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Critical Forum: Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788

I recently discovered The William and Mary Quarterly, a historical journal published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. The current edition (no longer available online: edition 69_2) has a critical forum on Pauline Maier’s Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788, a book I enjoyed quite a bit. This comment came from […]

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Capricious Summer (1968 movie: Czechoslovakia)

Continuing with my sort-of-biweekly foreign movie posts for this year… For more foreign movies, check out Caroline’s World Cinema Series 2012 and Richard’s monthly Foreign Film Festival round-up. Jiří Menzel’s movie based on Vladislav Vančura’s Summer of Caprice highlights the “cinema ready” nature of Vančura’s novel. Menzel changed little, following much of the book. From […]

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Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura: I sampled some perch

Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura Translated by Mark Corner Karolinum Press, Charles University, 201 pages, Hardcover ISBN: 80-246-1195-3 Following up on yesterday’s introductory post on Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura… Vančura’s novel appealed to me because of the playful descriptions in a meandering story, combining the normal and ridiculous while highlighting the very […]

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Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura

Summer of Caprice by Vladislav Vančura Translated by Mark Corner Karolinum Press, Charles University, 201 pages, Hardcover ISBN: 80-246-1195-3 On the remarkable River Orsh there lies a town of good reputation and good water. The water bubbles up in shady places and the nine most powerful springs, secured in nine wells, have been designated with […]

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While we’re way off the wagon…

I have been doing rather well on limiting my purchase of books, but another pre-order just went in… From The University of Chicago Press (distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University): Behind the Lines: Bugulma and Other Tales by Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek is a Czech writer most famous for his wickedly funny, widely read yet […]

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La Ronde (1950 film: France)

Continuing with my sort-of-biweekly foreign movie posts for this year… For more foreign movies, check out Caroline’s World Cinema Series 2012 and Richard’s monthly Foreign Film Festival round-up. Note: See this post for more detail on the play and storyline. The elegantly structured Arthur Schnitzler play La Ronde lends itself to a movie adaptation and […]

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La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler

A print of the 1900 private circulation of Der Reigen Picture sourceArthur Schnitzler’s play La Ronde (Reigen in German), written in 1897 but not performed until the winter of 1920/21, looks at a chain of ten sexual encounters. While known by several names depending on the language of translation, the title, named after a circular […]