Give War and Peace a Chance

Give War and Peace a Chance PDF Author: Andrew D. Kaufman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451644728
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
“This lively appreciation of one of the most intimidating and massive novels ever written should persuade many hesitant readers to try scaling the heights of War and Peace sooner rather than later” (Publishers Weekly). Considered by many critics the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is also one of the most feared. And at 1,500 pages, it’s no wonder why. Still, in July 2009 Newsweek put War and Peace at the top of its list of 100 great novels and a 2007 edition of the AARP Bulletin included the novel in their list of the top four books everybody should read by the age of fifty. A New York Times survey from 2009 identified War and Peace as the world classic you’re most likely to find people reading on their subway commute to work. What might all those Newsweek devotees, senior citizens, and harried commuters see in a book about the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s? War and Peace is many things. It is a love story, a family saga, a war novel. But at its core it’s a novel about human beings attempting to create a meaningful life for themselves in a country torn apart by war, social change, political intrigue, and spiritual confusion. It is a mirror of our times. Give War and Peace a Chance takes readers on a journey through War and Peace that reframes their very understanding of what it means to live through troubled times and survive them. Touching on a broad range of topics, from courage to romance, parenting to death, Kaufman demonstrates how Tolstoy’s wisdom can help us live fuller, more meaningful lives. The ideal companion to War and Peace, this book “makes Tolstoy’s characters lively and palpable…and may well persuade readers to finally dive into one of the world’s most acclaimed—and daunting—novels” (Kirkus Reviews).

Give War and Peace a Chance

Give War and Peace a Chance PDF Author: Andrew D. Kaufman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451644728
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
“This lively appreciation of one of the most intimidating and massive novels ever written should persuade many hesitant readers to try scaling the heights of War and Peace sooner rather than later” (Publishers Weekly). Considered by many critics the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is also one of the most feared. And at 1,500 pages, it’s no wonder why. Still, in July 2009 Newsweek put War and Peace at the top of its list of 100 great novels and a 2007 edition of the AARP Bulletin included the novel in their list of the top four books everybody should read by the age of fifty. A New York Times survey from 2009 identified War and Peace as the world classic you’re most likely to find people reading on their subway commute to work. What might all those Newsweek devotees, senior citizens, and harried commuters see in a book about the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s? War and Peace is many things. It is a love story, a family saga, a war novel. But at its core it’s a novel about human beings attempting to create a meaningful life for themselves in a country torn apart by war, social change, political intrigue, and spiritual confusion. It is a mirror of our times. Give War and Peace a Chance takes readers on a journey through War and Peace that reframes their very understanding of what it means to live through troubled times and survive them. Touching on a broad range of topics, from courage to romance, parenting to death, Kaufman demonstrates how Tolstoy’s wisdom can help us live fuller, more meaningful lives. The ideal companion to War and Peace, this book “makes Tolstoy’s characters lively and palpable…and may well persuade readers to finally dive into one of the world’s most acclaimed—and daunting—novels” (Kirkus Reviews).

Making Peace with the Universe

Making Peace with the Universe PDF Author: Michael Scott Alexander
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 023155270X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
The world’s great religious and philosophical traditions often include poignant testimonies of spiritual turmoil and healing. Following episodes of harrowing personal crisis, including addictions, periods of anxiety and panic, and reminders of mortality, these accounts then also describe pathways to consolation and resolution. In Making Peace with the Universe, Michael Scott Alexander reads diverse classic religious accounts as masterpieces of therapeutic insight. In the company of William James, Socrates, Muslim legal scholar turned mystic Hamid al-Ghazali, Chinggis Khan as described by the Daoist monk Qui Chuji, and jazz musician and Catholic convert Mary Lou Williams, Alexander traces the steps from existential crisis to psychological health. He recasts spiritual confessions as case histories of therapy, showing how they remain radical and deeply meaningful even in an age of scientific psychology. They record the therapeutic affect of spiritual experience, testifying to the achievement of psychological well-being through the cultivation of an edifying spiritual mood. Mixing scholarly learning with episodes from his own skeptical quest, Alexander demonstrates how these accounts of private terror and personal triumph offer a model of therapy through spiritual adventure. An interdisciplinary consideration of the shared terrain of religion and psychology, Making Peace with the Universe offers an innovative view of what spiritual traditions can teach us about finding meaning in the modern world.

War and Peace in Outer Space

War and Peace in Outer Space PDF Author: Cassandra Steer
Publisher:
ISBN: 0197548687
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
This work explores the legal and ethical issues surrounding the increased weaponization of outer space and the potential for space-based conflict. The essays included explore the moral and legal issues in four sections covering the legal framework; ethical issues; specific threats to space security; and possible legal and diplomatic solutions.

Parallel Universes of Children

Parallel Universes of Children PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781944920166
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In honor of World Children's Day, artist Ugur Gallenkus is debuting his first book, Parallel Universes of Children. The book features selections from Gallenkus' ongoing series of collages juxtaposing the starkly different worlds today's children inhabit globally. Parallel Universes of Children, an 11x11-inch, 120-page hardcover volume, contains 52 collages representing children's rights and pairs each artwork with quotes and facts about children's lived realities. Every page of this book bears witness to the lives and plights of children around the world-acknowledging their fears, tears, and pain.

A Wonderful Life

A Wonderful Life PDF Author: Frank Martela
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062942794
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
In a series of essays that explore the notion of what brings significance to our existences, clarifying why we have this longing beyond the present moment and an insatiable dissatisfaction with where we are, scholar Frank Martela tackles the subject of finding meaning in life. With beautiful decorative elements and an engaging design, the book approaches its subject in a readily digestible form. It grapples with some of life’s most pressing questions, like "Is happiness a worthy goal?" and "What is the foundation for meaning in a secular society?" and "Is life an existential void?" yet Martela answers these questions and more in a relaxed, conversational tone and with a wry sense of humor, placing some of life’s greatest philosophical concerns and quandaries into a modern-day context. Martela quickly and concisely gets to the heart of the matter: your place in the world and how to find meaning in life as countless thinkers and philosophers have done before, yet the emphasis here is on what we do with the life we have and how we can make it more meaningful. Part prescriptive and part armchair philosophy book, A Wonderful Life is accessible to everyone, from the well-read scholar to the apprentice as well as anyone curious about how to extract the greatest meaning and sense of purpose from their existence.

Forever Peace

Forever Peace PDF Author: Joe Haldeman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101666196
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
2043 A.D.: The Ngumi War rages. A burned-out soldier and his scientist lover discover a secret that could put the universe back to square one. And it is not terrifying. It is tempting...

Nineteen eighty-four

Nineteen eighty-four PDF Author: George Orwell
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This is a dystopian social science fiction novel and morality tale. The novel is set in the year 1984, a fictional future in which most of the world has been destroyed by unending war, constant government monitoring, historical revisionism, and propaganda. The totalitarian superstate Oceania, ruled by the Party and known as Airstrip One, now includes Great Britain as a province. The Party uses the Thought Police to repress individuality and critical thought. Big Brother, the tyrannical ruler of Oceania, enjoys a strong personality cult that was created by the party's overzealous brainwashing methods. Winston Smith, the main character, is a hard-working and skilled member of the Ministry of Truth's Outer Party who secretly despises the Party and harbors rebellious fantasies.

Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid

Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid PDF Author: Virginia Woolf
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141957050
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 83

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Book Description
'The Germans were over this house last night and the night before that. Here they are again. It is a queer experience, lying in the dark and listening to the zoom of a hornet, which may at any moment sting you to death. It is a sound that interrupts cool and consecutive thinking about peace. Yet it is a sound - far more than prayers and anthems - that should compel one to think about peace. Unless we can think peace into existence we - not this one body in this one bed but millions of bodies yet to be born - will lie in the same darkness and hear the same death rattle overhead.' Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth PDF Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547995121
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Robot armies, an arms race in space, and a brain at war with itself add up to “a futuristic version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (The Boston Phoenix). Anxious to avoid a war that would destroy the entire planet, the major powers of Earth have come to an ingenious compromise. Each country sends a force of adaptable, self-programming robots to the surface of the moon to play out the conflict there and, hopefully, reach a mutually agreeable stalemate. But when the robots stop responding, it is up to Ijon Tichy to travel to the lunar war zone and discover what went wrong. Tichy finds what he needs to know, but falls victim to an attack that severs the left and right sides of his brain: one of which knows nothing about the status of the moon, the other of which isn’t telling. Now Tichy finds himself at the center of a new sort of war of attrition, with each world power clamoring for his knowledge and each half of his stubborn brain clamoring for control. Wry and action-packed in equal measure, Stanislaw Lem’s absurd, insightful sendup of the Cold War is required reading for any fan of science fiction. Here, “humor and a breathless pace create a delightful and thought-provoking read” (Publishers Weekly).

A Confession

A Confession PDF Author: Leo Tolstoy
Publisher: Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
ISBN: 3986778187
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
A Confession Leo Tolstoy - This short work was originally titled An Introduction to a Criticism of Dogmatic Theology. It is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis, and describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question: If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?