Van Gogh's art is very easy to love and this book is an exquisite tribute to him. There are so many paintings, many famous (but what Van Gogh painting is there that is not an icon?)and not so famous.

I like that this book doesn't delve into his emotional mind. To some extent it has to, to explain his art, but the author doesn't make it the only reason why Van Gogh's art was the way it was. In fact the author said in the book that the point of this book is to get the art lover, historian, etc, beyond the focus of Van Gogh's mind and to really focus on and appreciate his work for his work. That is really something original!

This book has so many things in it that make it so wonderful--the paintings, which are all in color, and described. Also, the paintings get a page, or 2 pages. And there is lot of discussion about how Van Gogh used whatever place he was living in to produce art.

This book is an original in its discussion of Van Gogh, and it is excellent for anyone interested in discovering Van Gogh the artist--not the mad man artist. This book is a treasure!!

VENEZIA OSCURA is a photographic journey into the hidden and secreted delights of Venice. The opening essay gently invites us to explore those aspects of Venice that escape the tourists' view but instead are part of the spirit of the floating city. The color photographs are magnificent glimpses of vistas of the canals and the open sea from vantage points not available to the casual photographer. The enters from stage left the masked cast of characters from the preLent Mardi Gras time when the city of history and mystery garlands itself in disguises as beautiful as the architecture that makes this destination so haunting. A visual delight and a step into ome beauty secrets of Venezia.

Dr. Schutte presents Race and Ethnic Relations in an open and fresh manner. He learned at a young age what it was to be a racist, growing up white in South Africa. Not only did he realize his mistake in taking for granted another human being early on but he took it further by learning to correct it, to understand it further, for one way to beat any demon is to learn and understand how it works.

You'll see race relations through the eyes and drawing of young children and in the thoughts and words of those who are racist.

This is a wonderful learning tool, to understand racism and Apartheid. I'd would strongly recommend this book to students, professors and anyone interested in learning how racists think and act. Apply what can be taught to promote racial harmony, no matter where you live, your age or color.

Gerhard Forde's book is the clearest articulation of Martin Luther's theololgy that I have read. Shortly after Luther's death - and perhaps even during Luther's later life - the Reformation movement began to drift into Orthodoxy and lose some of the scandalous edge that is inherent to the very nature of a Gospel that turned - and still turns - the world "upside down".

With great clarity and accessability, Forde recaptures Luther's Reformation theology. He systematically leads the reader through Luther's understanding of: the human condition, the nature of God, salvation by grace through faith, the Sacraments, this world and the world to come, and the calling (vocation)of Christians in this world. Forde also illustrates the many ways that the Church - even the Lutheran tradition - has misunderstood, watered down, or tried to "tame" Luther's views.

The book is useful for personal reading, discussion groups, and Christian education classes. As a Lutheran pastor, I have used it a number of times with adult groups. Class members found the book to be very readable and helpful in shaping their own theology and faith.

The only criticism is that the book was written prior to a concern for inclusive language, and so the pronouns - even in the title - need to be glossed over.

In January 1933, Gerhard Both was a boy of seven who had witnessed fist hand the widespread poverty and unemployment that suddenly disappeared when Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of the German Reich and began to rebuild the nation. Both joined the Hitler Youth (despite his father's disapproval) and eventually became an engineer-officer in the Kriegsmarine. As he progressed from raw recruit to ensign serving aboard destroyers (notably the Richard Beltzen) he participated in battles against Allied warships and helped to lay mines in the Gulf of Finland. Both then left destroyer service to train in submarines But his military career abruptly terminated by the rapid Russian advance in January 1945 and received the devastating news on the 6th of May that Germany had surrendered. His memories of the war years remain strong , and he still retains a deep affection for the sea and for the comradeship that developed during those difficult and dangerous times. Without Hindsight: Reminiscences Of A German Naval Ensign is a candid, detailed, and informative military biography that lays out a German navy man's perspective on the bitterly contested years of World War II.

This is the best practical book on management that I have ever read. It gives general information that every manager should know, and it gives specific strategies to deal with management problems and concerns. I liked how Plenert shows that people perform based on what you measure them by. I also like how he stated that in order to be a World Class Manager, you must first become a World Class Person.

I really enjoyed this book. I bought it at the Ricther exhibit I just saw at the SFMOMA a few weeks ago. I wasn't familiar with his work until then. I was awed at the different themes and usage of what would seem to be everyday normal moments caught with an unearthly feel. He's even using music and video installations now. This book does uses his collected notes, interviews and letters as an insight into the thinking behind the artist. Richter's philosophy of not subscribing to any ideaology is very evident here. He seems especially disdainfull of Communism as it does not afford the freedom for individual creation. He's been grasping to make sense of his art all his life and its what has been driving him. You can see it in his paintings. The work itself becomes a question. Why this subject. What is relevant? What is the importance. Why this style of painting? What is the meaning of the photograph it's based on? The book is chock full of interesting ideas on art, art history and the current state of society and the culture. Even if you don't agree with it all - it's still a very interesting read. I do recommend that you first familiarize yourself with Richter's various works first. You'll enjoy the book all the more.

Ironically, this book - that decries idealogies - could be a Bible, speaking almost always on deeply conceptual issues not only of artmaking but of living. Fortunately, for those with a pulse, there is sufficient comic relief in the form of absurdities, parodies and self-aggrandizement.

It is tempting to skip the early writing and go straight to the wisdom through maturity (the notes are chronologically arranged.) That would be unfortunate for there are tremendous nuggets scattered among the contradictions in the earlier pages.

If you're familiar with his work, much will be self-evident; but I found surprisingly astute reflections from the "young" Richter (ie:'66): "I like continual uncertainty". On the issue of changing style/form every 3-4 years, Richter claims that "historically speaking, changeable artists are a growing phenomenon". Even back in '77, he says "Painting has a brilliant future. Hasn't it?" Strong words, and brave for the time. If only the irascible Kuspit had read this before he slammed Richter (as "profoundly nihilistic") and believed such statements as "I want pictorial content without sentiment, but I want it as human as possible" or "the pleasure of painting proves the necessity of it".

I hope future editions of this include the charming interview with Robert Storr in Art In America Jan. 2002 - which clued me into the fact that Richter had a set of writings out. There are a few photos that show the various painting forms he's explored so if you don't know his work, you can get some idea what all the discussion's about.

A wildly compelling book that should appeal to artists, philosophers and other thoughtful people. It contains journal entries, interviews, and musings of Richer's everyday struggles to discover what it means to be an artist. I tried to start at the beginning, but found it much more interesting to open the book to a random passage and each time discovered thought-provoking ideas. At first glance, his ideas and declarations often seem quite ludicrous, but if you take one moment to consider his thoughts, his genius is revealed. His prose (sometimes scathing) is extremeley amusing when read aloud as it was by a group of artists working on a large project. We took turns reading a passage and then found ourselves discussing (and quoting) it for days. His writings include the impact of his early life on his artwork, critiques of other artist's work (Anslem Keiffer does not fare well here!), keen observations and interpretations from studying art and the human condition in modern society as well as ideas, form, materials, and content in art. I found that it opened up a new way of thinking about my own work and why I am driven to create. I highly recommend it.

This was a gorgeous show, but kind of conservative -- made Richter into the new "master" of painting, sidelines all his weirder and more "conceptual" work. And why does Robert Storr have to try so hard to put himself at the center of everything?? I saw the Richter show in SF around 1990, so no, this is NOT "the frist American retrospective." And Storr's dismissive (and often really uninformed) treatment of other critics (especially German critic Benjamin Buchloh, who's written on Richter for like, decades) shows what a limited writer and scholar Storr really is. But for better or worse, the pictures are great, and a lot of the other material is really good.

A lot of words been written lately about the 'unexpected revival of painting' fueled by the current Gerhardt Richter painting retrospective captured in this book. It seems, according to some influential art scribes writing in the trail of this traveling exhibition, that the much heralded demise of painting, much like Mark Twain's death, has been greatly exaggerated. Showcasing about 120 works over a 40-year period, this book is one of the most comprehensive retrospectives ever mounted about a contemporary painter in recent memory, and that by itself is a strong enough reason to buy it. However, it is what has been proven by Richter's career and accomplishments, and unexpected stature in the art world (Sotheby's recently dubbed him the 'most influential living artist in the world') and now driven home here, that makes this a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn some lessons about the contemporary art world. You see, Richter doesn't fit the formula for success that many art curators and influential critics and other art powers-that-be have carefully crafted in the rarified atmospheres of the upper crusts of the art world. In fact, Richter breaks every 'rule' that often starts being pressed upon 18-year old art students and then is hammered home in reviews and lectures by many contemporary art critics and curators. Rules like 'you better have your own recognizable style!' or 'only new is good' and the oddest rule of all: 'painting is dead!' But Richter is not only a painter in an era forced to focus on video artists, performance stars and PhotoShop wonders, but also Richter wanders from style to style with an ease and speed that makes this book a lesson on half a dozen art movements of the last century beautifully continued onto the current one. Thumb through the pages here and you'll soon discover that Richter is as much as ease with photorealism ' some ultra sharp and some foggy in detail -- as he is with pure abstraction and with romantic paintings of pretty clouds and scenic waterfalls. This is an artist who is not just happy with thumbing his nose at the well-enforced rule that a good artist has to have a clearly identifiable style and do something 'new', but who also seems intent on destroying the other forced formulas of the modern art world: he copies other artists' works, works directly from photographs, blah, blah, blah ' all sins that would make all my art professors and most art critics sigh in disgust. But above all, Richter paints, and he paints in a time when painting has been dismissed as 'ailing' and 'ancient.' New is good, technology is good' painting is dead.' Why does Richter paint? Doesn't he get it? NOPE!! It's because it is all about painting! And managing to make fools of critics who forget that their job is to follow the artist ' not to lead the arts. What those who consider painting an 'ailing' form will never understand (mostly because they are not painters), is that Richter can't and won't stop painting, because through his veins runs the same intoxicating venom that fueled their ancestral kin in the caves of Altamira and which will continue to drive painters long after today's critics and curators are forgotten dust. This book shouts: Art does not have to be 'new' to be good, and technology is not the only venue to deliver great new contemporary art - it also continues to prove that painting will never die.

Gerhard Richter is one of the finest Pop artists of the 20th century. ("Pop" because he is highly non-ideological, even depicting ideological subjects in a completely neutral fashion. His works are plain-old nice to look at.) This book is a beautiful representation of his work, chock-full of his painting, from his earliest works to his most recent, printed nicely in full color. It is specifically the catalog for the exhibit of his works at MOMA in early 2002 (which this reviewer attended, with great delight), but the exhibition was so broad, with a wide range of paintings across Richter's full career, the number of paintings in this book is satisfyingly broad.

Richter has dabbled in many styles, and continues to produce works to this day, but most often works with abstraction or semi-abstraction. His sense of color is wonderful, and his sense of vision is superb, by which I mean his paintings force you to stop and stare for long periods of time. Many of his paintings are like photographs taken just slightly out of focus. (He uses a projector, but modifies the image just enough to make you know a human did the work.) Their beauty truly makes you look long at them, and their skill makes you wonder how a person can achieve such subtle effects of lighting in painted oil on canvas.

This book also contains good explanations of Richter's work, but these can become tiresome at times. The worst is that the reviews and the plates are not indexed very well, so it is frustratingly difficult to find a given work, either in the list of plates, or in the various texts. This is a major disappointment, but never mind. The reason to purchase this book is the art. The text is explanatory enough to teach the reader about Richter's career and work, and serves its purpose well enough.

It is not clear whether the reader unfamiliar with Richter's work, or who has not seen it in person, can enjoy this book on its own merit, but for the reader even slightly aware or curious of Richter's career, this is a welcome volume for the library.

Speaking mainly in a historical sense, the author discusses many of the concepts that have developed in the study of Kabbalah. The concepts are not written about to be understood, only where they have developed. The author presents his material in a very objective way without any noticeable bias toward one system or another. Don't expect to walk away from this and be on the road to enlightenment. However, with that said, I do think it is important to the student of Kabbalah to understand the roots of the matter. This book does nicely in this respect. One should not start on the mystic road unless one knows who cleared the trees and laid the gravel.

As it's titel, this book is a must book for every freshman student in Kabbalah & Jewish Mysticism (although not easy to read).But not only for freshmen. As a Ph.D student,I need to use this book & the other musterpiece works of Prof. Scholem. Although many criticism was written about Scholem's views (mainly by Prof. Idel & Prof. Libbes), his books & his other works are & will remaine the masterworks of the Kabbalah study.

I learned a great deal from Herr Doktor Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) through his text, "On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism". Dr Bernard McGinn, Divinity School, University of Chicago, wrote in the introduction, "I believe that all students of mysticism should read Scholem, not only for his profound insights into the Jewish mystical tradition, but also to deepen their understanding of the dynamics of other mysticisms -- Christian, Islamic, and even those further afield." Professor Scholem presents an historical perspective with the full knowledge that there are other approaches. "From an historical point of view", he writes, "the sum of religious phenomena known as mysticism consists in the attempts of mystics to communicate their experiences to others." Within this context, this text explores broad sweeping topics in each chapter -- topics that deservedly have receieved attention by intelligent scholars for centuries. In the first chapter, "Religious Authority and Mysticism" Herr Doktor Scholem presents a thesis fundamental to his research, "there is no mysticism as such, but only the mysticism of particular religious systems, Christian, Islamic and Jewish mysticism, and so on". The mystic working within a religious system is, according to Scholem, at the same time both conservative and revolutionary. "Conservative" because the mystic tries to preserve the sources of traditional authority, and "revolutionary" because the mystic also may subsititue his own opinion for that prescribed by authority. In the second chapter, titled, "The Meaning of the TORAH in Jewish Mysticism", Scholem explains the dynamic relationship between the TORAH and the mystic. Scholem presents three fundamental principles on which the Kabbaslistic conceptions of the nature of the TORAH are based: (1) YWVH; (2) TORAH as oganism; (3) Infinite meaning of the divine word. As an example of the third, in addition to the the concept of written and oral TORAHs, the author of the "ZOHAR" speculates four levels of meaning: (1) literal (2) hermeneutic (3) allegorical and (4) mystical. The history of Judaism, Scholem explains in the third chapter, is a tension between the purity of the reality of GOD. The dynamic involved is clearly presented in the realization that the price of GOD's purity is the loss of her living reality. Scholem offers that the Book Bahir, a cornerstone of 12th century Kabbalistic thought, introduces myth into Judaism. Remarkably, it contends evil as an attribute of GOD. In a similar vein, the commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah by Judah ben Barzilai introduced speculative thinking to Jewish theosophy. The fourth chapter, "Tradition and New Creation in the Ritual of the Kabbalists" presents a solution to a problem faced by each new generation. Namely, how are the traditions passed on in a vital and meaningful medium. The Mishnal codified Jewish religious law and ritual for an agrarian community had survived for centuries. As the agrarian society diminished, the TORAH became obsolete and the natural rituals became less meaningful, historical rituals. The Spanish Kabbalists found a new ritual to express the old traditions. Scholem writes, "The rejuvenation of religion repeatedly finds its expression in a return to ancient images and symbols, even when these are 'spiritualized' and transformed into speculative constructions." R. Yanassan Gershom has already succinctly summarised the fifth chapter which deals with the concept of the Golem. I will take the liberty to direct you to his comments. If you are interested in historical issues of the Kabbalah, this is essential reading for you.

Bought the book in March 2002 and much to my surprise, this book deals with R/3 Version 4.0. Given the CATT tool and workbench went through a major overhaul in versions 4.5 and 4.6 (including the addition of a new, simplified transaction), this should be recognized. If your buying this for the tool, be aware.

This book was given to me by my director, and so at first glance, I thought this book would put me to sleep.
For all you SAP Tester, after the first day of reviewing this book, I found it to be very easy to read and understand.
The terminolgy was easy to comprehend and at the back of the book there is a glossary for you to look up, if your not sure of the abbreviations used.

It's a definite book to be included in any SAP library.

Clear and concise guide to R/3 testing and optimization.This book gives a clear and concise approach to test and to optimize the R/3-System. What is most useful is that the customising is explained. I think this is one of the most useful sapbooks. By reading this EXCELLENT book i have learned how to automate tests, how to optimize R/3 business processes and to use the Computer Aided Test Tool effctively in an R/3 implementation, at each stage of the implementation model. As an experienced SAP consultant, I found this book extremely useful, comprehensive and concise.