If you've read Le Grand Meaulnes and liked it, then I can highly recommend Robert Gibsons superb biography of Alain Fournier (alas out of print) called "The Land Without a Name". As haunting and evocative as the novel itself, Gibsons chronicle of Fourniers life gets as close to the heart of his obsession with the Lost Domain as anything I have read. The best literary analysis of the novel (in English at least) is Stephen Gurney's book length study simply titled "Alain Fournier" (also out of print!). Many critics consign Le Grand Meaulnes to the "minor masterpeice" category, however Gurney provides a compelling argument for regarding it as one of the great novels of the 20th century. For another novel on a similair theme, I can also recommend "Picnic at Hanging Rock" by the Australian writer Joan Lindsay. This is a book which bears an uncanny resemblance to Le Grand Meaunles, both in its plot, and in the effect it has on the reader (similairly the brilliant film based on it directed by Peter Weir).

I was interested in reading "Le Grand Meaulnes" after seeing that the English novelist John Fowles cited it as a major influence on his masterpiece "The Magus." I'm not disappointed, to say the least. This is a rare gem of a novel that weaves mystery, adventure, intrigue, romanticism, and realism into a unique package that must have been way ahead of its time and still puts many modern "suspense" novels to shame with its superb prose and sheer elegance.

The novel takes place in a rural French village in the 1890's. The narrator, Francois, is a young teenager who lives and studies at the village school, where his father is the headmaster. One day a boy named Augustin Meaulnes, a couple of years older than Francois, enrolls as a new student and boarder. Meaulnes is somewhat quiet and aloof, but he soon becomes popular with the other boys in the school.

One day Meaulnes expropriates a carriage to go to a nearby town on an errand and mysteriously disappears without explanation. He returns to the school a few days later, but he admits that he doesn't know where he's been. All he knows is that somehow he found himself in a strange, vague place -- a surreal, dreamlike realm that seemed to exist outside of the real world -- where he met a beautiful girl named Yvonne. He pores over maps and searches for clues about this place -- the "mysterious domain" -- so that he can see Yvonne again, while Francois, fascinated by the story of his adventure, is determined to help him.

I would be doing a disservice to the potential reader by revealing any details of the nature of the "mysterious domain" or any more of the plot; so I will only say that every aspect of this novel is nothing short of brilliant, not only in its invention and unpredictability, but in the way it transforms itself by highlighting the contrast between the carefree dream-world of adolescence and the harsh realities of adulthood, and how our childish pastimes and fantasies inevitably give way to our sense of responsibility as we grow and mature. In this manner, the plot actually "matures" with its characters, so that by the end, we see how "grand" a person Meaulnes really is.

This is one of those little remembered novels whose remaining fans firmly believe it to be one of the unacknowledged masterpieces of the 20th Century. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy and Halldor Laxness's Independent People inspire similarly fanatical devotion in small groups of faithful adherents. In this case though, one of the devoted fans just happens to be the great novelist John Fowles who proselytizes relentlessly for it, including writing the afterword to the edition I read, and crediting it as the inspiration for his first novel, The Magus (itself a Modern Library Top 100 entry). I don't know that I'm willing to join them yet, but all three of these cults may have a point. At any rate, The Wanderer, or, Le Grande Meaulnes, to give it the original French title, is certainly a unique and wonderful book.

The Wanderer of the title is Augustin Meaulnes, a charismatic, restless, youth who transfers to Sainte Agathe school in Sologne and befriends Francois Seurel, whose parents are teachers at the school. Meaulnes quickly earns the nickname Le Grand, or The Great, both because of his height and because he is the kind of natural leader who other boys flock to and emulate. The author portrays the school as an island, cut off from the rest of the world, and Meaulnes as the castaway who is most anxious to get off. He runs away several times and on one occasion has a mystical experience which will shape the course rest of the rest of the boys' lives.

When Francois's grandparents come to visit, another boy is chosen to accompany the cart to town to get them, but Meaulnes sneaks off in the carriage. Irretrievably lost, he stumbles upon a pair of young actors who take him to a dreamlike masquerade ball at a sumptuous estate. There he meets Yvonne de Galais, a beautiful young blonde, with whom he becomes hopelessly infatuated. They spend only a few moments together and do little more than exchange names, but this fairy tale adventure becomes the pivotal experience of his life, one which he, with the help of Francois, will spend the rest of his life trying to recapture, with tragic consequences.

Alain-Fournier was the pen name of Henri-Alban Fournier (there was another, already popular, writer of the day named Henri Fournier.) The novel is apparently very autobiographical : his parents were teachers; the boys supposedly incorporate aspects of his own character; and, most importantly, he had an experience on June 5, 1905, wherein he, age 18, encountered a beautiful young woman named Yvonne in the streets of Paris. This event became a central moment in his life. He imagined a parallel reality, or Domain, which we only come in contact with during such transcendent moments and he became obsessed with recapturing his. This imbues his writing with a profound nostalgia, a melancholic sense that those moments of epiphany that we experience can never be retrieved, that the best parts of life lie behind us, not ahead.

Fournier was killed in battle on September 22, 1914, fighting on the Meuse. Dead before his twenty-eighth birthday, this was his only finished novel, though Fowles suggests that his letters are also worth reading. In a sense, this is a novel that we would have expected from someone who survived WWI (see Rebecca West's Return of the Soldier), harkening back as it does to departed days of youth. His obsession with one event in his life suggests that Fournier might never have done much more than rewrite this story in subsequent years, but it's useless to speculate. What we do know is that he left behind one poignant and haunting novel which, rightly or wrongly, captures the inchoate sense of lost innocence and opportunity missed that we all feel at one time or another. Masterpiece or not, it is certainly unforgettable.

GRADE : A

This book will not teach you how to become a killer ninja-commando or how to prevail in your next no-holds-barred fighting event. What it does give is a great deal of common sense wisdom that is not so common in the world of martial arts. The martial arts world seems to get so bogged down in the minutiae of whether or not the mount is the preferred position or the guard or other such idiocy that we often lose focus on the truly important aspects of self defense - awareness, avoidance, legal repercussions and that violance is, at best, always a risky undertaking. Even the best practicioners can lose. Lose on the street and you may lose your life.
Mr. Burrese knows these truths and presents them in an easily read format with lots of "war stories" that keep the reader interested and entertained while educating at the same time, which is no mean feat. My kuddos to Mr. Burrese. As a 11 year veteran in law enforcement I could tell some war stories of my own, and probably would if someone would pay me to, but I ain't holding my breath.
The only flaw I can point out is less material devoted to legal issues, which are an important part of real self defense. The simple fact that these issues are broached, however, makes this work light years ahead of the majority of drivel put out as self defense instruction.
I highly recommend this book, particularly to those whose only exposure to martial arts and/or self defense has been in the dojo. It has been said that the wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Do yourself a favor - learn from Mr. Burrese's mistakes as well as his successes.

this is the first book that really gets in there and tells the truth. Alain has the right stuff,he deals with the good and bad.i was impressed with his humor and direct angle of explanation of real truth i reccomend this book to all serious martial artists you will enjoy this book!

Alain Burrese shares his experiences with us in order that we might learn from his mistakes and his triumphs. Burrese writes in a witty prose which is not too technical for the beginning martial artist and not too boring for the masters. I think we can all relate to the stories Alain weaves even if we havent experienced the situations first hand.

Burrese is a talented martial artist, author, video instructor (Hapkido Hoshinsul), public speaker, motivator and an all around altruistic individual. His stories are told with a sense of wit and that "hard won wisdom" which makes him an entertaining authority on his subject.

Burrese, whose closest friends include Mark "Animal" MacYoung and Peyton Quinn, is a streetfighter who knows when to step back or walk away. He understands the desire to fight, how to win one, and how to avoid one.

He relates some great stories of awareness, bar brawls, street fights, and much more. The guy is a true warrior, an excellent martial artist, and a good man.

Buy the book.

Here's an original thought - you can't judge a book by its cover. On the surface, "The French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking" would appear to be just what the doctor ordered - a beautiful book of health conscious recipes compiled by perhaps the four most prominent French chefs living in the US. With glossy photographs of many it's 150 recipes and a layout that emphasizes seasonal menu planning over individual dishes, the book gives a wonderful first impression. But things grind to a halt quickly when you start to cook. I'm sure there are many wonderful creations contained in these pages (and low fat versions of all the big hitters in the French lineup are here). And, honest, I promise to keep trying. But even in experienced hands, so many are outright clinkers that one rapidly looses faith in the entire collection. The recipe for asparagus soup (pg.60) illustrates the book's underlying central theme: if you're going to reduce the fat, you'd better concentrate the flavors. The recipe calls for 5 cups of white chicken stock -- not unusual until you look at the book's recipe for white chicken stock (pg.37). Eight pounds of chicken bones plus mirepoix and herbs yields just 4 cups (yes, cups, not quarts) of stock. At that concentration, the soup would require the 10 lbs. of bones just to made the base. That's one concentrated stock. OK, then skip the recipes that call for chicken stock. Unfortunately, in true French style white chicken stock is required for fully 22 recipes. Fortunately, brown stock is required for only four, and the formulation is a little more reasonable. But even this recipe requires hard-to-find veal bones and yields a demi-glace strength stock. Best to own a butcher shop. I won't comment on the health claims except to ask a question. If French cuisine is so inherently healthy, why have all the recipes been changed from their classic origins? Frankly, if it's healthy high cuisine you're looking for, I'd suggest either of Graham Kerr's first two Mini-Max cookbooks before this one. Kerr's recipes are at least executable and often produce astonishing results. If you insist on traditional French, it's difficult to beat Richard Grausman's "At Home with the French Classics."

My wife has a demanding job - so demanding in fact that I have started cooking. And with bathing suit season coming, she's concerned about her weight - so I've glommed onto The French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking. It's a lifesaver because it gives menus - I've never been good at figuring out what to serve with what. And the food is so delicious, we can't believe it's pretty low in calories and fat. The Warm Chocolate Tortes on page 101 is amazing - although I don't use a pastry bag to make it. Just spoon it in. Now we don't order in pizza so often!

This is a book everyone who enjoys cooking and eating healthy should have. While some of the dishes are a bit on the bland side, many of them are not. The wine steamed salmon is fab. The garlic soup is a favorite! Even if you don't make a single recipe just the information in the front of the book is well worth the price.

After reading through the entire book and trying out several recipes I have to say I am a bit disappointed. The photos of the desserts do not necessarily match the recipe instructions. For example, the Chocolate Coconut Cake instructs one to sprinkle toasted coconut over the top and sides of the cake but the photograph shows a cake with a sleek coating of ganache on top. This may seem like a picky complaint, but why photograph a dessert that looks different than the recipe outcome? Afterall, this is a book for home cooks not professional pastry chefs. In fairness to Mr. Payard, the book does explain techniques well and is very user friendly.

This book is not only a pleasure to look at but the variety of recipes is one that will keep you busy for a very long time. The biographical information on the chef, the facts about what sells best in his famous NYC shop as well as the organization of items is simply fantastic. Even though the first one I baked was the "banana cake" it was actually banana bread with a great variation. It was lighter and moister that the one that I use from one of my other books.The photos are professional and the recipes are easy to use. I will make alot of items from this book.

Awsome book. The best Parisian desserts are yours to make. Some recipes may be a little difficult for the beginning baker, but the explanations are very detailled and should get you through the most difficult cake. Not since leaving Paris 15 years ago, have I found a book that captured so well the essence of French Pastry. I made the Opera several times, which is the most painstaking recipe in the book, but with equal success every time, and fabulous compliments from my guests. A chapter about basic pastry crusts, creams and sauces is also very helpful, and then, the variations are yours to create. Since buying this book for myself, I must have given 6 or 7 away as presents to friends with different baking abilities. All love it. If it's the only baking book you purchase, let it be this one

There is no denying Alain Ducasse is the chef of the moment. However, this book was somewhat of a disappointment. The recipes are interesting, the photography decent. But the problem lies in the ingredients. Too many recipes call for ingredients that are flat out impossible to find - and he offers no alternatives. It is one thing to ask for truffles, caviar, or duck confit. It is another to require specific mediterranean fish that are not found in this country, or obscure wild game and offal that cannot be had. Substituting chicken, or even quail or pheasant just doesn't cut it.

Big, bold and beautiful describe this volume.

From one of the greatest French chefs, too much of this fare is unavailable to the home gourmet. However, savory and well done is this book with its exceptional photos and stylish intros to setup this exquisite cuisine.

Some of the soups and simple seafood dishes are about all anyone except the pros could attempt due to lack of ingredients and guts to go after some of these rather complicated recipes.

Blue are the pages of this book ... blue like the sea in Monaco where the three Michelin stars shine on Louis XV first Alain Ducasse restaurant. Three other stars were offered by Michelin to the same Alain Ducasse for his second restaurant in Paris in 1998. He became the only chef in the world to be granted with 6 stars by famous Michelin France Red Guide Book. Everything is beautiful in this book. Linda Danneberg explains how she installed a photographic studio in the barn close to the third restaurant "La Bastide de Moustiers". There, on the straw from the Alpes de Haute-Provence, she helped Pierre Hussenot, photographer, to install freshly made preparations under the sun of Midi (and projectors). I did not try the recipes. This is why I will not comment them. They are detailed in plain english. Comments on Alain Ducasse 9-days-a-week lifestyle bring value to this book. It is not only a collection of recipes. It is a comprehensive deep analyis of success-factors from the king of chefs. This book is a monument as his model.

I saw that someone else has the same gripe as I do, I wish that the contents of the book were listed here. I loved the book, the songs were wonderful and easy to follow, but if I hadn't been able to find a copy before I bought it I would not have known which songs were in it, and I might not have bought it. Just a suggestion.

This book is a fabulous collection of sheet music, that I would highly recommend to any singers who are looking to expand their knowledge of musical theatre. The show is about three hours, so it is ridiculous of people to expect this book to contain every song in the show. All the major numbers are included, and most people will be more than satisfied with this book.

This book is great book for all those singers and piano players out there who have fallen in love with Les Mis. I first heard the Les Mis songs through playing them with my high school concert band and after that I bought the piano book so I could play the songs on the piano. I just played 5 of the songs in the book in a medley at my piano recital and I believe it was very enjoyable for everyone there since most were familiar with the music. I highly recommend this book because the piano music is not too difficult to play and the voice ranges for singers are good especially if you're an alto like me. Les Mis definitely has some of the greatest and most beautiful songs ever written!

This dictionary is derived from a Robert-Collins dictionary. I found its layout/print to be somewhat crowded, and in a cursory usage I found missing words and meanings listed not in the logical order of their roots. Examples: The word "ondoyer" was missing, although "onde" was not, I could not find the word "tire-bouton", and the meaning of "s'abîmer" (to become spoiled or damaged) was cited before the meaning "to plunge to the depths", derived from the noun "abîme" (abyss, gulf or chasm ). I have used many French-English dictionaries. I find this one quite average. The older (1989 edition) and smaller dictionary by Steiner seems to be a better value despite its lesser comprehensiveness, and the larger but still compact Larousse Standard Dictionary (1994) seems far superior in layout and content. Perhaps the publishers believe that this dictionary could find an intermediate niche between the two former dictionaries. I emphasize that these faults were found in a brief examination, but it is a bad sign that out of the very few words looked up, a large fraction (about 30%!) were not satisfactorily defined or organized as to meaning.

This is one of the best concise French-English / English-French dictionaries available. It is small enough to be portable while large enough to be complete. The dictionary lacks a fair bit of culinary and other specialty vocabulary, but I don't expect such minutiae from a dictionary this size. Entries are easy to read, and phrases are not difficult to find. The Webster's New World is my primary foreign language dictionary, and I am rarely disappointed by it.

Although, I am always looking for a better dictionary, I have been very pleased with this one. It rates better than the larousse, which is also a good dictionary. The other dictionaries should not even be consulted...I think the french department at OSU recommends this one. It does matter what dictionary you are using. What I like about this one is that it seems to be equally french and english rather than just an english perspective on French. Therefore it is easier to translate back and forth rather than in just one direction, presumably French to English.

While the idea of having two of the most knowledgeable scholars of the noir film host a coffee-table art book on the topic sounds promising, the resulting product is heinously flawed. Despite the brevity of the text, a blocky font makes it difficult to read. The 'duotone' reproduction is achieved by imposing blue plate on the black plate--making vintage photographs resemble a poorly adjusted television screen. Further, the large reproductions merely expose the grain, scratches, and dust spots that any skilled retoucher could have removed. Pick up Mark Viera's SIN IN SOFT FOCUS: PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD and see how this book should have looked.

A large, handsome book, suitably published in black and white. If you are a fan of the Noir genre, this belongs on your coffee table. The pictures, from the collections of the authors, are evocative of their milieu, illustrating the classic noir films of the 40's and 50's. There isn't quite as much information about each picture as I would like, and for a couple, such as the cover and frontspiece, no information at all. This book is a supplement to the Noir Readers of the authors, and as such, serves it's purpose well. Do not buy this as a text, but for illustrative purposes. Enjoy looking at the chilling dark dangerous ladies, the crooked cops, the doomed characters. Great pictures.

Alain Silver has already written the definitive book on the subject with his (and Elizabeth Ward) 'Film Noir: An encyclopaedic reference to the American style' and now with 'The Noir Style' he has written the definitive book about the look of these movies.

Most critics agree that style was one of the main elements of this genre and Paul Schrader went further to suggest that noir style was working out the conflict visually. Where would this kind of movie be without its deep shadows and expressive lighting? With over two hundred production stills the authors explore the various characteristics and meanings of this essentially American art form. What makes the book so wonderful for me, apart from the excellent design by Bernard Schleifer, are the stills, mostly large one to a page and beautifully printed as 175 screen duotones, they leap off the page. Each photo has a very comprehensive caption.

As well as the seven chapters there are several spreads called 'Motif' where certain visual treatments are examined in more detail, prison bars, dream and flashback, face and gesture, sexual debasement, night and the wheel and one I thought particularly interesting about photographer Weegee (his real name was Arthur Fellig and he got his obscure nickname from his job, in the twenties, at The New York Times, where he worked in the photo darkrooms removing excess water from prints before they were dried, he did this with a squeegee) he covered New York city for various tabloid papers and his style was a photographic version of the noir movies. Page forty-seven shows one of his photos of a dead man on a city pavement, wearing a blood soaked shirt, over the page is a still of Kirk Douglas playing dead from the movie 'Out of the Past', they actually have very little in common, one is sanitised reel life the other is real life.

'The Noir Style' could not be any better and with Silver's 'Film Noir' encyclopaedia you will have a very full account of this fascinating movie genre. One other noir film book I have enjoyed is 'Dark City' by Eddie Muller, a detailed text and picture study. A neat touch is that Muller's written the book in the language style of the hardboiled private eye books of the forties...all three books hit the bull's eye!

Not a French Unabridge Dictionary, this is, in fact, a very good French-English English-French dictionary. While it is quite good, you should realize the title is misleading and it is written and compiled in England. You will find unfortunate translations which skew the real meaning. Example: 'tetes brulees' is translated as "desperado", when it really means 'hot-head', 'daredevil'. Another: "foutu" is translated as 'damn', 'bloody', when it really means the four-letter word "f---".

For a person who is hungry for words, this is THE dictionary to opt for. The umpteen entries make this dictionary the most sought-after bilingual dictionary to look up for new words. The additions of recent words, which have made an entry into French, make this a contemporary dictionary of the French language. This would have proved to be the best in all possible ways if only the manner in which the skeleton has been structured was more pragmatic. One would be dissatisfied after futilely looking up in the dictionary to find how to express certain expressions native to an English user like "receive a proposal" et al. If only this dictionary had been more user-friendly (by drawing heavily from corpus) like Oxford-Hachette is, it would have been an indispensable tool.

I wholeheartedly agree with those who say that this particular dictionary is THE French dictionary for students of French (and French enthusiasts). Not only is the vocabulary comprehensive, but the usage notes are invaluable; symbols indicate British versus American usage, the "slang quotient" of a word, and archaic and colloquial words, among others. The entries are full of examples that make it very easy to find out exactly how to use the word in context. There is also a special "Language in Use" section in the middle for particular cases, especially idiomatic phrases. The pronunciations are in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), with guides in English and French. Highly recommended!!

Like On Love and Kiss & Tell, Botton uses the fiction format to examine a romantic relationship from beginning to end in witty and telling detail. Like these other two books, there are diagrams and charts sprinkled throughout to illustrate various analogies and examples. Here, the relationship is between a 24-year old London woman and a professionally and financial successful 30ish man. As with the other books, there is a lot to be gotten out of de Botton's crisp prose. Read it.

Alain de Botton manages to expertly weave much psychology, philosophy & humour into this brilliant work - it's the kind of book you can read year after year (believe me, I have!) & each time you'll get even more out of it. De Botton is truly a ripper of a writer & I can't recommend this book enough -> if you're looking for an author who really seems to understand not only you, but much of the human condition, you can't go past him. Read it & love it!

At last! Someone succeeded to write a decent book about love as "we" "suffer" from it ! Alain de Botton is ingenious in the sense of being plain yet very deep without being unnecessarily and torturously complicated. He also has a very nice sense of humour. I sincerely would like to thank him for being such a friendly writer. Forget "Mars and Venus", your therapist, etc. Just read this book and feel as "being understood and helped"... If this book becomes a recommended highschool reading, then the world would be a less painful place...