World Books

Book Review: “Trieste” — A Vivid and Lurid Chronicle of Horrors

February 19, 2014
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As fiction, “Trieste” is almost entirely a dense tapestry of thinking, remembering, agonizing and raging.

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Book Review: “The Elixir of Immortality” — A Fabulous Ride Through European History

February 1, 2014
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Love stories, treachery, brilliant plans, history itself gone awry – it’s all here in inspiring abundance in this fabulous novel, where the Spinozas make their way through hundreds of years of European history.

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Book Review: The Poetry of Pierre Reverdy — The Search for Purity

January 31, 2014
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Pierre Reverdy’s poetry that is suspicious of the deceiving beauty of words, hence its pared-down, elemental, stylistic qualities.

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Fuse Book Review: “Country of Ash” — Another Essential Holocaust Memoir

January 16, 2014
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We become increasingly aware that we are in the mind of a doctor who has taught himself to observe carefully, who has an amazingly strong will to survive, and who chooses not to waste precious time and energy on anger or revenge.

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Poetry Commentary: Thoughts on Reading a New Translation of The Iliad

January 12, 2014
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Powell, the translator, a respected classicist, is noted for promulgating the theory that the Greek alphabet was designed precisely in order to capture epic poetry, provide some approximation of its sounds.

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Book Review: “Back to Back” — A Powerful Portrait of East German Trauma, Personal and Political

January 11, 2014
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Using her family’s history as a springboard, Julia Franck has created exemplary figures forced to navigate the treacherous shoals of her country’s history.

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Book Interview: “1941: The Year That Keeps Returning” — Doubt is not a Fatal Weakness

January 7, 2014
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Through meticulous research, interviews, and reminiscence, this compelling book illuminates a nook in the heart of darkness.

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Book Review: “Before I Burn” — A True Crime Story Transformed into Art

January 4, 2014
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“Before I Burn” gives the reader the awesome sense of a fully perceived life—the hallmark of great art.

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Poetry Review: The Unexpected Compassion of German Poet Gottfried Benn

November 25, 2013
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A collection of poems and essays by the admired German poet Gottfried Benn, who, because of his brief association with Nazism, has been absent from our mainstream, non-specialized, English-language view of modern German poetry.

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Visual Arts Book Review: Looking at Paintings Beyond the Comfort Zone

November 20, 2013
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Daniel Arasse’s method has been defined by his students as “looking, [taking] pleasure and [being] imprudent.” Any and every detail of a work of art can serve as his starting point.

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