Author: Alan Munton
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443886688
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220
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Book Description
The ever-growing interest in the analysis of materiality has found its expression in many studies of objects and objecthood, of things and “thingness”. Combining cultural, phenomenological, semiotic, and philosophical approaches, this collection of eleven essays proposes a journey into “the silent life of things”, into those aspects of materiality that are not immediately visible and require both increased attention and a sense of intuition. It focuses on the subtle changes that materiality operates upon our subjectivity and upon our status as producers, users, possessors, negotiators and manipulators of objects, and analyses the ways in which materiality is constantly redefined by consumerism and the strategies it adopts in order to resist commodification. In the process, the collection explores different ways of deciphering what materiality, in its reliable concreteness or its “magical materialism”, tries to tell us: all the silent stories that “things” accumulate while circulating among people, societies and cultures; the narratives they weave when amassed, collected, archived or transformed into cultural commodities; the secrets they reveal when witnessing the gradual commodification of their owners – of their bodies, lives and souls. The Silent Life of Things: Representing and Reading Commodified Objecthood establishes a new paradigm for reading and interpreting commodified materiality, and its participation in the establishment of a new aesthetics of consumerism.
Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429945230
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198
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Book Description
Thomas Merton wrote The Silent Life a decade after he took orders. In his Prologue, Merton describes the book as "a meditation on the monastic life by one who, without any merit of his own, is privileged to know that life on the inside . . . who seeks only to speak as the mouthpiece of a tradition centuries old." It is a remarkable work-one that combines a lucid and informative description of the nature and forms of monasticism, communal and solitary, with a passionate defense of the contemplative's quest for God. The intense beauty of Merton's meditation, radiating from beneath its surface calm, makes The Silent Life a classic of its kind.
Author: Azar Nafisi
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588367495
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
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Book Description
"Absorbing . . . a testament to the ways in which narrative truth-telling—from the greatest works of literature to the most intimate family stories—sustains and strengthens us.”—O: The Oprah Magazine In this stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, Azar Nafisi shares her memories of living in thrall to a powerful and complex mother against the backdrop of a country’s political revolution. A girl’s pain over family secrets, a young woman’s discovery of the power of sensuality in literature, the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by upheaval—these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir as a gifted storyteller once again transforms the way we see the world and “reminds us of why we read in the first place” (Newsday). BONUS: This edition contains a Things I've Been Silent About discussion guide. Praise for Things I've Been Silent About “Deeply felt . . . an affecting account of a family’s struggle.”—New York Times “A gifted storyteller with a mastery of Western literature, Nafisi knows how to use language both to settle scores and to seduce.”—New York Times Book Review “An immensely rewarding and beautifully written act of courage, by turns amusing, tender and obsessively dogged.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A lyrical, often wrenching memoir.”—People
Author: Fumio Sasaki
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393609049
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
The best-selling phenomenon from Japan that shows us a minimalist life is a happy life. Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo—he’s just a regular guy who was stressed out and constantly comparing himself to others, until one day he decided to change his life by saying goodbye to everything he didn’t absolutely need. The effects were remarkable: Sasaki gained true freedom, new focus, and a real sense of gratitude for everything around him. In Goodbye, Things Sasaki modestly shares his personal minimalist experience, offering specific tips on the minimizing process and revealing how the new minimalist movement can not only transform your space but truly enrich your life. The benefits of a minimalist life can be realized by anyone, and Sasaki’s humble vision of true happiness will open your eyes to minimalism’s potential.
Author: Allen Say
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 133821442X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 68
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Book Description
Caldecott Medal winner Allen Say brings his lavish illustrations and hybrid narrative and artistic styles to the story of artist James Castle. James Castle was born two months premature on September 25, 1899, on a farm in Garden Valley, Idaho. He was deaf, mute, autistic, and probably dyslexic. He didn't walk until he was four; he would never learn to speak, write, read, or use sign language.Yet, today Castle's artwork hangs in major museums throughout the world. The Philadelphia Museum of Art opened "James Castle: A Retrospective" in 2008. The 2013 Venice Biennale included eleven works by Castle in the feature exhibition "The Encyclopedic Palace." And his reputation continues to grow.Caldecott Medal winner Allen Say, author of the acclaimed memoir Drawing from Memory, takes readers through an imagined look at Castle's childhood, allows them to experience his emergence as an artist despite the overwhelming difficulties he faced, and ultimately reveals the triumphs that he would go on toachieve.
Author: Raimundo Panikkar
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9781451416435
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 148
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Book Description
"Today's search for spirituality and authenticity leads ultimately to the question, and the experience, of God. In this profound meditation from one of today's most renowned religious voices, theologian Raimon Panikkar offers a way to reflect on the perennial quest for God, its significance in many religious traditions, and its connection to our own deepest purpose and meaning. .... " [from back cover]
Author: Alex Michaelides
Publisher: Celadon Books
ISBN: 1250301718
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
**THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** "An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy." —Entertainment Weekly The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
Author: Laura Purcell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1408888114
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
LAURA PURCELL'S THRILLING NEW NOVEL THE WHISPERING MUSE IS OUT NOW Winner of the W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award As featured on the Radio 2 Book Club and the Zoe Ball ITV Book Club '[An] extraordinary, memorable and truly haunting book' Jojo Moyes '[It] shone, for originality for the sheer quality of the writing, the characters and some masterly chills' Peter James Some doors are locked for a reason... Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge. With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. For inside her new home lies a locked room, and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure – a Silent Companion – that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself...
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 9781473209336
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Renowned as a bastion of knowledge, the University draws the brightest minds to unravel the mysteries of enlightened sciences, such as artificing and alchemy. Yet deep below its bustling halls lies a complex web of abandoned rooms and ancient passageways. In the heart of this cavernous maze is a young woman named Auri, who calls this Underthing her home. Formerly a student at the University, Auri now spends her days tending to the world around her. She knows that some mysteries are better settled and safe. No longer fooled by the sharp rationality so trusted by those above her, Auri sees beyond the surface of things, into subtle dangers and hidden names. At once joyous and haunting, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a richly atmospheric and lyrical tale, featuring one of the most beloved characters from Rothfuss' acclaimed fantasy series.
Author: Todd May
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022623570X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 210
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Book Description
“A tour de force. It is a thoughtful, subtle, beautifully written discussion of what it takes to live a meaningful life.” —Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice Throughout history most of us have looked to faith, relationships, or deeds to give our lives purpose. But in A Significant Life, philosopher Todd May offers an exhilarating new way of thinking about meaning, one deeply attuned to life as it actually is: a work in progress, a journey—and often a narrative. Offering moving accounts of his own life alongside rich engagements with philosophers from Aristotle to Heidegger, he shows us where to find the significance of our lives: in the way we live them. May starts by looking at the fundamental fact that life unfolds over time, and as it does so, it begins to develop certain qualities, certain themes. Our lives can be marked by intensity, curiosity, perseverance, or many other qualities that become guiding narrative values. These values lend meanings to our lives that are distinct from—but also interact with—the universal values we are taught to cultivate, such as goodness or happiness. Offering a fascinating examination of a broad range of figures—from music icon Jimi Hendrix to civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, from cyclist Lance Armstrong to The Portrait of a Lady’s Ralph Touchett to Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler—May shows that narrative values offer a rich variety of criteria by which to assess a life, specific to each of us and yet widely available. They offer us a way of reading ourselves, who we are, and who we might like to be.
