Their are a wide variety of translations here; in both quality and fidelity to the original spanish. The fact that the poems are presented with both the original and the translation makes this book worth it. The Miller Williams and William Carlos Williams translations are wonderful, but some translations, like those by Ginsberg suffer from perhaps too much beat aesethetic co-oped into the work. Still, Parra is wonderful, full of grit and strange images; yet the Spanish, aside from a few words that are only found in Chilean Spanish, is clear and easy to read. I have even translated some of these poems myself. This is amazing work.

Theodor Adorno claimed that to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. If so, then Parra is the one man who can justifiably escape the charge of barbarity. What Parra writes is nothing less than a full-scale assault on poetry, or as he calls it, "anti-poetry". Parra's work stands in violation of everything that poetry has ever been. If you are used to lyricism and poetic embellishment and will accept nothing less, you will hate this book. Either that, or it will revolutionize how you see the poetic art. Parra is for poetry what the WWF is for entertainment: it is raw, crass and, as people say, "in your face". It is also brilliant. It is not poetry, but it is, in its own unique way, poetic. And like much of the best poetry always has been, it is immersed in life. Its themes are those we all recognize: crooked police, pestering grandchildren, the morning alarm. It expresses for us what we would all like to express but do not or will not. I suppose one could call it catharsis through anti-art. And perhaps in our post-holocaust world, the most genuine art IS anti-art.

This book is truly magnificent. Parra has one of the most clever minds in poetry today. His antipoems are very attractive as they move away from the old traditional poetic style. I understand Parra will be proposed for the Literature Nobel Prize next year (2001). I couldn't agree more.

No matter where I open this book, time stops. Gentle as an uncle I once knew, his words carry forward, linger on, and I find myself nodding affirmatively in of all places, this world

"Her hand given over" is the sweetest, saddest, truest poem I've read about a woman from a man's point of view. I'm so glad to know about Aleixandre.

"Destruction of Love" and "A Longing for the Light" are the best poetry in Spanish I have ever read. Perfect language, perfect idea... The best.

A friend suggested I read this book. I was not sure about it, because it seemed geared for people who either are in therapy or do therapy. But, I was completely surprised. Sure, it has a lot of inside stuff on what it means to be a shrink, which I found kinda voyueristic and informative. But, while you get the inside stuff you also learn a lot about yourself and things you can do to make realtionships, work, family, love more satisfying.
This is a book about life. How to live it fully. How to be the person you are with all the baggage you have and the good and not so good parts. It was funny at times and sad at others and most importantly, helpful. I got a lot out of it and would talk to my friends about it and turned a bunch of people onto it. We have our own little "real" language thing going.
When I first got it, I would read it before I went to bed. When I was done with it I put it in the bathroom so I could read a page or two now and then. It may sound weird to you, but only the best books make it into my bathroom.

This was really a great read. I couldn't put it down, and at the same time I wanted to read it in private. Reading about truth is sometimes embarrassing - especially when I get to be a bit of a voyeur into worlds where I don't want to admit i go and think about going. This book has more than therapy, sex and drugs - it has heart and innocence and covers the path to experience in a really truthful and very tantalizing way. I blushed more than a few times. Seriously, this book is about looking for the truth of what you want and this guy goes out looking and shares the highs and lows -- i really recommend it.

I was totally surprised and enthralled by this book. I have read plenty of self-help books and pop psych books and this one is completely different. First off, the author talks about life in a way that I can relate to - he does not purport to be better than anyone else and certainly there are aspects to who he is that I don't really like. But, show me anyone you really know who you like everything about.
No, this guy is for real. He shares his story and along the way I was laughing out loud, I got excited, sad, upset and came away with a better understanding of myself and the people around me.There is a lot of information presented in a way that you don't really notice until you are talking to someone and all of a sudden you are using one of the things he mentioned.
The author says at one point how many therapists he has taught in graduate school. When I thought about it I realized I would like to take a course from this guy. Then I realized his students probably never got some of this behind the scenes stuff, and if they did, I really would like to take that course.

Dalton's poetry is intense, and exudes revolution in every verse. Knowing a history of the poet's life and struggle, you get a greater feel and appreciation for all his work. His pain, love, and hate all mixed together delivers the most powerful poetry I've ever read. I enjoyed this book immensely, and recommend it to all of those that are a rebel at heart.

In Dalton's words you can hear his pain, loss and anger; but it's his love and romantic vision that you take away. I tresure this book and it stands as my most read book.

This book is a must , no home should be without it

Jewish diaspora narratives lend themselves quite readily to absurdism. Life is comprised of a concatenation of illogical events, sequential by chronology, but nothing else. The search for truth is subverted by the constant reminder that there is no truth, and that any of the tenets of essence that one might have employed to assure oneself of a bit of certainty in the world are utterly hollow.

Language is layered and mediated, worlds are polyphonous and dialogical, but there is no actual response, since several languages are employed simultaneously. Causality is in effect, but it is primitive, and meaningless, except in the construction of metaphor. Example: the consumption of raw turtle eggs lead to immediate, severe, violent food poisoning. However, this is also an echo of the existential response to nostalgia; the memories (submerged, sad, sweet) of the last time one ate turtle eggs.

Marcos Eltaleph, the protagonist, is hostage to the misdeeds of his brother, Aaron Eltaleph, who is under hospital arrest in Guatemala City, where he is suspected of double-dealing by Guatemalan officials. Marcos, forced into a position of loyalty that threatens to undermine the only way(s) he knows himself, begins to implode psychologically as the family scandal expands.

The energy of implosion is picaresque, and there is a sort of joy in the destruction of preconceived notions. Adrenaline is preferable to logical response. The things that have value are made valueless, including life, work, human invention. Aaron's venture into the nightclub business is a perfect example of this. It begins as a venture filled with promise, then turns into a gathering place for the Guatemalan military and heavy-hitters -- always dangerous in Central America.

Much of the narrative rests on the deliberate countering of family values and Jewish tradition. Marcos rebels, or perversely disregards, the core values of his family by having a Colombian prostitute as a girlfriend, by making deals with untrustworthy, highly venal partners, the Guatemalan dictatorship / mob.

Yet, there is a celebration of the eccentric, wily, and street-smart. The breakdown of rigid societal structures allows others to emerge with dionysian energy. Metamorphosis is possible.

The setting of Life in the Damn Tropics heightens contrasts between luxury "compound" vacations and the jungle around it. Jungle, dnager, invasion of body and self are ever-present metaphors for life in an absurd situation caught between competing interests.

Nevertheless, Guatemala, which is perhaps the quintessential dystopia -- an infernal inversion of Eden -- provides an anarchic, playful catalyst to life.

The late Elena Garro, whose reputation in her native Mexico was nothing short of brilliant, presents in this brief collection (both novellas are translated by David Unger) two very unconventional love stories. In First Love, the love in question is a German prisoner of war in post-WWII France, who befriends mother and daughter tourists amid the disapproval of the local folk. Trapped in an unhappy marriage and thankful for the break from domestic life, mother Barbara soon cannot deny her attraction to the soldier while her daughter (also named Barbara) feels an infatuation for the same man which is the catalyst for her growth into a mature young woman.

Look For My Obituary is not as straightforward a tale as its predecessor. This story tells of a young husband and father, unhappy in an arranged marriage, whose passion is awakened by a beautiful, mysterious stranger. With relentless determination he pursues this woman, though is careful not to cause scandal within his own loveless union, until his clandestine meetings with his love end with her "death"--her printed obituary is really an announcement of her own arranged marriage.

Though a brief look into one aspect of Latin American life, First Love & Look for My Obituary offers powerful sociological commentary and is evidence of Garro's own concern for the mistreatment of women in her culture. Garro writes with an eloquence accented with her Mexican heritage, yet both stories are not too immersed as to be confusing to those unfamiliar with the culture. Those with an interest in multicultural literature will find this volume to be a good primer.

Two Novellas is a small book with big ideas. Garro addresses very similar ideas in the two novellas, which is why they are published together. In the first novella, First Love, a young girl and her mother, both named Barbara, while on vacation in Paris befriend against everyone's advice a group of German soldiers who are working on a railroad just after World War II. Both mother and daughter are attracted to one of them men named Sigfried, for different reasons. Everyone tells them not to go around these German scoundrels, and the reader knows there will be trouble coming, although exactly what kind of trouble comes is very surprising. In First Love Garro primarily explores the perceptions and stereotypes held by society, and the way these intercept individual freedom. In the second novella, Look For My Obituary, an unhappily married Mexican man named Miguel enconters a frail and lovely girl named Irene, who appears to him out of nowhere and makes his life seem so much better. Miguel wants to run away with Irene because he is desperately in love with her, but she keeps warning him there is danger to come. In Look for My Obituary, Garro explores the theme of marriage as a prison which takes away from the individual's desires and freedoms.

Although the plots are quite different, many of themes in the two novellas are similar. Both novellas deal with the themes of love and death, which are two cornerstone themes of all literature. Both could have technically been titled "First Love": Irene and Miguel discovered love for the first time as did the two Barbaras and Sigfried. Also, both deal with the prohibition of love as well as the constraints of marriage, and the freedom that this social institution takes away from individuals, in terms of their own desire and love. Both novellas are written in a mysterious ways and turn out different than the reader expects them to.

Garro has been called the "Greatest writer in Mexico", and this description suits her perfectly. Her style is very beautiful and moving, and her metaphors have a deep impact. There is a line in Look for My Obituary where Irene tell Miguel, "We are both dead already", meaning that she is destined to get married to someone she doesn't love and he is trapped in a stale marriage with a woman he no longer loves and who no longer loves him. In this novella, marriage equals burial and love equals death, but these metaphors only merge at the end. It is there that the reader realizes the true implications of the story and of the fates of the two main characters. There is also a great exploration of Magic Realism in the story. It challenges Western limits of rationality and deals with the limits of language and thoughts and the levels of cognition that we have to perceive and explain our world. In Look for My Obituary, Miguel always cried as a child and young man for what was going to be missing in his life because he knew he would someday meet Irene and he was waiting for that day but knowing that even when he met her he would have to keep waiting, and he would never get to have her. This is the essence of Magical Realism and it does not hold up under Western rationalist standards. Western philosophy separates body and mind, reality and imagination. However, in this novella, a very emotional scene is depicted and it is better explained through Magical Realism than through Western attempts at rationalization. Everyone has experienced unfulfilled longings and desires that cannot be reasonably explained, and these things are beautifully depicted in this story.

Two Novellas is a fast and fun read, but it has deep impact and great meaning. It provides a good starting point into Elena Garro's work, as well as other great works in Latin American Literature.

David Hilbert's "Grundlagen der Geometrie" is a work of great significance for anyone interested in mathematical foundationalism, the history of geometry, and intellectual history and philosophy in general. Sadly, however, the translation of this edition is extremely poor --- not simply akward, or rough, but careless to the point of making the text unreadable. If I did not have access to the German original, I would have long ago given up on making sense of the translation. In Theorem 7, for example, it speaks of "points which are not on the plane alpha." The German is extremely ambiguous, but mathematically it only makes sense if you interpret the sentence as referring to the "line a." On page 31, the translator commits the unpardonable error of mistaking "nun" (now) for "nur" (only). At the end of theorem 34, and entire equation was left out, and the meaning of the sentence completely bungled. Most extraordinary is Theorem 35, where what should be translated as "It follows from Theorem 22 that the sum of two angles of a triangle is less than two right angles" becomes "the sum of the angles of a triangle is less than two right triangles." In the very next sentence, "mithin" is interpreted as "hence," implying a direct logical entailment where there is none. It should have been rendered simply as "of course." Finally, in the next paragraph, it reads "where epsilon denotes any angles." The German has "irgendeinen Winkel" --- unambiguously singular.

Given the tremendous importance of Hilbert's Foundations, it is quite sad that there is not a quality translation available.

Euclid's initial work on Geometry held firm for two thousand years and then Hilbert wrote the "Foundations of Geometry." Hilbert's work is the cornerstone of modern geometry and its simple, elegant, rigor has had a profound impact in many other areas of modern science.

Compare Hilbert's use of definition and axiom to Euclid's. Euclid defines "point" as the cryptic "that which has no part" whereas Hilbert dives straight for gold and says "between any two points there is just one straight line." There are issues with this approach too and the fun value of this book is to grok it sufficiently that you come to know not only the geometry contained in it but also the reason why it is generally considered superior to Euclid's work and just what the issues in the respective formal systems are.

The translation from the original German is, I understand, poor.

Unlike other books of geometry , the author of this book constructed geometry in a axiomatic method . This is the feature which differ from other books of geometry and the way I like . Let's see how the author constructed axiomization geometry . Intuition and deduction are two powerful ways to knowledge . The axioms are the intuitive principles which are needless to be proved . The theorems are the demonstrated propositions which are deduced from axioms . Although axioms are intuitive , they may have the demonstrated propositions called theorems which contradict . If they do , the system of the axiomization geometry would break down . Because it has some false propositions if you think the contradictory ones as truth , and vice versa . There are all the discussions of the problems above in chapter 2 called consistency which is very important in an axiomatic system .

Although a translation, and we know that all translations pale in comparaison to it's original, it should be a required reading book for anyone under the age of 18. Just like The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. Although they are unique to their individual gender, these two books should rest in everyone's library.

Throughout life, one often confronts both happiness and disappointment. In Silvia Molina's novel, The Love You Promised Me, the story revealed during the two-day trip taken by the main character, concentrates on the disappointing moments of life. The main character, Marcela, takes this trip to uncover her past by learning of her family genealogy. She also uses this time to reflect on an affair that has turned sour, during which the reader learns of her sadness and disappointment in life. Marcela, the wife of an incredibly successful, hard-working lawyer, Phillip, finds herself caught in an unsatisfying marriage. As often the case with the spouses of those holding a demanding position, Marcela feels neglected and often complains about the absence of her husband. Despite this fact, he remains a good husband and father to their children. As Marcela unfolds her life, the reader learns of an intimate affair with Eduardo, a well-known doctor. The two meet as Marcela's mother undergoes treatment for her terminal illness. Marcela notes Eduardo's compassion and concern for his patient and begins to care a great deal about him. Shortly after this, he reveals his love for her and the two begin intimate communications, first through a series of letters and later in person. However, the promising affair is short lived as Eduardo confesses he no longer feels for her, causing incredible heartache for Marcela. Amidst the telling of the lovers' tale, Marcela does research into her ancestors' lives. She finds that her past uncovers some unsettling family issues. Marcela is disgusted with her grandparents' choice to abandon their son after his marriage with a person of another class. Anger at the hands of Marcela's family, both in and out of the immediate, roams throughout the novel. The author deliberately puts a large focus on different angles of her family life that has upset her. The relationships with her family, and her opinion of the members of it, display Marcela's inability to accept her past and present position in life. In fact, this causes her to take the trip in the first place, to resolve questions of her unknown relatives. The first and most immediate cause of unhappiness brought by family members, comes from her husband Rafael. Although an excellent provider and good father, Marcela is disappointed with the way that the marriage has turned out. She often feels alone, and wishes to have the companionship that marriage brings. Emotionally, her relationship with Rafael feels not existent because of his need to ensure the financial stability of the family and maintain the respect he has earned as a prominent lawyer of the area. Even though Marcela realizes the need for her husband to work so hard, she complains to herself and gives her an excuse to begin an affair with Eduardo. Another portion of family life that Marcela struggles to deal with comes directly from her father. After his death, she learns of another family he kept hidden from her. Marcela is angered, not only by her father's unfaithfulness, but also by her mother's decision to stay with him. The struggle is evident as she asks her dying mother whether she knew of her father's affair. Aside from the actions of her father, treatment he received from his family disturbs Marcela as well. On her trip she learns of her father's rejection by his own family after marrying a housemaid, a member of a lower class. Marcela views this family with disgust, eventually adding another factor to her depression. As the novel moves towards a conclusion, Marcela begins to realize the true causes of her unhappiness. Although she experiences a great deal of pain from the termination of her affair with Eduardo, Marcela learns that she must learn to accept her place in life and her family. This does not mean that she agrees with all the actions of her family, but she is willing to not let it affect her anymore. Therefore she can begin to put her life back in order and recover from the past that so strongly influences her while dealing with her marriage in a more positive manner

THE LOVE YOU PROMISED ME is the 6th recipient of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize and was a finalist in the Dublin Literary Awards.

"This lovely work, astonishing in its quietude, was deservedly winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize and belongs in all literary collections" --Library Journal

"The novel's biggest strength is Ms. Molina's unsentimentality in her treatment of Marcela's emotional journey" --Beatriz Terrazas, Dallas Morning News

"For aficionados of Latino literature, this entertaining book reveals how lovers in modern-day Mexico-as do their US counterparts-face (and fight) familial and societal odds to realize a dream" --Saldudos Hispanos

"Molina weaves the past and present together into a seamless tapestry of hopes and passions, fears and failings, love and longing" --Booklist