Milan Kundera always called himself a novelist. He makes a fine distinction between writers and novelists. He thinks that his poems and his play (this play) are a peripheral part of his work. However, this work is important for Kundera. It is a variation of one of his most favourite novels: Diderot's "Jacques Le Fatalist". Kundera admires 18th century novel and this is one of its most finest examples. First American performance of this play was directed by Susan Sontag. Also, it is interesting that the preface for this play spured the famous polemics on Dostoyevsky between Kundera and Joseph Brodski.

one of the best learning materials i used in school to learn about whales

I think Jacques Cousteau was a wonderful man. He helped us out more than we know. This book was vey informative and interesting. I aplaude the author for having the will to write about an accomplished individual like Jacques Cousteau and doing an excellent job at it. Thank you Jacques Cousteau for doing so very much for our country and others. You have my sincerest graditude. I enjoyed learning about this topic and I liked the organization of interesting facts that I found in this particular book. I am a 13 year old Freshman attending Harvard, and I was very inmpressed with this book.

Dupin's poetry brings together fear and desire, death and life, oppositions which fuse together not out of juxtaposition but out of a bleeding neccesity for eachother. Death and life do not contrast in dupin, they are one. Opposing themselves within themselves, self rending and fusing simulataneously. Parageneous and sublime.

Jacques Garcia's French interiors and the story of his career make for interesting reading, as well as offering a visual feast. Garcia's remarkable talent is evident in the beautiful photographs of his work, both in his own homes and those of his clients. If you are fascinated by French civilization of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and appreciate the highly decorative interiors of the royal and noble chateaux of the Old Regime, then you should buy this book. Garcia uses the best decorative features of those centuries, as well as the nineteenth, to create a fabulous milieu of luxury and beauty for our own times. His interiors are both classic and romantic, with an original freshness that could only come from the late twentieth century. Even if you prefer simpler interiors for your own busy lives, the magic of Jacques Garcia, as conveyed by this book, will delight you.

The biography is written brilliantly and is quite fascinating. The 98-year long life of Hadamard was extraordinary, filled with fantastic joys, like playing the violin with Albert Einstein, and terrible hardships, as losing his three sons in the two World Wars. He was a man of amazing activity and great social commitment, being involved in the struggle for human rights. In his lifetime, the world was a scene of tremendous perturbations and changes in all respects, and so also in the area of science, where Hadamard was a great driving force especially in mathematics, but also in physics, mechanics, psycology of invention etc. Little did he realise during his career that his matrices later would be used in the coding theory of today.

The chapters about Hadamard's work in mathematical physics contains a lot of untraditional, interesting and almost unknown material. It is hard to find elsewhere such a complete and clearly written survey of the history of the disproval of several "obvious" hypotheses.

The text is tastefully mixed with illustrations and the occasional anecdote makes it a quite entertaining read. I can higly recommend it to anybody, from undergraduate students to high-level professionals.

If you haven't seen this man's work, and if you like woodblock prints, you are in for a real treat. His art is beautiful. He'll be more recognized someday, but that matters little. His art will be the same, mesmerizing.

Much of what is written about Lacan remains difficult to read and understand. It would appear that many of the writers are attempting to be Lacan themselves. However, this book by Danny Nobus is an exception. The writing style is clear and concise and although many areas of Lacan's work is not considered what is is helpful and well thought out. What is unique about this volume is that the work is considered in the context of clinical practise and the application of Lacan's theories in comparison/contrast to other forms of psychoanalytic thinking. A good book to own and re-read as necessary.

Actually a very modern book, despite being a few hundred years old. Diderot's method of narration keep you on your toes, and you learn to expect the unexpected. The author challenges the 'rules' of narration, and even reserves the right to rewind and change his mind! All of which is very relevant in book about fatalism, the belief that everything that happens to us is pre-ordained, or as Jacques says, written in the great scroll in the sky. And indeed, for characters in a novel like Jacques and his master, the events that befall them are indeed pre-ordained and written in the 'great scroll' that is the novel... no matter how hard the narrator tries to give an illusion of freewill..! A very easy going read, by the master of French 18th Century literature. If you enjoy it you should also try the Voyage de Bougainville and Lettres sur les Aveugles.

This thin book (20 pages, not including the table of contents, index, etc.) is a wonderful introduction to the lives of Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, famous explorers of the upper Mississippi River. It is part of the Famous Explorers series, and is a very attractive book. The pages include many colorful illustrations, and the pages are decorated, so that the book looks like a book from long ago.

Due to its length, the book is not in-depth on the men or their journey, but it does cover all of the essentials in a clear and concise manner. The book, is highly attractive, which will help it appeal to the younger reader, and it is informative in a short and easy-to-read manner, which will appeal to readers of any age. I highly recommend this book!