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Brilliant, practical, and humorous conversations with one of the
twentieth-century’s greatest musicologists on art, culture, and
the physical pain of playing a difficult passage until one attains
its rewards. Throughout his life, Charles Rosen combined formidable
intelligence with immense skill as a concert pianist. He began
studying at Juilliard at age seven and went on to inspire a
generation of scholars to combine history, aesthetics, and score
analysis in what became known as “new musicology.” The Joy of
Playing, the Joy of Thinking presents a master class for music
lovers. In interviews originally conducted and published in French,
Rosen’s friend Catherine Temerson asks carefully crafted
questions to elicit his insights on the evolution of music—not to
mention painting, theater, science, and modernism. Rosen touches on
the usefulness of aesthetic reflection, the pleasure of overcoming
stage fright, and the drama of conquering a technically difficult
passage. He tells vivid stories about composers from Chopin and
Wagner to Stravinsky and Elliott Carter. In Temerson’s questions
and Rosen’s responses arise conundrums both practical and
metaphysical. Is it possible to understand a work without analyzing
it? Does music exist if it isn’t played? Throughout, Rosen
returns to the theme of sensuality, arguing that if one does not
possess a physical craving to play an instrument, then one should
choose another pursuit. Rosen takes readers to the heart of the
musical matter. “Music is a way of instructing the soul, making
it more sensitive,” he says, “but it is useful only insofar as
it is pleasurable. This pleasure is manifest to anyone who
experiences music as an inexorable need of body and mind.”
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Origins - A Memoir (Paperback)
Amin Maalouf; Translated by Catherine Temerson
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R901
R783
Discovery Miles 7 830
Save R118 (13%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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"Origins," by the world-renowned writer Amin Maalouf, is a
sprawling, hemisphere-spanning intergenerational saga. Set during
the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of
the twentieth, in the mountains of Lebanon and in Havana, Cuba,
origins recounts the family history of the generation of Maalouf's
paternal grandfather, Boutros Maalouf: Why did Boutros, a poet and
educator in Lebanon, travel across the globe to rescue his younger
brother, Gebrayel, who had settled in Havana?
Maalouf is an energetic and amiable narrator, illuminating the more
obscure corners of late Ottoman nationalism, the psychology of
Lebanese sectarianism, and the dynamics of family quarrels. He
moves with great agility across time and space, and across genres
of writing. But he never loses track of his story's central thread:
his quest to lift the shadow of legend from his family's
past.
"Origins" is at once a gripping family chronicle and a timely
consideration of Lebanese culture and politics.
In MARIE ANTOINETTE, Evelyn Lever draws on a variety of resources,
including diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, to write this
sumptuous, addictive delight. From family life in Vienna to the
choke of the guillotine, this gripping work combines a fast-paced
historical narrative with all the elements of scandalous fiction:
Marie's wedding at Versailles to Louis XVI, the French court,
boredom, hypocrisy, loneliness, allies, enemies, scandal, intrigue,
sex, peasant riots, the fall of the Bastille, mob rule in Paris,
imprisonment, and, finally, execution.
From primary source documents Lever fashions an insightful glimpse
into the French court at Versailles. The characters of court are
expertly drawn. There is the dashing Axel Fersen, Marie's great
love; Maria Theresa, the scheming mother trying to place her
daughter on the Hapsburg throne; the legendary Madame du Barry,
lover to Louis XV; and, of course, Marie herself.
Luxuriously evocative of the Versailles court, historically sharp
and witty, and detailing the compelling story of Marie Antoinette's
life, Evelyn Lever's biography entrances readers.
In this graceful, incisive book, writer-philosopher Andre
Comte-Sponville reexamines the classical virtues to help us
understand "what we should do, who we should be, and how we should
live." In the process, he gives us an entirely new perspective on
the value, relevance, and charm of the Western ethical tradition.
Drawing on thinkers from Aristotle to Simone Weil, by way of
Aquinas, Kant, Rilke, Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Rawls, among others,
Comte-Sponville elaborates on the qualities that constitute the
essence and excellence of humankind. Starting with
politeness-almost a virtue-and ending with love-which transcends
all morality-"A Small Treatise" takes us on a tour of the eighteen
essential virtues: fidelity, prudence, temperance, courage,
justice, generosity, compassion, mercy, gratitude, humility,
simplicity, tolerance, purity, gentleness, good faith, and even,
surprisingly, humor.
Sophisticated, lucid, and full of wit, this modestly titled yet
immensely important work provides an indispensable guide to finding
what is right and good in everyday life.
Here is the definitive story of one of the most celebrated
filmmakers of our time, an intensely private individual who
cultivated the public image of a man consumed by his craft. But as
this absorbing biography shows, Truffaut's personal story from
which he drew extensively to create the characters and plots of his
films is itself an extraordinary human drama.
A sumptuous new biography of one of the most famous dangerous
liaisons When Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was a child, a
fortune-teller predicted that she would one day be the mistress of
a king. Born into the financial bourgeoisie that was a world apart
from the royal court, the beautiful Jeanne Antoinette nonetheless
fulfilled this prophecy by becoming Madame de Pompadour, the most
famous and influential mistress of Louis XV. In this sumptuous
biography, Evelyne Lever traces the enduring friendship between the
monarch and his favorite, and the far-reaching implications-both
personal and political-of their relationship. Pompadour was devoted
to Louis XV, and her contribution to the culture of the age was
significant: she was an outstanding singer and actress,
entertaining the King and the court in impressive stage
productions, and was a longtime patron of the visual arts. She
commissioned paintings by Boucher, Nattier, Van Loo, La Tour, and
Pigalle, and she formed friendships with many of the philosophers
and writers of the period, including Fontenelle, Crebillon, and
Voltaire. In effect, she was France's minister of culture at a time
when no such position existed. But she was loathed for her role in
France's disastrous military losses, and was the victim of
persistent court gossip and intrigues. This vibrant biography sheds
new light on the talented and resilient woman who influenced, for
better and worse, the fate of a nation.
With this brilliantly innovative book, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and Annette Becker have shown that the Great War was the matrix on which all subsequent disasters of the twentieth century were formed. Three elements of the conflict, all too often neglected or denied, are identified as those that must be grasped if we are to understand the war: First, what inspired its unprecedented physical brutality, and what were the effects of tolerating such violence? Second, how did citizens of the belligerent states come to be driven by vehement nationalistic and racist impulses? Third, how did the tens of millions bereaved by the war come to terms with the agonizing pain? With its strikingly original interpretative strength and its wealth of compelling documentary evidence drawn from all sides in the conflict, 14-18: Understanding the Great War has quickly established itself as a classic in the history of modern warfare.
Now in paperback, Wiesel's newest novel "reminds us, with force,
that his writing is alive and strong. The master has once again
found a startling freshness."--"Le Monde des Livres"
A European expatriate living in New York, Doriel suffers from a
profound sense of desperation and loss. His mother, a member of the
Resistance, survived World War II only to die soon after in France
in an accident, together with his father. Doriel was a hidden child
during the war, and his knowledge of the Holocaust is largely
limited to what he finds in movies, newsreels, and books. Doriel's
parents and their secrets haunt him, leaving him filled with
longing but unable to experience the most basic joys in life. He
plunges into an intense study of Judaism, but instead of finding
solace, he comes to believe that he is possessed by a dybbuk.
Surrounded by ghosts, spurred on by demons, Doriel finally turns to
Dr. Therese Goldschmidt, a psychoanalyst who finds herself
particularly intrigued by her patient. The two enter into an uneasy
relationship based on exchange: of dreams, histories, and secrets.
And despite Doriel's initial resistance, Dr. Goldschmidt helps
bring him to a crossroads--and to a shocking denouement.
"In its own high-stepping yet paradoxically heart-wracking way,
[Wiesel's novel] can most assuredly be considered beautiful (almost
beyond belief)."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer "
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