Used price: $0.75
Buy one from zShops for: $4.98
Used price: $2.45
Buy one from zShops for: $5.99
List price: $16.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $2.99
Buy one from zShops for: $25.98
Used price: $2.15
Collectible price: $5.45
The author contends that for a certain interval these men associated with and admired each others literary accomplishments. "South of London in 1900, a galaxy of talent assembled that beggars in accomplishment anything the English language has since produced." He provides quotations and photographs that demonstrate social intercourse between the big five. Between the initial overview and the concluding summary, three chapters provide respectively a view of Stephen Crane on a visit to England to meet the other masters of ficti! onal prose, a study of the collaboration between Ford Madox Ford and Joseph Conrad, and an examination of one of English literature's most famous disputes - James vs. Wells.
I found the book informative and interesting and recommend it to any admirer of any of the five writers singularly or in combination. About those we admire our curiosity is insatiable. Did Shakespeare like his eggs over easy or sunny side up? We have his Hamlet, his Lear, isn't that enough? Some might say no. We have Crane's "Open Boat", Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", Ford's *Good soldier, James' *Ambassadors, Wells' *Time Machine*. Still, it's natural to inquire about the virtues, quirks, and foibles of their creators. *Group Portrait* gives us a taste of the traits that rounds out these illustrious authors.
A sad epilogue to which Mr. Delbanco refers in his lead chapter is that this literary summer was so brief. Crane died in 1900. Eventually the other associations wither! ed. By 1906 the friendship between Conrad and Ford had coo! led. *Boon* published in 1915 dissolved Wells' ties to James with its ridicule of the latter. For a while there was Camelot albeit a loose confederacy of brilliant writers. A genius needs a tough ego to sustain him for the long haul to fortune and fame. An alternate lesson from *Group portrait, perhaps one not intended, but nevertheless patent, is that collaboration must eventually give way to ego.
Used price: $1.69
Collectible price: $6.00
Buy one from zShops for: $4.00
The parallels with Don Quijote are readily apparent. First of all, the book consists of a series of humorous travel adventures; second, the travellers involved seem too innocent to survive in the harsh world that confronts them. When Joseph Andrews, the naive footman of Lady Booby, deflects the amorous advances of both her Ladyship and Slipslop, the Lady's servant, he is sent packing. Upon his dismissal, Joseph, along with his friend and mentor Parson Adams, an idealistic and good-hearted rural clergyman, who essentially takes the physical role of Sancho Panza but the moral role of Quijote, sets out to find his beloved but chaste enamorata, Fanny Goodwill, who had earlier been dismissed from Lady Booby's service as a result of Slipslop's jealousy. In their travels they are set upon repeatedly by robbers, continually run out of funds and Adams gets in numerous arguments, theological and otherwise. Meanwhile, Fanny, whom they meet up with along the way, is nearly raped any number of times and is eventually discovered to be Joseph's sister, or maybe not.. The whole thing concludes with a farcical night of musical beds, mistaken identities and astonishing revelations.
I've seen this referred to as the first modern novel; I'm not sure why, in light of it's obvious debt to Cervantes. But it does combine those quixotic elements with a seemingly accurate portrayal of 18th Century English manners and the central concern with identity and status do place it squarely in the modern tradition.
At any rate, it is very funny and, for whatever reason, seemed a much easier read than Tom Jones. I recommend it unreservedly.
GRADE: B+
Used price: $1.95
Collectible price: $10.95
Buy one from zShops for: $1.99
Used price: $11.65
Collectible price: $45.00
List price: $14.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $4.00
Collectible price: $11.65
Buy one from zShops for: $10.39
This book includes a brief biography on Andrea Palladio with insight on his _The Four Books of Architecture_. It also mentions the introduction that many Americans have to Palladian architecture-Thomas Jefferson. The scope of his influence on Jefferson is evident simply by looking at Monticello and the University of Virginia.
The authors divide Palladio's works into three categories: villas, palaces and churches. They also include Palladian designs in England, Scotland and America. Each design is profiled with pictures and given roughly 2 - 4 paragraphs of description. The information provided is easy to read but not so simplistic that it seems superficial. The photographs are excellent and often show fascinating detail. Unfortunately though, all photos are b/w and sometimes color would have been helpful. That reason and the basic nature of the text caused me to rate this at four stars rather than five. Experts and scholars should look elsewhere unless they are only after the illustrations. For students and casual observers, this book is a fantastic way to begin learning about Palladio.
analysis is interesting not only in the spirited description of the individuals profiled but in his comparison of each of them with their political antagonists. The unique perspective he brings a man whose life overlapped some of these figures is worth a read for history or politics buffs. His admiration and defense of some he buttresses with argument. His passion is clear.
His oratorical style is typical of the time yet conveys a vivid impression of his subjects, and reminds one of a time before soundbites and simple words geared to a mass audience.
Used price: $21.18
If you are sincerely interested in the man who is most often identified with Walden Pond and with the concept of civil disobedience, then pick up one of the classic biographies of him -- either _The Days of Henry Thoreau_ by Walter Harding or _Thoreau_ by Henry Seidel Canby. Those two volumes are a little longer and more extensive than Krutch's (especially Canby's), but they will serve you better. I believe they serve Thoreau better as well.