G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body. A collection of advanced piano solos by Frederic Chopin. Written by an anonymous English monk during the late fourteenth century, The Cloud of Unknowing is a sublime expression of what separates God from humanity and is widely regarded as a hallmark of Western literature and spirituality. A work of simplicity, courage, and lucidity, it is a contemplative classic on the deep mysteries of faith. Pitman 2000 is a system designed for easy learning, with a speed potential to meet the demands of the modern business world. Shorthand is a valuable asset to everyone, young or old, in private or business life. This title is a beginner's guide to the basic theory. It gives you a working vocabulary in Pitman 2000 in clear and easy stages. Each of the main sections contains a set of sounds and rules, short forms, phrases and exercises. Review exercises give you the opportunity to consolidate material already covered, and a key to the exercises enable to measure your rate of progress throughout the book. Specially compiled by experts at Pitman to make self-tuition both simple and stimulating, this authoritative guide should be of use to anyone seeking a first or refresher course in Pitman 2000. Wickedly funny and bitingly satirical, The Art is a comedy of manners that gives insights into eighteenth-century behavior as well as the timeless art of emotional abuse. It is also an advice book, a handbook of anti-etiquette, and a comedy of manners. Collier describes methods for "teasing and mortifying" one's intimates and acquaintances in a variety of social situations. Written primarily for wives, mothers, and the mistresses of servants, it suggests the difficulties women experienced exerting their influence in private and public lifeand the ways they got round them. As such, The Art provides a fascinating glimpse into eighteenth-century daily life. Jacques Derrida is one of the most influential figures in contemporary philosophy. Yet, Derrida has undermined the accepted rules of philosophy, rejected its methods and concepts, disrupted its boundaries and "contaminated" philosophy with other kinds of writings. Derrida's approach is an initially puzzling array of oblique, sliding and yet rigorous tactics for destabilising texts, meanings and identities. "Deconstructions" as these strategies have been called, has been reviled as a politically pernicious nihilism and celebrated as a liberatory politics of choice and difference. This work describes the key strategies of Derrida's writing, explains their controversial effects in philosophy, and shows how Derrida has put them to work in literature, art, architecture and politics. The book offers a starting point for an intellectual adventure that threatens to disturb some of the most comfortable habits of contemporary thought. |
Introduction and Notes by Gene M. Moore, Universiteit van Amsterdam Heart of Darkness is a chilling tale of horror which, as the author intended, is capable of many interpretations. Set in the Congo during the period of rapid colonial expansion in the 19th century, the story deals with the highly disturbing effects of economic, social and political exploitation of European and African societies and the cataclysmic behaviour this induced in some individuals. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is acknowledged as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Western tradition. More than any other musical work it has become an international symbol of unity and affirmation. Yet early critics rejected it as cryptic and eccentric, the product of a deaf and aging composer. Nicholas Cook's guide charts the dramatic transformation in the reception of this work. The story begins in Vienna, with the responses of listeners at the first performance, and ends in contemporary China and Japan, where the symphony has acquired diametrically opposed interpretations. The account embraces many of the major figures of nineteenth- and twentieth-century music, among them Wagner and Schenker. Including an account of the sketches, an examination of the performance tradition, and a suggested new interpretation, this book opens up new dimensions in our understanding of Beethoven's last symphony. An admirable collection of Crowley's aphorisms Witty, subtle, and instructive paradoxes that challenge and exhilarate. Already the world is becoming a very different place: amnesia, telepathy, false memory and inexplicable coincidences all seem to be occurring more frequently with humorous, brain teasing results. Could quantum experiments have cuased the collapse of our univere's space-time continuum? Maniac Eyeball is the third, final and most comprehensive volume of autobiography written by the late Salvador Dali. Maniac Eyeball contains the frank and uncensored confessions of Salvador Dali, from his childhood and first adolescent sexual experiences to his emergence as a painter, surrealist and eventually the most famous-and possibly richest-artist of modern times. These inspired tracts, covering art, love, sex, money, death, fame, science, his famous friends and enemies, and his extraordinary creative genius, reveal the intricate workings of Dali's mind to create not only an unparalleled autobiography, but also one of the key surrealist texts yet published. A seminal surrealist text, revealing the astonishing and intimate workings of the mind of Salvador Dali, the eccentric polymath genius who became the living embodiment of the 20th century’s most subversive, disturbing and influential art movement. This second volume of Dali’s autobiography covers his life from 1952 to 1963, the time of amour fou for his wife Gala and their bizarre world travels. This is Dali’s "rhinocerontic" period, and he preaches post-holocaustal gospels of nuclear mysticism and cosmogenic atavism leading to his painting of the Assumption and his film script, The Flesh Wheelbarrow. This new, expanded edition includes a brilliant revelatory essay on the importance of Dali’s art to the 20th century by the seminal author J G Ballard. Illustrated throughout. With his revolutionary work "The Origin of Species", Charles Darwin overthrew contemporary beliefs about Divine Providence and the beginnings of life on earth. Written for the general public of the 1850s, it is a rigorously documented but highly readable account of the scientific theory that now lies at the root of our present attitude to the universe. Challenging notions such as the fixity of species with the idea of natural selection, and setting forth the results of pioneering work on the ecology of animals and plants, it made a lasting contribution to philosophical and scientific thought. |