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Book reviews for "Plaut,_Eric_A." sorted by average review score:

Grand Opera: Mirror of the Western Mind
Published in Hardcover by Ivan R Dee, Inc. (1993)
Author: Eric A. Plaut
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An interesting outlook on Romantic Opera and its composers!
I would give this book five stars as it shows a unique insight into the psycology of some of the best known opera composers and how events and attitudes in their lives affected their most famous works. This book is not written by a musicologist, but a psycologist who has a deep interest in music - allowing us to see some of these operas in a new light. I would certainly recommend this book for those who would like to explore what influenced the creation of some famous works like "Carmen", "Faust", "Fidelo", "Tosca", and more. A must read for those interested in opera!


Marx on Suicide (Psychosocial Issues)
Published in Hardcover by Northwestern University Press (1999)
Authors: Karl Marx, Eric A. Plaut, Kevin Anderson, and Gabrielle Edgcomb
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Kevin Anderson Steals The Show In This One
The introduction of the book is more insightful than Marx's (Peuchet's) essay. On the other hand, being able to see how Marx approaches the issue of suicide makes this book very important. Marx uses his conflict approach to distinguish how suicide differs between the prolitariate and bourgeoisie classes; also, the anomic despair and objectification (especially of women) brought on by the impact of a capitalist ruled society is prevalent. I would recomend this book to the following groups of people: anyone interested in conflict theory pertaining to the topic of suicide; Anyone interested in understanding how women are objectified (more so than men and therefore more prone to commit suicide) under capitalist social conditions; and to anyone (students in particular, but not necessarily) who wants to start and finish a book in the same session (the english translation is only 60+ pg's), at the same time,learning something about the foundation of their own society (the economy) and the impact it has on them. Not strong academic material, but useful none-the-less.

A thought provoking analysis of exploitation
This essay is truly fascinating. The majority of it was actually written by Peuchet (a French statistician in the 1700s), but there are certain changes that Marx provides himself. Additionally, you can see undertones of Marx's feelings in regards to exploitation of the proletariat. He doesn't argue that proles are the only ones who commit suicide, because that obviously isn't true; I think the point here is simply that society needs to be better examined. Check out this quote from the essay; it's pretty darn cool: "What kind of society is it wherein one finds the most profound loneliness in the midst of millions of people?"


Related Subjects: Author Index

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