Book Description
In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’
From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn’t speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.
After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.
Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
Le voici. Et bon appétit!
Download Description
Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston’s WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Missing Julia.......2007-08-05
I just finished this book, and I am unashamed to say I have shed tears for the loss of this great woman. I am discovering the art of cooking later in life, as Julia did, and she has helped give me the courage I am needing to change careers and attend culinary arts training this spring. What a marvelous book, I felt that I was there with her in her "la belle France" and wish that I could have had the opportunity to spend time in the kitchen with her. You will not be disappointed in this fantastic read.
Great Read.......2007-07-27
This book was so enjoyable to read! I was fascinated by this look into post-war France, and into Julia's world there. It made me wish I would have know her and understand why it seems that everyone who knew her, loved her.
One thing I thought was fun was her encyclopedic recall of various meals they enjoyed, including the wine vintage.
You'll also love hearing how she came to write her first cookbook and become a host of her own show on PBS. For those of us who are over 40, it's also great to note that the most interesting parts of her life didn't even begin until then.
French Food as Accessible Art Form Thanks to Julia.......2007-07-20
My Life in France gives the reader a glimpse into the extraordinary and elegant life of Julia Child. The memoir adds another dimension to Julia the TV persona and looks beyond the lighthearted image. Indeed, beyond Julia's fun spirit was an unbelievable level of meticulous research and above all, fearlessness and stamina. My Life in France is a delight to read for anyone who wishes to understand the origin of Julia's passion for French cooking and her ability to transform one's vision of and taste for fine food. My Life in France
A must-read for any foodie.......2007-07-15
This has risen to the top of my favorite books list. It's so well written, with plenty of imagery and descriptive language that I felt I was in Julia's kitchen with her. I learned quite a bit about her relationship with her husband and both their careers. The best was reading about how the recipes and the books were written.
If you are planning to write a cook book or are very interested in cooking and chefs, you should definitely buy this book.
It's a Wonderful Life in France!.......2007-07-04
'My Life in France' is a superb book that effuses with that wonderful endearing quality we have all come to know and love in Julia Child. The book focuses mainly on the early years of developing her first cookbooks and television show.
The book begins when she and her husband, Paul, make their first trip to France because of his new job assignment. You feel her giddy excitement upon landing on the shores of a place she had for so long desired to go. We hear in minute detail the look, smell and taste of her first French meal, and from there we are introduced to "La Belle France". Before I began the book, I wondered for how long I could sustain reading each night about a person's breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that had been eaten 50 years prior, but Julia has such an adorable way of speaking, and her sometimes child-like observations of life and people around her are so heartwarming, you just wish you had been there. As the book progresses, she speaks about her collaboration with two women for her first book, and sometimes the claws come out. You're thinking, "Julia!" But, as with all friendships, there are things that agree with us and things that don't. Without some of these tidbits, the book may have been too trite, or frankly boring. Subsequently, it was interesting to hear of the minor squabbles that occurred between the women and the simple controversies concerning her husband and his role as a "diplomat". Paul and Julia Child made many friends overseas, whom they adored and loved. The majority of these people stayed in her inner circle until the end of their lives. For me, night after night, I couldn't wait to sit down and read about so many dinner parties with simmering meats and side dishes, lovely conversations, and eccentric friends. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it ended too quickly, and I found myself missing the evenings with Julia.
Book Description
Bathed in the warm clarity of the summer sun in Provence, Marcel Pagnol's childhood memories celebrate a time of rare beauty and delight.Called by Jean Renoir "the leading film artist of his age," Pagnol is best known for such films as The Baker's Wife, Harvest, Fanny, and Topaze, as well as the screen adaptations of his novels Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs (North Point, 1988). But he never forgot the magic of his Provencal childhood, and when he set his memories to paper late in life the result was a great new success. My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle appeared on the scene like a fresh breeze, captivating readers with its sweet enchantments. Pagnol recalls his days hunting and fishing in the hill country, his jaunts about Marseilles, his schoolboy diversions, and above all his family: his anticlerical father and sanctimonious uncle, his mild and beautiful mother, and many others. This bright and lively book sparkles with the charm and magic that were Marcel Pagnol's own.
Customer Reviews:
childhood revisited.......2007-07-06
I bought this book for my son who is now a father of three. It seems that he read the book as a child and challenged me to find a copy of it for him.I asked him why the book was important to him. He said that the book was a wonderful journey of childhood,and that it reminded him of his own journey. Intrigued, I read the book too. Written from a childs viewpoint In privincial France, it is full of adventure, wonder, humour and the intricacies of family life in a beautiful setting. Written from the heart, immensely readable by children and adults.
5 star book, 1 star delivery.......2005-05-26
This is a delightful book that I had read many years ago in French, and I was very excited to read it in translation. Unfortunately, I found out after I ordered it that this book is out of print and is considered a "rare, print on demand" book. It took over 6 weeks to arrive, and I almost cancelled my order.
Amazon states that this book ships in 24 hours, but it took more like 1000 hours. If you have the patience to wait for it, the book will not disappoint you, but the slow delivery will. In the meantime, rent or buy the excellent movie version while you're waiting.
Masterpiece.......2003-07-15
This is quite simply one of the most enjoyable, moving and humane books I have ever read.
Delightful story of an idealic childhood.......2000-11-02
Marcel Pagnol narrates the story of his family living in Marseilles at the turn of the century, as they travel back and forth to their vacation home in the hills of Provence. The sweetness and loving attitude of his family is truely heartwarming, especially as described through the eyes of young Marcel. I had already seen the movie versions of both My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle, which actually followed the book quite closely. I highly recommend them. Marcel gives the reader the pleasure of discovering, with him, the joys and mysteries of life, including exploring the hills of Provence, animals and nature, the pleasures of friendship, and the pride and love of family.
A fond remembrance of childhood in Provence.......2000-05-20
A wonderful autobiography by Marcel Pagnol telling of his early childhood with his family in the hills of Provence. Of school, his schoolteacher father, his delicate mother and his rambunctious brother. Of eventful journeys by rail, by foot and by cart from home to their vacation house. Of a joyful time spent exploring a countryside fragrant with wild herbs, full of insects to dissect, birds to hunt and caves to discover. Written in a prose that evokes the simplicity and seriousness of an inquisitive ten year old. And with a bittersweet ending that makes us immediately want to go back to previous pages where we were with him, his family, friends and the hills, tucked safely in summertime warmth and innocence.
Book Description
Malika Oufkirs profound and heartbreaking memoir, Stolen Lives, a New York Times best seller, told of her familys twenty-year imprisonment in a Moroccan desert jail and their eventual breath-taking escape. It became a huge national best seller and was only the second non-fiction title ever selected for Oprahs Book Club. In her new book, Freedom, Oufkir reveals what it is like to return to the world after twenty years of darkness. Living life for the first time as an adult woman, she writes candidly on her adjustment to the modern worldfrom using an ATM and shopping in a supermarket, to understanding the concept of freedom itself in a world with so many strange restrictions; falling in love; and having an intimate relationship with a man for the first time. Moving, funny, and full of wisdom and insight, Freedom is a sequel every bit as masterful as the originaland one that Oufkirs devoted fans will embrace.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2007-09-06
Count me among the reviewers who found this book a tough slog.
The writing style is much different than that on her first book and, as I have met her and heard her speak, different yet from her own personal style. Makes me think she didn't do much of the writing herself, and maybe that's why some of us have the impression her heart wasn't quite into this, but she wanted to capitalize on the success of her first book.
I wish the author and her family well. They have been to hell and back. But I just cannot recommend this book.
Is It Natural To Live With Freedom? .......2007-09-05
In the memoir FREEDOM: THE STORY OF MY SECOND LIFE (a sequel to STOLEN LIVES) author Malika Oufkir describes relearning how to live as a free person. She was 19 when she, her mother, and her brothers and sisters were confined to a Moroccan prison. Before that she was adopted by the king and basically locked up in the king's court. She was 39 when she escaped; she later moved to Paris, France. She talks about her fear, present even after she's safe:
"Even though I am now far from my jailers, shielded by the media [the media learned about her family's imprisonment then spread the word], I'm afraid everything could collapse around me in instant. What exactly am I afraid of? I don't even know myself. Certain terrors are so deeply rooted that they defy all logic. Even now, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, in those eerie hours when you can't quite tell whether you are awake or still dreaming, and I think I hear footsteps out in the hall... the apartment door opens and out of nowhere my jailers come to get me for crimes I haven't yet committed. Perhaps innocence begets its own guilt, planting suspicion both in oneself and in the eyes of others. That fear of being punished for things I haven't done, or haven't done yet, intensifies the hellish whirlwind of doubt. Like a battered child, I throw my arms up over my face, warding off blows and caresses, in order not to see what awaits me...."
Freedom isn't the gift she expects it to be; she is often confused about how to manage aspects it, particularly time: "Most free people are painfully dependent on their watches and alarm clocks, an almost physical addiction that makes them cling to each second as if were their last. I have all the time in the world." She contrasts free people's perception with her own: "I had to relearn everything. I had trouble with the notion of time, not knowing when I had to hurry and when I had time to spare, not understanding the imperatives of schedules."
Oufkir describes her struggles to figure out what a motion sensor sink is or how to operate an ATM--things people in Paris have probably used for more than 15 years--which is about the same as you or me trying to use laundry facilities in a foreign country when all the directions are written in a language we don't understand; this only beomes humorous later. These struggles are listed to illustrate what it means to straddle the gap between "what was" and "what is."(The German film "Good Bye, Lenin!" offers a funny take on this concept; the characters go to great lengths to keep someone from seeing "what is.")
FREEDOM's strength is Oufkir's focus on the small things that make up, for her, freedom. It's beautifully written and translated from French. Read FREEDOM first, then go back and read STOLEN LIVES. FREEDOM raises questions that are, to this reader's delight, answered in STOLEN LIVES.
Disappointing writing.......2007-02-18
After i read "Stolen Lives",which i have recommended to many of my friends, i could not understand why and how this book was written! There were times where the author lost me completely..it was boring and could not hold my attention. I had to leave it!
Truly dreadful.......2007-01-11
One of the few books that I've closed the back cover of and thought, Now that was awful. She has an amazing story. There were parts that really spoke to me. *Some* of the writing was, as previous reviewers noted, charming.
But overall, it's amazing she can be so impersonal about her life. I wondered if she'd done the writing for the thing at all. Lots of what she talked about seemed so intense and powerful, but it was like reading about repairing your bicycle.
[...]
Second Life.......2006-12-23
This was a good book but I felt I should have read "Stolen Lives" first as there seemed to be some gaps for me. I enjoyed Malika Oufkir's story, but wish there was more detail. I really wanted to know more about her struggle to live her life after so many years of not having that choice. More follow up on her family that went thru the 20 year imprisonment with her. The chapters are easy to read, but just wanted more length and detail.But I do recommend this book. You do feel for the author and this is her story.
It's brave of her to share.
Amazon.com
From My Château Kitchen revolves around three subjects: the author's life in the 17th-century Burgundian château she and her husband own; the work of the farmers, vintners, restaurateurs, and others who live in the area and define its spirit; and Burgundian food, the glorious regional plats that represent a time-honored yet ever-evolving cuisine. Anne Willan, founder and president of La Varenne cooking school (now headquartered at the château), skillfully weaves these strands into a romantic but down-to-earth memoir. With more than 300 color photos and 160 adroitly selected recipes, the book offers both armchair excitement and practical kitchen direction. Those drawn to French regional cooking and the life that anchors it will embrace the book.
In chapters such as "The Adventure Begins," "On Burgundian Tables," and "The Wider Scene," Willan comes, sees, and is conquered--repeatedly. Best of all are her shrewdly drawn human portraits. We meet, among others, the château gardener who picks vegetables only at maximum size, a blacksmith who guards his homemade ratafia in a cathedral cellar, and a father-son pair who operate a traveling cider press. Willan's recipes--all meticulously written--accompany the discussions. Traditional Beef Bourguignon (a definitive formula), Warm Wild Mushroom Mousse, Madame Milbert's Rabbit Terrine, and Apple Gâteau Le Fey are just some of the dishes that illustrate a time, place, or person. Closing with a chapter that presents the château wedding of Willan's daughter (and includes the wedding cake recipe), the book comes full circle; it returns readers to a beginning and reminds them that food, which is the life of the Burgundian land, is without break, beginning or end. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
The kitchen of the title is in a 17th-century chateau called Le Fey, high on a hill in Burgundy. From this vantage point, Anne Willan -- long known as an authority on French regional cuisine, on food history, and on classic French cooking -- has written a personal book, elegantly interweaving chapters on her life in the chateau with journeys out into the surrounding landscape. She examines the work of the people of Chateau du Fey and its surrounding quarters: the gardeners, farmers, vintners, and restaurateurs who live and breathe French cuisine, and who contribute to the character and flavors of the Burgundian table.
Foremost in the cast of characters in
Anne Willan From My Chateau Kitchen is M. Milbert, gardien and gardener, who will pick no vegetable before its time. But there is also Claude the water man, who looks after pipes and plumbing for both village and chateau, and who figures prominently in the group of local hunters who follow the age-old rules of la chasse. We are introduced to M. Simon, the blacksmith with a network of cellars under a nearby cathedral, where he makes ratafia. And M. Haumonte teaches traditional bread and croissant making using the chateau's wood-fired oven. There is the lady from Morvan who makes 500 varieties of jam, the beekeeper, and the father and son with the traveling cider press. Anne Willan takes us through the countryside, to markets in Sens, to the makers of mustard and spice bread in Dijon, to Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, where Leslie Caron presides over an establishment serving Burgundian fare, and to Joigny, where Lorain father and son reign in 3-star splendor.
Anne has chosen to share recipes for the dishes she cooks and eats at home, including such classics as Leek Quiche, Oeufs en Meurette, and Jambon Chablisien. There are also recipes that cope with the garden's staggering bounty, such as Spiced Red Currant Jelly and Gratin of Summer Vegetables in Herb Pesto. Other recipes are brought by the chefs who cook at the La Varenne school -- including Snail and Mushroom Ravioli with Parsley Sauce and Dried Fig and Marc Ice Cream.
In almost 300 color photographs and with more than 160 recipes, Anne Willan renders an intimate appreciation of both the food and the culture of Burgundy. As this beautiful and personal book proves, Anne Willan has succeeded marvelously in her chosen (and enviable) task of exploring, understanding, and teaching the art of French cuisine as it manifests itself in one of France's most food-oriented provinces. Which just happens to be her back -- and front -- yard.
Customer Reviews:
Delicious recipes and an exquisite read.......2006-06-04
This is the best cookbook I have ever read. What an interesting combination of wonderful recipes and a beautiful travelogue.
I made a small change to the Flammiche recipe (forgive me Anne). I made the bread dough on the dough cycle of my bread machine. It worked wonderfully well and saved a lot of time. Everyone who has tasted the flammiche has raved about the flavour and the wonderful appearance.
Exquisite French Countryside Cooking!.......2004-03-19
Exquisite and sumptuous describes both this cookbook and food from it. The layout, accompanying text and color photos are just fabulous, showing the history of Ann and her family moving to the Chateau in the French Burgundy area, and the subsequent game, produce and food products of the area which she utilizes in her cooking, in her cooking school and for these recipes.
Each recipe is given after its introduction into Ann's life, and this is just so unique in the delightful manner that she presents it. Just a sampling of such: Gratin of Potatoes with Bacon and Cream (and Monsieru Milbert's potatoes); Poached Figs with Pistachio Frangipane (and Madame Andrea's discovery of "blindness" in fig trees); Poached Trout in White Wine with Spinach (and her fisherman/carpenter foriend Henri); Goat Cheese Puffs (and their accompanying Chablis from Laroche); Crustades of Red Peppers with Goat Cheese (and The Owl's Loft restaurant); and my favorite=Snails with Anise en Croute (and Chef Claude's hunting them in the woods); Whole Tangerine Souffle (which is how I discovered this wonderful lady, seeing her do this with Martha Stewart).
Will now want to sample some of her other cookbooks which the other reviewers rave about as well.
Potatoes.......2001-03-01
The creamy potatoes with bacon (near the front of the book) is the best potato dish I have ever eaten. I served it at a dinner party recently and the comment was: "awesome". Also, recently I had the twice baked spinach omelet except mine was made with gruyere cheese only, no spinach. It was cooked one day and re-cooked the next. It was fabulous and it is great to know that it can be made ahead. I love Anne Willan!!
A must have!!!.......2001-02-12
This book is a great example of why the Internet recipe sites will never replace cookbooks. Nowhere can you find such beautiful pictures, and wonderful recipes as this book. Ms. Willan has written a meticulously researched cookbook that is just as much at home on the coffee table as it is on the kitchen counter.
I must respectfully disagree with a previous reviewers comments. The "Gateau le Feÿ" does work exactly as written. I've created this beautiful dish a couple of times now with no problem. I could see how this might not turn out if your oven temperature is incorrect, so it might be a good idea to test your oven with an oven thermometer prior to starting this dish. As for the point to wait until they do a new printing with corrections, it should be noted that if there were corrections to be made, you'd think that Ms Willan would have done so when she appeared on Martha Stewart the first week of February 2001, and made this dish, just as it is written.
Traditional beef bourguignon.......2001-01-02
Served traditional beef bourguignon to 16 people for New Year's Eve dinner last night using the recipe on pages 26-27 of this book.
The recipe is a bit complicated because of all the separations (liquid, meat, vegetables), and you definitely need to plan in advance, but the results were superb. None of our guests had ever had this dish with as much flavor as this version, so it was a big success.
I used top sirloin, marinated in an inexpensive Cotes du Rhone for two days (yes - two days), browned the beef (big job since I just about doubled the recipe) one evening, and then simmered it in the oven at 300 degrees F the next morning. After letting it cool a bit, I put it in the refrigerator for two days (yes - two days), and then reheated it before our guests arrived.
Did I mention the flavor was wonderful? And since I made a ton of it, we'll be able to have it now and again as we take frozen portions out of the freezer.
Be sure to make lots - if a recipe is as time-consuming as this is to make, you'll want to have a lot of it that you can later just warm up if you want to.
Book Description
In postwar France, the aesthetics of appropriation and collage gave cultural form to a struggle over meaning. A new wave of avant-garde experimentation used--or stole, plagiarized, and expropriated--elements from advertising, journalism, literature, art, and other sources of common discourse (the ironically named "beautiful language" of this book's title, itself an appropriation from Guy Debord's collaged Mémoires). Redeployed, often in startling or pointed juxtapositions, these elements took on newly oppositional meanings. A famous photograph taken inside the occupied Sorbonne in May 1968, for example, shows a massive academic painting altered by a clever cartoonish speech bubble that transforms the painting into a parody of itself and memorializes an event very different from the one captured by the original artist."The Beautiful Language of My Century" describes the various forms of critical culture that culminated in the events of May 1968, and investigates the ways those forms have come down to us today.
McDonough explores the montage practice developed by Guy Debord and his situationist colleagues under the name of détournement and its expression in the later fifties as a form of cultural theft. He addresses the influence of colonialism on these practices, examining a 1961 exhibit of torn posters of the Algerian War ("La France déchirée"), Godard's early film Le Petit Soldat, and Christo's Project for a Temporary Wall of Steel Drums. He discusses the French left's adoption in the mid-sixties of the "end of art" as a theoretical position and describes the leftist idea of the fête as a Rabelaisian and revolutionary upwelling of everything that is low. This influential conception, inspired equally by the American urban revolts of the sixties and the writings of theorists Marcel Mauss and Georges Bataille, coalesced into a new image of revolution, a new model of contestation, in the events of May 1968--when the struggle over language and culture merged with a broader resistance to capitalist modernization.
Customer Reviews:
Teacher with a masters i pedagogy.......2007-08-02
Tomatis book the conscious ear is an amazing book. Not only does he describe his life but also how he thinks and works. I thought I knew a lot about his sound therapy before reading the book, but after reading the book I almost feel like I had been in his studio. On the professional level his descriptions of the sound therapy are very detailed and the book makes you want to read more as well as his others books.
Average customer rating:
- Jewels of Wisdom and Perspective
- A book that matters...
- For students of this great mind, this is a must read.
- Schweitzer's life and thought:
- An inspiring journey with a true disciple of Christ
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Out of My Life and Thought (The Albert Schweitzer Library)
Albert Schweitzer
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ASIN: 0801860970 |
Amazon.com
Out of My Life and Thought is the autobiography of Albert Schweitzer, the theologian, musician, scientist, and medical missionary who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 (and donated his prize to build a leper colony). Schweitzer's autobiography is a masterful and motley blend of confession, narrative, adventure, and philosophy. The chapters about how he came to write The Quest for the Historical Jesus and The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle are indispensable summaries of and apologies for those books; the chapter called "I Resolve to Become a Jungle Doctor" is a model of Rilke-style life-changing decision; and the chapters on Bach and on organs are full of fascinating historical and mechanical detail. For contemporary readers, Out of My Life and Thought may be most compelling for its epilogue, which describes the ethical mysticism that Schweitzer called "Reverence for Life," which he achieved in his later years. The epilogue is full of stirringly Germanic passages such as the following: "Once man begins to think about the mystery of his life and the links connecting him with the life that fills the world, he cannot but accept, for his own life and all other life that surrounds him, the principle of Reverence for Life. He will act according to this principle of the ethical affirmation of life in everything he does. His life will become in every respect more difficult than if he lived for himself, but at the same time it will be richer, more beautiful, and happier. It will become, instead of mere living, a genuine experience of life." Because Schweitzer believed Christianity implied such world-encompassing reverence, he had the confidence and faith to "demand from Christianity that it reform itself in the spirit of sincerity and with thoughtfulness, so it may become conscious of its true nature." --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
" Out of My Life and Thought shatters the old myth and allows us to glimpse the real Albert Schweitzer, a man whose moral example is as relevant and compelling in the 1990s as it was in the 1930s on first publication. Eloquent and heartfelt."-- Los Angeles Times
Of the many highly esteemed books Albert Schweitzer penned in his life, he valued his autobiography the most. He had become a legend and he wanted to remind readers that he was just a man, and a man who had learned from many others. He had been fortunate to be in the right places at the right times, to meet people of thought and sympathy. He wanted to report his debts to them. He wanted to clarify his reasons and methods for his undertakings and to respond to some of his critics. And, he wished to honor something greater than he was--reverence for life. Reverence for Life became his life's motto, and it brought him pain as well as joy as he sought to respect how precious and unique each life is. Schweitzer believed there was a way to live in the world, accept it, take joy from it--and who could know this better than a man who had placed himself so much in it, given so much for it, and had been ready to receive experience as a gift to be thankful for.
In addition to a preface by Rhena Schweitzer Miller and Antje Bultmann Lemke, this translation incorporates revisions and additions Schweitzer made for the French translation of 1960 and those he made for thirty years in his own copy of the original German edition.
"This fascinating volume is the autobiography of the world-famous missionary doctor, organist, philosopher, theologian, and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, newly translated, researched, and corrected on the basis of recently discovered material."-- Booklist
"An authentic twentieth-century classic. Few books in our time have had a greater impact on the life and values of untold numbers of people."--Norman Cousins
Customer Reviews:
Jewels of Wisdom and Perspective.......2007-08-22
This book is not an easy read, but it is an interesting and worthwhile read. The chapter on why Dr. Schweitzer chose to be a medical missionary to Africa is especially interesting and meaningful. His thoughts on "Reverence For Life" are interesting and worthwhile reading, most provacative. His wide array of talent, abiltiy and interests are amazing and especially interesting, almost beyond belief and comprehension. His experiences as prisoner of war are revealing and somewhat shocking. At times the book gets tedious, especially in his philosophical thought,but don't let that stop you for slow you down. This book is well worth the read.
Do men like Albert Schweitzer exist anymore? Could or would our culture let them exist?
A book that matters..........2003-12-09
This is an elegant though brief memoir written by the great man himself. One should not expect too much detail, however, as the text only gives us glimpses into the man's life and the singular events that shaped who he was and what he became and, more importantly, what he accomplished. Schweitzer focuses mainly on the development of his theological and philosophical thought, beginning with his early endeavours leading to his famous work, `The Quest for the Historical Jesus'. From this point, he continues on towards the shaping of his magnum opus, `Philosophy of Civilization'. It is in this section of the text that he discusses two worldviews of life-affirmation and life-denial and pessimism. This work evolves into his philosophical perspective of Reverence for Life.
The biography ends in the year 1931, well before the advent of the Second World War. Schweitzer was only fifty-six years of age when he penned this work, well before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, living and working for another forty-four years. Curiously, when his publisher requested that he write an autobiography, he was hesitant, as he was more or less still in his prime. However, as he wrote to his publisher fourteen years later on his seventieth birthday, memory fades with age, and he believed that writing about himself at that stage of his life, he could put down those important memories that remained fresh in his mind.
Schweitzer is certainly an inspiration - a man of immense strength, physically, emotionally and spiritually, with an almost endless capacity for work. The man worked in the most difficult of circumstances. Practicing medicine in intense tropical heat, day after day, disease run rampant; constant worry over funds to purchase much needed medical supplies. Moreover, the terrible events of two world wars - the odds he worked against to maintain the Lambarene Hospital, to my mind, is simply unimaginable. But the man persisted, rising every morning to meet disease, suffering, violence, death and loneliness.
This is an inspiring little book, charming and entertaining.
For students of this great mind, this is a must read........2003-02-09
There is no better short book available on the mind and thoughts of Albert Schweitzer than this book. His theology on Jesus and Paul, his thoughts on Bach and organ building, his philosophy on Reverence for Life are all laid out here.
George Marshall (see my review of Marshall's excellent biography: Schweitzer) once asked Dr. Schweitzer what professors would best provide him an education on Schweitzer's thoughts. He replied that Marshall should not go to professors but "read my books! No one can express the ideas of a man as well as he has expressed them himself.... read my books".
Bob Frost of "Biography Magazine" once wrote, "Albert Schweitzer is not exactly forgotten today, but his name won't crop up in daily conversation. Fifty years ago, though, people talked about Schweitzer all the time. An American magazine selected him, ahead of Albert Einstein, as the "world's greatest living nonpolitical person." He was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Fueled by idealism and burning spiritual passion, this medical missionary led one of the most intense lives of the 20th century."
Be apprized that "Out of my Life and Thoughts" is not an easy read. Dr. Schweitzer's theology and philosophy, though dense, is not incomprehensible. And due to the translation from French to English, you many find yourself reading a passage multiple times to get the gist his thoughts.
That said, for students of this great mind, this is a must read. Strongly recommended. 4.5 stars.
Schweitzer's life and thought:.......2003-01-22
"Since my first years at the university I had grown increasingly to doubt the idea that mankind is steadily moving toward improvement. My impression was that the fire of its ideas was burning out without anyone noticing or worrying about it. ... What was just and equitable seemed to be pursued with only lukewarm zeal. I noticed a number of symptoms of intellectual and spiritual fatigue in this generation that is so proud of its achievements."
Albert Schweitzer was a man of action -- humanitarian, theologian, historian, musician, musical technologist, medical doctor, author, philosopher, missionary, professor, environmentalist, prisoner of war, recipient of the Nobel Prize. He writes an interesting autobiography, which is not surprising when one considers the breadth of his interests and of his achievements in science, the humanities and the arts. In his later years he was perhaps the most widely admired and respected person in the Western world.
Jimmy Carter offers a foreword in this volume; it is economical, a mere six sentences. Schweitzer's philosophical work may be well studied, but does not particularly distinguish itself in this volume (with some notable exceptions). His theological work (i.e., Christology) is generally questionable -- bound to Enlightenment fallacies of a "historical Jesus." I was happy to be concurrently reading the thoughts of a far better theologian, CS Lewis, on the idea of "discovering" a "historical" Jesus. While some of Schweitzer's ideas are [rightly] not highly regarded, his "life and thought" makes for unusually interesting biography. His "reverence for life" precept certainly has great value, but seems to be a less profoundly unique idea than he held it to be. Perhaps my view here is merely ignorant of the world in which Schweitzer lived.
He considered this book to be his best, or at least his preferred, writing, but if you are going to read only one book considering theological and historical exegetics, this is probably the wrong book. On the other hand, Schweitzer makes many observations cleanly and powerfully: "Our world rots in deceit. Our very attempt to manipulate truth itself brings us to ... [a truth] based on a skepticism that has become belief... It is superficial and inflexible." Kant had observed the intellectual paralysis of such "a skepticism that has become belief," but Schweitzer goes further, recognizing it as an even deeper spiritual paralysis.
While Schweitzer's Christology is, at the least, arguable, his firm commitment to Christ's commandment of love is a strong example of the Christian life led in the light of its Teacher's example. The author is [rightly] given to referring to Christianity as "the religion of love." In this aspect, Schweitzer at once offers the non-Christian a true image of Christianity and offers the Christian an important, if gentle, reminder. "[God] announces Himself in us as the will to love. The First Cause of Being, as He manifests Himself in nature, is to us always impersonal. To the First Cause of Being that is revealed to us in the will to love, however, we relate as to an ethical personality." And quoting Paul: "Love never faileth: but where there be knowledge it shall be done away."
An inspiring journey with a true disciple of Christ.......2002-09-18
Albert Schweitzer was an acclaimed organist, a world authority on Bach, a church pastor and principal of a theological seminary, a university professor with a doctorate in philosophy, and above all a humanitarian. This book gives a stunning account of how he grew into his ideals and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ethics or philosophy. I was left with an urge to read more about this true human, who believed and practiced the basic principle of goodness, as I finished reading the book. Schweitzer's faith in what he believes in and how he transforms it to the needy is absolutely inspiring. The epilogue of the book is very thought provoking as it gives a clear idea of his vision and the relevance of it in the world we live in.
Book Description
Enjoy the presence of your heavenly Father-and lose yourself in His love-in the million-selling classic Come Away My Beloved. Keep record of your own spiritual walk in the accompanying journal.
Customer Reviews:
Hearing God's Voice.......2007-09-24
My first copy has long since lost its cover and the pages are dog-eared and tear-stained. I use this every morning during my prayer time to launch a converstation between me and the Master of the Universe. If you have ever longed to hear the sweet, intimate words of God and His plan for you, this is the book for you. Encouraging, and uplifting. After 8 years, this book still challenges me to walk intimately with God each moment of the day.
God will speak to you through this little book.......2007-08-25
I have probably given at least 50 of these books to people that the Lord lays on my heart. This book speaks to me all the time, whatever I am going through. It is like the Lord is standing right in front of you talking with you. Everyone I have given it to says that they have been so blessed by the words in this book. I highly recommend it.
Come Away My Beloved.......2007-06-26
I have purchased ten of these little daily devotionals. I give them to people who are hurting, grieving, feeling like failures, etc. The devotionals continually lift me up reminding me of how much our heavenly Father loves us and wants an intimate relationship with us. It encourages the broken hearted and gives HOPE.
Great Devotional Book.......2007-02-12
This classic devotional book has been updated in today's modern language. It is easy to use and easy to understand. Each devotion is written as if God were speaking directly to the reader. Very meaningful and highly relevant. I would highly recommend this little book for the more mature Christian.
Peace for Your Soul.......2007-01-10
This is a wonderfully comforting book. I've had a copy for years and reading it has calmed me through many difficult times. It makes a great gift for a friend going through grief or fear.
Book Description
A wicked turnabout on Jane Austen's oft-quoted adage -- "a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" -- is My Lady Scandalous, a richly raucous history that traverses the notoriously licentious British Regency era in the company of its most celebrated courtesan.
Following a simple Edinburgh girlhood, Grace Dalrymple came of age in the sin city of London, where wealthy men ruled society and women had everything to lose, starting with their reputations. As an impressionable bride of seventeen who married a man more than twice her age, Grace's remarkable beauty (likened by journalists to "a May morning") soon attracted the attentions of other men. A disastrous liaison with a consummate rake not only branded Grace as a demi-rep -- a woman with half a reputation -- but the scandal provoked Dr. John Eliot, her philandering husband, to pursue a divorce.
Grace became mistress of the most infamous peer in England, George James, Lord Cholmondeley, whose "secret perfections" were reputed to inspire "female enthusiasm." Cholmondeley commemorated the relationship by commissioning two works from eminent portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, first in 1778 and later in 1782, the same year Grace gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana (who may, in fact, have been the child of the Prince of Wales). Had Grace been an aristocrat, she and Cholmondeley might have had a future together, but it was not to be.
The tabloids broke the news: "Miss Dalrymple has embarked for France, and it is said parted with her noble gallant." Grace was soon to find a new protector in that nation's richest man, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans. Though Grace was ensconced as "one of the most brilliant and popular among the fashionable 'impures,'" her liaison with the duke turned perilous when Orleans fell to the Revolution's guillotine, just as she narrowly escaped with her life.
"People die, but love may not," declares author Jo Manning of her subject's romantic and historic misadventures. A connoisseur of the times, Manning ably demonstrates -- through contemporary newspapers, magazines, prints, and portraits as well as Grace's posthumously published journal -- how life in George III's England and Marie Antoinette's France can seem strangely familiar, especially when history turns to affairs of the heart.
Customer Reviews:
Gave up half way through.......2007-07-11
I have recently read several biographies of famous/infamous British women, from Nell Gwynn to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Due to my great interest in the Regency period, I ordered "My Lady Scandalous". I'm sorry to say I cannot recommend this book.
There was much more content about Grace Dalrymple's family and the Regency period than there ever was about Grace, and the information was very helter-skelter. The book seemed to be mostly "sidebar" articles about topics the author had researched, like condoms, hot air balloons, and so forth.
I took it along on a trip and left it behind, unfinished. I hope the author is blessed with a better editor, in future.
Not the greatest biography of all time..........2007-04-18
But, it was an enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud on more than one occaision. It's definitely packed with lots of information that you'd never read in a "proper" history book.
It was exhaustively and lovingly researched and, contrary to an earlier review, I could definitely see how current events and social mores could easily be connected to the wild times of Daly the Tall.
I passed this one on to my dear friend MarJane who has informed me that should she get reincarnated, she wants to come back as a Courtesan just like Grace! She could definitely do worse and come back as Savonarola...
Hmmmm....now THAT would have been an interesting meeting - Grace and Savonarola...how the world could have turned out differently...
Poor Writing.......2007-01-22
This book has little to do with the woman in the title. The writing style reminds me of sixties free flow writing that people did after they were stoned. The author dashes off on one tangent after another that is difficult to follow and you forget what the chapter was supposed to be about to begin with. Not even worth checking out of the library much less owning.
Top Notch Biography.......2006-06-09
My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan by Jo Manning is a delightful work, decidedly unstuffy but very well-researched. For anyone interested in late 18th C. and Regency era England, it is a MUST.
The story of Grace Dalrymple Elliott is fascinating and the sidebars on many subjects are always stimulating. Manning should be commended for her organizational skills and by her measured yet lively style. Highly recommended! Victoria Hinshaw
A must for every bookshelf.......2006-06-01
MLS is a wonderfully sympathetic biography of one of the Regency eras most intriguing courteseans. Grace knew everyone who mattered and everyone "knew" Grace. Or did they? Jo Mannings' detailed and painstaking research uncovers many facts about Grace, members of the Regency Ton and the French Revoluton and presents them in an entertaining and readable format. MLS is simply crammed with period details not readily found in other reference books on the period. MLS sparkles with wit and much humour for period afficiandos "in the know" regarding the period and its players. Truly a must have for the shelves of every reader, writer and fan of the Regency era.
Kristine Hughes, author of Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England.
Book Description
A translation of Ma Double Vie, the autobiography of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was one of the classical theater's all-time greatest stars.
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