![]() " will no doubt stand as the definitive work on Brahms, one of the monumental biographies in the entire musical library."–London Weekly Standard Making unprecedented use of the remaining archival material, Swafford offers richly expanded perspectives on Brahms’s youth, on his difficult romantic life–particularly his longstanding relationship with Clara Schumann–and on his professional rivalry with Lizst and Wagner. In this book, Jan Swafford sets out to reveal the little-known Brahms, the boy who grew up in mercantile Hamburg and played piano in beer halls among prostitutes and drunken sailors, the fiercely self-protective man who thwarted future biographers by burning papers, scores and notebooks late in his life. Proclaimed the new messiah of Romanticism by Robert Schumann when he was only twenty, Johannes Brahms dedicated himself to a long and extraordinarily productive career. Judicious, compassionate, and full of insight into Brahms’s human complexity as well as his music, Johannes Brahms is an indispensable biography. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() "This brilliant and magisterial book is a very good bet to…become the definitive study of Johannes Brahms."–The Plain Dealer ![]()
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![]() The answers were compared with official records. A recent survey asked University of Maryland graduates various questions about their college experience. But, while what’s embarrassing or desirable may have changed, people’s tendency to deceive pollsters remains strong. ![]() ![]() Has anything changed in 65 years? In the age of the internet, not owning a library card is no longer embarrassing. The word 'gay' is 10% more likely to complete searches that begin 'Is my husband.' than the word 'cheating' ![]() Even though nobody gave their names, people, in large numbers, exaggerated their voter registration status, voting behaviour, and charitable giving. What the residents reported to the surveys was very different from the data the researchers had gathered. They then surveyed the residents to see if the percentages would match. Researchers collected data, from official sources, on the residents of Denver: what percentage of them voted, gave to charity, and owned a library card. ![]() An important paper in 1950 provided powerful evidence of how surveys can fall victim to such bias. They want to look good, even though most surveys are anonymous. Many people underreport embarrassing behaviours and thoughts on surveys. Have you ever fantasised about killing someone? ![]() ![]() ![]() The easy if snarky answer-that Father Spinale is a philistine-made some sense to me. It frustrated me it annoyed me it seemed to have been the longest read I have encountered in quite a long time.” “Like Father Spinale, I disliked this novel and don’t understand why it has endured. “Unlike Father Spinale, I do like science fiction,” wrote Gerald Moss. But some of our fellow readers, many of whom had also read it years ago, also had mixed reactions to the book. I have considered Canticle a brilliant and thought-provoking story ever since I first read it as a freshman in high school. While he found it “prescient” and “clever and funny in spots,” he needed convincing that the book “is, in fact, a great novel.” So perhaps a fruitful way to initiate discussion on this novel is for me to admit that I do not really like it,” he wrote in his interpretive essay for A Canticle for Leibowitz. “I am sorry, but I do not like science fiction. ![]() Our discussion of Walter Miller Jr.’s classic tale got off to an entertaining start with a surprising confession from Father Spinale. Our Facebook page continues to be the gathering place where our more than 7,000 Catholic Book Club members discuss each book. ![]() ![]() Our Catholic Book Club moderator, Kevin Spinale, S.J., crafted essays for both books, including questions for contemplation and discussion. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In the start of the novel at 1919, the two young girls Sula and Nel simply start to meet. The white landowners would take the richer version of the city leaving the liberated slaves with an unpleasant life. The book takes place in ‘The Bottom.’ White landowners guaranteed liberated slaves a bit of paradise by giving them a chance to live in the medallion city, Ohio. During this time, we read about two girls, Sula and Nel as they grow up. The book Sula goes from the time periods of 1919-1940. Though she does seemingly evil things, she is still honest and prideful which makes her heart good. Sula is city girl that is completely independent and blunt. She hides behind innocence, when her heart is evil. ![]() However, the character Nel is a small-town conservative and a quiet girl. Nel and the other characters are good compared to Sula, s evil. Throughout the chapters we read how she is evil, and it displayed quite obviously, Sula, s lack of action after accidentally killing chicken little and watching her mother, Hannah, burn in a fire, show how Sula is metaphorically portrayed as evil. The author compares the theme good vs bad using the character Sula and Nel. In this novel there are many characters few characters are portrayed as good and few portrayed as bad. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And as you might expect from a poet, Leviston has a beautiful way with prose. Although the narratives seem separate – whether it’s a TV journalist cracking up on air, a university librarian hiring a robot to take care of her demanding mother or a babysitter in an increasingly bizarre situation – they are connected by ideas both thematic and personal, not least the presence of overbearing, suffocating mothers. The Eric Gregory award-winning poet Frances Leviston makes an auspicious fictional debut with this collection of short stories, all revolving around women named Claire. As befits a consultant to Horrible Histories, Jenner brings his material to vivid life, although occasionally he sacrifices nuance for the broad brush: comparing the castrato Farinelli to Justin Bieber, for instance, is a dumbing-down too far. In this engaging and well-researched book, historian Greg Jenner looks at everyone from Lord Byron to Sarah Bernhardt to prove his thesis that celebrity (and the ways it is won, managed and lost), has changed little over the centuries. ![]() ![]() ![]() When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers-all different species with different aims-are thrown together at the Five-Hop. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through. At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. ![]() National Bestseller! Return to the sprawling, Hugo Award-winning universe of the Galactic Commons to explore another corner of the cosmos-one often mentioned, but not yet explored-in this absorbing entry in the Wayfarers series, which blends heart-warming characters and imaginative adventure. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I also admire Lucy Foley’s skill at flashbacks with the characters reflecting on incidents that have happened over the previous days, weeks, and years. And this is exactly what “The Paris Apartment” does. I do wonder if this technique can become a little formulaic but then I read a review which said fans of Lucy Foley like this – they know what to expect when picking up her books – short chapters, and lots of character storylines which come together into a satisfying end with a few surprises thrown in. It is a technique which she used in “The Hunting Party”, which I also enjoyed, as well as “The Guest List”, which I am yet to read. Lucy Foley’s skill of jumping between the characters, swings the reader through the story. This book is an easy read with its short chapters and page turning narrative. Slowly, the mystery unravels as, chapter by chapter, we fall into the different characters’ POVs - setting up a very twisty thriller which kept me guessing to the end and with some surprising plots turns. Over the next few days, Jess meets the other eclectic apartment residents of the luxurious block, as she goes looking for Ben. Just an empty apartment with only his cat in residence, who disturbingly has blood smeared on its fur. ![]() Jess turns up at the Parisian apartment where her half-brother Ben is staying, but he’s not there. ![]() ![]() When Aline Griffith was born in a quiet suburban New York hamlet, no one had any idea that she would go on to live “a life of glamour and danger that Ingrid Bergman only played at in Notorious” ( Time). Perfect for fans of A Woman of No Importance and Code Girls. ![]() “As exciting as any spy novel” ( Daily News, New York), The Princess Spy follows the hidden history of an ordinary American girl who became one of the OSS’s most daring World War II spies before marrying into European nobility. ![]() Instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Best Seller ![]() ![]() A samurai without portfolio, Usagi has no other agenda than to act according to his best judgment and to continue to improve. Finally, the book comes in a beautifully designed silver foil-stamped slipcase. Usagi Yojimbo is constructed as a slice-of-life picaresque. The cover features a lovely dust jacket that showcases a beautiful new watercolor painting by Stan, created especially for this project. The book itself is a limited edition of 999 copies, each signed and numbered by Sakai. ![]() They are both presented here for the first time in one volume.Įach page of Stan Sakai’s beautiful narrative has been scanned from the original art, courtesy of the artist’s personal archives, in the same manner as the multi-Eisner award-winning Artist’s Edition series from IDW. This Artist Select volume collects both storylines of the Eisner Award-winning Grasscutter epics (Usagi Yojimbo issues 13-22, 39-45) in their entirety. ![]() Grasscutterwas originally published in Usagi Yojimbo#13 – 22 (and won the prestigious Eisner award in 1999 for “Best Serialized Story”), followed by Grasscutter II,which was published in issues #39 – 45. SeptemStan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo has been critically acclaimed worldwide since the character’s debut in 1984. IDW Publishing proudly presents Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo Grasscutter Artist Select, a massive 464 page 9” x 13” tome that collects two of the most beloved Usagi Yojimbo stories. ![]() Best Archival Collection/Project-Comic Books ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Matthew Arnold for for perspective on the great transition which has taken place regarding the concept "culture" in Western thought over the past century Raymond Williams's perspective might be taken as a middle ground in this transition. ![]() Bodley and Geertz can both compared here with The most influential aspect of Geertz's work has been his emphasis on the importance of the symbolic - of systems of meaning - as it relates to culture, cultural change, and the study of culture notice this emphasis as you read the summaries and excerpts below. Learning Commons - What is Culture? - Definitions - GeertzĬlifford Geertz, Emphasizing Interpretationįrom The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973Ĭlifford Geertz (1926-present) is best known for hisĮthnographic studies of Javanese culture (Java is an Indonesian island south of Borneo) and for his writings about the interpretation of culture. ![]() |