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The article reviews several books "Sri Aurobindo & the Mother" and "the Paper Boat," by Aju Mukhopadhyay.

This paper aims to highlight the ecocritical dimensions of Jibanananda Das's celebrated opus 'Banalata Sen' by looking back at Natore. Using the rural place of Natore in Bangladesh metaphorically, the poet has established a profound rapport between human beings and nature's belongings. William Wordsworth wrote in his poem, 'Tintern Abbey', that "Nature never did betray the heart that loved her" (Wordsworth, 2000, p. 134) to bring forth the reciprocal mechanism of the Man-Nature relationship. And, indeed this line contributed immensely to the advancement of Eco-criticism. Despite the fact that the existing studies talk about the surreal and ideal aspects of the poem, this article presents a comprehensive review of Jibanananda Das's 'Banalata Sen' from an eco-critical point of view, where the existence of problematic anthropocene and the plight of nonhuman agency are being discussed. The eco-critical reading of the poem shifts our focus to two different and deeply entwined entities, Natore and Banalata Sen. Natore is a place of consolation and bliss, whereas Banalata Sen is catered as a panacea to the poet's sufferings with the aim of intensifying the interdependency and interconnectedness of the entities. Banalata Sen provides the poet with the joie de vivre on his inertia to renew his spirit. This eco-critical understanding of the poem unfolds the magnitude of the lady, who brings solace to the poet's worn-out soul and her association with nature. And it helps us understand the way this poem articulates ecological consciousness and the importance of the neighboring ecosystem in shaping human lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject matter of this paper concerns the early phase of Vasily Grossman's literary career in the mid-1930s. Prior to this period, the author proved his ability to evaluate the mechanisms of censorship and developed his understanding of what was publishable and what could be sanctioned through the publication process of his first novel (Bit-Yunan, Fel'dman 2019). The research material selected for this paper is the lesser-known short story Zhizn' Il'i Stepanovicha [The life of Il'ya Stepanovich], published in 1935, and the aim is to provide a close reading and an interpretation key to this text. In order to expose the hidden ambiguity of the short story, the chosen research perspective includes a focus on the function of the protagonist as an entity that does not legitimise the socialist myth; a narratological approach on the use of proper names, on "perspective" and the role of the narrator with regard to the axiological structure of the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines three poems by three American poets -- W. D. Snodgrass, J. Berryman and A. Ginsberg who subscribe to the confessionalism of the 1950s and 60s being largely spared the complication of clinical depression which plagued the other three major confessionalists -- Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Robert Lowell. Not having a severe form of it -- Snodgrass -- has resulted in generally more light-hearted texts by them containing irony and yearning which differ in mood from the rather mostly bleak verses of the other three mentioned American poets. These three, however, were also perfectly capable of their own personal darkness represented in verse and in turn did not fail to scandalize with the content of some of their verses. The paper also discusses the power of sincerity in these autofictional poems vs what could have been mere authenticity of dissimulated lived experience. As such, it aims to dispel possible attacks of self-display or glorification, as well as of possible victimization that autofictive poets, including some of the ones under scrutiny, have come under. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae is the property of Jagiellonian University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper discusses the Italian reception of Russian language poetry taking into account translations carried out between 1987 and 2022. The survey deals mainly with anthologies, journal issues devoted entirely or partially (but significantly) to Russian poetry, and single volumes of Russian poets translated into Italian entirely devoted to poets writing in Russian. With more than four hundred publications, it is clear Russian poetry has found a place in the Italian language. This is shown by the amount of poets who have appeared in Italian (and have been included in the table attached to the paper), and by the extensive bibliography placed in the repository of the journal “Studi Slavistici”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with Wallace Stevens's first collection of poetry, Harmonium, in light of Heidegger's philosophy, with a particular emphasis on Da-sein as the place of negativity. The focus is particularly on Heidegger's later philosophy, where he defines Man as the juncture where the four constitutive elements (earth, sky, divinities, and mortals) converge to let Da-sein appear as the futural authentic animal whose Being matters to him as his distinctive mark. Stevens's poetry in Harmonium displays an experimental development along the same lines. The collection consists of poems dealing with the effect that the prospects of death and finitude have on its protagonists. Stevens achieves authentic protagonists who accept the nihilating power of death in order to save themselves from any form of social, poetic, and philosophical closure. This is significant because Stevens conceives a creative potential that not only runs counter to the romantic nostalgia for a return to an innocent past, but also openly embraces the idea of finitude as the only way out of any logocentric and metaphysical forms of thinking. This study, therefore, aims to show how in Harmonium Stevens poetizes an endless creative power that sets upon reproducing the non-closure associated with nihilation and nothingness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a list of gardening books for 1998, including, `The Complete Guide to Indoor Gardening,' by Jenny Raworth and Val Bradley; `The Besler Florilegium'; The Metamorphosis of Flowers,' by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perenou; `The Royal Gardens in Windsor Great Park,' by Charles Lyte; `Scots Roses,' by Mary McMurtrie; Others.

Copyright of Diablotexto Digital is the property of Diablotexto Digital and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most commentaries on Wole Soyinka's works across genres engage with his constant invocation of cultural tropes, most of which revolve around Ogun, his self-proclaimed muse. In this article, I highlight the centrality of religious myths and metaphors in a selection of Soyinka's poems, namely, "Idanre" in Idanre and Other Poems (1967), Ogun Abibman (1976), "Joseph", one of the "Four Archetypes" poems in A Shuttle in the Crypt (1972), "Mandela's Earth" in Mandela's Earth and Other Poems (1989), and selected poems under the sections "The Sign of the Zealot" and "Elegies" in Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known (2002). While identifying the limitations of the poet's Ogun trope, I dissect the centrality of faith issues in Soyinka's poetry into two slants. The first, which is seen as encompassing his widely explored Ogun trope, is his use of religious metaphors to intervene on the dystopias in his postcolonial space. The second is his concern with the crisis of faith, a menace that has continued to threaten global peace. After drawing copious examples of religious tropes from Soyinka's selected poems, I focus on the attention given by the poet to crisis in faith relationships. The copious examples of Soyinka's use of religious metaphors lead to the conclusion, at the end of the paper, that access to Soyinka's poetry is best achieved by paying attention to his religious metaphors. I also identify Soyinka's antidote for the crisis of faith which lies in his prescription of tolerance and respect for humanist ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the book `Paper Head Last Lyrics,' by Andrew Levy.

This paper focuses on the concept of boredom in the creative work of one of the significant figures of Soviet underground culture - Elena Shvarts. All the creative heritage - both poetic and prosaic - is treated like a semiotic unity, so that it is possible to see the evolution in understanding such a notion during more than five decades of the poet's life. While analyzing the five-volume collection by Shvarts, statistical calculation has revealed only 28 cases of using the concept. Even though for Shvarts's lyrical subjects, who are usually passionate and ecstatically active, boredom is not specific at all, the author sometimes puts this concept in the meaningful center of her creative universe. It could be done both explicably and implacably through the description of "boring" landscapes and events. After close reading of the texts from the five-volume collection, it is claimed that boredom in Shvarts's oeuvre is strictly associated to the physical (and\or physiological) world, with its routines, wishes and activities. To the contrast, the transcendental world and everything connected to the sacrum, according to Elena Shvarts, cannot be boring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal Dawat is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reviews the book `False Papers,' by Andre Aciman.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Akif Ersoy are two great poets with intellectual integrity who led their nations on the right path by guiding them intellectually in a very difficult time. It seems that in the turmoil of the new world that emerged after the end of the Cold War, the reactionary psychology once prevailed in the Muslim world as in the past. It was this intellectual stagnation from which Iqbal and Akif emphasized salvation. How can the problems arising in the post-Cold War and especially post-9/11 world be dealt with? This paper is an attempt to find the answer to this question through the thought of Iqbal and Akif. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Laboratorio is the property of Universidad Diego Portales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reviews several books. `Canine Parables: Portraits of God and Life,' by Paulette Zubel; `New Talmudic Readings,' by Emmanuel Levinas; `The Tabloid Bible,' by Nick Page.

Reviews the book `Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and Gay History from the Puritans to Playland,' by The History Project.

Presents a selective list of some hardcover and trade paperback comics published in 1997, including `The Comics Journal'; `Ghost World,' by Dan Clowes; `Bitchy's College Daze,' by Roberta Gregory; `Dangerous Drawings: Interviews with Comix & Graphix Artists.' by Andrea Juno; `The Little Sister,' by Michael Lark; Others.

Reviews several books. `In Politics of Self-Determination,' by Dr. Beverly Potter; `Galveston and the 1900 Storm: Catastrophe and Catalyst,' by Patricia Bellis Bixel and Elizabeth Hayes Turner; `Beautiful Work: A Meditation on Pain,' by Sharon Cameron.

Reviews several nonfiction books. `Whispered Prayers: Portraits and Prose of Tibetans in Exile,' by Stephen R. Harrison; `Restoring North America's Birds: Lessons From Landscape Ecology,' by Robert A. Askins; `What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions,' by Robert L. Wolke.

Reviews several books. `The Illustrated Hebrew Bible,' by Stewart Tabori and Chang; `Celebrating the Mass: A Guide for Understanding and Loving the Mass More Deeply'; `Making Room: Recovering Hospitality As a Christian Tradition,' by Christine Pohl.

Reviews several books. `Agape Love: A Tradition Found in Eight World Religion,' by John Templeton; `Becoming a Woman of Influence: Making a Lasting Impact on Others,' by Carol Kent; `Heaven Help Us: The Worrier's Guide to the Patron Saints,' by Alice LaPlante and Clare LaPlante.

Reviews several books. `The Charlie's Angels Casebook,' by David Hofstede and Jack Condon; `How Much Joy Can You Stand?,' by Suzanne Falter-Barns; `Touching Tomorrow,' by Mary LoVerde.

Reviews several books. `The Russian Transformation: Political, Sociological, and Psychological Aspects,' edited by Betty Glad and Eric Shiraev; `The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939,' by J. Arch Getty; `Inside the Meatgrinder: An NFL Official's Life in the Trenches,' by Chad Brown and Alan Eisenstock; `Never Before, Never Again,' by Eddie Robinson and Richard Lapchick.

Reviews several books. `Rabbit Fever,' by Geoffrey Clark; `And Fools of God,' by Richard Krawiec; `Widening the Road,' by Fred Bonnie.

Reviews several fiction books. `Dictionary of Modern Anguish,' by R.M. Berry; `Body Work,' by Hollis Seamon; `His Monkey Wife,' by John Collier; `Wake Up Dead,' by Christopher Bonn Jonnes.

Reviews several children's books. `Make That Her Story,' by Clemence McClaren, `Home Sweet Home,' by Jan Brett and `World Play; Play Ball!,' by Chris Raschka.

Reviews several books, including `A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century,' by Christian Delacampagne; `Building Left-Brain Power: Left-Brain Conditioning Exercises and Tips to Strengthen Language, Math and Uniquely Human Skills,' by Allen D. Bragdon and David Gamon; `Living When a Young Friend Commits Suicide,' by Rabbi Earl A. Grollman and Max Malikow; `London: Sight Unseen,' by Gwyn Headley.

Reviews several books. `Contempt,' by Alberto Moravia; `A High Wind in Jamaica.' by Richard Hughes; `Lolly Willowes,' by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

Eliot's Beethoven-inspired Coriolan I Triumphal March (1931) responds to and challenges the right-wing reception of Beethoven and Nietzsche in interwar Germany. Parodying the fascist interpretation of both composer and philosopher as military heroes, Eliot's poem instead invokes Beethoven in the idealist spirit of the Vienna Secession's 1902 Beethoven art exhibition. In particular, Triumphal March reveals itself as an ekphrastic response to Max Klinger's 1902 Beethoven sculpture, which portrayed the composer as a Promethean artist-hero aligned with Nietzsche's Übermensch. Resisting a militarist interpretation of Nietzsche's "superman" and a fascist discourse of Beethoven-Führer, Eliot follows Klinger's utopian vision of a "Third Kingdom" as suggesting peace, reconciliation, and inner transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some recent scholarship insists that the four poems W.B. Yeats wrote touching the biography of Major Robert Gregory are classic representations of elegy. Yet, throughout these four 'elegies' - 'The Shepherd and the Goatherd,' 'In Memory of Major Robert Gregory,' 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death,' and the unpublished 'Reprisals' - one can detect veiled (as well as shockingly naked) criticisms of Gregory. This paper explores the complicated, often thorny relationship between Yeats and Gregory and seeks to challenge the notion that Yeats ever cared to glorify Gregory in any of the four poems. 'An Irish Airman Foresees his Death,' in particular, which is commonly read as a kind of ars poetica tribute to Gregory, is in fact an anti-war poem written by one of the era's most outspoken disparagers of anti-war poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several books. `Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,' by Walker Evans; `The Soul of a Small Texas Town: Photographs, Memories, and History from McDade,' by David Wharton; `The Directors: In Their Own Words: Take Two,' by William Friedkin.

Reviews several books. `DK Millennium World Atlas'; Water Light Time,' by David Doubilet; `Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together,' by William Isaac.

Reviews several books. `The Tarantula Whisperer: A Celebrity Vet Shares Her Secrets to Communicating With Animals,' by Laura Pasten; `Falconry of Beginners,' by Lee William Harris; `The Science Times Book of Mammals,' by Nicholas Wade.

Reviews the book `The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency From Around the World,' by David Standish.

Reviews the book `Shaking the Tree: Readings From Nature in the History of Life,' edited by Henry Gee.

Reviews several books about religion. `Praying for Recovery: Psalms and Meditations,' by Eli Ezry; `Silver's Spells for Protection,' by Silver Raven Wolf; `The Garden: A Parable,' by Michael Roach; `The Buddha Speaks: A Book of Guidance From the Buddhist Scriptures,' edited by Anne Bancroft.

Since the lost labour struggles of the mid-1980s, (working-class) poets like Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage have progressively asserted their themes across the social strata. Hence, four of their poems are put to closer scrutiny. Especially Armitage's verse mirrors a tendency in contemporary working-class poetry - frequently located in the North and the Midlands - to reflect on endangered traditions, with no small amount of nostalgia. Yet, its issues - solidarity, equality and historical consciousness - have also been taken up by black and female lyricists. Consequently, the poetry of the new working classes includes the concerns of all disadvantaged people of England (and the world). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avot Yeshurun's poem, "The Tsaddik of Modzitz," highlights the unusual bond between two polar opposite personalities from the 1970s Tel Aviv scene: the secular poet Avot Yeshurun, and the ultraorthodox Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Taub, the Rebbe of Modzitz, who transcended his non-Zionist circles, gaining the admiration of Israelis of all walks of life. This relationship reaches a dramatic climax on a cataclysmic day in Israel's history, Yom Kippur 1973, when the surprising outbreak of a war shook Israelis' sense of invincibility and some of their Zionist creeds. At the heart of the poem is the Rebbe's luminous personality and demeanor during the services, and their impact on the poet. In his poetry, Yeshurun had revealed a conflicted personality, unable to reconcile between the vanished old world and the new reality, between the Zionist dream of his youth and the current Israeli geopolitical and ethical dilemmas. The Rebbe represents wholeness, finding in the ancient liturgy about the animals that were led to slaughter in the Temple an opportunity to subtly communicate his grief over the human sacrifices in Jewish recent past as well as at that very moment. The Rebbe's compassionate presence and his stirring niggunim eventually comfort the troubled poet. The Rebbe's words, with which Yeshurun closes his poem, reassure the poet of the validity of the State of Israel and appear to align with the paradigm of religious Zionism, viewing Israel as an essential moment in the Jewish journey toward redemption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews several books. `The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories,' edited by Carlos Fuentes and Julio Ortega; `Strange Forces,' by H.G. Wells and Leopoldo Lugones and translated by Gilbert Alter-Gilbert; `Silence on the Shores,' by Leila Sebbar and translated by Mildred Mortimer.

Reviews several books. `School Smarts: All the Right Answers to Homework, Teachers, Popularity, and More!,' by Brooks Whitney; `The Girls' Life Guide to Growing Up,' edited by Karen Bokram and Alexis Sinex; `On the Trail of Elder Brother: Glous'gap Stories of the Micmac Indians,' by Michael B. RunningWolf and Patricia Clark Smith.

Reviews several books. `Vegetarian Sandwiches,' by Paulette Mitchell; `Whole Woman Homeopathy,' by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman; `The New Red Lion Inn Cookbook,' by Suzi Forbes Chase.

Reviews several children's books. `Aliens and Anorexia,' by Chris Kraus; `Fowl Play,' by Scott Capurro; `Breaking Into Print: Early Stories and Insights Into Getting Published,' by DeWitt Henry; `Potter's Field,' by Olafur Gunnarsson.

Reviews the book `The eXile: Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia,' by Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi.

Reviews several books. `The Bond Bible,' by Marilyn Cohen; `Money Clips: 365 Tips--From the Simple to the Sophisticated--for Making, Saving and Investing Your Money,' by Lorraine Spurge; `Immutable Laws of Internet Branding,' by Al and Laura Ries.

Reviews several books. `Aurelia,' by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn; `River of Fire,' by Qurratulain Hyder; `The Clever Sheikh of the Butana and Other Stories,' by Ali Lutfi Abdallah; `Noble McCloud,' by Harry Havel.

Reviews several books on religion. `The Divided Church: Moving Liberals & Conservatives from Diatribe to Dialogue,' by Peggy Shriver; `Dancing in the Margins: Meditations for People Who Struggle With Their Churches,' by Kathy Coffey; Kabbalah: The Way of Light,' by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.