All worshippers of JS Bach need to acquire this informative and satisfying journal dedicated to the absolutely most profoundly sublime genious in all of music. If having all of Bach's masterworks in your CD collection wasn't enough...you need to add this book for further intellectual stimulation because here Bach is presented in his OWN WORDS! Every example of written coorespondence by Bach and his contemporaries concerning him has been preserved and translated from the hand of Bach's penmanship and presented to the reader. As a result, we can glimpse into another facet of the mind behind the music. Although most of the letters were written to either one offical or another (and therefore embellished with the standard nomenclatures of the time), I was able to detect exasperation, sarcasm, fearlessness, austerity, humor, ridicule and sorrow in much of them. In the vast majority of the wordy, complex style of his coorespondence we begin to see that Bach composed his complaints in much the same vein he composed fugues; lavish phrases, requests and expostulations are intertwined in the most respectful manner to his superiors...and simultaneuosly he projects an attitude that if his needs are not met he will resort to higher means...usually meaning petitioning the King himself (which on one occasion he ultimately did!) His complaints ranged from objectional wages, unruly choirboys, the relegations of authority, and his delinquent son (in which the debtors were now pestoring Bach to compensate). It is true that not many personal references by Bach have come down to us, but there are a few morsels for us to dwell on; his declining a gift from a cousin stating that the tax required was much to high for the parcel itself, he mentions with regret a flask of wine that broke open (accidentally?) while on route in the mail and spilled out, and how not too many people were dying...so unfortunately he wasnt making out too well on funeral music composition. We begin to see that apart from his unsurpassable genious and intellect, he was very much a normal person...even a bit dull. He certainly had a dry sense of humor and had absolutely zero tolerance for people he thought were using him...and for those he thought were not taking him seriously. The is one instance where he got into a street fight at the marketplace, another instance where he was reprimanded for introducing "strange sounds and alterations in the harmonic structure" during mass at the organ (the buddings of his genious). He was interrogated for bringing a "strange maiden" up to the organ loft with him. He even spent some time in jail for being too stubborn when his leave was denied (he was looking for better work and his employers refused to let him go). He was reprimanded for overstaying leave time on another occasion (by like 2 months!) hanging out in Lubeck to see Buxtehude play. He had no qualms whatsoever in disqualifying students from his instruction if they showed any from of recalcitrance or inept musical talent. Buy this book! You can read all about these things and more from the REAL letters! There is plenty of praise and accolades to go along with it, both by his contemporaries and posthumurous composers. Read about Mendelsohn's debut of the St Matthew's Passion (100 years after Bach performed it last) written by the tenor who sang Christ's lines in the score during that performance! Look at the replicated facsimilies of Bach's letters in his own hand! The book is full of paintings of Bach...in all stages of his career. Read his letters and get some insight into the turmoil and altercations, of the humor and sarcasm of the greatest genious of music this world has ever known. His music is immortal and nothing can even come close; not even the greatest works of Mozart or Beethoven can overshadow the universal sublimity and unsurpassed ecstasy the world can find the the music of the Almighty Johann Sebastian Bach.

I have been studying this book for the last 2 months. The amount of information that is in this book, and not many others, is incredible. Actual letters from JS Bach showing how he feels. Descriptions of performances that were only available from PhD's in the past are available to you in this publication.

On the subject of J.S. Bach, this is one of the best resources I have found.

This is a very funny book. A bunch of Scottish 30-somethings are invited to a school reunion on an oil rig that has been converted into an offshore resort by one of their school colleagues. A terrorist assault takes place and the rest you'll have to read the book for. There are some great one-liners and some 'highly unlikely but all the funnier for it' situations that some of the characters get into. The author also hits the nail on the head with some of his insights into the affect that school has on the rest of your life, and the many reasons why people are drawn to school reunions. There's a fair amount of straight action in the book so there's not a laugh on every page, so I gave it 4 stars. Definitely recommended.

'One Fine Day in the Middle of The Night' is an all-action satire from Scotland's leading satirist - Christopher Brookmyre, a resolute left-winger with a great command of the English language and a publishing deal he's not afraid to use! Liberally sprinkled with popcorn culture references, Brookmyres writing is a strange mixture of the slightly more intelligent Hollywood escapism (?) and liberal left-wing conscience that guarantees a thick veneer of 'smart' social commentary. Nevertheless, Brookmyre's unashamed homage to his action hero heritage ensures an attention-grabbing plot where, in true Die-Hard tradition, trigger-happy but fallible mercenaries take hostages at the gala preview of a ludicrous hotel built on a disused oil drilling rig. Not only does Brookmyre make some intelligent social commentaries about the police, the oil industry, the travel industry, and a few other sacred cows (like religion and politics), he does it in a way that entertains and amuses.

What sets Brookmyre apart from the pack is that he is obviously a skilled author (his sentence structures are not the short, declarative ones you would expect from an action writer) and yet he can drop in references to popular music, television and cinema without looking out of date. Unlike authors like Ben Elton, he has enough intelligence to control his social commentary, keeping it in equal proportion to the absurd plot of the book. It's not high literature, but it doesn't want to be. This makes the whole thing easier to stomach and while you may think, being an action novel, it will be an easy read, this is not always the case. Nonetheless, it's a very worthwhile read.

If you have difficulties getting hold of any Brookmyre titles, they're ALL available on amazon.co.uk (Including Brookmyre's latest offering 'A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away')

Burckhardt's book focuses primarily upon the three powers, state, religion, and culture. He examines them by defining the concepts as he wished to use them (for common understanding of what he refers to when using the terms) and then looks closely at the relationships.

Chapter three, which examines the relationships by how each power "determines" or influences the others, is based on reciprocity between the three. Burckhardt shows how state, religion, and culture are all within the framework of influence and through examples from history he supports his argument very well.

In the later part of the book Burckhardt looks at the crisis of history. The crisis he discusses is in the conflicts of mankind which we measure our history against, such as wars. He then discusses great men of history, not in specifics of naming but in defining what it means to be great, and who can or can not be great...someone who can not be replaces is considered great and by Burckhardt's reasoning that may include artists but exclude inventors (as he believes that someone else could also have invented any given "thing" though art would not be as easily reproduced.)

This books is relevent still today, though to read it one must be ready for the view point of Burckhardt's time, which can seem racist or intolerant to the people's outside of Christian Europe.

This book has an index, and the index lists one page for Zarathustra, but even Zarathustra might wonder how he ever ended up being the last word in the paragraph:

"Aryan polytheism, in its reversion to pantheism, was the source of the religion of the Brahmans; the Zend religion, on the other hand, transformed it into an unparalleled dualism. And that change can only have been operated in one sudden movement by one great (very great) individual. Hence there can be no doubt of the personality of Zarathustra." (p. 152).

There is a lot in this book, attempting to "cover the ground" (p. 59) of "state, religion, and culture in their mutual bearings. . . . The state and religion, the expressions of political and metaphysical need, may claim authority over their particular peoples at any rate, and indeed over the world. For our special purpose, however, culture, which meets material and spiritual need in the narrower sense, is the sum of all that has spontaneously arisen for the advancement of material life and as an expression of spiritual and moral life--all social intercourse, technologies, arts, literatures, and sciences." (pp. 59-60). Considering ownership (or worse, the desire of individuals to copy such things in a manner that was previously restricted to commercial manufacturing processes) of such things the major factor behind all the great struggles of our own time, we ought to be able to see how much has happened since the paragraph quoted above from the lectures given off and on from 1868 to 1885, included in Chapter 3, "The Reciprocal Actions of the Three Powers," and that more than a hundred pages later, even Jacob Burckhardt, the famous historian and friend of the young professor Friedrich Nietzsche at the University of Basel, in Chapter 4, "The Crises of History," needs to ask those who are listening to his lecture, "Or is everything to turn into big business, as in America?" (p. 266) only a page before observing, "The socialist systems have been the first to abandon the quest for power and to place their specific aims before anything else." (p. 267).

Political systems have been fumbling over the kind of power of personality question that put Zarathustra in the perplexing paragraph quoted above, as if anyone who claimed to possess knowledge of good and evil, "in the extreme sense, theocratic in intention" (p. 152) could easily divide the world "between two personified principles and their trains (hardly personified at all). And that in a predominantly pessimistic sense, beloved of the gods, ends his life evilly in the toils of Ahriman. Yet at this very point, we must again note how easily religion and the state change places in their mutual interaction. All this did not prevent the actual monarchs of Persia (the Achaemenidae at any rate) from arrogating to themselves the representation of Ormuzd on earth and believing themselves to stand under his special and permanent guidance, while the monarchy itself was in reality a horrible Oriental despotism. Indeed, on the strength of that delusion, the monarch assumed that he could do no wrong, and subjected his enemies to the most infamous tortures." (pp. 152-53). America might be the state that found religion to be so unfree, in the manner in which it is usually practiced, that the typical American assumption would be, "On the whole, state and religion were here associated to the great detriment of both." (p. 153).

According to the Introduction by Gottfried Dietze, Jacob Burckhardt gave up writing books at an early age. "That he ceased publishing before he had reached the age of fifty and that his publications came to an end with descriptions of art indicate a desire to let his fellowmen share in the enjoyment of beauty, to let them escape to the beautiful land which Goethe, whom Burckhardt admired, had described. For what Burckhardt saw develop throughout Europe . . . was, he feared, in many respects unpleasant and augured ill for the future of mankind, because it seemed to him to threaten the kind of culture individual effort had achieved throughout history." (pp. 12-13).

Education has widely been assumed to produce useful abilities, but as society has come to reward entertainment values with a fickle finger of fate that would astound previous students of culture, education also ought to have some emphasis on producing a state of mind to which an individual can regress, after discovering that everything which had previously been assumed to be useful, including the concept of good and evil itself, is but a snare designed to trap those who still cling to their illusions. Burckhardt was a great teacher at a time when a few teachers could be counted on to know this kind of thing, and this book, REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY, shows it.

This book is a must for lovers of the cantatas, but I hope it's not whining to say that we deserve much better. The subjects of the various essays, by various scholars, are all exactly the ones I have been hoping for--most notably the chapters "Bible, hymnbook and worship service" by M. Petzoldt, and "Choruses and Chorales" by D. Melamed, but the book as a whole reads very much like a conference proceedings volume rather than an introduction to the "world of the cantatas." Some individual chapters are excellently written (esp. C. Wolff's, but that should go without saying), but many are at the very least poorly translated. What we really need is A. Duerr's magisterial introduction (available at fairly low cost from amazon.de, for the reader of German) in English translation (though I would hope not by those who translated this volume!).

this clear account of the early cantatas is a must for all lovers of Bach and his choral music. Written by acknowledged authorities in the field, this book complements Koopmans on going CD cycle of the cantatas but can be used with great benefit with other cycles as well. If you love the cantatas this is a must have book

This book was the mother!

Definitely for the more experienced cook but wonderful, insightful recipes! Lots of great sauces and oils. A lot of the recipes inspired me to make up recipes of my own. Great instructions and pictures showing stages of cooking. Beautiful pictures of the food! Not the kind of food you would make after a busy day at the office but you could really show off for a special dinner or meal. Highly recommend to the adventurous.

'Drained' is an eloquent and heartfelt compilation stories, quotes, and memories about those who have at one time or another felt drained. Though the stories are of individuals from very different walks of life, they are connected by a struggle to let go of difficult pasts and a continuing search for peace. When I first began to read 'Drained,' I presumed it would be just another self-help book about tips for a better you. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not the usual therapist advice on how to forgive, but real memoirs of courage, strength, grace, and love. It is the kind of book I would recommend to anyone who has ever felt like they were searching for something they couldn't find, something more, something like peace.

This is a revised edition of another book by Arnold called Seeking Peace. This version removes some of the religious language that would be a problem for many who are still in desperate need of finding inner peace. The remarkable thing I find in this book is how Arnold finds and uses the threads of truth in so many backgrounds, traditions and religions... in a world where adherents of these traditions and religions seem to be at each other's throat. It is a challenge for the reader to find the "hidden Christ" in places you do not expect.

From the outset, Arnold puts forth a memorable and cutting composition of the human state, through his observatioins and the stories entrusted to him by others. The real life stories are hope filled and an enjoyable read. Buy this book, read it many times and never give up hope!

how do you discuss 23 years, the last half of a great poet's long career, in such a short allotment of space. you really can't. i will say that some of his better works is in the first volume. that isn't much more i can say than pick up his collected works.

How can one describe William Carlos Williams, a great brilliant writer. His words are so in depth and so meaning and can relate to any particular situation one might be in. His use of language is superior above others. Not until recently did I read something of his in a collection of poems that I had borrowed, and I saw one poem that stuck out to me. This poem is called Romance Moderne. This is a truly excellent poem and led me to be such a great admirer of William Carlos Williams. I've borrowed his collection of poems almost a thousand times from the library, and I still haven't finished reading all of his poems. It takes a necessary amount of time to soak in his words, and with such a great number of poems, I'd like to soak them all in, thus I will be buying the book for myself to have.

Whew, check out that list. & I bet you haven't read half of them even if you are a Williams fan via his selected & Pictures from Brughel.

This is the development of Williams' daily art, punctuated by an occasional masterpiece or near-surrealistic gemstone. Someone once asked John Cage, "With your methods, couldn't anyone compose music?" Cage replied, "Yes, but they don't." With Williams, it almost seems that everyone did. Williams, like every really fine poet/teacher I've ever met, was better at setting examples than at methods. He learned as he wrote, & I suspect his talk & his letters had a great deal more influence than his occasional stabs at poetics.

Williams stripped down American poesy & reconstructed it as a form of talk, which it had been all along beneath Whitman's yawping & Dickinson's obsessive editing & Frost plodding heavily though New England snow five steps at a time. Uncle Bill just didn't know any better. He didn't know he was supposed to be a somebodyelse; maybe a Stephen Benet, a William Vaughn Moody, an Edwin Arlington Robinson. Poor Bill.

This is roughly the first half of The Doc's amazin' journey. You'll know if you need it. Any intelligent poet friend will love it as a gift.

I happen to randomly pick this book up, and disover that it's remotely close to a screenplay I just optioned. Well, that happens...seems it won't be too long when a plethora of urban myth kidney hijacking tales will be cluttering the marketplace.

For a genre novel, I was surprised Baer's publsher (the intrepid Viking Penguin) let him get away without putting quatation marks around dialogue. I've had publishers place these marks there when it was never my intention, on the manuscript. "Oh, but the general genre reader will get confused..."

Seems some publishers feel the lack of quotes around dialogue is for esoteric literary authors only.

I was immediately sucked into this book. Scary stuff. Haunting images. I think from pages 100-150 it was all padding. "I need this novel to be 80,000 words or it won't sell!" I see Baer saying (as I have seen myself saying).

Baer couldn've cut a good 15-20,000 words off this book and streamlined it. I almost didn't finish it. Then I got hooked again.

The ending left me cold and empty...which is a good thing, for a book like this.

The memories of his dying wife, her suicide (or murder) struck a home chord.

I will definitely look for this guy's next book.

This is truly a brilliant piece of work that successfully places the reader in a vivid, hallucinatory nightmare. "Kiss Me, Judas" will probably be compared to the later works of James Ellroy, but this author has a true voice of his own. This book weaves a dark spell and captures reality as a twisting nightmare. The author deftly combines jolting plot twists with sharp, accurate characterizations. Also, he skewers the typical hard-boiled cliches into a dark, hellish poetry. This book defies categorization by any genre. Read it and you will feel the effects of a morphine/heroin injection at the base of your spine. Go ahead. I dare you.

So it's noir written in the late 90s. So it's written like a dream (a nightmare, actually), no quotations marks, paragraphs that attempt no meaning, etc. So it's Baer; who the hell is he?!?!?! One of the most promising authors today, that's for sure. I'm from Argentina, so you can imagine than when I bought this book in Italy (I bought the English version), I didn't know who this guy was or anything. Let me tell you this is not an easy read, but it is an AMAZING journey to the depths of a psychotic mind (Phineas, that is). I found the non quotation marks added to the "I'm not going to make things easier for the reader" possition Baer took. I'm very delighted with the novel, which is not only an hypnotic tale but a love story at it's best (so you can imagine it's full of peverse, cynical thoughts and actions). READ IT.

A must-have for any student of Monet. Volumne I contains covers his biography proper, while volumes II-IV provide a COMPLETE record of the artist's body of work.

Wilderstein protrays Monet life for the most part as that of a debtor. However to his credit, he tempers the romantic "suffering artist" idealism with insight into Monet the creditor. By illustrating what a jackass the artist could also be, the author creates a deep and lively narrative.

Most of the personal insight into Monet come to us by way of coorespondance with Alice Hoeschede. Due to 'appearances' however she requested of Monet her letters be destroyed immediately and thus we're sadly left with a one-sided portrait of the man. While his artistic talents we're unparalled, it's his devotation to correspondance that allows Wildenstein to bring him back to life. Without giving away the ending, it's Monet's inability to write rather than paint that signals the end.

If you are in love with Claude Monet's Water Lily Pond paintings, this is the best book for an explanation as to their origins and where Monet found his inspiration. There is a photograph from 1926 showing the bridge covered with climbing plants.

The Japanese Bridge at Giverny, 1924 is just one of the outstanding paintings in a series of works devoted to the bridge that preoccupied Monet during his final years.

Monet loved his garden at Giverny with such a passion that one could say it bordered on obsession. Harmony in Green, The White Water Lilies, The Water Lily Pond are all explained in detail. There is even a picture of Monet photographed in his beloved garden in 1917.

In every life there is beauty and sadness. The beauty of the water lilies contrasts with the pain Monet felt when he painted Camille on her death bed.

When Monet's wife died, she not only left him without a companion, he then had small children depending on him. He spent most of his meager earnings on his wife's medical treatments and he was also deeply depressed and alone.

This type of revealing information makes him so very human and the paintings then contain a certain depth when these secrets are revealed.

I loved this book! The pictures were wonderful and the readings that went with them were as well. Learned many things that I did not know about his artwork. VERY informative...give it a try, it would make a great gift book!

I read both the Sams book and the Sybex book for TCP/IP 4. The Sams book is the perfect book for testing. Pay close attention to the tables in the appendix C1-C6. Worth 20 points on the test. The Sams book will also make a better real world reference guide.

I was preparing to take the Tcp/Ip exam, and was looking for a good book to study. After reading the reviews on Amazon I decided to order it. I spent about one month preparing for the test with this book and the transcender exam. I scored a 900 and the passing score was 733.

I am very pleased with the contents of this book. I knew very little about Tcp/Ip before reading this book. Subnetting was explained extremely well and everthing that I saw on the test was covered here. DNS and WINS resolution was a very big part of the new adaptive exam and this book prepared me extremely well. I will be taking IIS 4 next and will look for Sam's Publications to prepare me for that exam as well. One footnote that I would like to add is that this book is not only for good test taking, but I feel that it is an excellent reference tool.