Età di lettura: da 5 anni.

An examination of New Testament Apocalyptic literature through the categories of post-colonial thought, deconstruction, ethics, Roman social discourse, masculinisation, virginity, and violence.

Seemingly the simplest of stories—a passing anecdote of village life— Rock Crystal opens up into a tale of almost unendurable suspense. This jewel-like novella by the writer that Thomas Mann praised as "one of the most extraordinary, the most enigmatic, the most secretly daring and the most strangely gripping narrators in world literature" is among the most unusual, moving, and memorable of Christmas stories. Two children—Conrad and his little sister, Sanna—set out from their village high up in the Alps to visit their grandparents in the neighboring valley. It is the day before Christmas but the weather is mild, though of course night falls early in December and the children are warned not to linger. The grandparents welcome the children with presents and pack them off with kisses. Then snow begins to fall, ever more thickly and steadily. Undaunted, the children press on, only to take a wrong turn. The snow rises higher and higher, time passes: it is deep night when the sky clears and Conrad and Sanna discover themselves out on a glacier, terrifying and beautiful, the heart of the void. Adalbert Stifter's rapt and enigmatic tale, beautifully translated by Elizabeth Mayer and Marianne Moore, explores what can be found between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day—or on any night of the year.

Having earned its author, Joés María Pérez Gay, the Austrian Cross of Honor for Arts and Sciences (first class), this acclaimed, concise biography focuses on novelist Hermann Broch's preoccupation with his Austrian-Jewish heritage and examines his obsession with human morality, social and moral decadence and mass psychology, specifically, in relation to the tragic historical events of the first half of the twentieth century. In contrast to Franz Kafka's worldwide fame, the effect that Broch (and his colleague Robert Musil) had on the literary world outside Central Europe has remained, until quite recently, rather unappreciated. At the root of his profound literary achievement is his analytical clairvoyance concerning the crisis of values that would culminate in the ignominious catastrophes of the Second World War. In his trilogy, The Sleepwalkers, praised by Milan Kundera as 'one of the greatest European novels,' Broch illustrates the decay of values in German society, combining lyricism, essayism and naturalism in three distinct segments, beginning with the demise of the Prussian aristocracy and shifting to the moral bankruptcy of the bourgeoisie. The nadir is reached in the third volume as a nihilistic Zeitgeist emerges, devoid of any moral or ethical principles. The depth of his political critique and his modernist experimentation with form and content undoubtedly owe much to the influence of James Joyce. In The Death of Virgil, described by Thomas Mann as 'one of the most extraordinary and profound experiments ever to have been undertaken with the flexible medium of the novel,' Broch depicts the epic Roman poet's transformation of everything tangible into an inner, visionary, dream-like experience, as he faces the last hours of his life. The moribund poet, fatigued by the decadence of Roman civilization, carries on a discussion with Caesar Augustus: wherein the former, disenchanted with the efficacy of literature, calls for his work to be burned while the latter wishes it to be preserved for posterity, for it captures the legacy of the Empire. An analogous quest for the 'holy' within a world of eroding values becomes the subject of another of Broch's outstanding novels, The Guiltless. In the midst of an era characterized by moral decadence, Hermann Broch wrestles with pessimism, though he clings to his belief in the capacity for human transcendence as the ultimate purpose of literary expression. Morally and spiritually speaking, he believes that literature must possess a restorative function. He also suggests that science alone is inadequate when faced with the task of grasping the world's totality. Moreover, he implies that perhaps the novelist is better equipped than the church and clergy to apprehend the metaphysical components of existence-for literature stands as the revelation of a mythic unity of being in the world, while men and women strive to come to terms with their mortality. This book introduces us to the gentle, generous soul of one of Europe's greatest modern novelists, contributing to the recuperation of his legacy for the benefit of all those who embrace the moral dimensions of literature.

Sixteen international academics contribute 12 chapters offering a broad and balanced overview of the current state-of-the-art in instructed task research, dealing with an interesting variety of target and source languages, modes, contexts and settings, and a range of aspects of task features from multiple complementary perspectives. The text includes studies that use tasks to examine oral interaction, written production, vocabulary and reading, lexical innovation and pragmatics in different formal language learning contexts and in different languages. The text also offers guidelines for task classification, sequencing and design. For students and professionals in second language acquisition research, and professionals in language pedagogy and curriculum design. Distributed in the U.S. by UTP Distribution. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

All-new long adventures featuring Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, and other Disney characters. In "A World Beyond," Donald looks forward to a lazy weekend of role-playing. But things go too far when real hobbit-like critters turn up at his door! Soon our chicken-hearted Duck is at the center of a battle for power in an incredible realm of fantasy. In "Pluto's Nose Knows," Mickey and Pluto are in Greece helping two old rivals, professors Dustibones and Wagstaff, who have joined forces to find the Golden Fleece. But things go sour when Pluto is dognapped! Distraught Mickey must search all Athens to find his beloved pooch. Finally Uncle Scrooge, Donald and the boys discover a mythic lost city's "Bronze Gates."

La natura e l'anelito verso l'infinito; il dolore e la consapevolezza dell'esistenza di un'energia vitale più forte di qualunque angoscia che vorrebbe invece paralizzare l'anima; l'estraniamento e il desiderio di uscire dai confini dell'io per comunicare sentimenti ed emozioni; la libertà, che nasce dalla sincerità con noi stessi e con gli altri: ecco i temi principali dei versi contenuti in questa raccolta di Aria May, composti in un arco di tempo che va dal 1999 al 2006. Essi ruotano attorno ad un Leitmotiv: l'Amore nelle sue svariate forme, come forza che dà calore e vita alla Vita, accessibile solo a chi ha saputo custodire un cuore da bambino. Prefazione di Maria Teresa Boccoli.

The 12 contributing authors to this text attended a July 2000 course on the age factor in foreign language (FL) acquisition, held in San Sebastián, Spain. A section on theoretical issues gives an overview of the most current research on age in FL learning. Six chapters present fieldwork conducted in two bilingual communities where English is taught as a third/foreign language in instructional settings the Basque Country and Catalonia and consider such topics as attitudes toward learning English, code-mixing, grammaticality judgments, phonetics and phonology, writing, and oral communication skills. No subject index. Distributed by UTP Distribution. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Text and photographs depict how children live in nations across the alphabet, from Australia to Zimbabwe.

Condemned by a jealous king, Bellerophon must win the trust of the legendary winged horse Pegasus or face certain death. From the poignant meeting the growing bond of friendship between horse and man to the dramatic slaying of the fearsome fire-breathing Chimera, this is an unforgettable adventure that will stir the imagination of young and old alike. Featuring glorious paintings that readers will want to savor again and again, here is a magnificent edition of a timeless Greek classic.

For generations, children have loved the enchanting story of the twelve beautiful princesses and the handsome young lad who solves the mystery of their tattered shoes.

Now Marianna Mayer brings to life all the splendor and romance of this beloved classic, from the dazzling forests Of silver, gold, and diamonds to a twilight palace where the bewitched princesses dance to hypnotic music. And award-winning artist Kinuko Craft add, her own magic: a visual feast of exquisite, jewel-like paintings that sweep across the pages.

Together, Mayer and Craft have created an unforgettable world that readers of all ages will want to return to again and again.

Nel 1637 uscirono in Spagna, dove ebbero subito grande risonanza, queste venti novelle che si situano nella tradizione classica dei racconti del Boccaccio e dei Racconti di Canterbury e che rimandano echi del racconto cavalleresco, pastorale, moresco e bizantino. Sono tutte novelle d'amore e vi prevalgono compiacimenti sensuali e realistici, esposti con fine intuito psicologico. L'originalità del narrare sta nel fatto che Maria de Zayas è una donna-scrittrice, cosa non frequente nella Spagna del suo tempo, quasi una scrittrice femminista ante litteram, che illustra le sue opinioni su amore, castità, fedeltà, adulterio senza eccessive remore e concependo la vita non in senso tragico, ma come qualcosa che in fondo fa ridere.

Sweet, lovely Vasilisa lives with her jealous stepmother and stepsisters on the edge of a dark forest inhabited by the evil witch Baba Yaga. One night the stepmother sends Vasilisa to visit Baba Yaga, an errand from which the gentle girl has little chance of returning alive. 'An engaging text and accomplished paintings set this version apart....A stylized and classy offering.'--School Library Journal.