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

Ejercicios Isométricos (Isometric Exercises)
Published in Paperback by Editorial Libra (03 August, 2002)
Author: Jean Paul Stevens
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TRABAJO MUCHISIMO...PERO CASI SIEMPRE
SENTADA, porque tengo un servicio de proveeduria para el que hago y vendo sandwiches ( muy ricos,eh?), pero estos ejercicios han sido mi salvacion, ya que antes era deportista y cuanod deje el deporte por el trabajo, me comencé a engordar la barriga...

Pues se acabó la barriga, Y NO ME FATIGO !
Vi el resultado en 4 SEMANAS

ME DOY EL LUJO DE REÍRME DE MIS
COLEGAS ( soy médico )que duermen una horra menos que yo y salen de jogging como perros perseguidos por el antirábico...mientras que yo TENGO MEJOR CONDICION FÍSICA, MUSCULATURA Y APARIENCIA QUE ELLOS...
Se mueren por saber como le hago..pero es secretito: Hago mis ejercicios mientras voy en el coche rumbo al consultorio, cuando esoty viendo a un paciente y hasta hablando por teléfono !
Este libro ES LA BENDICION FÍSICA MAS GRANDE QUE EXISTE !

LOS MEJORES EJERCICIOS DEL MUNDO !
Los màs eficaces y menos fatigosos!
Eso de que "para que el ejercicio sea bueno, te tienen que doler los mùsculos ", m e parece espantoso !
Aqui, haces el ejercvicio sentadito, caminando rumbo al trabajo y hasta en la oficina...
Mis compañeros de trabajo estàn asombrados de ver mis mùscullos..¡Y eso que comencè hace apenas dos meses ! ¡Ah, y ya no estoy panzòn !


Black Skin, White Masks
Published in Paperback by Grove Press (1991)
Authors: Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Charles Markmann
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Great read
Frantz Fanon's work is an excellent insight of how people of color throughout the world have been effected by colonization.

A must read for anyone trying to understand the basics about living in the western world as a person of color.

A gift to humanity
Fanon's amazing book is one of the landmarks in modern thinking, as far as I am concerned. Fanon says he wants to expose the sickness in order for it to be cured. He exposes the sickness inflicted on Africans by the contact with the colonizing white West in a razor sharp accuracy and courage. Fanon is completely honest, sparing no criticism from the Africans nor the Europeans. He gets help from giant figures like Cesaire and Senghor, and creates an emotionally and intellectually charged masterpiece.

I learned from Fanon about the use of language as a colonialist tool, the terrible affect on African self esteem, the psychological turmoil that erupts as a result of the contact with white society.
It is clear the world is not the same today as it was in the 50's, but Fanon's book is just as relevant.
Quoting from Sartre talking about another book by Fanon: "Have the courage to read this book !".

extremely trippy book...
a tome on the black man in europe, mainly martinique...basically what fanon is saying is : brothas try to be like the other, because they hate them selves and they desire to sleep with the other to give themselves worth and that a bad environment and colonialism makes a black man bad ...reading the book is like reading a long prose poem, thoughtful and stunning...take the chance. it's extremely interesting...


The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De sade
Published in Paperback by Atheneum (1966)
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i'm in this show
Marat/Sade is an excellent script. for all of you out there who love the book and the story come To Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, november 20th through the 24th for a fabulous performance of the show. call the box office at 1-440-826-2240. ask for tony and if he's there tell him u saw this.

the most beautiful play ever
I have to say that this is an absolutly beautiful piece of literature. The language rolls off the tounge like a symphony with a harmonizing dissonance. The story itself is so simple yet complicated all at the same time. The emotion that one feels after reading this is numbing. You sit there not knowing what to say and think.

Publish MARAT/SADE again.
MARAT/SADE

"This play-within-a-play is about pushing at the limits", said Dramaturg William Lewis Evans.

I first saw the play performed by students of the Bishop's College School Studio Theatre in Lennoxville, Quebec. The text was phenomenally stimulating. The play was memorable, intense, and for the audience at least, indeed a little scary. Marat/Sade, after all, is the practical quintessence of what Antonin Artaud called the Theatre of Cruelty - theatre of the visceral and disturbing - theatre that "wakes us up, mind and heart". The highlight of that Canadian gala, for me, was when I witnessed an audience member and retired member of the French Foreign Legion (an outstanding citoyen-expatrie who should remain nameless) stand up - in the middle of this High School play - and leave the theatre in protest.

The play was, and remains, exceedingly powerful.

Years later I saw the play performed by Yale students in New Haven, Connecticut. If I remember correctly, Loren Stein directed. At one point during the performance, it became clear to the audience that one of the patients - an actor - had, during the course of the performance, in fact urinated on an audience member. As a reporter for Radio in New Haven, I interrogated that audience member at the end of the night, and caught a soundbite.

She said:

"It was wonderful. I don't know what else to say. This is Theatre, I guess. Real theatre."

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that this play should end up out of print, along with a dozen or so others like it, and be replaced on your roster with the latest celebrity-authored self-help books.

Maybe Oprah Winfrey will teach me how to fry tofu. It seems to be all we have a taste for anymore.

Franklin Pryce Raff


Battle of the Bulge: Now and Then
Published in Hardcover by After the Battle Magazine (1986)
Author: Jean Paul Pallud
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In the Footsteps of the Combatants-History Relived!
As the title states, the objective of the Then and Now series is to bring history alive for the reader and traveler. In addition to the historical text, scenes depicted in actual combat movie film or still footage from both American and German forces are studied. The place where the film was taken is identified and another photo showing what the scene looks like today is juxtaposed along side the original. If one considers the effort behind such a task, one becomes immediately appreciative of the task undertaken by Jean-Paul Pallud in this nicely produced book. As the author states on several occasions, the notes and captions accompanying the film are often in error and the actual scene could be several kilometers away from what is noted. Indeed, Mr. Pallud must know the Ardennes like the back of his hand. The patience and effort that Pallud put into this publication is immense, and in that effort we can "relive" history through these photographs. Imagine being able to stand in the same spot that a tank was destroyed or where German troops stripped dead American soldiers of their clothing and possessions! I believe the high point of this book centers around Pallud's reconstruction of the destruction of the American armored column (a unit of the ill fated 14th Cavalry Group) on the Recht-Poteau road. Pallud proves that the Germans staged various scenes for the newsreels. He lays out the placement of the various vehicles on the road, based upon only the photographic evidence. Truly a fine piece of work. This book is a must for any serious student of the "Bulge".

Wonderful Book on the Battle
The After the Battle magazine tells history by verifying the actual locations and circumstances of past incidents. The publishers have also issued a series of Then and Now volumes covering major battles of WWII. Of these, Battle of the Bulge Then and Now is generally considered the best, and nothing short of a monumental work on the Ardennes Offensive. Readers will be amazed with the amount of on-the-spot research done, as well as the general enthusiasm shown by the author. The book not only recounts historical events, but also takes the reader to the place of happening and identifies what really took place at the time. Anyone interested in military histroy must grab this one.

Guide to history
I picked this book up in Belgium prior to my self guided tours of the Ardennes. It turned out to not only be useful in reading about the history of the battle but to be critical in locating out of the way points of interest. There are many pictures in this book that were taken during the battle that the author identified the locations of. By following this virtual guide to the battle I was able to see and appreciate various unmarked spots that I might otherwise just have driven by. It is amazing how many places in the Ardennes havn't changed in over 50 years since the battle raged there. The description and histories of specific tanks that were engaged in the battle and are still resting there as memorials is also very interesting. The information the author gathered from soldiers that fought in the battle is in many cases unique and exclusive. This is a must read for a true student of WW2 history!


Again, Josefina! (The American Girls Collection)
Published in Hardcover by Pleasant Company Publications (2000)
Authors: Valerie Tripp and Jean-Paul Tibbles
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Another wonderful Josefina book
This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. Josefina always loved watching her aunt Dolores playing the piano, and when she agrees to teach her how to play Josefina is overjoyed. However, very quickly, her piano lessons turn into drudgery, and Josefina begins to get discouraged. But, through the joy she brings to one listener, Josefina learns about trying again.

The final chapter of this book is a look at life on a New Mexican rancho, plus a quick lesson on a Mexican dance, la vaquerita. As with the other books in this wonderful series, Jean-Paul Tibbles' illustrations are excellently done, complimenting the story throughout.

This is another wonderful addition to the Josefina library. My daughter and I both enjoyed the story for itself, and I like the lesson it taught. My daughter and I both highly recommend this book!

The Value of Pleasure verses Perfection
"Again, Josefina" is the second book published in the series of Josefina short stories. The setting of the story takes place shortly after the book "Josefina Learns a Lesson". Josefina is fascinated with Tia Dolores's piano and the wonderful music that Tia Dolores can make with it. Tia Dolores is willing to teach Josefina how to play, but Papa wonders if Josefina will be able to manage it with her chores and school lessons. Josefina persuades him to let her learn how to play the piano, but is quickly a disenchanted learner when she realizes that she must start from the beginning and practice more then she has time to do. When Josefina feels that she is not making progress, she asks Papa if she can quit. Instead of allowing her to quit, Josefina is challenged to find a way to practice. She is a clever child, and she finds a way to practice even when she is not sitting at the piano. Then, she finds her joy in playing the piano and acceptance for herself as a learner when her toddler nephew happily "dances" to her imperfect piano playing. This short story is an excellent tale of the frustration of learning something new, and the value of doing something for pleasure instead of perfection.

Family life in 19th Century New Mexico
"Again, Josefina!" is one of the "American Girls Short Stories" series of books for younger readers. Written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles, this volume tells a tale about Josefina, who lives with her family on a New Mexico rancho in 1824. Josefina decides to learn to play the piano, but discovers that playing a musical instrument is harder than she expected.

An enjoyable story is nicely complemented by the warm, nicely detailed illustrations. The story is accompanied by a number of enjoyable supplemental features. There is a "Meet the Author" page. Also, "A Peek into the Past" takes a historical look at life in New Mexico in Josefina's time; this supplement is illustrated with reproductions of art and artifacts. "An American Girls Pastime" gives instructions on how to dance la Vaquerita, a traditional dance of New Mexico. Finally, there is a glossary of Spanish words used throughout the book: "cuentos," "rancho," etc. The whole book is about 50 pages long, making it perfect for readers who may not be ready to tackle a full-length novel. Overall, a well-done entry in the series.


Man Who Planted Trees: Boxed
Published in Hardcover by Chelsea Green Pub Co (1990)
Authors: Jean Giono, Robert J. Lurtsema, and Paul Winter
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We all plant seeds
I became acquainted with this compelling and moving story through an animation festival. Although the crowd of college students had been rowdy this film was the last shown and people all left the theater hushed. The story is not only about a man who plants trees, it is about how each of us can make a difference in the world by every small action of love. If we do not attach a need for recognition or money to our endeavors, they feed the spirit and health of the world. I have read this book over & over and seen the animated film 4 or 5 times, and I see and learn something different every time. What do you see?

Delightful!
This is a wonderful read. It makes a great bedtime story and it is also beautiful (the wood carvings) and inspiring. This is good for people tired of reading what is wrong with the environment. The Man Who Planted Trees is kind of like a sophisticated Lorax book. Anyway, buy this book and enjoy it!

Will inspire you and your children to care for nature.
The Man Who Planted Trees is the tale of Elzeard Bouffier, a man who, after his son and wife die, spends his life reforesting miles of barren land in southern France. Bouffier's planting of thousands and thousands of trees results in many wondrous things occurring, including water again flowing in brooks that had been dry for many years. The brooks are fed by rains and snows that are conserved by the forest that Bouffier planted. The harsh, barren land is now pleasant and full of life.

Written by Jean Giono, this popular story of inspiration and hope was originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness." The story's opening paragraph is as follows:

"For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain that there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake."

The Man Who Planted Trees has left a "visible mark upon the earth" having been translated into several languages. In the "Afterword" of the Chelsea Green Publishing Company's edition, Norma L. Goodrich wrote that Giono donated his story. According to Goodrich, "Giono believed he left his mark on earth when he wrote Elzeard Bouffier's story because he gave it away for the good of others, heedless of payment: 'It was one of my stories of which I am the proudest. It does not bring me in one single penny and that is why it has accomplished what it was written for.'"

This special edition is very informative. Not only does it contain Giono's inspirational story, which is complemented beautifully by Michael McCurdy's wood engraving illustrations and Goodrich's informative "Afterword" about Giono, but it also contains considerable information about how wood and paper can be conserved in the section "The WoodWise Consumer." Goodrich writes about Giono's effort to have people respect trees.

"Giono later wrote an American admirer of the tale that his purpose in creating Bouffier 'was to make people love the tree, or more precisely, to make them love planting trees.' Within a few years the story of Elzeard Bouffier swept around the world and was translated into at least a dozen languages. It has long since inspired reforestation efforts, worldwide."

The Man Who Planted Trees is not only a wonderful story, it will inspire you and your children to care for the natural world.

-Reviewed by N. Glenn Perrett


Cecile: Gates of Gold
Published in Library Binding by Bt Bound (2002)
Authors: Mary Casanova and Jean-Paul Tibbles
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A Cecile fan!
This book is so good! I cried. I laughed. I felt like I was Cecile!! Mary Casanova is an excellent writer. I don't want to tell you anything about the book, then it'll spoil it and you wont read it!! I also suggest you read the other Girls of Many Lands books, although this is the only one I've read so far.

Tres Bien!
I originally picked this up because it was by the same publisher as the American Girls Series (I am a huge fan of the Josephine and the Felicity books), along with Spring Pearl. I dove into this book, to say the least. The story is about the daughter of a widowed French man, named Cecile. One day while out in the woodlands, a royal entourage passes by and a woman losses her course and finds Cecile. As it turns out, she is the Duchesse de Orleans from the Versailles Court. Madame as she known as around Versailles adopts Cecile and takes her to the frivolous court where Cecile is introduced to the royal family and the grandeur of France. The stories of the Versailles intrigues w/ Cecile are wonderful. They are very detailed, very amusing, very entertaining, and full of hidden morals. Although some of the scenes were unecessary, the story overall was a grand treat. The best scene I think was perhaps the Christmas ball, as entertaining and scandalous as it was. The story ends in tragedy, with the death of one of the little dauphins. Cecile is banished because she helped keep the other dauphin from his family, therefore putting him in danger (but really saving him). Cecile is sent to a girls' school, and forever leaves behind Versailles behind the gates of gold.
This story was great, the best in the series I'd say. Great details, development, characters, and enough to capture your mind. Although, I may be overating this book, as I am obsessed with the French courts of Versailles, Marie Antoinette, and all French royalty, I am sure everyone who tries this book will enjoy it. And of course, since I am one of the biggest fans of the Royal Diaries out there, I have to add that Marie Antoinette, Princess of Versailles, would be an excellent book to read alongside Cecile.
Bon travail Mary Casanova!

A Glimpse of Versailles
A life of wealth and splendor fills the dreams of twelve-year-old Cecile Revel. When given the unexpected honor of serving in the court of King Louis XIV, she leaves home with her father's blessing and eagerly accepts a position with the Duchess of Orleans. However, life at court is far more difficult and dangerous than she ever imagined, and a single misstep could cost her her position or her life. Then tragedy strikes the royal family, and Cecile is placed under suspicion. And a dark secret from her past is suddenly revealed.

Superbly written, this book offers readers of today a glimpse of the splendor and majesty of the French court in its height of glory. Through the eyes of the heroine, readers will see important events in the history of France unfold. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.

For further reading of the French court, I also recommend "The Royal Diaries: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles."


Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci
Published in Hardcover by Peter Smith Pub (1997)
Authors: Leonardo Da Vinci, Jean-Paul Richter, and Leonardo De Vinci
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Excellent insight into Leonardo Da Vinci
Interesting book detailing the life and thoughts of Leonardo Da Vinci. Historical context of the period and biographical information is included. Reading gets a little dry at times. Excellent resource book. Specific topics can be looked up to discover da Vinci's wisdom and insight.

drawing enthusiast, don't buy it
if you are a Da Vinch zealot, you should have it. but, if you need some drawings to study or copy it. don't buy it. the quality of print is not that good, there's a bunch of Da Vinch's memos though...i doubt it's useful for a drawing enthusiast..pretty sure that it's invaluable for people who are studying "Da VinchSTICS".if you are a drwaing enmthusiast you'd better buy da vinch's another drawing books.....

drawing enthusiast...don't buy it
if you are a Da Vinch zealot, you should have it. but, if you need some drawings to study or copy it. don't buy it. the quality of print is not that good, there's a bunch of Da Vinch's memos though...i doubt it's useful for a drawing enthusiast..pretty sure that it's invaluable for people who are studying "Da VinchSTICS".


Existentialism and human emotions
Published in Unknown Binding by ()
Author: Jean Paul Sartre
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Translation details
This book of 96 pages is a translation of Jean-Paul Sartre work. Specifically: it countains 7 sections:
* Existentialism (43p)
* Freedom and Responsability (8p)
* The desire to be God (3p)
* The Desire to be God (cont.) (5p)
* Existentialist psychoanalysis (16p)
* The Hole (7p)
* Ethical Implications (7p)

The first section "Existentialism" is the translation, by Bernard Frechtman, of the french text by Jean-Paul Sartre "L'Existentialisme est un humanisme" which was originally the text of a conference Sartre gave in Paris on 29 OCT 1945, published later in 1946.
Originally, this text was not intend to explain Existentialism, but to defend it against harsh critics from people who did not fully understand it. It is thus a fairly good introduction for anyone who whishes to recieve a first understanding of Existentialism.
The other sections are extracts from "Being and Nothingness", translated by Hazel E. Barnes, from Sartre's book "L'Être et le Néant" published in 1943.
I did not read the translation, I bought this book for my not-French girlfriend.

An easy to grasp outline of Existentialism
Reading Jean-Paul Sartre's "Existentialism and Human Emotions" is a much easier approach to understanding Sartre's philosophy than reading Sartre's more concentrated work such as "Being and Nothingness." Although I think the best introduction to Sartre is through reading "Nausea" and the plays. This book tries to explain what Existentialism is and what it tries to do. Sartre also defends Existentialism against attacks on it by other Philosophies and the public that often assumes Existentialism is a sad philosophy; giving man no meaning and leads him to nihilistic despair. On the contrary, Sartre says that Existentialism is the only way to give man meaning and dignity. The book also touches on the idea of Man wanting to be God in a world where God does no exist. Sartre at the end gives a quick summing up of Existential Psycho-anaylis. A basic thesis of this work could be explained as the following: "Man is free when in total involvement and action and from Freedom man has an ultimate responsibility he must follow as his actions have to do with all mankind."

I would recommend "Existentialism and Human Emotions" to anyone who wants to understand Existentialism without getting a headache from reading more complicated works(i.e. "Being and Nothingness," Heideggar etc..) I am an avid reader of Philosophy and I always refer back to this book when pondering a question about Existentialism. A must for anyone who is interested in Philosophy.

A Lucid Description of the Existential Doctrine
However much Sartre's essay enflamed Heidegger (see Heidegger's 'A Letter on Humanism'), Existentialism is a Humanism is perhaps THE quintessential outline of the existential project and of existentialism proper. If one wishes to gain an understanding of Sartre, the journey should start here. All the primary concerns of Sartrean existentialism are laid out in clear and insightful language - freedom, responsibility, bad faith and other issues are discussed. To this effect the translation does justice to the intent and thrust of Sartre.

In particular, Existentialism and Human Emotions is highly recomended for those wishing to begin Being and Nothingness, and those who want a deeper understanding of existential literature.

This book has been an invaluable part of my library, often read, referenced and revered.


Our Lady of the Flowers
Published in Paperback by Grove Press (1988)
Authors: Jean Genet, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Bernard Frechtman
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Great art
The perferct mix of avant-garde art which represents a philosophy. The framed narrative, its necessity that is, is the only aspect of the work I would question. A must read of the French writers.

"Crime Begins With A Carelessly Worn Beret"
Jean Genet's seminal Our Lady Of The Flowers (1943) is generally considered to be his finest fictional work. The first draft was written while Genet was incarcerated in a French prison; when the manuscript was discovered and destroyed by officials, Genet, still a prisoner, immediately set about writing it again. It isn't difficult to understand how and why Genet was able to reproduce the novel under such circumstances, because Our Lady Of The Flowers is nothing less than a mythic recreation of Genet's past and then - present history. Combining memories with facts, fantasies, speculations, irrational dreams, tender emotion, empathy, and philosophical insights, Genet probably made his isolation bearable by retreating into a world not only of his own making, but one over which he had total control.

The imprisoned narrator "Jean," who may or may not be identical with the author, masturbates regularly; like a perpetual motion machine, his fantasies fuel his writing and his writing spurs on his fantasies in turn. Nothing illustrates this more than the brief scene in which self - sustaining "Jean" describes his Tiamat.... Legs thrown over shoulders, "Jean" is not only the serpent that eats its tail but becomes a small, circular, self - imbibing universe all his own. A motto attributed to the alchemists could be the narrator's own: "Every man his own wife."

Though the narrative is not the primary focus of this or any of Genet's novels, most responsible critics have failed to remark on the fact that the narrative of Our Lady Of The Flowers is the least compelling of any found in his five major novels. Our Lady Of The Flowers, does, however, lay the basic groundwork for the novels to come: The Miracle Of The Rose, Funeral Rites, Querelle, and The Thief's Journal (all written between 1944 and 1948).

While Our Lady Of The Flowers is Genet's only novel to feature a predominantly effeminate homosexual man (Divine, who is at least partially a transvestite) as its protagonist ("Our Lady Of The Flowers," a virile young thug, is a secondary character), most of the other elements of the book will be very familiar to those who have read the balance of his fiction. Transvestites and transvestite figures abound, as do handsome, amoral, and homosexual or bisexual "toughs," jokes and extended vignettes concerned with lice, flatulence, constipation, and feces, mordant examinations of manhood and the criminal's code of honor, obsession with personal power through emotional betrayal, the long vagabond road to "sainthood," theft, masochistic love, prostitution, and vivid examples of the way in which physical desire and sexuality secretly and subtly fuel, in Genet's view, almost every aspect of life. As in portions of his other novels, the characters here, even the swaggering, virile young men, are known among their friends by fey pet names like "Darling Daintyfoot," "Mimosa," and "Our Lady of the Flowers," which are intended to be simultaneously affectionate and mocking. To further confuse, Divine is referred to as a "he" and referred to his surname during his youth and as a "she" and "Divine" in maturity. As in the Miracle of the Rose and Funeral Rites, characters mesh into one another, exchange identities, and move backward and forward through time at the narrator's whim. Both "Jean" and the individual characters fuse their own and each other's personalities together as needed, and all occasionally lose control of this process: but Jean Genet, master puppeteer, never does.

Genet's readers are probably aware of the existence of haughty establishment critics who pretentiously embrace Genet's work but nonetheless treat it like something best held at the end of a very long stick. "Evil" is the word most commonly used to describe Genet's fiction by stuffy, anxious middlebrow critics who, while distressingly stimulated by his work, feel duty - bound to officially decry its potential for pernicious influence. Many artists are said to create a "moral universe" within the body of their work; Genet is one of the few that actually does, though his is a mirror universe where amorality reigns. Genet's world is so exclusively concerned with flea - ridden prostitutes, child murderers who don't wipe themselves, handsome pimps who eat what they scratch out of their noses, [prostitutes] with rotting teeth, strutting, uneducated alpha male hustlers, and masochistic sodomites -- bourgeois emblems of horror all -- that the question of "evil" as such in Genet's work becomes obsolete.

While Genet loves and personally glorifies his memories, fictional recreations and their outcast lifestyles, he never objectively condones their actions to his audience. In all of his novels, Genet finds beauty, suffering, and vulnerability - humanity - in everyone, thus setting a far better example than his hypocritical reviewers. There is as much "evil" in Genet's books as there is represented by any typical novel's reality principle (for example, all of Genet's characters reveal more humanity and innate dignity than the crass, vacuous crowd Nick Carraway falls in with in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby) or, for that matter, as there is in the lives of those unstable, morally - confused critics who are simply too cowardly to recognize the world as the diverse, dangerous, devouring, and unstable place that it is. If Our Lady Of The Flowers proves anything, it's that fifty years after its initial publication, the book is still effectively upsetting the wormy apple carts Genet intended it to.

From the standpoint of Jung's psychological types, Genet's feeling and sensation functions probably predominated in both his life and his writing. However, his thinking and intuition functions were clearly constellated as well, giving Our Lady Of The Flowers and the masterpieces that followed it unmatched macrocosmic perceptiveness, poetic resonance, and gripping, all - inclusive dramatic power. Like alchemical "totality" the hermaphrodite, a shaman, or a legitimate Christian saint, mystic Genet seems to have written from a state of undifferentiated consciousness and enjoyed a state of perpetual participation mystique with life.

like a narcotic!
Somebody should make an opera of this book! I've loved this book since high school, perhaps more than all the others! Genet as always is like a dark narcotic; impossible to shake, and constantly ecstatic. His genius is like a kind of suffocating honey on the page, it pulls your heart out. This edition has a substantive Introduction by Sartre, whose "Saint Genet" is one of the seminal books of the late twentieth century. If you've never read Genet, you've got something coming! What is there to say about literature of this standing? Read it and be ennobled.


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