Download or read book Wartime Notebooks written by Andrzej Bobkowski and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Polish writer's experience of wartime France, a cosmopolitan outsider's perspective on politics, culture, and life under duress When the aspiring young writer Andrzej Bobkowski, a self-styled cosmopolitan Pole, found himself caught in occupied France in 1940, he recorded his reflections on culture, politics, history, and everyday life. Published after the war, his notebooks offer an outsider's perspective on the hardships and ironies of the Occupation. In the face of war, Bobkowski celebrates the value of freedom and human life through the evocation--in a daringly untragic mode--of ordinary existence, the taste of simple food, the beauty of the French countryside. Resisting intellectual abstractions, his notes exude a young man's pleasure in physical movement--miles clocked on country roads and Parisian streets on his trusty bike--and they reveal the emergence of an original literary voice. Bobkowski was recognized in his homeland as a master of modern Polish prose only after Communism ended. He remains to be discovered in the English-speaking world.

Download or read book Notebooks 1936 1947 written by Victor Serge and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2019-04-09 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available for the first time, Victor Serge's intimate account of the last decade of his life gives a vivid look into the Franco-Russian revolutionary's life, from his liberation from Stalin's Russia to his "Mexico Years," when he wrote his greatest works. In 1936, Victor Serge—poet, novelist, and revolutionary—left the Soviet Union for Paris, the rare opponent of Stalin to escape the Terror. In 1940, after the Nazis marched into Paris, Serge fled France for Mexico, where he would spend the rest of his life. His years in Mexico were marked by isolation, poverty, peril, and grief; his Notebooks, however, brim with resilience, curiosity, outrage, a passionate love of life, and superb writing. Serge paints haunting portraits of Osip Mandelstam, Stefan Zweig, and “the Old Man” Trotsky; argues with André Breton; and, awaiting his wife’s delayed arrival from Europe, writes her passionate love letters. He describes the sweep of the Mexican landscape, visits an erupting volcano, and immerses himself in the country’s history and culture. He looks back on his life and the fate of the Revolution. He broods on the course of the war and the world to come after. In the darkest of circumstances, he responds imaginatively, thinks critically, feels deeply, and finds reason to hope. Serge’s Notebooks were discovered in 2010 and appear here for the first time in their entirety in English. They are a a message in a bottle from one of the great spirits, and great writers, of our shipwrecked time.

Download or read book Notebooks written by A.M. Klein and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 1995-12-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of A.M. Klein's finest prose is to be found in the mass of uncompleted work that he abandoned at the time of his breakdown, and that became accessible only when his papers were deposited in the National Archives. Notebooks offers a generous selection of this work, revealing previously unsuspected facets of Klein's character and artistry. The fiction, criticism, and memoirs collected here focus on Klein's exploration of the role of the artist. The works illuminate crucial periods of his career, especially the early 1940s, when he was transforming himself into a modernist, and the early 1950s, when he was struggling to overcome the misgivings about his art that were to lead to his final breakdown. The semi-autobiographical text which Klein referred to as 'Raw Material' and the unfinished novel of prison life entitled 'Stranger and Afraid' cast a new light on Klein's often frustrating relationship with the Montreal Jewish community. In 'Marginalia' he discusses poetic form and technique and makes observations on the nature of poetry, thereby providing insights into his own concerns as a writer. In 'The Golem,' a profoundly ambiguous treatment of the act of creation, a self-portrait emerges of a storyteller who has lost faith in the power and value of his story. The volume includes a critical introduction, that places the material in the context of Klein's other works, as well as textual and explanatory notes.

Download or read book Behind the Lawrence Legend written by Philip Walker and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-26 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: T. E. Lawrence became world-famous as 'Lawrence of Arabia', after helping Sherif Hussein of Mecca gain independence from Turkey during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18. His achievements, however, would have been impossible without the unsung efforts of a forgotten band of fellow officers and spies. This groundbreaking account by Philip Walker interweaves the compelling stories of Colonel Cyril Wilson and a colourful supporting cast with the narrative of Lawrence and the desert campaign. These men's lost tales provide a remarkable and fresh perspective on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt. While Lawrence and others blew up trains in the desert, Wilson and his men carried out their shadowy intelligence and diplomatic work. His deputies rooted out anti-British jihadists who were trying to sabotage the revolt. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lionel Gray, a cipher officer, provided a gateway into unknown aspects of the revolt through his previously unpublished photographs and eyewitness writings. Wilson's crucial influence underpinned all these missions and steadied the revolt on a number of occasions when it could have collapsed. Without Wilson and his circle there would have been no 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Yet Wilson's band mostly fell through the cracks of history into obscurity. "Behind the Lawrence Legend" reveals their vital impact and puts Lawrence's efforts into context, thus helping to set the record straight for one of the most beguiling and iconic characters of the twentieth century.

Download or read book The Man Who Took the Rap written by Peter John Dye and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first biography of Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, a key figure in the early development of airpower, whose significant and varied achievements have been overlooked because of his subsequent involvement in the fall of Singapore. It highlights Brooke-Popham’s role in developing the first modern military logistic system, the creation of the Royal Air Force Staff College and the organizational arrangements that underpinned Fighter Command’s success in the Battle of Britain. Peter Dye challenges longstanding views about performance as Commander-in-Chief Far East and, based on new evidence, offers a more nuanced narrative that sheds light on British and Allied preparations for the Pacific War, inter-service relations and the reasons for the disastrous loss of air and naval superiority that followed the Japanese attack. “The Man Who Took the Rap” highlights the misguided attempts at deterrence, in the absence of a coordinated information campaign, and the unprecedented security lapse that betrayed the parlous state of the Allied defenses.

Download or read book The Legend of Dr Kaminko written by J. M. Sewall and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-20 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Legend of Dr. Kaminko by J.M. Sewall The town of Littleroot, Maine, is full of crazy urban myths, but one of the strangest is probably about a house on top of a hill, supposedly haunted by the ghost of the alleged mad scientist, Dr. Ivan Kaminko. But, of course, nobody’s been able to prove it. It’s just a silly legend, after all. There’s no such thing as haunted houses or ghosts. Or so people say. When teenager Terry Welling decides to investigate Dr. Kaminko’s house for history class, his best friend, Billy Martin, tries to tell him it’s a bad idea. And when even the mayor, Angus Hamilton, tells him there’s nothing to investigate, Terry becomes suspicious, so he and Billy, along with Billy’s cousin, Casey, and her best friend Allison, decide to go inside the house, hoping to learn something useful. But once they step inside, they make discoveries about the house and its alleged owner beyond anything they ever imagined.

Download or read book Adult Catalog Authors written by Los Angeles County Public Library and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Olson the Journal of the Charles Olson Archives written by and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Frustrated Ambition written by Richard Bruce Meixsel and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2018-02-15 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vicente Podico Lim (1888–1944) was once his country’s best-known soldier. The first Filipino to graduate from West Point and a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, Lim figured in every significant military development in the Philippines during his thirty years in uniform. Frustrated Ambition is the first in-depth biography of this forgotten figure, whose career paralleled the early-twentieth-century history of the Philippine military. As independence seemed increasingly likely for the Philippines in the 1930s, Lim positioned himself to take a leading role in developing armed forces for a sovereign nation. But as Lim maneuvered behind the scenes, Manuel L. Quezon, soon to be the commonwealth president, revealed that he had invited General Douglas MacArthur to serve as military adviser to the Philippines. Frustrated Ambition corrects the conventional historical narrative of events thereafter—one that emphasizes the failure of the nascent Philippine military under MacArthur and inflates the general’s heroic role in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor. Richard Bruce Meixsel restores Lim as the then-recognized leader of the opposition to MacArthur’s mission, and shows how Lim took the Philippine Army in a more tenable direction as MacArthur’s military system foundered. World War II brought Lim to the fore. While MacArthur directed his troops from Corregidor, Lim commanded a division on Bataan that may have suffered more combat losses at the battle of Abucay than did all American units on Bataan during the entire campaign. When the U.S. high command turned its efforts to evacuating the Philippine Islands, Lim began to prepare for the ensuing underground struggle against the Japanese—a fight that cost him his life. By recounting Vicente Lim’s career, Frustrated Ambition illuminates forgotten episodes in Philippine history, offers new perspectives on military affairs during the American occupation, and recovers the story of Filipino soldiers whose service changed the course of their country’s military history.

Download or read book South and West written by Joan Didion and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “One of contemporary literature’s most revered essayists revives her raw records from a 1970s road trip across the American southwest ... her acute observations of the country’s culture and history feel particularly resonant today.” —Harper’s Bazaar Joan Didion, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean, has always kept notebooks—of overheard dialogue, interviews, drafts of essays, copies of articles. Here are two extended excerpts from notebooks she kept in the 1970s; read together, they form a piercing view of the American political and cultural landscape. “Notes on the South” traces a road trip that she and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, took through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Her acute observations about the small towns they pass through, her interviews with local figures, and their preoccupation with race, class, and heritage suggest a South largely unchanged today. “California Notes” began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial. Though Didion never wrote the piece, the time she spent watching the trial in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the West and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here we not only see Didion’s signature irony and imagination in play, we’re also granted an illuminating glimpse into her mind and process.

Download or read book I Wonder as I Wander written by Ronald Pen and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2010-08-24 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The enigmatic figure of John Jacob Niles, collector, songwriter, composer, and scholar, receives its due in this new biography from Pen (director, John Jacob Niles Ctr. for American Music, Univ. of Kentucky)." --Library Journal.

Download or read book Bas Jan Ader written by Alexander Dumbadze and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-05-27 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On July 9, 1975, Dutch-born artist Bas Jan Ader set sail from Chatham, Massachusetts, on a thirteen-foot sailboat. He was bound for Falmouth, England, on the second leg of a three-part piece titled In Search of the Miraculous. The damaged boat was found south of the western tip of Ireland nearly a year later. Ader was never seen again. Since his untimely death, Ader has achieved mythic status in the art world as a figure literally willing to die for his art. Considering the artist’s legacy and concise oeuvre beyond the romantic and tragic associations that accompany his peculiar end, Alexander Dumbadze resituates Ader’s art and life within the conceptual art world of Los Angeles in the early 1970s and offers a nuanced argument about artistic subjectivity that explains Ader’s tremendous relevance to contemporary art. Bas Jan Ader blends biography, theoretical reflection, and archival research to draw a detailed picture of the world in which Ader’s work was rooted: a vibrant international art scene populated with peers such as Ger van Elk, William Leavitt, and Allen Ruppersberg. Dumbadze looks closely at Ader’s engagement with questions of free will and his ultimate success in creating art untainted by mediation. The first in-depth study of this enigmatic conceptual artist, Bas Jan Ader is a thoughtful reflection on the necessity of the creative act and its inescapable relation to death.

Download or read book Charles Olson s Reading written by Ralph Maud and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maud (English, Simon Fraser U.) offers a narrative account of the life and work of poet Charles Olson, focusing on the poet's lifelong reading material as a basis for understanding his work. Drawing on an annotated listing of his library, as well as his childhood books and poetry by his contemporaries, he links the books to the poet's intellectual and poetic development at each stage of his career. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book An Iron Wind written by Peter Fritzsche and published by . This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a prize-winning historian, a vivid account of German-occupied Europe during World War II that reveals civilians’ struggle to understand

Download or read book Mark Twain s Notebooks Journals Volume II 1877 1883 written by Mark Twain and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1975 with total page 718 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Legends of the Modern written by Didier Maleuvre and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-11-28 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What made art modern? What is modern art? The Legends of the Modern demystifies the ideas and "legends" that have shaped our appreciation of modern art and literature. Beginning with an examination of the early modern artists Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and Cervantes, Didier Maleuvre demonstrates how many of the foundational works of modern culture were born not from the legendry of expressive freedom, originality, creativity, subversion, or spiritual profundity but out of unease with these ideas. This ambivalence toward the modern has lain at the heart of artistic modernity from the late Renaissance onward, and the arts have since then shown both exhilaration and disappointment with their own creative power. The Legends of the Modern lays bare the many contradictions that pull at the fabric of modernity and demonstrates that modern art's dissatisfaction with modernity is in fact a vital facet of this cultural period.

Download or read book The Legend of Chris Craft written by Jeffrey L. Rodengen and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 2 years in the making, this book probes the surprising history and legacy of America's dean of boatbuilding. The family and company that made "runabout" and "cabin cruiser" household words (and possessions) has a colorful heritage that will intrigue the most confirmed landlubber. Over 350 photographs and illustrations complement the text. Now available for order!