France Books

this book was exactly what I needed for my french class. All in French, and the supplemental materials were very helpful and easy to understand, as were the footnotes.

I studied this text when I was 18. Moliere is witty and humorous, which actually made reading this text a pleasure. He has lovely usage of his language.

I read this in my French class... the play is hilarious, well worth reading, and if you can't read French, you should read a translation or go see the play! It's funny, and although it is like many of Molière's other plays, it's a nice deviation from the normal play.

The book was in the French original version. The price was expensive but worth it.

Very Moving story of J-D B., who was a founding editor, I think, ofthe original Elle magazine, in France. He had "locked-in syndrome" and could hardly move a muscle - except for his eyes- or at least one of them. With said eye and eyelid he was able to manage to communicate and dictated this book....He founded a charity for this condition in France and if you google it you`ll find it. Some proceeds of the book may go to this charity ....
It has been optioned to be a film with the lead role said to be going to Johnny Depp.....

This book was written by a middle-aged man who had suffered a devastating stroke. After the stroke he was only able to move one eyelid, and so the book was laborously dictated letter by letter, using the blinking of his eye to choose letters from a computer screen. In the book he talks about his condition, and meditates about his life, both before and after the stroke. It's a compelling read. It gives you insight into the kind of life that few of us would have any access to. It's upsetting simply because you can't help thinking about how you would react in the same situation.

Where does genius come from? What are the motives? What are the stars that guide?

Picasso was arguably the most original and influential artist of the 20th century. In volume one of four planned volumes (three of which have been produced to date), John Richardson collaborates with Marilyn McCully to establish the detailed record of how Picasso developed as a man and an artist through the early Rose period. The book is made richer by Richardson's friendship with the artist and his access to Picasso's memories of key events. But he doesn't slavishly accept Picasso's version (except in damning Matisse as inferior to Picasso) but rather checks out the different versions and picks what seems to make the most sense.

Picasso's fanatic desire to succeed was fueled in part by his contempt for his father's failed career as an artist and his father's views that Picasso should follow in his footsteps. Picasso also needed to be treated as special, more than most of us. Groveling before exploitive dealers built a lifelong passion to be in charge. Picasso also knew that Paris was where he had to shine and suffered greatly to make his success there. His struggles will impress you.

Where the book is unequaled in my experience is in tracking down the sources of Picasso's images, gestures, styles, and innovations. The book is filled with black and white images from the works of other artists, Picasso's notebooks, photographs of the scenes and subjects, and related works that Picasso did. From these, you get a better sense of Picasso as a synthesizer of styles and modes.

In closely examining Picasso's work from these years, it's easy to develop superficial impressions of what sort of man did those paintings. For instance, the paintings of women show someone who feels compelled to alternately adore and dominate women . . . especially sexually. Learning later that he locked his mistress into the studio even on the hottest days when he left adds to that impression.

The book provides other powerful insights of this sort by relating the heavy use of opium by Picasso and his circle of artist friends during the Blue period. A lot of the models seem stoned in those paintings. Could it be that they were? Picasso loved to paint the circus performers and one of his first mistresses was one. Could it be that those performers are really emotional self-portraits? The book isn't clear on that point, but the possibility of the interpretation will occur to you.

A few central mysteries are left undeveloped. Why did Picasso stick so long with styles that he later abandoned and which didn't sell well when he was very poor? Picasso admitted to Richardson that the Blue and Rose periods had been mistakes. Why did Picasso slow down his production at times when he had contracts and shows upcoming? How did Picasso incorporate his love for poetry into his paintings?

At times Richardson is over the top in his fawning. Here's an example. Picasso is described as clearly one of the great poets of the 20th century, but Richardson doesn't reveal any evidence . . . nor was Picasso doing any poetry writing at the time of this volume. I suspect that the fawning was the price of admission for his access which rewards us in other ways.

Ultimately, the book's main weakness is that the images are not in color. Fortunately, color is less important to Picasso's work during this period than in later periods. Perhaps there will be another edition at some point that will bring the full dimensions of the work to bear at least for the masterpieces.

Enjoy your immersion in Picasso's chaotic world.

Great work, done by a real scholar, beautifully written, as fascinating as a novel. Keeps away from myths and tales, impressively documented, meticulously illustrated (too bad it is not in color).

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was born to a mediocre painter and his good wife Maria on October 25, 1881. His family was poor but well connected. One uncle was a priest; another a prominent medical doctor. Picasso's father was easygoing eking out a living as an art teacher. When Pablo was a boy the family moved to Barcelona where his father taught in an art school. His mother was beloved of Pablo who had her tenacity of character and eager desire to learn. His younger sister Conchita died in childhood and he was close to his remaining sister throughout their long lives.
Pablo loved to paint from birth! He did not like formal schooling. He did attend the art school in Madrid but grew bored and left. As a teen he was wild and enjoyed chasing girls and hanging around with his bohemian chums. In these early years Pablo developed his routine throughout life: hard work, lots of sex (often in brothels!and smoking. Picasso drank very little and never had an alcohol problem.
As a young man he made three trips to Paris finally staying for good in the City of Lights on his fourth trip. He became friendly with several artists and writers most notablly the poet Apollinaire. His first true love was Olive Ferdinand a fetching Parisian who was also a minor painter.
Picasso had countless mistresses.
During these early years he went through his "Blue Period" in which he portrayed tragic and erotic figures in gloomy and sad modes. He later entered the "Rose Period" of colorful harlequins, clowns and street folks. He also enjoyed sculpture. His work began to sell.
Instrumental in his success were the dealers he relied upon to majrket his avant garde art. Among the influential people who bought his paintings were the American expatriots Leo and Gertrude Stein. Picasso was popular with Russian buyers. He preferred private sales rather than exhibiting his art alongside other salon artists. It was during these years he produced such masterpieces as "La Vie" "Old Man with a Guitar" and several works portraying androgynous bathers. As the book ends he is on the verge of moving into cubism along with fellow painter Braque.
Richardson does a good job of keeping his text balanced between sapient art assessments and Picasso's personal life. The crammed text is filled with such characters as the Steins, Matisse and the fetching Olive
Ferdinand. We see how Picasso was influenced by such masters from the past as: Ingres, Cezanne, Velasquez and El Greco. Richardson is insistent that we see Picasso as a Spanish artist heavily influenced by his Andalusian roots and the luminaries of Spanish art.
The book is well illustrated with hundreds of black and white photos of Picasso's works and snapshots taken of Picasso and friends. Richardson knew Picasso in his old age and is a brilliant critic of his work.
What kind of man was Picasso? He once told an interviewer "Truth is false!" In other words he was a paradox. He could be kind or cruel. He could abuse lovers forcing them into unnatural sex acts or he could be a gentle lover. He loved and hated Spain. He was apolitical at this early juncture of his career. Picasso hated pretense and liked common people.
He is complex and unique in art history as a protean master of many different types of art. This is the best biography ever written of Picasso and is the first of the four volumes to be published on a 2oth century art icon. Essential.

I am so glad to find these books again. I used to check them out at our local library and they looked pretty old back then (I am almost 37!). I cannot wait to share them with my little girl, I hope she enjoys them as much as I did.

The Little Pear stories are fabulous. My four year old daughter loves them and we read them over and over. They are perfect for this age and older.

These little pear stories are just good clean fun. Not many books are written like this one these days.

Little Pear is a young chineese boy. In this chapter book he has many adventures. In these adventures he learns newthings such as ice fishing and baby sitting.

this classic isnt the original but it is still wonderfull. It is about how a girl lives in india and has to move to new york because her father cant take care of her since her mother died. She is sent to an all girl school and Miss. MInchin the teacher is really mean will she be able to get used to it and live like a princess again?

Sara Crewe is a girl that lives in India but had to move to New York because her father had to go to war. In New York, she stays in a place called Miss.Minchan's Seminary for girls. One day when it is Sara's birthday, she is having a fun time with her friends. They have a big cake and they are very happy until Miss Minchon comes in. She takes Sara away and tells her that her father died in war. Sara has to go in the attic to live with the servant Becky because she has no money to live on. It is very cold in the attic. The end is for you to find out when you read it.
I liked this book because it has a very good ending and a supprising middle. It's not one of those books where you can tell what is going to happen. I think that you should read this book whoever you are.

I think that the book A Little Princess was a very good book . The reason that I thought that it was so good was because they made it sound really real by making some people mean,some poeple nice, and some people anoying. I thought that Mrs. Michin was too mean.

This book was so helpful in finding great places to eat in Paris. We'd find ourselves in a different area of town either for lunch or dinner each day. Simply pull out the Out to Eat book and find the food or restaurant we wanted to visit. Fair warning on dress code or reservations. We didn't NEED this book, but it made the trip easier...

This book is infinitely helpful to pinpoint the perfect restaurant or bar that suits one's needs. The book is organized into arrondissements of Paris. At the beginning of each chapter, the authors list what they consider the best choices for each particular arrondissement.

If you're looking for a particular type of cuisine, one of the back indexes lists the cuisine type and all the restaurants that serve that type of food and of course, a page number where the restaurant can be found.

Another index lists all the restaurants alphabetically to compare them for the features of serving late night, outdoors, any private rooms, serving children, have wheelchair access, and if they're appropriate for business dining.

There are over 40 pages of excellent maps showing the name of the restaurant at its location.

Each individual entry gives the restaurant name, telephone number, address, page of the map where it's shown in the book, which Métro stations are closest, general prices for starter dishes, main courses, desserts, and set menus for lunch and dinner.

What makes this guide unique is that there are also ratings for the general volume of the crowd, so you can choose a quieter place or a more lively place, depending on your desires. Also, what is very valuable to us non-smokers is the restaurant's policy - smoking throughout, nonsmoking tables available, or completely non-smoking. Another fantastic feature is there is a little picture of a carrot next to the restaurants that are vegetarian friendly - a real plus!

Each entry lists the hours of operation (though these can often change, so I'd highly recommend a quick call before you have your heart set on a specific restaurant; also reservations are highly recommended at some restaurants) and a fairly detailed entry telling the specialties of the house and what the authors recommend.

The information in the book is extremely helpful for choosing restaurants and bars, and its organization makes this information easily accessible so you aren't spending time wading through large volumes to find that perfect Parisian experience.

We recently visited Paris. We armed ourselves with this book as well as a few others for cross-referencing. The LP book was dead-on for each restaurant. Although we consider ourselves very picky and privileged eaters, we were 100% satisfied with our choices. The book was invaluable not only for food but for neighborhood and bar information.

A memoir -- A gateway into the world of Lucien leads the reader through the tunnels of his mind as the horrors of the past ricochet into the present. Without sentimentality this story changes the awareness of even the most knowledgeable reader. The presnt is honed by these echoes of the past. Beautifully, albeit adroitly, written, the bones of this experience are clean, sparse and strong. We are helped to understand the unimaginable

A memoir -- A gateway into the world of Lucien leads the reader through the tunnels of his mind as the horrors of the past ricochet into the present. Without sentimentality this story changes the awareness of even the most knowledgeable reader. The present is honed by these echoes of the past. Beautifully, albeit adroitly, written, the bones of his experience are clean, sparse and strong. We are helped to understand the unimaginable

This is the story of Lucien Duckstein, an 11 year old boy in Paris who is deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with his mother because they are Jewish. It is also the story of Lucien Duckstein, a sixty year old scientist who eventually comes to deal with the experiences he underwent in Bergen-Belsen and the Drancy internment camp. He explores the price those childhood experiences exacted in his adulthood, especially in his dealings with his wife, children, family and the outside world. He acknowledges the cost of having created a persona which could survive life in the camps. His language is sparse, but eloquent and his pain is evident in the simplicity of his words. This is a short (60page), volume that is uncluttered by the irrelevant, that flows from the start and is stark and frightening in it's descriptions of what it was like to be a French Jew in Paris and later. His use of the present to play off against the past merely highlights the horrors that he experience

Stunning! Well-written story of Madame Alix Gres in four chapters: 1 life and career, 2 the grecian gown, 3 ethnic influences, 4 sculpting with fabric. Full page (> 12" x 8") photographs of selected works over her entire range of career; the photographs are high-definition. Some fashions have multiple photographs from different angles. Photographs are full page, so they are often not on the page where the text is that describes the fashion, and there is occassional lack of reference to the accompanying photograph(s) (inconsistent use of stating which plate the text is referring to). I wish every fashion and every advertisement described in the text had a photograph.

I read about the Madame Gres exhibit at the NY Fashion Institute of Technology in the New York Times recently. Upon finishing the lengthy article I raced over to my laptop and was excited to order this book. For those who love,crave and have to surround yourself with beautiful visual images this is the book for you. To look at the actual photographs of her original pieces along with her photographs made me feel privileged to read about this amazing woman. The thousands of folds,tucks and pleats in her garments were obviously a lifelong labor of love!

I only knew a little of Madame Gres and this book brought to my attention that she was one of the major designers of our era--someone who "invented" the use of draping and fabrics, unlike they had ever been used before. Not just a product of its time, Madame Gres' fashions are timeless and have influenced everything since her time. I would highly recommend this book not just for the fashion, but for the very interesting text by the author, as well, who really puts the work in context.

Nineteenth-Century America had its Henry Clay. His European counterpart was Georges-Eugene Haussmann. Emperor Napoleon hired Haussmann to make method out of the madness of post-Medieval Paris. Haussmann is principally responsible for the City of Light as we know it. "Today," the Baron's recent biographer stresses, "his hand is everywhere." Part of Haussmann's effort consisted of bringing pure water to Parisians. In the process he wiped out the cholera that was endemic to the City. Throughout life he modernized the ailing French infrastructure. Wherever he was posted, he brought in roads, canals, and rail lines. How odd it was that in a country so obsessed with pagentry and glory, Haussmann's funeral went by in a small church, virtually unnoticed.

This illustrated biography of Georges-Eugene Haussmann is a highly recommended pick for any who relish accounts of early Paris: The Man Who Made Paris Paris examines the life of an administrator who rebuilt Paris as a capitol "worthy of an empire". Vintage black and white photos of early Paris accompany a biographical coverage of the man who transformed the city in only seventeen years.

This book helped me understand how really Paris was before Haussman did his work. I recommend this book to any person who is interested in Paris and it's history

Jennifer Berne's tale of Jacques Cousteau's journey from child to young man to manfish is breathtaking and inspiring. This children's book is a lovely look at a world that's often forgotten in our busy lives - the sea and its inhabitants and the effect we have on each other.

Berne's chronicles of Cousteau's journeys, his ambition and his deep passion for life are inspirational to young and older readers alike. The sea is bigger than life, and so is this book's message: dream big and follow those dreams. Cousteau gives us all a little hope that perhaps changing the world isn't really all that hard.

I recommend getting this book for anyone in your life who loves and respects the sea and its life - or anyone who appreciate life at all. The illustrations and the poetic tale are unforgettable.

The story of Jacque Cousteau's developing fascination with the sea and it's inhabitants is beautifully told and illustrated in this volume for children. . The ocean's wonder is brought vividly to life, as is Cousteau's message that we need to take responsibility to sustain the life that dwells within it.

A beautifully written and illustrated book about a boy who grew up to be one of the world's most ardent conservationists. Both children and adults will appreciate and hopefully heed the important message woven into this charming story. The unusual perspective of the illustrations and the surprise foldout plunge you even deeper into a watery world. This is a book to give to anyone who loves the ocean and the earth.