Good introduction to Zweig's writing
934587
An interesting collection of 5 novellas, two of which I had read previously. In both cases, this second reading had been helpful in opening up Zweig's methods for me. As I read this collection I came to see, more and more, the manner in which he builds tension casually in his tales, through simple variations on everyday actions. A person may step away for a moment from a stifling situation, taking a refreshing or necessary break that somehow turns his/her life upside down and threatens their entire future. Of the five novellas only one, "Journey into the Past." did not create that tension for me and two of the ones that are new to me, "Fear" and "Confusion", both did it quite effectively. The others are "A Chess Story," as effective as when first read, and "A Burning Secret," somehow better than when I first encountered it.

Another thing I have learned from this collection is to have patience, to allow the writer to build up his characters and setting before providing the "meat" I am looking for. In this respect, perhaps I am a modern person/reader, wanting everything too quickly. The further removed I am from these stories, the more I realize that the tension I felt and found so effective simply would not have existed without that (seemingly) too slow build-up. So perhaps I am learning as a reader too.

I do recommend this book to those who enjoy Zweig and others who may be looking for a new author to try.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
2743656
In this book Daniel dreZner summarizes a half-dozen major theories of international relations before applying them to a hypothetical zombie attack on the human race. The book is very short (less than 100 small pages with large print), and there are some comics, so there's some probability that an undergraduate might read it. The prose is lively and witty.

dreZner summarizes the theories efficiently, distilling their key assumptions.  He teases out some implications from each for how to explain, and respond to, a zombie attack. The implications differ considerably - - if these are meant to be grounded in science, how can they be so contradictory?

It's also rather shocking how empty these theories are. I hope there aren't people who devote their lives to developing them.

Though he ostensibly takes a position of neutrality, dreZner clearly likes realism and liberalism, giving constructivism and the neocons many fewer pages. He doesn't give much attention to domestic politics and bureaucratic politics, but he scores some nice points comparing the two.

The book wouldn't work as your first introduction to international relations theory, but as a supplement to an introductory course or as a refresher, dreZner has given us a useful and concise overview. The first 20 pages also summarize what we know about zombies.
1104863
Fried dips into literary criticism to give an engaging account of phonetic features in Flaubert's Madame Bovary. The book is comprised of two essays: a substantially longer one on MB and another shorter one on Salammbo, although they are essentially concerned with the same themes.

Experienced readers of Fried know what to expect formally (competent and insightful close readings, generally formalist, mixed with citational saturation-bombing and occasional digressions), although the content diverges to some extent from Fried's ongoing engagement with absorption in painting. Fried hits the highlights of Flaubert criticism, spanning from Flaubert's early francophone reception (Du Bos, Saint-Beuve, Proust) to present-day German-language texts; although he introduces arguments clearly and competently, his glosses of them would be bolstered by the addition of a broader literary-critical background (whether this omission is intentional is unclear, but for example, his recapitulation of Ricardou's search for anagrams in the opening pages of M.B. doesn't deal with the historical context of this practice, which is linked to a renewed interest in Saussure's thoughts on anagrams and the transformation of this in the criticism of Michel Riffaterre).

Ultimately, I found the text engaging but not compelling. No doubt Fried's thoughts will be on my mind the next time I read Madame Bovary (the mark of a work of criticism that has hit its target), but they haven't transformed my understanding of the work the way that Culler's Flaubert: The Uses of Uncertainty did. This is perhaps a result of Fried deciding not to explore a potential link between Flaubert's ironic treatment of the aesthetic discourses that preceded and surrounded him (articulated in a brilliant essay by Rainer Warning, "Irony and the 'Order of Discourse' in Flaubert") with the kind of "automatism" (Fried's term) at the level of style that Fried focuses on. Essentially, we get an engaging linguistic account which it would have been interesting to link with Flaubert's scorn for the "automatism" of discourse in general, as in the Dictionary of Received Ideas.
1626970
Many readers are now familiar with Augusten Burroughs' bizarre upbringing (detailed in his Running With Scissors and the movie of the same name).  This is a volume of essays about his grown up life, such as it is.  Unapologetically narcissistic and at times thoroughly unlikeable as Burroughs seems to be in these first person narratives about his war with his cleaning lady or his belief that he successfully wished death on a horrid old boss, I nevertheless enjoyed this book.  I listened to it as an audiobook and the author's own reading of the essays enhanced the experience.  Like any assortment of short pieces, some are more memorable than others; I particularly liked the title piece and the ones featuring his partner Dennis and their French bulldog.  Burroughs' personality (or writing persona--I'm not sure which it is) is such that it is best taken in small doses, which makes these essays perfect.  It's a book you can read over time, one essay here and there, and enjoy it that way.
2213862
Stefan Zweig's life, which spanned two world wars and all that lay in between, was one that was devoted to writing and the life of the mind. His account of life in pre-WW1 Vienna provides a fascinating insight into many aspects of social, cultural, and intellectual life at the time. As a fervent pro-European Zweig established contact with many of Europe's leading writers, artists, musicians, and thinkers, among them Romain Rolland, Sigmund Freud, Richard Strauss, Arturo Toscanini, Salvador Dali, to name but a few. The outbreak of the First World War had a profound effect on him and his circle, and yet despite all their efforts to forge a pan-European entity, the forces of evil, hatred, and enmity rose to the fore in the 1930s, fostered by Hitler and his cronies.

Zweig's book, which contains many passages of rich and poetic prose, has been beautifully translated from German into English by Benjamin Huebsch and Helmut Ripperger. This memoir relates his life and times, which correspond with those of intellectual Europe between the world wars, and describes the Zeitgeist that prevailed among the thinking classes. The approach of war, the ravaging of Europe by the Nazis, and above all the persecution of the Jews, disturbed and depressed Zweig, even though he himself was granted British citizenship and was welcomed in the USA and Brazil. He and his wife took their lives in the latter country in 1942, depressed and despondent about the fate of Western civilization and his own inability to start life anew at the age of 60.
609792
This book consists of an interesting assortment of articles all presented in honor of the scholar V.H. Viglielmo. In the preface the editors note that festschrifts such as this are often criticized for being a mixed bag and then argue that this one is different in having a unifying theme. Hmm. Maybe, but as a glance at the article titles below will show, the mixed bag effect is still pretty strong--which is just fine with me anyway. I rather enjoy an eclectic mix. The unifying principle really is the various contributors' deep respect and affection for Viglielmo, which is the way it should be in a work of this nature. Still, Viglielmo's influence as a mentor is apparent in a number of the articles, and the impact of his highly important, pioneering work in the literature of Natsume Soseki and the philosophy of the Kyoto School is especially clear.

Like I said, I don't mind the "mixed bag" effect, but other things did annoy me slightly. The second article is in German, for instance, which seems silly to me in an American publication predominantly in English. What I can make of the title sounds quite intriguing, too, but not so much so that I'm willing to learn a whole language from scratch. I found the other articles generally interesting and full of neat insights, even the ones not dealing with Soseki or Watsuji (my own pet interests), but sometimes the quality was a bit uneven and a few in particular seemed not quite ready for prime time, if you get my drift. A couple of instances of mild Japan-essentializing were rather jarring in this regard, as was an odd scorn for Japan's indigenous poetic tradition and hints of a patronizing attitude on the part of one contributor who otherwise makes some good observations. In the case of a partially informal publication such as this, though, it would be mean-spirited to dwell too much on these lapses, most of which are minor bumps anyway--easily outweighed by the overall fine scholarly quality of the collection as a whole, a fitting tribute to an excellent scholar.

The articles are as follows:

1. "Brief Memoir of a Japan Basher" by Edward Seidensticker

2. "Tariki--Uber Shinrans und Tanabes Verstandnis des 'Wirkins' der 'Anderen Kraft' in der metanoetischen Wandlung des Selbst" by Johannes Laube

3. "Shinran: Religious Consciousness and True Individuality" by Alfred Bloom

4. "The Phenomenology and Logic of Interpresence in Watsuji Tetsuro and Nishida Kitaro" by David A. Dilworth

5. "On Nature" by Nisitani Keiji (translated by Setsuko Aihara and Graham Parkes)

6. "The Influence of William James and Henri Bergson on Natsume Soseki's 'Higan Sugi Made'" by Harue Summersgill

7. "Natsume Soseki's 'Mon' (The Gate) and Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment': Understanding Soseki's Sokuten Kyoshi" by Nakayama Etsuko

8. "Natsume Soseki's 'Nowaki', A Novella" by William Ridgeway

9. "The Twelve-Part Story of Lady Joruri" by Frederick Kavanagh

10. "Higuchi Ichiyo's 'Wakaremichi', Modern Punctuation, and Genbun Itchi" by Kyle Ikeda

11. "Grief and Guilt: A Study of Hagiwara Sakutaro's 'Night Train' (1913)" by Robert Epp

12. "Kawabata Yasunari's Concept of Beauty" by Gladys Nakahara

13. "Nakajima Atsushi's 'Gojo Tan`i': An Intertextual Reading in Relation to 'Faust' and 'Zarathustra'" by Nobuko Miyama Ochner

14. "Oe Kenzaburo and the Fifty-Year Postwar Period" by Nobuko Pugarelli Aoshima

15. "William Faulkner's Visit to Nagano" by Travis Summersgill

16. "Japan and Japanese in Brazil's Literature" by Edgar C. Knowlton, Jr.

17. "'Boku' in Edo Epistolary Texts" by Katsue Akiba Reynolds

18. "Synthesis of Modern Japanese Literature and Philosophy in the Writings of Valdo H. Viglielmo" by Steve Odin

(In addition, the book also includes a good biography of Viglielmo and a useful bibliography of his publications)
1303968
The book is a good introduction to the period. I was hoping for info about the Byzantine region as well as the Lombard region of Southern Italy, Its very readable and an approachable intro to the subject. The only problem I had was with some quotes not translated from the original languages. But Ms. Kreutz is an entertaining and informative writer. The social aspects of every day life could have done with some more development but she claims that the information available is meager. This is mostly written from textual sources not archeological ones.
588215
Dor's text is a very user-friendly introduction to Jacques Lacan's groundbreaking rereading of Freud--(most importantly, this means the freeing of psychoanalysis from strict biological determinism).  A master assimilator, Lacan re-shaped the notion of the human subject, and the author tackles the subject in piece-by-piece fashion without overwhelming the reader.  Dor even tries to make sense of Lacan's borderline insane graphical representations of the primacy of the signifier over the signified, and to an extent he succeeds.  Though I am new to Lacan, I found this text to be the most precise and readable introduction to his ideas.
4910013
Immanuel Wallerstein is certainly one of the most revolutionary and influential social sciences thinkers alive today, so when he writes a very accessible and informative introduction to the general theory he and his colleagues developed, it is worth paying attention. This book introduces that theory, world-systems analysis (with hyphen!), and gives a quick overview of the historical worldview that underpins it. Despite the easy writing style, it may require some prior knowledge of and familiarity with historiography and political science - world-systems analysis is somewhat notorious for being at least as generous in inventing neologisms in the field as Marxism, so it's easy to get lost without having a firm footing in the terminology. Nonetheless, it is impressive how much information Wallerstein manages to pack in a readable manner into about 90 pages of actual text.

This introduction shows very well the benefits and the drawbacks of the world-systems approach. Wallerstein spends little time defending his theory, but only makes it explicit, which is helpful for keeping an easy overview. The great strength of world-systems analysis is precisely the capability to keep this overview: it is highly insightful and incisive as a tool for understanding international relations, international trade, economic cycles, and their relation to the broad outline of 'systemic' and 'antisystemic' politics roughly since the French Revolution. Possibly even more than Marxism, from which it is in some ways an offshoot, it deals in the grand overviews and the broad sweeps, and it has the virtue over much Marxist work until recently of being strongly embedded in the enormous expansion of economic history as a serious and critical discipline in the last couple decades. It is broadly 'Third Worldist' and anticapitalist in its orientation, and if I mention Marxism in this review more than the book actually does, it is because it consciously or unconsciously has set itself up as the main competitor in 'grand theory' on the anticapitalist social scientific scene. However, this is also where some of its flaws come in. Although as mentioned Wallerstein does not really defend his tenets in this book, and that may make attacking the premises somewhat unfair, the work clearly shows the inferiority of world-systems analysis on the topics of understanding collective action and understanding production and modes of production. Arghiri Emmanuel and others' lessons on international trade have been well taken by world-systems analysis, but in terms of 'hard' economic theory it lags far behind Marxist political economy. Wallerstein's completely incoherent household-based criticism of Marxist class theory in Chapter 2 proves this.

That said, much can be learned from the approach, in particular its highly fruitful use of the great advances in economic history since A.G. Frank, Braudel, Arrighi, Amin etc. An integration of this longue dure perspective with Marxist political economy seems to be the way forward for the social sciences.
850651
This is not the easiest introduction to the work of Alexander Lowen for the reader uninitiated to his work . It is Lowen's first book, and intended to give a thorough understanding of his work on character. It has two parts, 1) the early chapters explicate foundational principles on human structure and energy (that actually are not treated so thoroughly in his later books) and 2) chapters devoted to each character in his typology. (Reich's work was a start but Lowen took it much farther, as well systematizing it) For those who want to master Lowen's model of character, this is a necessary text. Its important to note that attempting character analysis, on oneself or another, is just cruelty unless the subject is able and willing to practice, and actually practicing, bodywork intensely enough to be slowly changing and gaining freedom of action. The book perhaps is intended also to make apparent where Lowen's approach did and did not fit into psychoanalysis and ego psychology. In doing this, Lowen seemed to assume that the reader knew psychoanalysis and ego psychology fairly well, which may not often be the case in our time. Still the information is astounding, eye-opening, well-expressed and incredibly useful. If one is looking for more of a layman's introduction to Lowen then the book Pleasure or the book Joy: The Surrender to the Body and to Life (Compass) are good places to start.
1178072
Classic Zornberg, this book offers twelve different inquiries into such central Biblical stories as the binding of Isaac, the dissension between Joseph and his brothers, and the dilemmas facing the Biblical heroines Esther and Ruth. The stories could be read separately, although best read in order because some stories hark back to earlier insights. My favorite chapters concerned Zornberg's uncovering of Abraham's trauma with a fiery furnace (intimated but not described in Genesis) and her explanation of how Joseph cut off resolution of his dispute with his brothers. A couple chapters--notably on Jonah, Esther, and Jacob-- were less revelatory than Zornberg's best work, circling around themes I've seen elsewhere. Her later books, stretching across entire books of the Bible, are more breath-taking. This on is still an important acquisition for those seeking an understanding of religious thought or just of human existence.
320657
This is travel writing the way it was meant to be - Informative, concise and illuminating.

 Kaplan relives his journeys from many years ago as he first travelled through the Mediterranean struggling with being a free-lance writer. Most of the book is recollections from more than 20 years ago although there are comments from recent trips back to some of the locations and a wonderful recent interview with Patrick Leigh Fermor, author of A Time of Gifts, and other well-known travel books.

 The down-side of reporting on these decades-old journeys is that some of the spontaneity and opinion is lost. I find that sometimes I learn more from disagreeing with a travel writers' hasty opinion than in boring, well-edited neutral reporting. However, in this case, I think that the elapsed time has given this account nuances and a filtered content that add to the writing. It's as if the ensuing decades have concentrated the meaning and subtleties of the journey.

 The part on Tunisia was replete with history of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Berbers, and Carthaginians. Sicily was filled with the Greek influences on this place. Dalmatia, in previous Yugoslavia, and Greece were well-represented.

 I confess I particularly enjoyed the recent encouter with Patrick Leigh Fermor who in his 80's is working on the last book of the trilogy about his travels in the 30's on foot from Holland to Constantinople. If you haven't read his first two, you need to.

 Kaplan also includes a list of books that he considers essential to understanding these regions. It is excellent and is a good start to understanding these areas in depth.

 Overall, excellent and gripping - which is hard in travel writing.
4416840
This little opener to lit theory has one of the attributes the philosopher Eric Hoffer sought in research volumes: the thinnest or the oldest book on the subject as a starting point. This item is easy reading, as are all of Jonathan Culler's works. It covers a great amount of ground and has a natural flow to it. I use it as a starting point for grad students in courses that don't require lit theory as a center of gravity; rather, it serves to remind them of their viewpoint and discipline as they begin deeper investigations of literature. A sound piece, indeed!
1123017
Several years ago, when I first began to investigate Jewish mysticism (after having devoted decades to studying, practicing, and teaching various Hindu and Buddhist traditions), I purchased this small book to sample the Zohar. I enjoyed the foreword by Andrew Harvey, but felt no affinity for the Zohar itself. And I'm a guy who usually enjoys reading  mystical literature, especially if it's Kashmir Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhism, Christian Hermeticism, Daism (the teachings of Adi Da), or Ramana Maharshi  (a great Advaita Vedanta guru).  I put the Zohar in storage with my other books, and headed out of the country.

A few weeks ago, I received most of my storage books, and I decided to have another go at the Zohar. Well, it's the same as before: I simply do not find the book particularly accessible, interesting, or enlightening. I'll take the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Teh Ching, and the Buddha's Dharma over the Zohar, and none these teachings are favorites of mine. It's hard for me to accept that the Zohar is the canonical text of Jewish mysticism. From my perspective, this reflects the weakness of the Jewish mystical tradition. I'm a Jew, but I've got to call a spade a spade and admit that Hindu and Buddhist mysticism beats what Judaism offers.

In addition to Andrew Harvey's fine foreword, this book has helpful facing page annotations and explanations, which make for a smoother, easier read.  Even though I don't care for this book, I give it three stars because it's nicely designed and the Zohar is, after all, canonical. However, as a writer of mystical literature, I will not include it in the Recommended Reading List in my books.
1810651
Zweig writes an intellectual biography of Erasmus. He does not focus on tracing the everyday life, or the personal encounters of Erasmus. Instead he is interested in Erasmus' overall view of life and civilization, his historical role and contribution. He shows how Erasmus was the first true European with a vision which transcended national boundaries and focused on a world living in peace. He portrays Erasmus as a balanced, cautious person who fought all his life for, and maintained his intellectual independence and freedom. He writes of how for Erasmus the one great source of happiness was his Work. Erasmus was the champion of Learning, and had according to Zweig a tremendously broad book- knowledge. Erasmus loved books and gave his life to studying them and writing them. Erasmus wanted Reform of the Church but a reform which would be done without violence. He above all was an opponent of Fanaticism,and in his masterpiece 'In Praise of Folly' Fanaticism is the number one enemy. Zweig tells of how Erasmus came to be the overwhelming intellectual figure of his age. He writes with beauty and skill about the tremendous excitement of the Age of Exploration, the Renaissance which Erasmus played an important part in. He too tells the story of the conflict between Luther and Erasmus, how the violent, emotional passionate Luther led to the split in Western Christendom , and how the rational, balanced Erasmus was no counter to him. This work is not only the portrait of a man but the portrait of a Civilization through vital phases of its development. It is written beautifully by Zweig. Of course the great tragic element here is that Zweig who espoused Erasmus- like values of tolerance, moderation, reason wrote this just as his own world was being swept up in the fanaticism and hatred which would be Nazi Germany.
Zweig movingly describes Erasmus in old age, disappointed and rejected, a foreshadowing of his own tragic exile and death.
3175142
The opening chapters of The World of Yesterday offer a marvelous portrait of life and culture in Europe during the years before the two world wars, focusing  particularly on Vienna, where Zweig grew up. Then comes the unravelling of civilization. Zweig, himself a dramatist and story teller, knew many of the most important figures in European culture--poets, musicians, sculptures, and painters--and his book chronicles how many of them responded to fascism. Zweig and his wife took their own lives in 1942, not living to see the end of the process that destroyed yesterday. By the way, the recent film The Grand Budepest Hotel is based on a story by Zweig.
506636
Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog" is a fantastic introduction to his writing in general.  I read this after "The Master and Margarita" and found it to be a bit less polished, but on the whole a very enjoyable book!  Many lessons for modern science.  Perhaps high school English teachers should add this book to their curriculum, as it has not lost any of its edge over the intervening 60 years.