book. There is wit and humor in this book which make it easier to read and enjoy than if these qualities didn't exist. But, if you don't expect the book to be totally fascinating on every page, I think you'll enjoy the book and you'll eventually see the relevance and importance of this classic book. Just skip a few pages now and then and you'll be fine. I "read" this book as a book on tape. Email:boland7214@aol.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.......2006-07-19

Lewis, in Arrowsmith, drew on his family's medical connections (his father, grandfather, older brother and an uncle were all physicians); his boyhood home in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, also served as his father's office, so he must have seen plenty of medicine in action. As others have described, we see the career of a man from boyhood to his early forties, as he transforms from general practitioner to research bacteriologist. Observations:
1). the character types described in medical school (students and faculty), small city medical practice and research facility
are uncannily true to form (my experience as physician), more so than can be attributed solely to hearing about it from one's relatives or informants (in Lewis's case, Dr. Morris Fishbein and
bacteriologist/science writer Paul de Kruif) - a mark of Lewis's
genius as an author.
2). Sinclair Lewis, as usual, has a tin ear for colloquial dialogue.
3). Arrowsmith is doomed, in each of his employments, by his perfectionism - others, who know better how to compromise, urge him to stay on and even how to do it, but his usual response is
"I'm licked!" and on to the next. His one true interest - bacteriological research - endures and grows and eventually pushes any humanity out of his life. Even his penultimate experience in combatting plague on a West Indian island is regretted, not for the death of his loyal wife, but because he compromised the scientific method in how he administered the bacteriophage therapy. In the end, his second wife and son are turned away for a monastic-like life in the wilds.
4). If this is an heroic character - and Lewis is on record as saying he thought so - then it says something about the author. There seems to be a lot of Sinclair Lewis in Martin Arrowsmith - both keen, but heartless, observers - and indeed, there are several parallels between the two - the weakness Arrowsmith has for the bottle at various stages, his scorn for religion and its practitioners, and his womanizing, for example. (Lewis was an alcoholic and was twice divorced). Lewis elsewhere has been described as a proto-feminist, but any sympathy he has for the female gender is a little like Marx's sympathy for the working class - more in theory than in practice (which may be said about feminism in general). The truly pathetic character in this novel is Dr. Arrowsmith's first wife, who sacrifices her own life and sticks to him in spite of his selfishness - and who winds up buried in a backyard on some fetid Caribbean island. Lewis and his hero both seem to try to develop some sympathy for her, without much success.
5). Lewis was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, but refused it. Evidence is that at least part of the basis for this was that he was miffed over the failure of Main Street and Babbitt to win it.

Alcestis (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

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The closest thing we have to a Greek satyr play
Offer you this treat!

Alcestis (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)
Euripides
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195061667

Book Description

At once a vigorous translation of one of Euripides' most subtle and witty plays, and a wholly fresh interpretation, this version reveals for the first time the extraordinary formal beauty and thematic concentration of the Alcestis. William Arrowsmith, eminent classical scholar, translator, and General Editor of this highly praised series, rejects the standard view of the Alcestis as a psychological study of the egotist Admetos and his naive but devoted wife. His translation, instead, presents the play as a drama of human existence--in keeping with the tradition of Greek tragedy--with recognizably human characters who also represent masked embodiments of human conditions. The Alcestis thus becomes a metaphysical tragicomedy in which Admetos, who has heretofore led a life without limitations, learns to "think mortal thoughts." He acquires the knowledge of limits--the acceptance of death as well as the duty to live--which, according to Euripides, makes people meaningfully human and capable of both courage and compassion. This new interpretation compellingly argues that, for Euripides, suffering humanizes, that exemption makes a man selfish and childish, and that only the courage to accept both life and death leads to the realization of one's humanity, and, in the case of Alcestis, to heroism.

Customer Reviews:

The closest thing we have to a Greek satyr play.......2003-02-03

"Alcestis" is the oldest surviving play of Euripides, although he had been writing tragedies for almost twenty years when it was written. Apparently it ws the fourth play in a tetralogy, taking the place of the ribald satyr play which traditionally followed a series of three tragedies. Consequently, this play has more of a burlesque tone, best represented in the drunken speech of Heracles to the butler and his teasing of Admetus at the end. So while "Alcestis" is a tragedy, it does offer up an unusal happy ending.

In Greek mythology Alcestis was the daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetus, an Argonaut and the king of Pherae. In Western literature Alcestis is the model wife, for when her husband is to die she alone agrees to die in his place. However, the key in this drama is how Admetus finds this sacrifice totally acceptable. Admetus is represented as a good and honorable man, but then his ethos is established in this play by the god Apollo in the opening scene, and even though it was written later it is hard not to remember the expose Euripides did on the god of truth in "Ion." Euripides adds a key twist in that Alcestis agrees to the sacrifice before she fully understands that her husband will suffer without her. She is brought back from the underworld by Heracles and restored to her relieved husband, but the play clearly characterizes Admetus as a selfish man and it is this view that other writers have imitated every since.

The story of Alcestis has been addressed by more modern writers from Chaucer and Milton to Browning and Eliot. The sacrifice of Alcestis has also been the subject of several operas. "Alcestis" is not a first rate play by Euripides, but it does represent both his cynicism and his attempt to make the audience confront the problematic elements of its belief system. So while I would not teach "Alcestis" by itself, in conjunction with other play by Euripides, specifically "Ion," it can definitely have value in class.

Offer you this treat!.......1998-09-02

Alcestis was the first Greek tragedy I read, and it is still the one I love most, though Ajax and both Iphigenias are tough competitors. Heracles, a.k.a. Hercules, accepts hospitality at a home where, unknown to him, the housewife, Alcestis, is being mourned. He drinks and raises hell (the pun will be noticed by he who reads the play!). Informed of the tragedy, much embarrassed, he decides to add a new task to his tight schedule: bringing back the lady. This is a tragedy that ends well. Actually, it runs well all the time, being one of the greatest creation of human imagination.

Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Birds; The Clouds; The Frogs; Lysistrata (Meridian Classics)

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Inexpensive and very okay
Great Ancient Greek Political Parodies
Get on the right page
ancient Greek comedy at its best
Great Student Edition

Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Birds; The Clouds; The Frogs; Lysistrata (Meridian Classics)
Aristophanes
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452007178

Book Description

This volume features four celebrated masterpieces: Lysistrata, The Frogs, The Assembly-Women, and Plutus (Wealth), all in new translations by the distinguished poet and translator Paul Roche.

Customer Reviews:

Inexpensive and very okay.......2006-09-27

Roche's Signet Classic "Four Plays by Aristophanes" provides good contemporary translations of Lysistrata, The Frogs, A Parliament of Women, and Plutus. On the negative side, the renderings are not terrifically inspired. The paper is too pulpy for a "classic," but that's a drawback of most (though not all) inexpensive classics nowadays. My printing of Roche, however, is not thick or blotchy, though I've noticed the Signet Classics sometimes tend in that direction.

Gone are the days, evidently, when the pages of a Signet Classic always looked crisp and stayed bright for decades. I've got some from the '60s that still look good.

Roche's introduction and notes to these four plays are brief but solid.

Great Ancient Greek Political Parodies.......2005-01-06

I should first point out that I read a different edition of this book, and the one that I had had only two plays - The Birds and The Frogs. I will review only these two. Aristophanes has a "no holds barred" type of approach to controversial political decisions and actions. The Birds is a comedy that ridicules the disastrous Greek expedition to Sicily in 413 B.C. Arisotophanes is a wonderful writer and he uses similes and parables throughout his writing. Besides being comedic, The Birds pays tribute to man's eternal desire to achieve the freedom and beauty associated with birds.
The Frogs is a parody on the stupidy and culpability of persons afflicted with their own preoccupation with themselves. We see these types of "puffed up" personalities all around even in this day and age. So like the frogs we hear in our ponds and marshes chirping the same old songs. This is acually as timely as it was when it was written sometime around 400 B.C. Hard to believe.

Get on the right page.......2004-08-25

The reviews attached here seem to refer to another collection by another translator--the Arrowsmith edition, apparently. Instead of "Clouds" we have two lesser plays--"Parliament of Women" and "Wealth." The translation's lively, the notes very helpful, the glossary mentioned in other reviews is absent here. All in all, a very useful introduction to Aristophanes, and endless fun.

ancient Greek comedy at its best.......2004-04-05

Aristophanes was to theatre what Socrates was to religion and politics--the funny, irreverent "bad boy." My favorite of these 4 plays has to be "The Clouds", which is in fact a parody mocking and making fun of Socrates (spelled or mis-spelled Sokrates). Very funny dialogue.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Great Student Edition.......2002-10-31

This book is physically constructed like a student edition -- i.e., cheaply. The paper is cheap and thick, the ink thick and sometimes blotchy, with that great newspaper smell. If you're looking for a lovely edition of Aristophanes to sit on the mantle with your nice books, this is not.

The text is also organized like a student edition. The translations are great, lively, readable and fun. Each of the four plays is followed by a commentary, with textual and contextual explanation (pointing out Greek jokes that couldn't be translated, explaining Athenian politics, etc.). The back of the book is a glossary of names, places and institutions. The aids are clear and very helpful, especially for first time readers.

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A Burlesque Satire

The arbiter of style and a certain dork genius.

Just because it's ancient doesn't mean it's any good

Do we really understand it?

Do we really understand it?

The Satyricon (Meridian Classics)
Petronius , and Seneca
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452010055

Customer Reviews:

A Burlesque Satire.......2005-03-02

Petronius' Satyricon is a unique satire on decadence and pleasure. Although the story takes place during Nero's reign, one begins to see that many of the scenes have relevance to today's society and its own debaucheries.

The story follows the adventures of Aschyltus and Encolpio; two rhetoricians who are on an infinite quest for pleasure. Their frienship is challenged by their mutual attraction to Giton, a scoundrelous slave-boy who seems to have more wits and vices than all of the other characters. This triad of debauches is also joined by Emolpus, a trickster and pseudo-intellectual who's always scheming on how he can use his sophistry to hit the jack pot. The most memorable scene in the fragmentary work is Trimalchio's dinner; this chapter surprisingly brings the ancient past closer to modern times in its recital of the characters' casual conversations on money, opportunism, business, and, of course, pleasure.

Although some readers have complained that Arrowsmith's translation isn't faithful to some of the Latin terms, the truth is (as is the case with any other foreign works) that some of the words don't have a counterpart in the English language (or any other modern language.) It is therefore the duty of the translator to use his poetic licence in conjuring the best phrase or sentence that can convey the theme or jist of the statement in question. I personally found this translation the most faithful in trying to convey the type of low-brow humor and puns that Petronius seems to have intended in his work. I strongly recommend this translation above other for that reason.

The arbiter of style and a certain dork genius........2005-01-14

First of all the title. Do not be tempted to believe it comes from the word "satura", meaning medley. Very little of the book survives and no one is in the position to state that the book is a medley of stories. Certainly, if any inferences can be made, they would point the reader in the opposite direction since the story, as we have it so far, follows Encolpius, Ascyltos and Giton throughout. The title is more likely a reference to Satyr tales, a form of early entertainment. This makes a lot more sense, especially when one realizes that Satyrs usually accompanied Dionysus, the god of wine and all around party animal. If you remember that satyrs generally represent the untamed and orgiastic lust for life the book will start to make a lot more sense.

The Satyricon was written in...I guess early late antiquity? (60 AD or so) and apparently very little of it survives intact but the one part that has done so is the one that describes dinner at Trimalchio's house, a dinner which finds some of our protagonists guests at a feast. There is a very good essay on this piece in Erich Aurebach's "Mimesis" entitled "Fortunata" and the serious reader is encouraged to read it :)

The subtitle of "Mimesis" is "The Representation of Reality in Western Literature" and Auerbach picked Petronius' work precisely because the arbiter of style was uncommonly well tuned to the way everyday people acted and talked. Think of him, if you will, as an early Mark Twain or Ricky Gervais and you won't be too far off the mark.

There are numerous reviews of The Satyricon on amazon.com and the majority of them do a perfectly good job of encapsulating the story for you so I won't bother with that job. Instead, I will deal with a certain "Dark Genius" who wrote a horrendous review of this book.

First of all, he refers to Petronius as "Polonius". That's crime numero uno. Second of all, he "was troubled by the translator's numerous admissions at having sacrificed the original Latin for today's English". Even donkey handlers might imagine that certain terms are completely impossible to translate but apparently "Dork Genius" does not. That's crime number two.

He further complains that "The largest whole section describes a banquet held by a rich former slave; the incredible ostentatiousness of the proceedings is matched only by its overtly perverse sexual nature. This text eventually overwhelmed my desire to interpret it as a product of its age. While the jokes are not funny and the satire is too obscure for my true understanding and doubtful appreciation, the constant dirty jokes and sexual references quite sabotaged the story for me."

Good God, there are so many idiotic comments in that paragraph that one might devote voluminous tomes towards dealing with them. "Perverse sexual nature"? Perhaps "Dork Genius" should put down his copy of "George Bush's Faith" (yes he reviewed it and gave it 5 stars) and move beyond a Christian reading of a non Christian work. If the satire is too obscure why is his appreciation for it in doubt? My suggestion would be if it's too obscure, a book on Petronius or Nero would've enlightened him but he's been busy reading Ann Coulter and reviewing her "book" to the tune of 5 stars instead.

Lastly, and this is only because I grow tired of wasting time on this "Dark Genius", the careful reader would have noticed a couple of things right off the bat: When one sees the name of the work, Satyricon, one hopefully realizes that they'll be reading something not at all serious and probably suggestive or sexual in nature. "Dark Genius" does not and as a result breaks Petronius' rule which warns that prudes need not apply as critics.

On the other hand when one comes across a review in which Stephen King's "The Stand" is compared to "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" (yes, "dork genius" actually does this) one should expect an unprecedented amount of stupidity. But what else can one expect from a person who gives "The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection" a five star review and Petronius' Satyricon a two star review? The end of the world perhaps?

Just because it's ancient doesn't mean it's any good.......2002-07-14

Having run across this singular work for the first time, I imagined that it would be as funny as the jacket described and less raunchy than I expected. I was completely wrong. In fairness to the text, it is woefully incomplete, consisting mainly of fragments from some of its later volumes. Some call this the first novel, and it must have been incredibly lengthy in its original state. What we have today is the story of a unwholesome youth who obsesses in his love for his homosexual lover Giton but engages in general ribaldry with all sorts of men (and sometimes even women). At some point in the tale, he is cursed with impotence (although the story never describes conditions of this type in any sort of subdued language) and bewails his constant state of bad luck and persecution while seeking a cure for his condition. Because even this existing text is fragmented, the story is sometimes hard to follow due to gaping holes in the narrative. The largest whole section describes a banquet held by a rich former slave; the incredible ostentatiousness of the proceedings is matched only by its overtly perverse sexual nature. This text eventually overwhelmed my desire to interpret it as a product of its age. While the jokes are not funny and the satire is too obscure for my true understanding and doubtful appreciation, the constant dirty jokes and sexual references quite sabotaged the story for me.

I was troubled by the translator's numerous admissions at having sacrificed the original Latin for today's English. While I understand his desire to make the work readable and understandable to a modern audience, I would much prefer to have a more literal translation--if for no other reason than to know whether the juvenile references contained herein date back to Polonius or to the modern translator. While Rome itself can certainly not be judged by one satirical work, this book does succeed in casting a shadow of immorality on the ancient Romans. I really cannot recommend this book. Even those seeking prurient pleasures and nothing else will be disappointed.

Do we really understand it?.......2002-03-13

We're talking of a fragmentary text of a "novel" that's been written almost 2000 years ago. Are we sure we understand it correctly? We know the vulgarity and the flashy mawkishness of Trimalchio... what if for the sensibility of the era it was somewhat amended by religious piety? Is Giton a mere toyboy or a cynical example of opportunistic selfishness? Is Encolpion an image of just punishment for luxury or a hopeless lover? And Eumolpus... obnoxius bad poet, reckless trickster,heredity chaser(a common theme, compare Horatius and Lucian) what of him? Maybe,at the end, Petronius identified whit him, who lived every day of its life as if it's been the last.

Do we really understand it?.......2002-03-13

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you never sent this item to me
Cool fashion book
Very helpful & informative
stylist supreme

Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue
Peter Lindbergh , Bruce Weber , and Michael Roberts
Manufacturer: Edition 7L
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 3882438185
Release Date: 2002-09-02

Book Description

Grace Coddington's celebration of fashion has danced along its cutting edge for over 30 years. Abandoning a highly lucrative career as a leading model on the 60s London scene, alongside such swinging contemporaries as Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy, Coddington signed on in 1968 as a junior fashion editor at British Vogue. She quickly established herself on the other side of the camera, coordinating photo shoots with David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon, and the eccentric Guy Bourdin. A close working relationship with royal photographer Norman Parkinson produced a series of startlingly vibrant location shoots that have come to be considered classics. At British Vogue, Coddington also introduced the sweeping narrative epic, a familiar feature of her work nowadays at American Vogue, where she has been creative director for the past 14 years. GRACE: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue is not only a collection of Coddington's greatest work, it is a visual reminiscence of her life in fashion.

Customer Reviews:

you never sent this item to me.......2006-07-31

I ordered this, along with another book. You shipped the other book and cancelled my order for this book, which was the book I really wanted. I'm not happy with the ordering process on this item and cannot comment on the book since I've never actually seen it.

Cool fashion book.......2003-07-17

This book is cool. Vogue is definitely the place to see all the latest and greatest fashion trend and the art of photograhing and show them.

Very helpful & informative.......2003-04-07

I just recently purchase this book, at a time when I was getting a bit discourage as a stylist. It helped me to realize that there are good days and bad days and to keep my head up! I believe that the book chosed me at that very moment. It is very helpful in terms of preparation for production shoots. Also informative in knowing the different ways each photographer preps and how Mrs. Coddington binds with each photographer's concepts. I have had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Coddington as a model, and I can confirm that she is a down to earth person which makes one feel comfortable when working for her. Thank you for sharing your 30 yrs!

stylist supreme.......2003-01-31

Grace: Thirty years of fashion in Vogue is a delightful collection of some of the most memorable and influential fashion photographs since the nineteen seventies.....all of them touched by the imaginative and chic eye of super stylist and editor Grace Coddington. The range of fashion fantasies is impressive. From the tough erotic chic of helmut newton, whimsical femininity of sarah moon on thru the joyful, innocent sexiness of bruce weber, Miss coddington helps each image become something entertaining and memorable. The printing is terrific , layouts are elegant , plus, perfectly boxed in a delicious and very chic pumpkin. Well worth it's luxe weight....

Average customer rating:

Excellent Introduction to the Subject
Excellent focus on what is important

An Introduction to Dynamical Systems
D. K. Arrowsmith , and C. M. Place
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Chaos & Systems | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0521316502

Book Description

Largely self-contained, this is an introduction to the mathematical structures underlying models of systems whose state changes with time, and which therefore may exhibit "chaotic behavior." The first portion of the book is based on lectures given at the University of London and covers the background to dynamical systems, the fundamental properties of such systems, the local bifurcation theory of flows and diffeomorphisms and the logistic map and area-preserving planar maps. The authors then go on to consider current research in this field such as the perturbation of area-preserving maps of the plane and the cylinder. The text contains many worked examples and exercises, many with hints. It will be a valuable first textbook for senior undergraduate and postgraduate students of mathematics, physics, and engineering.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Introduction to the Subject.......2001-05-24

covers most important areas of the subject with a clear yet rigorous approach. Advanced text better suited for graduate students in applied math. It promises as a must for anyone serious about the subject

Excellent focus on what is important.......1997-11-29

Dynamical systems is a vast subject to which no single book can provide an adequate introduction, but the authors do an excellent job of focusing on what is important and avoiding the temptation to go off on enticing tangents. Their treatment is clear, and this book is highly recommended for any student seeking a solid foundation for further work.

Average customer rating:

"Rationalists, materialists, be forewarned: ...
A whimsical guide for the casual explorer of fairy
A charming work

A Field Guide to the Little People
Nancy Arrowsmith
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People

ASIN: 0809044501

Customer Reviews:

"Rationalists, materialists, be forewarned: ..........2004-06-21

... the ancient, actual international forces governing earthly incident and momentum lie neither in our heads nor our economics but, rather, in the revelations from A Field Guide to the Little People." -The New York Times
Yes, I think that quote does some justice to the spirit of this book. This book has been out of print for some time, but it is readily available and I highly recommend it for your children- if you want them to grow up twisted and warped and living in fear of the dark hours just before dawn when night elves dressed in fresh corpses and demons riding blind and deformed chickens roam the country side! I have a special attachment to this book, since it was given as gift to my mother when she was pregnant with me, and I grew up reading the short paragraph-length stories contained within it.
There is a great deal of fodder for nightmares here and the art work in this book is especially haunting. Heinz Edelmann's drawings are far from simplistic, his imagery is dark and unsettling in an indescribable way. His gnarly, tortured lines are reminiscent of Alfred Kubin or Gunter Brus.
Also, consider this: the little people here are portrayed as imperfect and cruel and most of the little tales are about child murder, rape, decapitation, murder of pregnant women, greed, lust, senseless evil, and so on, written in a sober and almost detached manner. So, rationalists, materialists- and anyone who is particularly squeamish- be forewarned.

A whimsical guide for the casual explorer of fairy.......2003-01-23

When I first began to look for books to fuel my fascination with fairies, this was the first book I explored. It was entertaining, informative and perfect for an introductory to the beings and personalities of fairy. With a clever lightness of description, Arrowsmith covers fairy beings from all over the world. She writes of the importance of elves and other little people throughout Europe. "Until a few centuries ago, elves still held a position in the folklore of Europe second only to the Devil and Christ."

In this guide, arranged like a traditional field guide to flowers or birds, Arrowsmith introduces us to seventy-nine inhabitants of fairy, each with appropriate notes for identification and habitat. She organizes them as light, dark and dusky elves, according to temperament and inclination. The drawings, simple pen and ink style renditions, are simple and humorous. I was particularly impressed by her use of endnotes and a fairly extensive bibliography, although many of her entries are in German or Italian. Another helpful feature is her index of names that cross-references to the rest of the book.

If you're looking for a solid, basic book about fairies of many lands, this is a great choice. Although her work is broad and varied, it's written with much fun and a love for all the little people. For me, this small book was a gateway to years of reading, discussion and discovery. I hope it can do the same for you.

A charming work.......1999-01-17

Is this a work of scholarship, a trip down memory (or nightmare) lane, or a true field guide? I leave you to be the judge, but this book is an absolute delight. I picked it up when it first came out in hardcover many and many a year ago and have been known to pick it up (still) two or three times a month and read a selection. The entries are short and most are crosss-referenced; in addition, there is a decent bibliography if you wish to keep going in your studies. If you like faeries, don't miss out on this book, but then also remember to leave the Good Folk a little something, just so they stay pleasant.

So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms (Arrowsmith, Book 1)

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Graphic SF Reader
Fascinating Fantastical Alternate History, With a Few Problems
When will we ever learn?
Exceptional historical fantasy novel
Spectacular!

So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms (Arrowsmith, Book 1)
Kurt Busiek , and Carlos Pacheco
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401202993

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

I didn't really care for this. This is a story about a young man going to war and thinking there will be glory involved. There isn't, just a lot of death, destruction and a lot of dragons, elementals, pixies, fairies and other supernatural weapons of mass destruction to be found. An anti-war fantasy story, if you like.

Fascinating Fantastical Alternate History, With a Few Problems.......2007-08-08

Busiek is one of the great masters of the comics medium - the writer of Marvels as well as Astro City, he can incisively dissect the superhero genre and make art out of it at the same time; his recent work on Dark Horse's Conan series is not to be missed either. In Arrowsmith, Busiek takes a look at World War I and puts a Harry Turtledove twist to it - what if the Triple Entente and the Allied Powers had magic in their arsenol as well as Maxim guns and mustard gas?

From this concept comes So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms, a tale of an alternate earth where the territorial lines are drawn differently - the U.S. is called "Columbia," and much of North American seems to have remained in the hands of the Spanish; across the Atlantic, Europe is separated into the linenesses of its pre-modern feudal states and empires. However, their alliances have remained the same. With the war already in full swing (and the armies enlisting everything from trolls to zombies to werewolves to giants to fight alongside the human combatants) a young Columbian enlists with a magical fighter squad in Europe to help stem the tide of slaughter. However, as young Arrowsmith soon discovers, war is never black and white.

The real fun of Arrowsmith is in how Busiek takes the familiar conventions of World War I and reinterprets them with a modern fantasy bent - this is similar to a "steampunk" concept in a way, but not overly so. A modern war in which sorceries are used side-by-side with bayonets is an intriguing idea. However, while this is an interesting romp, the tale lacks the pop and impact that it might have had - the real connection we make is not with any of the characters but with this brave new world that Busiek has created (more's the pity). However, there are certain parts (most especially the chilling realization that overtakes the reader at the end of Chapter Two) that truly strike deep. Carlos Pacheco's art is fully up to the task of putting Busiek's story on paper (although his style comes a bit too close to charicature for me), and the inking and coloring are well done. Overall, comic fans looking for a little something different, or WWI/alternate history buffs looking to expand their horizons, would do well to give Arrowsmith a try. I'm just disappointed that more volumes haven't yet come out...

When will we ever learn?.......2007-04-19

It may be the same old story of how an innocent learns the horrors of war, but no matter how many times we're told the tale, we are no closer to fixing one of the myriad problems of the human condition. But that's not through any lack of effort on the parts of Messrs. Busiek, Pacheco, et al. Brilliantly imagined and illuminated, the characters are retheal in their responses to war's insanity, culminating in a primal compulsion to reassert the validity of life. The magic tech is intriguing and lovingly realized in charming ways. Those who enjoy Busiek's other work, especially the ASTRO CITY oeuvre, will find much to love here as will readers of Linda Medley, Peter David, the BIG BANG comics, even the alternative history fantasies of Harry Turtledove and Guy Gavriel Kay.

Exceptional historical fantasy novel.......2006-08-03

The high concept is easy and powerful: what if World War 1 was fought with magic and not science. Oceanliners become powered by magic instead of steam, werewolves and vampires stalk the battelfields, and wizards concoct new more dangerous spells in a desperate attempt to gain advantage. Everything familiar becomes new. If that isn't enough, the writer and artist create a compelling buildingsroman as nascent hero Fletcher Arrowsmith learns how fleeting human life and its aspirations can be during war. It's exciting. It's vibrant. It's exceptionally made by a great writer and artist. This is the bee's knees for a graphic novel. I hope more books are produced in the near future.

Spectacular!.......2006-07-23

I think that perhaps the folks who are complaining about the "clichés" or "stereotypes" found in Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco wonderful series Arrowsmith might be missing the point. Busiek has made a name for himself by revisiting classic stories and ideas and giving them a fresh look. Keep in mind that he helped start a comics imprint called "Homage Comics."

With Arrowsmith, Busiek takes the classic "fresh-faced boy goes off to war to fight the good fight and make a difference, while along the way learning about life, love, death, and the true nature of war" story and gives it a thorough shaking. First, the world that Fletcher Arrowsmith inhabits is quite similar to ours, but history is somewhat different. A map showing the United States of Columbia, Gallia, and Prussia is one indication that things are not quite what we're used to. Additionally, this is a world where magic and the mundane exist side by side. The scene where a New York City street bustles with activity as humans, trolls, dwarves, and other fantastic creatures go about their daily business illustrates this particular twist quite well. Finally, while this is very much a World War I story, the trappings have very much been altered. Gruesome battles still claim young lives by the thousands, but instead of traditional chemical weapons, the armies employ magical weapons that vampirize soldiers or incinerate entire towns. And the men of the Overseas Aero Corps are hotshot aerial fighters, but instead of flying planes, they're flying through the air with the aid of magical dragons.

When you add these twists to a classic story, and factor in Busiek's talent for showing the humanity of even the most "stereotypical" of characters, you have something really special. It doesn't hurt that Carlos Pacheco's artwork is nothing short of breathtaking. His vivid style works just as well for a World War I epic fantasy as it does a sprawling superhero saga, and establishes the look and feel of the period as effectively as any artist I've seen since Paul Smith's work on the Golden Age.

All told, I was extremely pleased with Arrowsmith. I had high hopes given the creators involved, and was not disappointed. Arrowsmith should appeal to fans of Busiek's other work, particularly the acclaimed Astro City, and is a series that fans of quality comic books should take a chance on.

Average customer rating:

best translations of Aristophanes available
Good selections of comedies

Three Comedies (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)
Aristophanes
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greek & Roman | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0472061534

Book Description

Contains The Birds, The Clouds, and The Wasps

Customer Reviews:

best translations of Aristophanes available.......2003-09-22

Although I don't read Greek (yet--I'm working on it) I'm pretty familiar with Latin/Greek classics of all kinds in translation, and when I consider buying something new, I always check with expert classical scholars for advice & discussion--either from my alma mater, or at loxias@classicspage.com, an excellent site for those interested in the subject. The consensus is that Arrowsmith is the best with Aristophanes--he has also highly regarded transl ations of Satyricon (a fascinating and hilarious novel fragment) and several of the Tragedies originally published in the Chicago University Press series, now by Random House. So why only 4 stars? Because, frustratingly, the 3 editions of Aristophanes translated by him duplicate 2 of the plays in another!-Anyhow, others translated by Barrett & Sommerstein are worth looking at. Also "Socrates and Aristophanes" by Leo Strauss, and a book on Aristophanes' Comedy by Kenneth J Dover--and finally the article on A. in the Oxford Classical Dictionary--an indispensable reference book.

Good selections of comedies.......2000-05-03

Aristophanes is undoubtedly one of the greatest playwrights that has ever walked on the face of this Earth. The 3 comedies presented in this book are The Birds, The Clouds, and The Wasps. Among the best of the comedies is The Clouds, which is pretty much a scathing satire on the philosophical beliefs of Socrates. Not only is it humorous, but also shows the flaws of Socratic ideas. It is interesting to note the comedic devices that are used in the stories. The satire is hilarious!

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