A story of principled leadership in conflict with political pressure and selfish interests, where success and professional survival are endangered by taking a stand on free speech, abortion, and political blackmail.
This text offers an authoritative historiography of German socialist theorist Karl Kautsky and his impact on debates about the Russian Revolution and the contemporary left. Known as the “Pope of Marxism,” Douglas Greene examines the totality of Kautsky’s political career and dissects the fundamental opportunism and passive radicalism that defined his Marxism. He later examines the most substantive Marxist critics of Kautsky, namely Rosa Luxemburg, V. I. Lenin, and Leon Trotsky, while offering a critical assessment of the work produced by scholars and activists, Lars Lih, Eric Blanc, and Mike Mcnair, seeking to revive Kautsky. The New Reformism and the Revival of Karl Kautsky is an important addition to scholarship on the subject and a valuable resource for those interested in the Russian Revolution, German politics, socialism, Marxism, and contemporary left-wing debates.
State Consultant Hans Larsen's account of his parents: Professor Lars Hansen Larsen and Ragnhild Jorgensen, their backgrounds, work and family lives. Posthumously translated from Danish by his son Brian Larsen
Danielle Grant left America to find success abroad and never dreamed she’d find love and have a child along the way. But tragedy left her single, alone, and wounded in ways she didn’t even fully understand. Struggling to find happiness, she finally discovered it in the arms of Lars, and for a while all seemed well. When, Lars tells her he cannot be with her any longer, Danielle is at a crossroads. Her fear over him dying in his high-risk sports like Andre before him, is consuming the love they have for one another. She must confront the past, work through her grief and help herself in a way he cannot. Devastated, Danielle accepts his decision, and is determined to forge a new and independent life, without relying upon a man for anything. And so begins her journey of self-reflection, where she pushes against her own fears and vulnerabilities, immerses herself in her career and makes unexpected connections with several men she meets. But Danielle comes to believe that time is precious and true love is forever, eventually realizing she needs Lars, and what they have together is meant to be.
Scandinavia's foremost living auteur and the catalyst of the Dogme95 movement, Lars von Trier is arguably world cinema's most confrontational and polarizing figure. Willfully devastating audiences, he takes risks few filmmakers would conceive, mounting projects that somehow transcend the grand follies they narrowly miss becoming. Challenging conventional limitations and imposing his own rules, he restlessly reinvents the film language. The Danish director has therefore cultivated an insistently transnational cinema, taking inspiration from sources that range from the European avant-garde to American genre films. This volume provides a stimulating overview of Trier's career while focusing on the more recent work, including his controversial Gold Heart Trilogy (Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark), the as-yet unfinished USA Trilogy (Dogville and Manderlay), and individual projects such as the comedy The Boss of It All and the incendiary horror psychodrama Antichrist. Closely analyzing the films and their contexts, Linda Badley draws on a range of cultural references and critical approaches, including genre, gender, and cultural studies, performance theory, and trauma culture. Two revealing interviews that Trier granted during crucial stages of Antichrist's development are also included.
Book two in Accidental Enchantments. Prince Richard is cursed. Enslaved to a magic mirror, he must truthfully answer the evil queen when she uses it to call on him. To keep from betraying innocents, Richard wanders the countryside and avoids people. All her life, Gretchen has been teased for being small. When she hears of a hidden farm populated by little people like her, she sets out to find it—and is welcomed by the mostly male inhabitants. Lars in particular woos her with his gentle kindness and quiet strength. Danger looms when Gretchen meets a runaway princess and offers her shelter at the Little Farm. Wandering nearby, Richard instantly falls in love with the beautiful princess, and is later compelled to tell the queen that she is not the fairest of them all. Enraged, the queen vows to find them and destroy them. If either Gretchen or Richard are to have their happy endings, they must team up to break the mirror's spell before the queen kills them all… For another fairy tale retelling from Tia Nevitt, check out The Sevenfold Spell, available now! 43,000 words
I pulled on my favorite jeans, heard and felt the fabric tear, and saw skin peek from a brand-new hole in the faded denim. I surveyed the unforeseen damage: the fabric had become threadbare in so many places that patching or mending wasnt even a sensible option; thered be as many patches as original jeans. Id been unaware of their gradual deterioration until the hole advertised the widespread decline. Ruefully, I folded my beloved jeans, softened by so much wear and so many washings, and laid them to rest in the lowest drawer of my bureau. Lars was threadbare. We were each in varied stages of wear and tear. It started with a resounding rip, when Rayann carelessly fingered Lars as a molester. We each tried in our own way to mend the relatively small tears wed incurred, but more quickly than we could piece the edges together, more fabric was hacked, probed, stretched, and gouged, until we had all changed. As far as I knew, everyones self-preservation instincts were intact. Maybe that was encased in the layers of fabric that form the seams. Maybe God placed our drive to live in a deeply embedded place, a place more protected than other parts of us. But was anyone invincible? I had strong doubts now.
This book discusses the figure of Woman in Lars von Trier’s distinctive cinematic productions from 1996 to 2014. It takes the notorious legacy of violence against women in von Trier’s cinema beyond the perceived gender division, elevating the director’s image above being a mere provocateur. By raising fundamental questions about woman, sexuality, and desire, Elbeshlawy shows that Trier’s cinematic Woman is an attempt at creating an image of a genderless subject that is not inhibited by the confines of ideology and culture. But this attempt is perennially ill-fated. And it is this failure that not only fosters viewing enjoyment but also gives the films their political importance, elevating them above both commendations and condemnations of feminist discourse.
Once a player masters the basics of pool, mental aspects become paramount. Even expert players are plagued by the game's mental demands. I look at the game from the point of view of the player striving to improve his/her game faced with the importance of the mental aspects of playing before spectators, competitive and performance stress, as well as strange and mystical occurrences within the confines of the green abyss of a pool table. I explore and interpret ways these mental and metaphysical aspects of the game operate in all players.
Matthew Coniam, author of 'The Annotated Marx Brothers' and 'Egyptomania Goes To The Movies' would dearly love to dedicate his energies to the higher things in life. But alas, cinephilia infected him at a young age and, as yet, there is no cure. In this collection of essays on movies and moviemakers culled from several years' worth of blog posts, magazine articles and book chapters, he shares some of the symptoms in the hope of spreading it further.