Waiting for the Barbarians: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)From previous reviews on this page I'm convinced many readers did not read the same novel I did. As a South African I might have had priviledged access to a state of mind, but this novel soars above even such limitations. It is a masterpiece. It has haunted me with its power and subtlety for years. I first read it as a student, and have re-visited it twice since. Few books have affected me in quite the same way. Sometimes I open a chapter just to be inspired by the simplicity and elegance of the prose. Not a word wasted. To peel away the layers of meaning - civilization, barbarians, cruelty, love, impotence - seems unnecessary. I've always read it as a poem, thrilling at the powerful undertow of meaning.

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These deluxe editions are packaged with French flaps, acid-free paper, and rough front. "A real literary event."--The New York Times Book Review"A story of profound beauty, clarity and eloquence, which even at its most melodramatic holds to a biblical nobility."--Chicago Tribune Book WorldOther Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century:The Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia MarquezThe Adventures of Augie March by Saul BellowThe Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James JoyceSwann's Way by Marcel ProustMy Antonia by Willa CatherOn the Road by Jack KerouacWhite Noise by Don DeLillo--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Abriendo Puertas = Always We Begin Again - Antologia de literatura en espanol Tomo I (Spanish Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book along with "Tomo I" are without a doubt the AP Spanish Lit Exam. I had both books during the last school year and 4 of the featured stories in the books appeared on the MC section and another 4 appeared on the free response section. Bottom line if you are looking to take AP Spanish Lit exam this is the book for you. In addition it is a great read for anyone who is wants to start reading Spanish literature. The books feature a variation of authors from all of Mexico, South and Central America, and Spain. Stories come with a brief biography of the author and provide some background of the writers. In addition colloquial phrases and complex words are defined in the same page they are printed and are marked with numbers making them easy to find in the story and list. In short I really liked this book and recommend it to anyone taking the AP Lit exam or interested in Spanish literature.
-Alex

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El señor presidente Review

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(More customer reviews)I read this great book by Miguel Angel Asturias a few years ago. It is set in the beautiful yet corrupt country of Guatemala, where justice is rarely done. The book is masterfully written by Guatemala's best know author and nobel prize winner, Miguel Angel Asturias. I definitely recomend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining and revealing look at Guatemala's former political and social situation, one that can still be seen in many countries of the world.

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One night, a personal friend of the President is assassinated. Who will pay for the crime: the guilty or the innocent? It hardly seems to matter in this Latin America republic, where the evil power of the President affects everyone.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Selected Poems (Tagore, Rabindranath) (Penguin Classics) Review

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(More customer reviews)Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the outstanding Bengali poet, literateur and humanist (and Asia's first Nobel Laureate in 1913), is scarcely read outside his native Bengal because only a small fraction of his works have been translated from Bengali into English or indeed into other languages. English translations were those done by Tagore himself and by a few Bengali literary scholars well-versed in English. The arrival of Dr William Radice on the scene of Bengali scholarship in the early eighties brought in a current of fresh air. Here was an Englishman admiring Tagore and translating him! In this book, Radice applies his deep perception of Tagore in putting together a bouquet, as it were, redolent with the exotic fragrance of Tagoreana. No single collection can ever do justice to Tagore, and this one doesn't either. However, it does give the English-knowing reader a vivid glimpse of Tagore's amazing creativity. Radice has done a good job of choosing competent translators who have applied their hearts to the task -- Tagore is so subtle that it is enormously difficult to translate him! This book is strongly recommended for readers of all nationalities.

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The poems of Rabindranath Tagore are among the most haunting and tender in Indian and world literature, expressing a profound and passionate human yearning. His ceaselessly inventive works deal with such subjects as the interplay between God and mortals, the eternal and the transient, and the paradox of an endlessly changing universe that is in tune with unchanging harmonies. Poems such as "Earth" and "In the Eyes of a Peacock" present a picture of natural processes unaffected by human concerns, while others, as in "Recovery—14," convey the poet's bewilderment about his place in the world. And exuberant works such as "New Rain" and "Grandfather's Holiday" describe Tagore's sheer joy at the glories of nature or simply in watching a grandchild play.

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The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats Review

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(More customer reviews)There isn't much question whether Yeats was a great poet, just where on the all time great list he falls. Whether you call him the greatest poet of the 20th century, or the greatest since Wordsworth, Milton or Shakespeare, his accomplishments are clear.
Beyond that, why should anyone buy this edition as opposed to any of the other available? First, the collected poems gives you a sense of his development and interests, not just the highlights of his greates poems. Second, and more importantly, this edition is well-annotated. The notes are thorough without being unduly interpretive--they tell you what an allusion refers to, not how it affects the meaning of the poem. The notes aim to be useful to any reader, regardless of background. As a result, western readers will come across odd sounding notes such as "Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity" or "Hamlet is the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name." Still, you'll be thankful for such prosaic entries as they explain Irish myth and locate historical allusions. All in all, it's an edition that belongs on any poetry lover's shelf.

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In Our Time Review

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(More customer reviews)In Our Time is a great collection of Ernest Hemingway's early short stories, which he wrote when he was at his peak as a writer. I love the way he uses simple descriptions and dialogue to narrate them, giving a more natural feel to the stories. You can see his tough writing style beginning to show already at this point of his career. Most parts will be confusing to the novice reader because Hemingway really wants you to infer what the stories are about - he will not go right out and tell you. There really is no single theme to this whole book, but it basically shows how life was back in the 1920's. Many of Hemingway's works were based on his own experiences in life, which is very interesting. "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" was based on the author's own father, who was, in Hemingway's mind, a coward. "Soldier's Home" is an excellent story of a distressed soldier coming home from The Great War. "A Very Short Story" was based on Hemingway's own romance with a nurse while he was overseas during the war. "Indian Camp" and "The Battler" are two of my favorites. It has been said that the character Nick Adams was really Hemingway, and when you read the Nick Adams stories along with a biography on Hemingway's life, it is easy to see why. Each story in this collection has a meaning unto itself, and I highly recommend that you read all of them.

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THIS COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES AND VIGNETTES MARKED ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S AMERICAN DEBUT AND MADE HIM FAMOUS When In Our Time was published in 1925, it was praised by Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald for its simple and precise use of language to convey a wide range of complex emotions, and it earned Hemingway a place beside Sherwood Anderson and Gertrude Stein among the most promising American writers of that period. In Our Time contains several early Hemingway classics, including the famous Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp," "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife," "The Three Day Blow," and "The Battler," and introduces readers to the hallmarks of the Hemingway style: a lean, tough prose -- enlivened by an car for the colloquial and an eye for the realistic that suggests, through the simplest of statements, a sense of moral value and a clarity of heart. Now recognized as one of the most original short story collections in twentieth-century literature, In Our Time provides a key to Hemingway's later works.

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100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor (Texas Pan American Series) (English and Spanish Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I hate to rain on everyone's parade but Stephen Tapscott's translation of Pablo Neruda's evocative and beautiful poetry is crass, misleading and patronizing. It is an insult to the memory of a great poet and a disgrace to translation in general. I have read the collection several times and it angers me each time to see what this man has done to poetry that is subtle as it is open ended. Every single poem in this collection is manipulated my Mr. Tapscott. He constantly replaces words when perfect English equivalents are available. He changes the tenses in which the poems are written and inserts his own concepts when he deems necessary. Worst of all he "explains" the poems in his translation. Time and again Tapscott fails to see the beauty of an ambiguity intended by Neruda and procedes to write phrases that are one dimensional and often fail to convey even the basic core of the work. As to the sound and rythm of the collection, Tapscott goes out of his way to destroy the structure of the poems and their gentle flow. It is a shame that English speakers interested in Pablo Neruda's poetry have only this translation by which to judge his genius. Please save your money and wait for a translation that better represents these great poems.

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The Lion and the Jewel (Three Crowns Book) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you've ever found the world around you changing and weren't quite sure where you fit into the scheme of things, this play is one you'll want to read. Soyinka develops several themes throughout the work- some of the most relevant themes include the struggle for power between men and women and tradition versus modernization. The play takes place in a small African village that has been relatively untouched by Western civilization. The plot centers around a beautiful young girl named Sidi and her experiences. The greatest conflict is presented in the two men who have fallen in love with her- Lakunle, the modern schoolteacher who wants to marry for love and honor, and Baroka, the village bale (chief), who wants Sidi for himself because she is beautiful and he traditionally has a right to any woman he wants. Sidi, who is stubborn and haughty, is caught not only between these two men, but between the ideals they represent. Lakunle's ideas seem to make sense to her but the tradition by which the people of the town govern their daily lives has been all she has ever known. Soyinka uses humor and biting sarcasm to set his scene and sharply characterize Sidi, Lakunle, Baroka, and the Bale's oldest wife, Sadiku. Who and what will Sidi choose? And what does that decision say about our human nature? Soyinka lets you make your own judgement. Sidi:"Come to my wedding if you will. If not...[She shrugs her shoulders. Kneels down at Sadiku's feet.] Mother of brides, your blessing..."

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This is one of the best-known plays by Africa's major dramatist, Wole Soyinka. It is set in the Yoruba village of Ilunjinle. The main characters are Sidi (the Jewel), 'a true village belle' and Baroka (the Lion), the crafty and powerful Bale of the village, Lakunle, the young teacher, influenced by western ways, and Sadiku, the eldest of Baroka's wives. How the Lion hunts the Jewel is the theme of this ribald comedy.

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Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Dual-Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (Spanish and English Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a newcomer to the poetry of Pablo Neruda. "Twenty Poems and a Song of Despair" is simply one of the best volumes of poetry I have ever read. What a vast horizon opened up to me when I picked up this book! Rarely have I encountered a poet that so palpably evokes longing. Few other poets have Neruda's ability to weave images. These poems burrow into the heart.
My Spanish is not what it should be, but I was able to read most of the poetry here in the original. For those who know no Spanish, do not be deterred. This volume is the work of not just one but two masterful poets. Merwin's translations are amazing and wholly recommendable. Striking images and a yearning spirit fill the English translations as well as Neruda's originals.
I was also caught off guard by poem XVI. I was reading along, thinking how I had not read poetry this full of longing and desire since I last read Tagore's "Gitanjali" ..., when lo and behold, Poem XVI is a Spanish paraphrase of a Tagore poem...small world.
Neruda's poems are of filled with a powerful Eros. Yet, to me, they fall a little short in comparison to those of Tagore (whose love is a spiritual longing). However, the comparison is clearly between two giants of the art.
I give "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" a strong recommendation.

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