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Book reviews for "Alain" sorted by average review score:

La Jalousie
Published in Paperback by Waveland Press (January, 1990)
Authors: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Eric Schoenfeld, and Germaine Bree
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More of a psychological atmosphere than a story.
This is by no means a story in the classical sense. Almost without exception, everything we learn is what the main narrator tells us and he basically confines himself to describing the scenes surrounding and tangential to the mainly untold plot. The narration of the 'story' is continually broken off only to be repeated in almost the same words. Again and again the narrator devotes himself to the neurotically precise description of objects around him. I interpret this as an escape by the narrator from the further development of the truncated plot fragments. The narrator seems to be tormented and psychologically paralysed as this is obviously the story of a moribund relationship and thinly veiled deceit.
This is not your regular jolly-old read but there is something about this book that lingers on long after the plot of a more conventional novel is forgotton. There is something here that seeps osmotically into the consciousness and remains like memories of undramatic moments in human life.

Peeking through the blinds
I read Jalousie in college, over 20 years ago, and still think of it with great affection. It is a novel of obsession by an author equally obsessed with technique and perspective, and if you submit to it it is hypnotizing. We pretend, in our 'real lives' to see in three dimensions, and to understand the people around us as well, but jalousie makes the case that we are really very limited in what we actually know -we are like a paranoid man peering at the world through the slats of the blinds that cover our windows: we can only guess the true shape of the world, the actual motivations of people. From this perspective everyone's motives are suspect, and paranoia blooms in the heat of this banana plantation, into madness. My favorite image, recalled 20 years since I have read the work, is the monstrous centipede on the wall: first there, then smashed into the wallpaper, then the stain of its presence, and over and over again. Robbe-Grillet, given your willingness to submit, crawls into your consciousness like this luscious, preposterously large, poisonous insect.

Amazing
One of the best and most mysterious novels ever. It is the most psychological of novels because there is no psychology involved in interpreting the events.


Noncommutative Geometry
Published in Hardcover by Academic Press (December, 1994)
Author: Alain Connes
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Does not stand on its own
I must depart a bit from the previous breathless outpourings about this book. The fact is, it is a whirlwind TOUR (or travellog) of noncommutative geometry, not anything like a handbook of it, or even an atlas of detailed maps of it. I say this because theorems are asserted but almost never proved, no 'problems' are worked, and it is my experience and universally that of all mathematicians/physicists I know, no matter how gifted, that one cannot really understand the subject matter without doing problems! The previous reviewer does hint: "even if you do not know the subject matter" - aye, there's the rub! I appreciate the author's gifts, and I can compass his vision of how useful his approach might be, but between rather trivial points in quantum mechanics to very abstruse theorems in abstract harmonic analysis there is no bridge provided, and the original literature, either by Connes or his predecessor Dixmier, is practically all in French. If you already know this stuff, it might be useful to have all the relevant topics gathered together in one place, but if you don't already know it, you are going to be disappointed. Customers should be aware of this fact before they shell out the bucks. A much better book covering similar ground, but at a more directly physical and more elementary level, is Souriau's: "Structure of Dynamical Systems. A Symplectic View of Physics" Although that work again doesn't have worked exercises. I wonder, is it just the STYLE in French literature nowadays to DISCOURSE about mathematics, instead of DEMONSTRATING it? Rather like a self-fulfillment of the Derrida-Lacan-Latour-deconstructionist position about scientific communities and their provenance, I'd say.

A beautiful subject
Even though detailed proofs are omitted for most of the major results, the book is an excellent overview of a beautiful subject that the author has made substantial contributions to. The subject of noncommutative geometry has recently made its way into theoretical physics, and so a perusal of this book would be of interest to individuals working in string theory or quantum field theory.

The main idea of this book is to generalize measure and operator theory to non-commutative situations. In the usual operator theory, von Neumann algebras serve as a generalization of "classical" measure theory. Commutative von Neumann algebras, or W*-algebras as they are sometimes called, are essentially bounded meausurable functions, and have measure spaces as their dual. These facts and a fine movtivation for the subject appear in the introduction to the book. The author shows with great clarity what is involved in extending measure theory to the non-commutative case. What is most interesting about the extensions is that they involve ideas from quantum physics. In addition, readers familiar with K-theory will see some brilliant uses of it in the book, particularly in the extension of BDF-theory to noncommutative situations, namely the KK-theory of Kasparov. The author also gives a taste of physics applications in the very last section of the book. He shows, interestingly, that when space-time is replaced by a product with a certain finite space, the Lagrangian of quantum electrodynamics becomes that of the Standard Model. Although such "add-ons" to space-time are not uncommon in physics (Kaluza-Klein theories being one example), the author's strategy is unique in its use of bimodules, and gives the three lepton generations.

There are also many other interesting topics as well in the book, such as how to deal with non-Hausdorff quotient spaces using noncommutative C*-algebras, deformation theory and the Kasparov group, the notion of Morita equivalence, leaf spaces of foliations, the E-theory of morphisms of separable C*-algebras, the extension of de Rham cohomology to a noncommutative framework (cyclic cohomology) and its relation to K-theory, the noncommutative torus and the quantum Hall effect.

The book is an excellent source of information on noncommutative geoemtry and with the many references given one can find more detailed proofs. It is a subject that will no doubt continue to make its presence known in mathematics (and physics) in years to come.

The place to find it!
This is *the book* on noncommutative geometry. Alain Connes created the main parts of the theory, and paved the way for
its many exciting applications. As most would expect, the book
covers operator algebras, quantum theory, and other areas of mathematical physics; --but, in addition, there is a lovely treatment of tiling theory[Penrose tilings, cartwheel tilings and the like], of the Dixmier trace, of groupoids, and of foliations.-- All new subjects: intriguing and penetrating!


Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus
Published in Paperback by Inner Traditions Intl Ltd (April, 1992)
Author: Alain Danielou
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Challenging, partial, scholarly...
Danielou meant that book to be an introduction to a religion that lies at the roots of all of us, and possibly lead us back to such primordial religion. The claim is bold. First, it is the author's controversial opinion that such a shaivite/dionysian religion was really so widespread. Second, the book itself doesn't give a "feeling" for what that religion is/was like. It gives extensive, scholarly details on the gods and myths, but little insight into what that would all mean to us nowadays.

However, the discussion of civilisations so remote from ours in time and spirit (Dravidian, Indus, Cretan, etc...) is mind-boggling and challenging. It makes our own culture seem very narrow-minded in some ways and ignorant of so much of human nature. The author was a native Frenchman yet deeply immersed in Hindu/Shaivite culture and religion from a young age. His insights are rare and precious. Thank you Monsieur Danielou.

Very factual, but lacks poetry.
Having made the connection between Siva and Dionysus from other sources, I looked forward with some anticipation to a book that treated both together. I have come a way a little disappointed. While the book is well documented and very factual it lacks poetry. I could not get a feeling for either of the Gods from this book as I have been able from others (Like 'Dionysus: Myth and Cult' by Walter Otto.) However it was reassuring to to have my intuitions about the link between the two Gods substantiated.

The bulk of the material is about Siva, (which is understandable given the background of the author and the relative amounts of material available on each of the subjects) though this leads to a somewhat fragmentary portrait of Dionysus.

In places it has the tone of a polemic for a return to 'natural' or 'ecstatic' religion as a basis for saving the planet. It treats the 'good' features of such an approach at length but fails to adequately address the fact that 'Siva/Dionysus' is at heart a 'mad' and ambivalent God (CF. W Otto above). I am not sure I can stomach a return to ritual or cult prostitution or to human sacrifice. Feminists may be interested in his description of the 'natural' role of women.

At first he appears to be anti-christian though this turns out to be more anti Roman-Catholic and Institutional Church. He believes that Christianity in its original, unadulterated form was very close to 'natural' spirituality and points to the many parallels between Dionysus and Christ.

I would suggest that readers get a good background in both subjects before reading this book.

Western religious thought is misguided...
Danielou provides insight into the eastern logic behind religion and spirituality. The tolerance of Hinduism and its basic acceptance of individuality is undeniable. what Danielou does is to illustrate the worthy points of the oldest religion in the world.


Social Foraging Theory
Published in Hardcover by Princeton Univ Pr (15 May, 2000)
Authors: Luc-Alain Giraldeau and Thomas Caraco
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The art of being complicated
This book is the art of writing complex and no attempt has been made to simplify the (indeed complex) field of behavioral ecology in general and foraging theory in particular. This is a book for the specialist only, certainly not for students, neither for graduates, not even for researchers working aside the very narrow field of foraging theory. The book is not very well organized, and one gets lost rapidly. If mathematics are not your strong point, or your background is weak, you will have a hard time with that book. The writing is somewhat stiff, complicated and argumentation difficult to follow. I certainly do not recommend it unless you are a very specialist of foraging theory, or want to be one.

Social Foraging Theory
This is an excellent theoretical study. The mathematics seemed to explain general patters, and offered insights to the field worker. The organization was logical and the extensions of behavioral models to ecological processes suggest new directions for both theoretical and experimental work. A broad range of biological scientists should read this book.

Putting social back into foraging
This is an excellent and timely book, about the behavioral ecology of foraging in animals. This is a field that lacked progress since optimal foraging theories in the 1970's, and the authors make clear why, namely that the social dimension has too often been ignored. The authors remedy this omission and provide a clear and comprehensive overview of contemporary views on foraging theory in a social context.


The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm
Published in Hardcover by University of Chicago Press (March, 2001)
Authors: Alain Besancon and Jane Marie Todd
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Book cover is misleading
You definitely can't tell this book by its cover. Not only are the title and the cover's synopsis very misleading, but the picture you see on the front of the book has nothing to do with the book's subject matter.

I bought this book because it was recommended by The Economist in a book review when it was first released. It appeared to be an interesting discussion about how different religions have accepted or rejected images that were memorialized in print. In light of the Taliban's destruction of the Buddha statues, I was especially interested in this topic to enlighten me about how various cultures have viewed the representation of God, gods, people, animals, landscapes, etc. The Economist review and the book's cover led me to believe that this book would enlighten me in that regard. It didn't.

Be forewarned that this book is almost entirely about religious images and Christianity. There is some discussion in the beginning of the book about images of gods in ancient times (and what Plato and Aristotle thought about them), but most of the book is about the iconoclastic and iconophilic schools of Christian theology. (The discussion about iconoclasm in Judaism and Islam is limited to a few pages.) Hence, I would characterize this book under the heading philosophy, not art.

My only other comment pertains to the writing. Keep in mind that Besancon wrote this book in French, so you are reading a translation. I don't know if it's because of the writing in the original, the translation or the subject matter, but this is a very dry read. I will confess that I keep the book on the bedside table to provide soporific assistance. Calling itself an "Intellectual History" does not, to me, give a book license to be painfully boring.

While there are some interesting passages (such as the discussion about the Trinity in Christianity, which was helpful in explaining the concept of the Holy Spirit), I rate this book as two stars. I do this primarily because it was not what it purported to be. It would have been more aptly entitled, "The Depiction of the Divine in Christian Theology." And the cover picture should have been from a painting of a crucified Jesus. But then again, that probably wouldn't sell as many copies.

A college-level intellectual history of iconoclasm
Forbidden Image is a college-level intellectual history of iconoclasm which examines who the representation of the divine came to be a philosophical issue, with the idea of 'graven images' receiving different interpretation by different religions. Philosophy and theology blend in a comprehensive examination of how the status of the image has changed over the centuries.

The Perils of Being a Graven Image
This is a thorough and entertaining history of the critical fortunes of religious imagery. The author tells the long controversial story of the many debates surrounding the worship of images of gods and other notables in Western culture. Starting with the proscription against the Golden Calf and the Hebraic and Islamic laws against the 'graven image," Besancon tracks the history of this debate through Greek and Roman culture, the various phases of early and medieval Christianity, including the ways in with the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches have dealt differently with the problem. Besancon then tracks the status of the religious image through the Renaissance, and how it was perceived by Enlightenment philosophers. He ends with a discussion of how art came to be perceived in religious terms and how the artist came to be perceived as a kind of romantic god starting in the late nineteenth century. He ends with a discussion of the tense relationship between modernism and spirituality, dealing with the art of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and others.

The book is a little strange: one is always aware that Besancon has his own view of things--but it is a highly learned, far-ranging and charming view. Highly recommended.


Djinn
Published in Paperback by Grove Press (June, 1982)
Author: Alain Robbe-Grillet
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Interesting and unfulfilling.
This book is not a bad one by any means. The oddity of the various identities/meanings of the character are intriguing as well as the search for the truth of what happened. The way the various events are tied and and switched about to make, in essence, three stories is nice. However, all I really left with from the book is a bit of a hollow feeling. Too much ambiguity to find answers, and too little depth to find fulfillment. Perhaps I read too fast or overlooked the point, but to me it was simply a good writer flexing his literary muscles for show.

A new image of genies
I like this book very much. It has been over 10 years since I read it and some of the graphic images are still with me. The myth of genies usually is one of benevolence. This genie is not a benevolent genie. It kept my attention because as a youth, my interest in mythology was a fascination I have never outgrown. Don't look too hard for hidden meanings, it is a book meant to entertain. You will learn a thing or two about many things associated with genies not commonly added to modern interpretations.


Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews With Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period
Published in Paperback by Limelight Editions (February, 2002)
Authors: Alain Silver, James Ursini, and Robert Porfirio
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Notes
Just a couple of points to add to Dr. Schwartz's fine review of all three Film Noir entries. The price of this reader is...hefty .... Considering what you get in return, only confirmed enthusiasts should pony up that amount. A big point in the book's favor: an interview with screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring, aka Geoffrey Homes, (Out of the Past, Invasion of Body Snatchers,et.al.), a major influence on the genre, and the only interview with this neglected figure that I know of. Lastly, it's remarkable how many of these artists were unaware of contributing to a distinct body of work we now call film noir. Perhaps the zeitgeist of the time wore a trenchcoat; certainly something generic was afoot.

Spiraling Down the Noir Trail
If you are a "noir addict," as I am, you are indeed fortunate to have read the original FILM NOIR READER, its sequel, FILM NOIR READER 2 and the last one in the series...FILM NOIR READER 3.
The first one was the most interesting of the group, containing the most seminal essays on the noir style by Durgnat, Higham, Porfirio and Schrader and even a translation from Borde & Chaumenton's French framing of the "noir mystique." Also, several noir films were considered in a "case study" section, among them KISS ME DEADLY, NIGHT & THE CITY, ANGEL FACE and the post-noir LONG GOODBYE. The last section of Volume One dealt with "Noir, Then and Now" with several interesting articles on noir's legacy and the new noir. It was a sensational critical work after Silver & Ward's trend-setting volume FILM NOIR, now in its third edition from Overlook Press.
FILM NOIR 2, in the Limelight series carries on the tradition of including seminal essays on noir by Nino Frank, the film critic who actually named the style, Jean-Pierre Chartier and Claude Chabrol, among other worthy and perceptive American
critics such as Tom Flinn and Stephen Farber. Reverting to the case history approach, Robert Porfirio, Robin Wood, Silver and Ward, among others scrutinize critically the films of Hitchcock,
the femme fatales of PUSHOVER (Kim Novak) & THELMA JORDON (Barbara Stanwyck)among other themes as "jazz & noir," "tabloid cinema" and "neo-noir fugitives," all wonderful essays written with style and critical acumen. Part 3 of this volume seems to suggest this would be the last in the series, discussing the "evolution" of noir, especially essays on the "new noir," and especially Kent Minturn's excellent article on "abstract expressionism and film noir, demonstrating the effects of Jackson Pollack's paintings on the noir style.
FILM NOIR READER 3 must be the absolute last in the series because it focus is on mainly interviews with filmmakers of the classic noir period. Divided into 3 sections, it deals with 8 directors such as Andre de Toth, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise among others, filmmakers such as photographers James Wong Howe and John F. Seitz, actors such as Claire Trevor and Lizabeth Scott, composers such as Miklos Rozsa and finally a series of commentaries about noir by Curtis Bernhardt, Budd Boetticher and Daniel Fuchs.
Of the director section, all were fairly interesting interviews by Alain Silver or Robert Porfirio with the exception of Otto Preminger who seemed to defy the questions put to him and did not care to be labelled a "noir" director. Of the actors, I enjoyed Claire Trevor's appraisal of her roles and Lizabeth Scott's method of transforming herself psychologically into a "femme fatale." But the commentaries section of this interview book really runs out of steam with Daniel Fuchs' perception of Jews, Gentiles and Communists in Hollywood as well as the take of his own words on THE GANGSTER with Barry Sullivan.
He even complains as he writes answers to Porfirio's questions, while admiring the critic, he feels "it pains him his own prose is so lousy."
While this third volume is chock full of wonderful stills
from classic films of the period, sometimes the stills have absolutely nothing to do with the text...worse, there are serious flaws in editing that mar the book...on p. 60 Anne Bancroft is referred to in THE BLUE GARDENIA while on the next page it is Anne BAXTER, the real star of the film is seen in a still with Ann Sothern; the still facing p. 135 identifies Ray Teal as the actor in the foreground with Orson Welles on the stairs in CITIZEN KANE while it is actually RUSSELL COLLINS and more blatantly, in the still on p.141 from BODY AND SOUL, how can any one mistake B-actress HAZEL BROOKS seen here with John Garfield for the beautiful and classy Lili Palmer identified in the caption.
Finally, I believe FILM NOIR READER 3 is a worthy entry in the series for its preservation of information and stills about noir although the interviewers seemed to have scraped rock bottom to put this volume together. Perhaps they should turn their attentions to the new noir. However, I must commend the publisher, Limelight, for continuing the series and bringing about an affordable paperback with such gorgeous stills that are alone worth the ... price. And some of the interviews are really excellent--the ones with Billy Wilder, Miklos Rozsa and James Wong Howe among others. But it is difficult to take such diverse views on noir and give them a unique, systematic frame of reference because of the very complexity in the material and the divergent views among the authors. I simply cannot imagine how far down "the noir trail" we can go without stumbling in the future. Volumes 1 and 2 are certainly superior to this last one, but Vol. 3 gives me a sense of closure regarding the material, but not the "noir style." For as long as there are men deceived by women for cash or sex, noir will go on forever.


The Princess and the Pea
Published in Hardcover by Little Brown & Co (Juv Trd) (September, 2001)
Authors: Alain Vaes and H. C. Prindsessen Paa Rten Andersen
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A Real Princess
PLEASE NOTE! This review is for the version that is illustrated by Dorothee Duntze. Everyone knows this Hans Christian Andersen story about the bedraggled princess who shows up looking for shelter on a stormy night. She might be a good match for the prince who's been searching for a "real" princess so the queen mother runs a little test...the rest is the subject of fairy tales! This version is simply told and beautifully illustrated. The pictures, executed in soft pastel colors, have a quirky Art Deco feel to them that I thoroughly enjoyed. The gowns of all the ladies in the book are done in a collage style and are covered in intricate patterns and designs. Lovely...the real thing!

an amusing modern twist to an old tale!
In the beautiful land of Upper-Crestalia King Adolph, Queen Frieda, & their dear son Prince Ralph live & the queen is quite content until her son one day bursts into her chamber & declares that he wishes to marry.

The queen does not like this idea at all so she hatches a plan to prevent her son marrying & she makes sure that the few princesses who do audition for Prince Ralph's wife all fail.

Mad with grief, Prince Ralph tears off in his expensive car down to Lower-Crestalia & when smoke starts billowing out of his hood, poor Ralph is stranded.

To his great surprise & relief, an auto-mechanic pulls up next to him & a dirty young woman in overalls carrying a tool box, jumps out. They get to talking, & the Prince is smitten! Her name is Opal, & she is the princess of Lower-Crestalia.

On the spot Prince Ralph proposes & when her prince charming confesses that his mother has idiotic tasks in store for her, Opal only becomes more determined.

Opal passes the tests with flying colors & that's when the queen insists there be a third test which is the one from which the title of this hilarious book is taken.

Will Princess Opal pass the final test? Will the queen's crafty plan succeed? Read this enchanting book & find out!


Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century
Published in Hardcover by New York University Press (January, 1996)
Authors: Alain Destexhe, Alison Marschner, and William Shawcross
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Thought provoking, but...
Not bad, but a bit dry. I had some definate arguments with Dr Destexhe's contentions about the Balkan conflict, but those are best aired elsewhere. All in all though a worthwhile read for those in the International Security/Stability business (intelligence,politics, and the like)....

Required Reading
While it is possible to list dozens of examples of crimes against humanity, there are only three that meet the strict definition of "Genocide," according to Mr. Destexhe, Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders. The systematic elimination of Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994 is one such instance. This concise treatise should be required reading for all human rights activists.


The Essential Plato
Published in Paperback by Book of the Month (01 September, 1999)
Authors: Alain de Botton and Introduction by Alain de Botton
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