Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts

32% Off Discounts: Lowest Price Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light Review

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light

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Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light Review

I own a large library of books about France and have probably read almost every major title that features Paris. David Downie's new book Paris, Paris is in a class all its own. It is the most superbly written book on Paris I have read. Downie has a very lively and intelligent style, as well as a deliciously ironic sense of humor. He is also a real journalist in his brave tenacity to "get the story." He takes us to places I would never otherwise have access to because I would be much too timid to make the approach. For instance, to penetrate the inner sancta of fortress-like Ile Saint Louis mansions, he tells how he systematically tested the outer doors and found a few to be always open. He marches right into luxurious courtyards, has a good look around, and describes what he sees in vivid prose. Or when researching the root of the expression "city of light," he heads right to the office of the chief engineer of Paris' municipal lighting department. I found myself very impressed with his approach towards his subject and with his straightforward, unselfconscious way of expressing himself.
Downie is an American who has lived in Paris for over twenty years; however I have to imagine that he has gotten to know the city better than most natives. His curiosity leads him to all Paris' corners, not just the obvious showy places we all know and love. He does take us to some of my favorite neighborhoods and shows us details I've never noticed before, but he also points out the off-beat and even really ugly spots from where we can get a different perspective altogether on this rich, multi-layered city.
The book has three parts: places, people and phenomena. Every chapter is both entertaining and informative. I ate the book up like a plate of many-colored macarons, savoring every flavor. I highly recommend it to arm chair travelers and committed Parisphiles alike. It's full of history, humor and intelligent insight, with never a dull moment.
An evocative black and white image by Alison Harris, Mr. Downie's professional photographer wife and companion in adventure, accompanies each of the 30 chapters to add to the enjoyment.

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light Overview

"Beautifully written and refreshingly original… makes us see [Paris] in a different light." -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review Swapping his native San Francisco for the City of Light, travel writer David Downie arrived in Paris in 1986 on a one-way ticket, his head full of romantic notions. Curiosity and the legs of a cross-country runner propelled him daily from an unheated, seventh-floor walk-up garret near the Champs-Elysées to the old Montmartre haunts of the doomed painter Modigliani, the tombs of Père-Lachaise cemetery, the luxuriant alleys of the Luxembourg Gardens and the aristocratic Île Saint-Louis midstream in the Seine.Downie wound up living in the chic Marais district, married to the Paris-born American photographer Alison Harris, an equally incurable walker and chronicler. Ten books and a quarter-century later, he still spends several hours every day rambling through Paris, and writing about the city he loves. An irreverent, witty romp featuring thirty-one short prose sketches of people, places and daily life, Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light ranges from the glamorous to the least-known corners and characters of the world's favorite city. Photographs by Alison Harris. "I loved his collection of essays and anyone who's visited Paris in the past, or plans to visit in the future, will be equally charmed as well." —David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris "[A] quirky, personal, independent view of the city, its history and its people"—Mavis Gallant "Gives fresh poetic insight into the city… a voyage into 'the bends and recesses, the jagged edges, the secret interiors' [of Paris]."— Departures

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38% Off Discounts: Lowest Price The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris Review

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris

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The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris Review

I've been to Paris a number of times and I love the city. I also like reading Paris books. This is not a book for first timers nor is it a book that will provide you with much practical tour information, if that is what you are seeking. The walking described is not the "begin at Point A and finish at Point B" type.
This book is primarily (but not exclusively)about the Latin Quarter, where the author lives, and concentrates on the more "colorful" side of the Quarter, particularly as pertains to the American expat literary figures who haunted the area.
This is definitely an entertaining read. The author is a long time resident, married to a French woman and apparently fluent in French. He also works part time as a guide. So it is clear that M. Baxter is very much a part of the city he loves. I learned quite a few tidbits about places I've been to and not been to. If you are a lover of Paris, you will enjoy this book.

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris Overview



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Buy Cheap Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France Review

Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France

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Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France Review

This map got us everywhere we wanted to go in Paris for our 1 week visit. I began using it right off the plane when our shuttle driver didn't know where our apartment was. We used it to keep the rain off our heads, and put it down on dirty benches to protect our clothes. The metro map meant that we never took a wrong train. We spent most of the week on foot and every street we were on was in the map. Most of the items and guides I brought along were looked at in the room before we left every morning, but this map was always with us.

Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France Overview

Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including lines & stationsThis map covers the following areas:Main Paris Map 1:14,000Paris Metro MapMap of FranceThere are more clichés about Paris than there are tourists at the Louvre, but the fact is that underneath each overused hackneyed cliché is a glistening kernel of truth. The City of Light, the City of Love and the City of Romance, familiar platitudes, but once you experience it for yourself you understand why. There is a je ne sais quoi allure to this city that beguiles, but never completely reveals what makes it so universally appealing. Artists, poets, writers, and composers have tried to define exactly what it is about this place, and yet they succeed only to a point. Perhaps it is as elusive as defining love, for to be in Paris entails experiencing love, about someone, something, some place.There is so much to do - you know the big ones, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Sacre Coeur, St. Germain des Pres, the Left Bank, the Right Bank, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, the Opéra- but don't miss the fun of discovering the small ones, the ones off the beaten path. Nothing like taking your time strolling thru the turn of the century mansion that houses Musée Marmottan then enjoying a café and patisserie in the museums jewel box café.Wandering aimlessly is romantic. Getting lost isn't romantic. In fact there are few things that can drain the romance out of a situation faster than realizing that you're hopelessly lost. So take your travel map and put it away if you want to wander, but have no fear that your wandering will turn into a lost odyssey. You can always pull out the STREETWISE® Paris Map and get yourself pointed back in the right direction.Paris is not without faults. Sometimes people can be rude, but that's the case anywhere in the world - be it a large city or small village. You get what you give. And in the case of Paris, as with any true love, you accept the flaws with the charms, the weaknesses with the strengths. In the end the true beauty of Paris will surpass any blemish. Life from a Parisian perspective is beautiful. But that's another cliché, isn't it?Our pocket size map of Paris is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Paris map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Paris map today and you too can navigate Paris, France like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

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Lowest Price Blackbird Fly Review

Blackbird Fly

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Blackbird Fly Review

Harry Strachie dies of a heart attack in the first pages. This starts a whole bunch of mysteries, lies, deceits, and intrigue. His wife and son are left without much but a key, a photo, and a deed to a house in France. Merle, his wife, and Tristan, his son, travel to France to see about selling the house. There is a squatter in the house, the people in the village don't like the Americans, some even seem to hate them. This is a fast moving story, with trips back in time to when Harry's parents lived in the house, and what happens then effects what is happening now. It is very well done, very well written, and the characters are very interesting, likeable, and you really care about them. There are dead bodies, lots of suspense and mystery, great characters, a bit of romance, but mostly it's just a great story! This is one of the best books I've read this year. You won't disappointed. I highly recommend it.

Blackbird Fly Overview

A house in France connects three women together -- the woman who owns the house, the woman who lives in the house, and the woman who died in the house sixty years before. Who are they? Merle Bennett inherits the house of her late husband, in a small village in the Dordogne. But when she arrives a deranged squatter won't let her inside. Who is the woman? What is her connection to Merle's husband? Secrets from the post-war period, when southwest France was crushed and left to wither by Nazi occupation, and secrets of a newer kind, occupy what should be a fine French summer for Merle. With her teenage son in tow, a sexy roofer in her kitchen, and a nasty discovery in the pissoir, there is plenty to keep her mind off her endless to-do list. A story of murder, self-discovery, and family, deep in the heart of France. "A heartbreakingly beautiful story of love, loss, sisterhood, and the ties that bind us together," says novelist Jenny Siler.-----The sudden death of her husband turns Merle Bennett's life upside down. Her work for poor legal clients isn't going to pay the bills and her son is kicked out of school. The blows just keep on coming. Merle finds herself doing what she least expected, decamping to France for the summer to fix up her late husband's ancestral home. The village in southwest France should be idyllic: warm sunshine, vineyards, and walls of golden stone. Merle gets an off-the-books job as a tour guide at a local winery and evicts a squatter. But the townspeople are more than merely unfriendly. As the past unravels, colliding with modern tensions and the filthy trials of renovation, the summer takes on a dark cast, full of secrets best left buried. In her first stand-alone suspense novel, Lise McClendon reaches deep into the past to find a France untouched by the outside world of tourism and fashion. Writing in a "lyrical, often humorous style," she brings both the pain and rewards of rebirth and the rich French countryside to life.

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Special Prices for Sarah's Key Review

Sarah's Key

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Sarah's Key Review

Having been long interested in the Holocaust [and having taught it for about 8 years], I was eager to read this new novel by Tatiana de Rosnay that though a work of fiction, is fact-based.
July 1942 marked a dark period in the history of France where thousands of Jewish families were rounded up and forcibly kept in the Velodrome d'Hiver. They were then sent off to transit camps in France such as Drancy, before being packed off to Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp. What is so unnerving about this whole incident is that the rounding up and mobilisation of Jews for deportation was done by the French authorities.
Based upon this seldom mentioned, little known piece of French history, author Tatiana de Rosnay has crafted a well-written novel that alternates between the past in 1942, and the present. The past centers around a 10 year old Jewish girl Sarah Strazynski who is forced to go to the Velodrome d'Hiver with her mother and father, innocently leaving behind a 4 year old brother Michel locked in a secret cupboard with the assurance that she would return to let him out when it was safe.
The present revolves around writer Julia Jarmond, a transplanted American who is married to a frenchman and finds herself being consumed by the story of the Vel d'Hiv incident. As she digs deeper, she uncovers dark secrets surrounding her husband's family which are connected to the deportations of Jews from France. As the truth emerges, the author deftly handles the question of guilt caused by supressed secrets and how the truth can sometimes not only bring about pain and disrupt the regularity of life, yet also have the ability to heal and move forwards into the future.
The method employed by the author, which alternates between the past [1942] and the present is an effective tool for it ties both periods together and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. I do confess though that I found the story of the past much more dramatic and interesting than the one which deals with Julia in the present. On the whole though, it was an engrossing read and I would recommend it, especially to those interested in the genre. I'd also recommend the following books which deal with the Holocaust and France:
The Holocaust, the French, and the Jewsby Susan Zuccoti (non-fiction)
One Step Ahead of Hitler: A Jewish Child's Journey Through Franceby Fred Gross(memoir)
France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944 (Modern World)by Julian Jackson (non-fiction and more for those already familiar with the history of the period)
There is also a movie adaptation of the novel starring Kristin Scott-Thomas (summer 2011)

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44% Off Discounts: Special Prices for The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris Review

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

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The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris Review


Every time David McCullough puts his fingers to the typewriter that he uses to write with, he seems to transform our understanding of the topic he is studying. Whether it was President Harry Truman or for me Mornings on Horseback, I have walked away from his books with an enlightened feel for the topic that I have only been able to achieve with very few authors. James Michener is one who comes to mind immediately.

With this book, The Greater Journey, the author has now thoroughly engaged the reader with a topic seldom written about but very deserving of study. It is only natural that we as Americans feel we live in a self centered world; after all we have 2 vast oceans that have protected our shores from invasion for several centuries, and probably will for several more. It simply does not occur to us that since our beginnings, many Americans have chosen to spend considerable time abroad, and in some cases decades of their lives. During the 1800's and specifically from 1830 until 1900, there was a wave of intellectual migration that headed not west to America, but east to Paris, France from America. Keep in mind that we now sit in a country that is preeminent in the world, financially, intellectually, and probably culturally as well. Back then, we were just forming as a nation. The Indian wars were still in process, and the Civil War would also take place, which became the second re-creation of the United States. McCullough is totally aware of this comparison and makes wise use of it throughout this 456 page book composed of 14 distinct chapters separated into 3 parts, followed by a wonderful epilogue, and a very useful bibliography. The author understands history, and is always mindful of the relative positions of different nations. During this period we were not yet the top dog that we were to become after World War I. Europe still controlled the world's greatest universities and they were already centuries old. If you are going to read this book in a physical format as opposed to the Kindle digital version, you are in for a treat because the paper chosen is exquisite, and the font selection is superb. If you are an older reader as I am, you will appreciate the time that was taken to design the book appropriately for readers that still relish a physically well made book, and that's what we have here. This is the story of a 70 year period in the history of Paris, and the scores of Americans who occupied it, lived there, and helped participate in the transformation of what is called the city of light. It is also the story of scores of for want of a better word can be called expatriate Americans, although many of them did return to their native United States at different times. McCullough is one of the few authors who truly captures the essence of an environment and then proceeds to envelop it with a reality that absorbs and perhaps even demands our attention as readers. His description of the relationship between James Fennimore Cooper and Samuel F.B. Morse and their joy in living in this magnificent city and the effects it had on their work will remain in the reader's soul for many years after the book is put back on the shelf. When Morse painted his masterpiece, it was done in Paris, and perhaps after reading this book, one realizes it could only have been done in Paris.

The city of lights already had vast boulevards, and extraordinary parks decades before the United States designed them. Indeed, New York City's Central Park which would be created later in the century would take much from Paris, and other European cities. The Americans who would go to Paris and spend years there would recall later after returning to the United States the joy of the parks, the energy of the city itself and the sheer unequalled cultural delights that embodied Paris. Visually we can still see much of this in the work of the Impressionist School of painting.I found the author's handling of Mary Cassatt, who was a Philadelphia born daughter of American socialites who went on to be an illustrious painter as a principal part of the Impressionist school, to be particularly well done. Her relationship to Edgar Degas the renowned painter of the ballet and horses, as well as landscaping is thoroughly chronicled in the book. McCullough's ability to weave life into life, with Paris as the focal point constantly holding the book together in such a way that the reader feels compelled to continue to read, not pausing to eat is what in the end keeps the author at the pinnacle of his profession today. It is obvious that this book was a labor of love for the author. It comes shining through with the admiration that McCullough holds for both Oliver Wendell Homes the American medical student in Paris, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, a name we all recognize. He even takes the time to take us through the time that Mark Twain spent in this wonderful city. Not only was Paris transformed by the Americans that occupied it during this century, but Paris itself went through extraordinary changes and development. Kings re-invented the city several times during this century. Vast numbers of poor were displaced and sent to the country. It was invaded during this period as well. Later vast tree lined streets and boulevards would be created that became the envy of Europe. The Louvre would be increased in size enormously in an attempt to make it the most important museum on the entire continent, and France would succeed in this effort. McCullough intertwines the story of Paris, its growth, its impact on the Americans and what the Americans brought back to America as a result, into a book in such an imaginative way that the reader will find himself revisiting this book from time to time. In the end the book is riveting, and this is a phrase I find myself continuing to use every time I pick up a book written by this author. Many lives are captured in this masterpiece. They include George Healy the portrait painter, Nathaniel Hawthorne whose writings still continue to occupy many a college freshman's late nights, and future American Senator Charles Sumner who would have his views on slavery refined while living in Paris. Indeed he became an abolitionist as a result of his Parisian experience. CONCLUSION:Prior to reading The Greater Journey, I believed I had a good understanding of 19th century Paris. Having studied the art of that period, going to the Louvre, and sitting in on lectures dealing with Paris in the 1800's, I looked forward to seeing what this author could add to the story. I did not expect what I got, which was to have him blow away my understanding and replace it with something that came alive and stood on many different legs of understanding, but isn't that what great writing can do. It can simply make things come alive again. You feel as though you are there, and McCullough puts us right there in the thick of the action. Although it is not the whole story, if you have any interest at all in understanding the transformative art period that was the Impressionist movement it is vividly captured here in the lives of Augustus Saint-Gaudens with John Singer Sargent, and Mary Cassatt. David McCullough is already an acclaimed author with two Pulitzers and two national Book Awards, and it looks like with this book, he's got another Pulitzer coming down the pike. Thank you for reading this review. Richard C. Stoyeck

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43% Off Discounts: Best Price Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) Review

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set)

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Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) Review

Like the famous Julie of "Julie and Julia", a lot of us aspiring amateur cooks tried to work through this book in the 70's. We made a lot of the recipes, including a memorable "Dacquoise" meringue and praline cake for grad school parties. (We eked out a seminar dinner budget to cover the speaker and two or three guests at a restaurant and turned it into dinner for 30 or so by cooking at a faculty member's house. This was our main cookbook for many of those dinners.)
The basics on vegetables are here--maybe a bit plain by today's standards, or sometimes overly complicated (who is going to fight with an artichoke or make a moussaka a la turque steamed in a lining of eggplant skin in a timbale mould) but most of the recipes are well worth the effort.
Book One has main dishes and a few desserts, soups, of course and vegetables. Book Two has more ambitious baking (the infamous Dacquoise) and even baguettes, which still don't come out quite right as American flour has a different ash content and American ovens don't produce steam like professional ovens. The pastry section is particularly good in both; you can learn to make a pate sable or a kind of sugar-cookie like crust that is dead useful for tarts. I've also used the Creme Bavaroise many a time; a lot of work, beating gelatin, cream and carefully unmolding what looks like a simple mousse in a decorative ring mould but is a very elegant dessert that serves quite a few, especially sliced, and plated with fresh berries and a drizzle of sauce. It adapts to many flavors (passion fruit, strawberry, chocolate, mocha) and is one of my favorite classics that you just don't see anymore. The Reine de Saba cake (chocolate almond, under-baked in the center and with a ganache glaze) is equally elegant and again, serves a number of people when sliced and plated elegantly.
This book has the only French Onion Soup recipe I really like. A lot of work (you have to peel and slice a hellacious pile of onions, oh the tears) and when I had this book the first time, there were NO food processors. Even so, with the food processor, it takes a lot of time to cook down and brown those onions and you need REALLY good broth but the result is by far the best onion soup there is. Just writing about it makes me want to go slice onions this very minute.
I can't imagine being without these books, and the packaging is nice, as the originals were two different sized volumes and sit kind of funny on the shelf.
I suppose I should mention that even if you aren't going to make most of these dishes (who can find veal these days?) the book is excellent reading on culinary arts.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) Overview



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43% Off Discounts: Lowest Price Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 Review

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1

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Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 Review

First, I cannot cook. other then basic heat and serve.
So I bought a ton of cookbooks and tried a ton of recipes from the food network. Still could not cook.
Picked up this book at a flea market ( the 1963 printing ).
This book is incredible. My kids not only will eat the food, but they love it. ( and they demand the food now ).
I do not agree with other reviews about complexity and cost of the recipe's. She provides both easy and complex recipes.
The recipes are well thought out, with step by step insrtructions and illustrations. The illustrations are priceless, cooking is alot of technique, and the illustrations walk you through it. Every question I would have had about the ingredients or prep are covered.
Oh, and ingredients.. She assumes that the grocery store is the only place you have to shop. So she notes how to adjust for canned or frozen vs fresh, and what you can substitute. Not some cute ethnic market in New york city where everything is always in season from the 4 corners of the world. You can literally take the book to the grocery store to buy your ingredients. and come out with everything you need. ( I have a 40 year old copy of this book, and Julia's assumptions about what I will be able, and will not, to find in my grocery store is 100% correct. )
Crepes - been trying for a year to make the kids crepes. tried several recipes online. failed. first attempt with Julia, and voila crepes.
Omlette - so I could always make an omlette. or at least I thought. now I am an omlette gourmet cook.I cannot wait to graduate to her other cookbooks.

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15% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap 365 Days in France 2012 Calendar (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars) Review

365 Days in France 2012 Calendar (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars)

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365 Days in France 2012 Calendar (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars) Review

For many years now, this calendar has served me well. One month spans two oversized pages and focuses on a particular region in France, and never the same from one year to the next. Wells's text is brief but charming. The cover accurately illustrates the typical assortment of Rothfeld's photographs -- in size, number, and breadth of topic -- that adorn each and every month. Still, generous room is allotted each day for noting appointments, recitals, and what have you. Holidays span US, UK, Canada, and Australia, along with major Christian and Hebrew holy days. One star off for the lack of moon phases.

365 Days in France 2012 Calendar (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars) Overview

Every day, yet another reason to love France. A sunny afternoon in the Luxembourg Gardens. Clusters of grapes ready for harvest. Purple, yellow, and green Provençal landscapes. St. Tropez holidays, stately Loire châteaux, outdoor markets heaped with colorful produce, an afternoon at the Louvre. Capturing the romance, beauty, and spirit of France, 365 Days in France is a year-long tour of twelve lovely regions-Normandy to Bouches-du-Rhône, Côte d' Azur to Burgundy to romantic Paris. Each spread presents dozens of full-color photographs by Steven Rothfeld, accompanied by text from Patricia Wells. For the Francophile, this is the calendar that brings you back.

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41% Off Discounts: Best Price French, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) Review

French, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation)

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French, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) Review

This is a fantastic product, and one of the best ways to really get an early handle on grammar, and an outstanding way to practice speaking and pronounciation at any level. However, please do not do not get disapointed when you don't speak perfect French in 8 hours. This will give you basic tools to build on, but then you need to spend some time in a French country, or take several years of university classes.
When considering the investment in a foriegn language, consider that it may take 1000 hours (for an extremely easy language like French) to feel very comfortable in the language. That's one hour of serious study each day for three years. Or you can go sit in a Parisian cafe and talk to people who are willing to tutor you (extremely hard to find without some pretty good skills to start with) and you might get there in a few months.
I like this product because it's the very best available for naturally teaching you the grammar basics and for helping you to build the core vocabulary (stuff like and, but, or, many, few, the, a, an, whowhatwhenwherewhy), the core language structure (negation, word order), and it's outstanding for it's ability to teach language sounds...
A side note...be willing to sleep between lesson times. Something happens when you sleep, and you'll be better at it by the next lesson. That's why it's important to do this every single day, so that you have the maximum number of study-sleep cycles.

French, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand French with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) Overview



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Best Buy for French Flash Cards (English and French Edition) Review

French Flash Cards (English and French Edition)

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French Flash Cards (English and French Edition) Review

Praise: cute drawings; durable cards; includes a variety of words such as basic colors and numbers, household items and rooms, family members, common foods and animals
Criticism: It would have been nice to know how many cards came in the box. I tried to find out before purchasing, but couldn't find the quantity number anywhere (it's 50, just so you know). Also, although the cards all have background colors, the colors aren't organized in any way. I keep wanting to sort them into categories, but the number cards are all different colors, and the food cards don't match, etc. I thought that was silly--might as well just make them all the same because you would think they would be color-coded! The pronunciation of the French words is WAY off for some of the words, but I guess I would have a hard time trying to spell out French words using English letters since our alphabets are so different. French is just a hard language to pronounce at first, so I'm glad I already speak it and can teach my kid the correct way to say the words, rather than rely on the cards.

French Flash Cards (English and French Edition) Overview

Children will learn everyday foreign language words in a flash with these illustrated cards, featuring art from the popular "Adventures with Nicholas" series. 50 cards teach the words kids need to know: numbers, colours, animals and more. This proven learning activity builds vocabulary, word recognition, memory and confidence. The four-colour, engaging illustrations provide visual clues and the cards are durable to allow for frequent handling.

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32% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap No Exit and Three Other Plays Review

No Exit and Three Other Plays

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No Exit and Three Other Plays Review

No Exit (Huis Clos), is a one-act, four-character play written by Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, writer, literary critic, social and political activist and leader (with Albert Camus) of the existential movement based in Paris.
No Exit, first produced one month before D-Day in 1944, was the second of Sartre's many plays. Translated literally, Huis Clos, means "closed doors."
This play represents a tight conflict of characters who need one another and, at the same time, desperately want to get away from one another, yet cannot leave. There is no other modern play that offers such a profound metaphor for the human condition. One would have to go back to Doctor Faustus or The Bacchae to encounter such a metaphor, and in the present day, only Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can rival No Exit in its existential metaphor of the human condition.
In No Exit, three characters are doomed to spend eternity together in a Second Empire drawing room; Sartre's metaphorical hell. This room is devoid of mirrors, windows and books. There is no means of extinguishing the lights and the characters have even lost their eyelids. They have nothing left but one another and the hell (or heaven) they choose to create.
The three characters who come to inhabit the room are Joseph Garcin, a war defector and wife abuser; Inez Serrano, a working-class Spanish woman, who is slowly revealed to be a lesbian; and Estelle Rigault, a member of the French upper class. Sartre brilliantly gives the characters dual reasons for their eternal damnation: first, each committed abominable acts while alive, and second, and perhaps more importantly, each failed to live his or her life in an authentic manner.
As each character is brought into the room by the valet, each begins to develop an entangled, triangular relationship with the other two. All three slowly come to the realization that each is the others' eternal torturer. Each character wants something from another that the other cannot, or will not, surrender. Thus, all three are doomed to a perpetual stalemate of torture.
Sartre's philosophical tenets in Being and Nothingness (L'Etre et le Néant), are beautifully interwoven into the fabric of No Exit. Through dialogue and action, Sartre transforms his philosophical assertions into dialectic form, pitting Inez against both Garcin and Estelle in an eternal battle of ideologies. The characters come to embody Sartre's tenets, and as they interact, the author's ideas come to life. The tenuous balance the characters face between needing the others to define themselves, and the desire to preserve their own freedom is developed throughout the play, but is never resolved.
No Exit would have been far less meaningful, metaphorically, if the one locked door had not swung open at the end of the play, showing us that the continuation of any state of existence is as much a matter of choice as it is anything else.
The biggest question No Exit seems to leave unanswered is whether the misery we cause one another is meant to be or if it is simply chance and the decisions we make that cause that misery. Furthermore, is there anything we can do about it, or is our nature so constructed so that we have no choice in the matter?
The character of Inez realizes the only positive message in the play when she says, "One always dies too soon--or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are--your life, and nothing else." Inez realizes that we have, in each moment, everything we need to be happy, yet we insist on searching for the things that make us miserable.
With the production of No Exit, Sartre made his paradoxical existentialist philosophy accessible to a much larger audience. More than a "thesis" play, No Exit is both engaging and valuable as a piece of dramatic literature in its own right.
As testament to its lasting message is the fact that it is still produced internationally today. No Exit is an extraordinary play, filled with complexities and philosophical premises that are as relevant today as they were when Sartre first illuminated them.

No Exit and Three Other Plays Overview

4 plays about an existential portrayal of Hell, the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict and an arresting attack on American racism.

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Best Buy for Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4th Ed. Review

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4th Ed.

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Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4th Ed. Review

Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy is one of the few works of philosophy that absolutely every educated person needs to read at least once. This is required reading for anyone interested in philosophy or its history, and honestly I don't see how this work can be ignored by anyone interested in the history of ideas. It's also a work that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to be introduced to philosophy by reading the work of a great philosopher. And don't worry: it shouldn't take you more than an afternoon to read through it.
The Meditations has had an incalculable influence on the history of subsequent philosophical thinking. Indeed, according to nearly every history of philosophy you're likely to come across, this work is where modern philosophy begins. It's not that any of Descartes's arguments are startlingly original--many of them have historical precedents--but that Descartes's work was compelling enough to initiate two research programs in philosophy, namely British empiricism and continental rationalism, and to place certain issues (e.g. the mind-body problem, the plausibility of and responses to skepticism, the ontological argument for the existence of God, etc.) on the philosophical agenda for a long time to come. Moreover, Descartes was capable of posing questions of great intrinsic interest in prose accessible to everyone. So the Meditations is a work of value to both newcomers to philosophy and to those with a great deal of philosophical background.
The First Meditation is Descartes's implementation of his method of doubt. Descartes's aim here is to systematically doubt everything he believes that seems dubitable in any way and thereby to arrive at something that is absolutely certain and indubitable. Here Descartes formulates two very famous skeptical arguments: the dreaming argument and the evil demon argument. The dreaming arguments calls into question my current beliefs about the world by drawing attention to the possibility that I might be dreaming now. Can I know right now that I'm not dreaming? If not, doesn't it seem that I don't know much of anything? The evil demon argument is even more radical in that it focuses my attention on the possibility that almost my entire conception of reality is based on a very general delusion. What if my every experience and all my reasoning results from constant deception by some being with God-like powers? What, if anything, would I know if this were the case? These worries, Descartes thinks, allow him to doubt nearly all his beliefs, and it indeed they may preclude his having any certain knowledge at all.
The rest of the Meditations is Descartes's attempt to find something he can know for certain. Famously, he begins by claiming that he can be certain of his own existence. Even if he's dreaming or being deceived by an all-powerful evil demon, he can be sure that he exists. For he couldn't dream or be deceived unless he existed.
But even if he can be certain of his own existence, how can Descartes move beyond this to knowledge of a world outside his own mind? By appealing to the existence of God. He provides two distinct proofs for the existence of God: one a variant of the ontological argument, which attempts to prove God's existence from an appeal to the very concept of God, and one a type of cosmological argument, which attempts to prove God's existence by appealing to something whose only possible cause is God. Both these arguments, Descartes claims, prove that the world includes an absolutely perfect God. And it is the perfection of God that Descartes to be confident that he can know things beyond his own mind. For God, as a wholly perfect being, wouldn't provide Descartes with intellectual faculties that allow him to go wrong. Consequently, Descartes can be sure that his beliefs are generally correct, provided that he has used his intellectual faculties in the way God intended.
This work also includes a statement of the sort of mind-body dualism with which Descartes is widely associated. Although his arguments for dualism are obscure here, it is fairly easy to explain the central idea. According to Descartes, mind and body are wholly distinct kinds of substance that interact with one another. Mental states aren't a part of the natural world revealed by the sciences, and so, for instance, they are not reducible to certain things going on in a brain. Instead, they're a wholly different type of thing--though a type of thing that is somehow causally connected to a brain.
All of this is material, and a lot more, is covered in roughly sixty pages of text, and it is presented in some of the clearest, most straightforward philosophical prose ever written. Plus, the reader needn't have mastered any arcane jargon or previous work in philosophy to understand Descartes's views. And because it is written as a series of meditations in which Descartes leads us through something like his own process of through about these issues, it makes for relatively easy reading.
This edition also includes Descartes's Discourse on Method, which, though it isn't as important or philosophically sophisticated as the Meditations, is an essential text for understanding Descartes's conception of his own project. The book begins with interesting intellectual biography involving an account of his disillusionment with the intellectual culture of his time and of how this disillusionment led him to the project of finding a philosophical basis for a systematic scientific conception of the world. This is followed by a short presentation of an early version of the main lines of Descartes's philosophical argument that he would go on to develop in the Meditations. Then Descartes shows how he applied his method to discover a priori "solutions" to certain scientific problems. The Discourse, then, provides one with a better sense of Descartes's self-conception as a philosopher and the role he thought his philosophical system should play in the thinking of his times
This is a serviceable edition of the Meditations and the Discourse for students, and I'm sure it's perfect for the average reader. The translation is readable, and it doesn't seem significantly different from other translations of Descartes that I've read. While there aren't a lot of frills here, there's a very brief account of Descartes's life and a short bibliography.

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4th Ed. Overview



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Lowest Price Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated Review

Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated

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Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated Review

Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy is one of the few works of philosophy that absolutely every educated person needs to read at least once. This is required reading for anyone interested in philosophy or its history, and honestly I don't see how this work can be ignored by anyone interested in the history of ideas. It's also a work that I'd recommend to anyone who wants to be introduced to philosophy by reading the work of a great philosopher. And don't worry: it shouldn't take you more than an afternoon to read through it. But you can, of course, spend the remainder of your life thinking about the ideas contained in this work.
The Meditations has had an incalculable influence on the history of subsequent philosophical thinking. Indeed, according to nearly every history of philosophy you're likely to come across, this work is where modern philosophy begins. It's not that any of Descartes's arguments are startlingly original--many of them have historical precedents--but that Descartes's work was compelling enough to initiate two research programs in philosophy, namely British empiricism and continental rationalism, and to place certain issues (e.g. the mind-body problem, the plausibility of and responses to skepticism, the ontological argument for the existence of God, etc.) on the philosophical agenda for a long time to come. Moreover, Descartes was capable of posing questions of great intrinsic interest in prose accessible to everyone. So the Meditations is a work of value to both newcomers to philosophy and to those with a great deal of philosophical background.
The First Meditation is Descartes's implementation of his method of doubt. Descartes's aim here is to systematically doubt everything he believes that seems dubitable in any way and thereby to arrive at something that is absolutely certain and indubitable. Here Descartes formulates two very famous skeptical arguments: the dreaming argument and the evil demon argument. The dreaming arguments calls into question my current beliefs about the world by drawing attention to the possibility that I might be dreaming now. Can I know right now that I'm not dreaming? If not, doesn't it seem that I don't know much of anything? The evil demon argument is even more radical in that it focuses my attention on the possibility that almost my entire conception of reality is based on a very general delusion. What if my every experience and all my reasoning results from constant deception by some being with God-like powers? What, if anything, would I know if this were the case? These worries, Descartes thinks, allow him to doubt nearly all his beliefs, and it indeed they may preclude his having any certain knowledge at all.
The rest of the Meditations is Descartes's attempt to find something he can know for certain. Famously, he begins by claiming that he can be certain of his own existence. Even if he's dreaming or being deceived by an all-powerful evil demon, he can be sure that he exists. For he couldn't dream or be deceived unless he existed.
But even if he can be certain of his own existence, how can Descartes move beyond this to knowledge of a world outside his own mind? By appealing to the existence of God. He provides two distinct proofs for the existence of God: one a variant of the ontological argument, which attempts to prove God's existence from an appeal to the very concept of God, and one a type of cosmological argument, which attempts to prove God's existence by appealing to something whose only possible cause is God. Both these arguments, Descartes claims, prove that the world includes an absolutely perfect God. And it is the perfection of God that Descartes to be confident that he can know things beyond his own mind. For God, as a wholly perfect being, wouldn't provide Descartes with intellectual faculties that allow him to go wrong. Consequently, Descartes can be sure that his beliefs are generally correct, provided that he has used his intellectual faculties in the way God intended.
This work also includes a statement of the sort of mind-body dualism with which Descartes is widely associated. Although his arguments for dualism are obscure here, it is fairly easy to explain the central idea. According to Descartes, mind and body are wholly distinct kinds of substance that interact with one another. Mental states aren't a part of the natural world revealed by the sciences, and so, for instance, they are not reducible to certain things going on in a brain. Instead, they're a wholly different type of thing--though a type of thing that is somehow causally connected to a brain.
All of this is material, and a lot more, is covered in roughly sixty pages of text, and it is presented in some of the clearest, most straightforward philosophical prose ever written. Plus, the reader needn't have mastered any arcane jargon or previous work in philosophy to understand Descartes's views. And because it is written as a series of meditations in which Descartes leads us through something like his own process of through about these issues, it makes for relatively easy reading.
This is a serviceable edition of the Meditations and the Discourse for students, and I'm sure it's perfect for the average reader. The translation is readable, and it doesn't seem significantly different from other translations of Descartes that I've read. While there aren't a lot of frills here, there's a very brief account of Descartes's life and a short bibliography. (For more serious students, I'd recommend Cottingham's edition of the Meditations that is published by Cambridge University Press. And Descartes enthusiasts should check out the second volume of the Cambridge Edition of the Philosophical Writings of Descartes, which includes Cottingham's translation of the Meditations along with the entire text of the objections and replies.)

Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated Overview

Many other matters respecting the attributes of God and my own nature or mind remain for consideration; but I shall possibly on another occasion resume the investigation of these. Now (after first noting what must be done or avoided, in order to arrive at a knowledge of the truth) my principal task is to endeavour to emerge from the state of doubt into which I have these last days fallen, and to see whether nothing certain can be known regarding material things.

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