It's a fascinating play, but it's important to take into consideration that it takes up to 4 hours to produce in its entirety, requires a cast of up to 40 people plus orchestra and tech crew. The carnival scene (10) also requires many props, and setting it during the renaissance can be demanding for a costumier! We performed it outside in winter at night. Brrrr...

"The Measures Taken and Other Lehrstucke," by Bertolt Brecht, brings together four theater pieces by this important German playwright. The book is edited by John Willett and Ralph Manheim. Included is an introductory note entitled "The Lehrstuck or Learning-Play," which is excerpted from an essay by Brecht. The pieces in this book, all of which were written from 1929 to 1930, are as follows:

"The Measures Taken," translated by Carl R. Mueller, is the story of a group of Communist agitators from Moscow who go to spread ... in China. It's a compelling story about the conflict between idealism and doctrinal orthodoxy. "The Exception and the Rule," translated by Ralph Manheim, is about an expedition headed by an exploitative merchant. It's a story of greed, violence, and law. "He Who says Yes" and "He Who Says No," both translated by Wolfgang Sauerlander, are a linked pair of plays; each one tells the story of a young man's quest to get medicine for his ailing mother.

Overall, the plays have a very ritualized quality; three of them make use of a chorus. The stories told in these plays have the flavor of parables. Overall, I found these pieces very intriguing, particularly in a post-Cold war context.

Gunter Grass, The Flounder (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977)

I just couldn't get through it. I can't really put my finger on why, but there it is. The Flounder contains all the things I revere about Grass-- a strong sense of history, scurrlious sense of humor, strong characters put into wonderfully unrealistic situations. But this novel, Grass' weightiest (literally), never seems to come together in all the little ways that made similarly large tomes like The Tin Drum and Dog Years such wonderful reads.

The Flounder is a massive creation myth, seen through the eyes of a continually-reincarnated man, his continually-reincarnated longtime companion (who is always a cook of some sort), and the Flounder himself, who serves as a kind of fairy-godfather figure. In modern times, a group of feminists discover that the Flounder has been the architect of the overthrow of matriarchal society and put him on trial; the narrator and the Flounder use the trial as a method to go back over history and show the development of patriarchy in Poland, and how it relates to the potato. Yes, I'm serious.

The novel feels as if Grass had lost his sense of dynamic while writing it. The earlier long novels each keep the reader's interest with a series of climactic events, each leading up to the larger climax upon which the novel turns; The Flounder, on the other hand, continues on at the same rlatively leisurely pace in its survey of history. And that, ultimately, is its downfall; there's just too much of it without anything really going on, on a larger scale.

Definitely a bad starting place for Grass; turn to the Danzig trilogy instead. (zero)

I read this book when it first came out (1980?), and have read, in English or German, 4 other novels by GG. All were wonderful, but this was my favorite. It's "magic realism" that's both thought-provoking and very entertaining, and so well-written and translated. It's really too bad that it's out of print.

An outstanding statment by Grass on history, feminism, cooking and Joycean bodily details which encapsulates the obssession by the Germans of systems, machoness and abstractions that have led to disaster. But the book is a balanced look at the effects of excess feminism as well.

Mein Kampf is just another Dak Kapital. Hitler and Marx took themselves too seriously. As you can see from history, Socialism\Marxism\Leninism\Communism and Fascism all failed. Why? BECAUSE HITLER AND MARX GOT IT ALL WRONG. Im not gonna explain how becuase I would need a whole lot more than 1,000 words. I really think that when I wrote the review for Das Kapital I should have just said DONT BUY IT UNLESS YOU HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF FREE TIME. So I am saying it now, DONT BUY MEIN KAMPF UNLESS YOU HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF FREE TIME!!!

I have just spent some time reading this book for the first time, and I can only come to the conclusion that most of the reviews of this book are written by people who have not read the book.

Hitler makes profoundly accurate indictments of modern internationalism and anti-culture. For anyone who has some understanding of how empty our modern culture is, this book will have a great deal of meaning.

The Jewish Question is a rather minor point in this book, and contrary to popular belief you will find no evidence for the Holocaust in Mein Kampf.

Overall, this book is not about Racism, but cultural unity. Race is perhaps a part of cultural unity but Hitler does not argue such a point in the way most would think. In this modern era of anti-internationalism known as anti-globalization, you will find in this work the first thorough criticism of the obliteration of group culture both in economics and art.

I find Hitler's writing style to be very personal, and genuine. Despite whatever one may think of his conclusions, he writes with a passion that is rare. In the future, this book will be much more appreciated as it was the first articulated reaction to our modern times. One thing is absolutely certain, the path humanity is currently following will ultimately fail. This book is an early attempt to explain why human existence is much more than having food, clothing, and shelter.

I took this book just out of inquisitiveness and to gain an insight into the believes of a much talked about personality-Adolf Hitler.My aim was to find out the reason behind Hitler's extreme hatred for jews.After reading the book,I feel that Hitler,though a very intelligent person,lacked the ability to judge a situation in a balanced way.He always managed to see only one side of the coin.Though he was a man of strong views-yet his views were borne more out of sentiments rather than logical analysis.On one hand he was all gaga over the 'Aryan' race as if it was gods greatest gift to the earth,on the other hand he preached extreme hatred for jews,which was completely unjustified.The book has numerous examples which illustrate his extremist and biased thinking.

However,leaving apart the content,the book is a literary treat in itself.I had heard about hitler's capabilities as an orator,however this book proves him an equally effective writer as well.Some of his ideas,if implemented in a better way can go a long way in improving the prevailing political scenario.

One has to know and understand the original German text of the Dreigroschenoper to be really able to judge the quality of the English translations. This one, used among others by Helen Schneider on her album with Weill songs, has nothing of the sarcasms of the German lyrics. Better read the 1954 translation of Marc Blitzstein or the translation made by Frank McGuinness in the early 1990s.

Of all the translations on the market, this one is the best -- most are watered-down, tepid versions. Manheim & Willet's was used in the late 1970's revival of the piece by the New York Shakespeare Festival, which starred the late Raul Julia and Ellen Greene (of "Little Shop of Horrors" fame, in the role originally intended for Lotte Lenya).

Be forewarned! Kerenyi, in all his works, offers a piece-meal, unsupported archaeologically, imaginative creation of what he WISHED Greek Religion could have been. Kerenyi seems to have had an image in his mind, and he assembles anything and everything from different time periods, locations, and rituals in order to "prove" his theories. A closer, archaeological reading would show a high percentage of his "facts" contradicting each other - how can you support Hellenistic mystery cults with evidence from non-Greek Minoan Crete? It'd be as if one made a connection between Southern Baptist Christianity and Native American religion, solely because both functioned in similar geographical locations. Just a warning! Kerenyi is really easy to become enchanted with, but not accurate.

I was quite excited to see this book & read the comments. Princeton University Press doesn't publish much classics, and I had high hopes for this volume. When it arrived, I was upset to learn that it was a Bollingen imprint -- Jungian propaganda, with a lot of imagination, outdated scholarship and contempt for scholarly values. It really is despicable of Princeton to tarnish their reputation with their Bollingen imprint, and I feel like a sucker to have wasted my money on such a preposterously worthless book, and I wish that Amazon.com would put a warning label on the Bollingen imprints, so clearthinking people can be more careful when ordering. (The problem is, of course, that few excellent books are mixed in with the nonsense, so one can't dismiss Bollingen books out of hand, but there is usually a 90% chance that they are garbage.)

I recommend this book as a formidable try to unravel one of the most important ancient pagan mysteries, that survived for more than a thousand years in the Ancient world.
For Kerenyi, the core of the mysteries was the message that 'a birth in death was possible', also for human beings. This message was 'shown' through the ancient myth of the search of Demeter for her ravished daughter Persephone. She finds Persephone under the earth, where she gives birth to Dionysos. The hope of life in death was symbolized through Demeter's offering of the grain, that will grow again. We can see this important hapenning on a stele in the Ancient museum of Athens.
The initiated had to fast and were given a drug (the kykeon) just before the procession.
Nearly all Roman emperors were initiated (with a special place for Marcus Aurelius).
One of the initiated was Plato, who speaks about it in his work 'Phaidoon'.
The influence on Christianity by the mysteries cannot be underestimated, for Plato's theory of the soul was adopted by the Church.
A compelling read.

This is a biography of Milena Jesenská, a Czech journalist who was, in a way, a great love of Kafka's. She was an unusual woman for her time. Highly intelligent and with a rebellious streak, she fashioned herself into a journalist and became well-regarded for her literary and political writing. In her 20s she came to know Kafka when she translated his work into Czech. This gave rise to an impassioned correspondence between them, although the connection didn't turn into a real-life love affair, partly because Milena was married, and partly because of Kafka's numerous anxieties and aversions in the male/female domain. Unfortunately, those interested in insights into Kafka will not get many from this book, as he comes and goes quite quickly in the narrative. Rather, the book is a loving tribute to Milena by Margarete Buber-Neumann, with whom she was imprisoned at the women's concentration camp at Ravensbrück. The two had planned to write a book together when they were freed, but Milena died of kidney failure in May 1944, so Margarete chose instead to tell her friend's story.

Remarque, best known for "All Quiet On the Western Front", tells the story of Ross (or Roger), a refugee from Germany who arrives in the United States to find a new life. Written in the first person, the story is primarily set in New York City during the final year of World War II.

Roger and his friends are plagued by memories of the atrocities that occurred. They recount stories of concentration camps, tortures and close calls. The refugees must also deal with friends and family who they had to leave behind. They also struggle to find work and must deal with the rapid changes their lives have undergone. The story also has a love affair between a refugee model Natasha and Roger. Remarque fans will find that Ravic, from "Arch of Triumph", is in the book, although his part is minor and is never officially acknowledged as belonging to the previous book (although the similarities exist).

I wasn't that happy with the book. Aside from the refugee's attempts at becoming Americans and their memories, there was very little tension in the book. Natasha's and Roger's love affair was dubious at best and they seemed to be an odd combination. However, Remarque's brilliant and insightful dialogue saved the book.