I was able to grasp and comprehend Ibsen’s entire dramatic
output and see it as one continuous and coherent whole. The twelve plays included here actually
comprise one single work, which shows human beings in every major aspect of
their lives.
The plays are written in a
variety of styles, from detailed realism to near dreamlike symbolism, but over
and over they bring out clearly the roles society forces on women, the ways
family guilt poisons future generations, the force of sexual desire, and the
ways society confronts individuals who are unable to fulfill the destiny
expected of them.
You may think Ibsen is old-fashioned, but for me reading this
book struck many live nerves.
Ibsen's twelve outstanding plays, from Pillars of Society to When We Dead Awaken, are accompanied by brief introductions illuminating the distinctive features of each
I was unaware of the persuasiveness and simplicity of
Confucius’ teachings. Finally reading
this book brought home why Confucianism has become the way of life of a large
portion of the globe.
The translation was in contemporary English which made it an
easy read. Reading the edition I did, I
was able to place Confucius in his historical and geographical situation. The Analects is both subtle and
elegant. I had thought of Confucianism
as a religion, but it is very different from religions in the Western
sense. Confucius’ Analects offers a guide
for ethical, cultural, and political life, one based on the instinctive value of
tradition.
He has lessons that I thought
held great value for Westerners, steeped in a different metaphysic.
The Norton Critical Edition aims to situate the historical figure of Kongzi, the legendary figure of Confucius, and the Analects (or Lunyu), the single most influential book ascribed to the Master's circle of disciples, within their evolving ethical, cultural, and political contexts. Simon Leys's acclaimed translation and notes are accompanied by Michael Nylan's insightful introduction.
Eleven essays by leading experts in the field of Chinese studies discuss a broad range of issues relating to the Analects, from the origins of the classicists (Ru) and the formation of the Analects text to the use (and abuse) of the Master's iconic image…
Inspired by seeing the movie Oppenheimer, I decided to pick up The Bhagavad Gita, which
Oppenheimer references a couple of times in the movie. However, I wanted to read it in English, not
Sanskrit, so I found the translation by Ann Stanford.
This is a poem that speaks to all men on the most basic
level. It probes man’s eternal motives
and attempts to understand what it is to live, and to die. It was written sometime between the fifth and
second centuries before Christ, somewhere in the north of India. It has survived because it teaches in a way
that must be experienced by the reader that the primal essence of the universe
is the essence of man, the self or soul.
It points the way to perfection, to achieve union with the supreme self.
In a setting modeled on the Caribbean, c. 1700, Deirdre, Queen of the Witches, has finally succeeded in killing her long-time antagonist, the Son of Light. Now the world is at her mercy.
Tom and Katie are two lovers who become separated when Tom embarks on a three-year sailing voyage. After he departs, Katie finds she is pregnant. In the new, dangerous world they inhabit, trouble is breaking loose. Amidst an Indian war and a slave revolt, pirates come in search of the marvelous emerald that is the eye of Madibimbo, the one-eyed monkey god.
Katie’s unborn child is destined to be the next Son of Light, and Tom and Katie must traverse a dangerous terrain in their quest to reunite. When she miscarries, can the situation be saved?
