In these two short novels, Francois Mauriac further explores the central theme of his life work: the mystery of love revealed through suffering. Mauriac, who won the 1952 Nobel Prize for literature, was a comitted Catholic whose faith nonetheless refused sentimentalism or happy endings.
In "The Enemy," we meet an ugly man who through his family's wealth (and his own ill-advised reading of a chapter of Nietzsche) marries a beautiful woman who despises him. "The Weakling" likewise is a protagonist whose physical attributes help create for him a world of terrible suffering at the hands of others. Grace--that most mysterious of Christian experiences--comes through each character to those around them. Those "normal" folk who more resemble the majority of us...
I cannot recommend these works, or any of Mauriac's works, highly enough. He is one of France's great undiscovered treasures, who (though he inspired and was the friend of such figures as Elie Weisel and Graham Green) has been all but forgotten. One needn't embrace his Catholicism to sense the profound truth of the Christian faith he espoused, nor the beautiful way in which he espoused it. Sadly beautiful...

This book is a wonderful story and I recommend it to everyone!

The Great War, largely unknown to most Americans today, was one of the great turning points of history. In addition to millions of men, other victims of the War were Faith, Hope, and Glory, and the comforting sense that all would come right in the end. Twentieth-century despair and cynicism were born in the mud and blood of Flanders and Picardy.
The remarkably persistent pull of the conflict is represented here by works prepared for a 1994 joint seminar by the Great War Society and the Western Front Association. Papers include explorations of the role of forts in both World Wars, a splendid analysis of the German soldier by Dennis Showalter, and an inquiry into the death of von Richthoven. Desmond Morton recounts the experiences of Canadian POW's, (they were shamefully mistreated by the Germans - Hunnish excess did not originate with the Nazis), and Paul Fussell presses on with his familiar themes, most of which will be of limited interest to the average reader of military history. A very worthwhile collection overall, however.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score' books.)

I found this to be one of the most helpful works on Hopkins that I have read. On all occasions Ward shows a respect and attention to the poet that is quite refreshing. Her unique insistence on understanding the serious importance of his intellectual formation (which included close study of Ruskin, Newman, Scotus, and Catholic sacramental theology), makes a powerful case for reconsidering the assumptions of both excesively pious critics who see in Hopkins a mystic who intuited great spiritual truths without employing his immense intellectual gifts to sort out the theological facts, and of postmodern writers who correlatively assume that Hopkins actually had a weak and degenerate mind, and that his obvious poetic gifts had nothing to do with the quality or consistency of the superstitions that he communicated using those gifts.

Ward makes her case in each chapter by communicating concisely and interestingly the key thoughts of those intellectual figures and movements that strongly influenced Hopkins, and then by very persuasively revealing the real influence of those thinkers by using their thoughts in the exposition of many of his major poems. My academic training is in philosophy, and I was especially impressed with how well the focus of the book on communicating philosophical theology in order to understand Hopkins does not prevent a serious presentation of the ideas of the thinkers in question--the treatment of Scotus, for example, reveals that Dr. Ward has read much more broadly in the writings of the difficult 13th century friar than is normal for a literary critic trying to understand what Hopkins means by the terms "instress" and "inscape," and what he means when he refers them to Scotus's philosophy.

Many have noticed the influence that poets like Shakespeare and Milton have exerted on Hopkins's imagery and sound, but this book fills a gaping hole in Hopkins scholarship by seriously exploring the tremendous influence that Hopkins's favorite philosophers, theologians, and critics had on the thought that undergirds that use of imagery and sound. Highly recommended.

A superb, fast paced book with excellent character development. A well thought out and researched plot that takes you through the action of a floundering oil tanker in the North Seas, middle eastern terrorism and the ins and outs of insurance fraud, with much more. EXcellent reading that keeps the reader attention throughout.

This book was written by the Rev. E. Gerard Carroll DD, Ph

I couldn't have been more impressed with this oversized, picture packed coffee table book. Rather than following the same old biography style, and sharing all the details of his family life, Elvis gives his readers a peak into the mind of world champion figure skater. For his fans, it was a chance to get to know him a bit more and the title couldn't be more fitting to someone who always gives his all to his performances. I appreciate his honesty and his humility as he shares about his experiences.

A very inspiring and delightful book with some great *quotables* in it! I look forward to enjoying some more awesome skating from this classy champion!

A must-have for all skating fans!

This is a beautiful book that I return to again and again. The photographs by Gerard Chataigneau are totally gorgeous, capturing the essence of Elvis both on and off ice. There are many excellent photographs of Elvis skating, over a period of several years, and also Elvis engaged in other pursuits -- jet-skiing, martial arts, dirtbiking -- the photographer must have spent a lot of time photographing Elvis on many different occasions. It is fascinating reading what Elvis has to say. If you like Elvis, you want to have this book.

This book is filled with wonderful color photos of Elvis, skating and even some personal ones. Elvis descibes his skating career and his philsophies of skating and his love for martial arts and how the two interrelate.

This guidebook is great for its pictures and detailed diagrams of major sites, neighborhoods, and buildings. The book is absolutely filled with brilliant photos that help visitors (especially first time visitors like myself) see what the sites look like. It also has photos of practical things such as roadsigns, the euro currency in all denominations, police cars, telephones, and even food. This might seem silly, but it's very helpful to know how to use their telephones and to learn which coins are which before going over there. It has a limited list of places to stay and doesn't go into detail about how to get to all the sites they cover. This is why I think this shouldn't be the only guide you buy if you're planning a trip to Ireland. It is definately one of the ones to buy, however. Another note: if you're like myself, and plan to travel light to Ireland, keep in mind that this book is rather heavy because of the thick, glossy pages - they're great for the pictures, but they'll weigh down your bag. Hope this helps!

Here's the drill: You're planning the trip, know you NEED a book - you head to the Travel Section of your favorite bookstore and begin the long process of paging through every one in stock. "Gee," you say. "They all seem good." Well, maybe it's just me... For our trip, we settled on 3 books just to cover the bases & ETG's Ireland was by far the best. The color coded indexing was especially helpful - each section has illustrated map w/icons resembling the major points of interest in the area, along w/major hwy's. This is followed by the down and dirty information for all the sites. The back of the book has all the practical info you need; rail, bus, taxi service, ticket info, customs, religious, etc. The indexing at the back is also helpful.
Bottom Line: This book went with us everywhere and we saw lots of other tourist toting too. It's colorful, informative, and will be a savior when planning your day trips...go for it and enjoy Ireland!

This is the one travel guide to take with you. I am going to Ireland this coming Nov.and wanted a guide on where we will be going and what we will be doing and seeing. Took a look at a number of guides and was not happy with them. Most of them are too much "talk", Found the "Eyewitness Travel Guides from Dorling Kindersley, The Multimedia CD publisher. The book is great, as is their other Travel Guides. The 3D maps and cutaway illustrations are worth the price alone. I am going to buy there other guides as well. I live in NJ just accross from NYC and learned a few thing about the Big Apple I did not know. In short Buy it you'll like it.

Madame Bovary is a story about a common woman who marries an ordinary husband living an unglamorous middle-class life in a provincial town. It's that realistic. The heroine, Emma Bovary, longs for the wealth, romance, and adventure she finds in the Romantic novels of her time. After her marriage to Charles, a second class doctor, and moving to a small, mediocre town, she finds her life full of routine and banaltiy. She rebels, and seeks to satisfy her desires for a more glamorous life. This leads her to adultery and financial difficulties, which both lead to tragic consequences.

Emma Bovary is a character you will either despise for her actions or sympathise with and understand. It is true, her actions bring misfortune to her family, especially her husband Charles. Although he is weak and unambitious, lacking the gallantry of her image of a lover, his sentiments for her are genuine and she fails to see it. Moreover, he so trusts and admires her and never sees through her deception. I find that he is the character, if not most interesting, then most tragic and worthy of sympathy, as he becomes the true victim. As for Emma, like her or hate her, she is one who many will relate to.

This is not an exciting read, not fast paced or action-packed. Still, the messages in the book will reward your efforts. I'm no expert on Romantic novels but I think it's quite unlike other novels of it's time. Flaubert's descriptions and use of language are very moving, sometimes disturbing, especially when describing the ravages of sickness or pain. Those who like to contemplate on moral ideas in a literary work, or who love the beauty of language for the sake of it will enjoy this book very much.

I think this is a wonderful novel. Although it carries around the "classic" label, I think Madame Bovary is an enjoyable, accessible, reader-friendly read. The story is actually quite simple. A French woman marries too rashly, for the wrong reasons, is unhappy, conducts two affairs, and eventually gets into tremendous debt and commits suicide. With that plot, Flaubert manages to create a masterpiece that subtly ridicules all types of human folly, not just Emma's overwhelming romanticism. Science, religion, realism as embodied by various characters all come off unsympathetically, yet the book is still a joy to read, which I believe is Flaubert's brilliance. The only drawback to the novel is that it is in translation (at least it is for me). There are some passages that are stunning, yet I know in French they would be even more so. That being said, I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in literature.

When I was teaching World Literature we began class each year reading Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary." Unfortunately, this is the one novel that most needs to be read in its original language since Flaubert constructed each sentence of his book with the precision of a poet. As an example of the inherent problems of translation I would prepare a handout with four different versions of the opening paragraphs of "Madame Bovary." Each year my students would come to the same conclusion that I had already reached in selecting which version of the book they were to read: Lowell Bair's translation is the best of the lot. It is eminently readable, flowing much better than most of its competitors. Consequently, if you are reading "Madame Bovary" for pleasure or class, this is the translation you want to track down.

Flaubert's controversial novel is the first of the great "fallen women" novels that were written during the Realism period ("Anna Karenina" and "The Awakening" being two other classic examples). It is hard to appreciate that this was one of the first novels to offer an unadorned, unromantic portrayal of everyday life and people. For some people it is difficult to enjoy a novel in which they find the "heroine" to be such an unsympathetic figure; certainly the events in Emma Bovary's life have been done to death in soap operas. Still, along with Scarlett O'Hara, you have to consider Emma Bovary one of the archetypal female characters created in the last 200 years of literature. "Madame Bovary" is one of the greatest and most important novels, right up there with "Don Quixote" and "Ulysses." I just wish I was able to read in it French.