A funny look at the social and political dynamic of French village life. Gabriel Chevallier's delightful novel Clochemerle satirizes the titanic confrontation of secular and religious forces in a small wine-growing village in Beaujolais. The eruption begins when the socialist mayor decides that he wants to leave behind a monument to his administration's achievements. He takes as his model the ancient Romans, who were famous for two things: hygiene and noble edifices. Thus, he decides to unite the two concepts...by constructing a public urinal in the centre of town. There is one problem, however: the chosen locale is next to the village church, and this outrages the ecclesiastical party. *Perfect for fans of Joanne Harris’s Chocolate*
This book covers the use of corpora in language learning and translation. Chapters include: Learning with corpora: an overview; Corpora and their uses in language research; Corpus-based description in teaching and learning; The pedagogic use of spoken corpora; The learner as researcher; Integrating corpus work into an academic reading course; Swimming in words; Going to the Clochemerle; 'Spoilt for choice': a learner explores general language corpora.
Fredric Warburg, partner in the London firm of Secker & Warburg from 1936 until 1971, considered publishing an attractive occupation and a way of life. In this personal, often humorous memoir of his life until his retirement, Warburg picks up where he left off in 1939 in An Occupation for Gentlemen. Warburg’s discussion of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 is an important contribution to literary history. Other chapters include Warburg’s landmark 1954 trial for publishing an “obscene” book, his edition of Kafka, the translation of Robert Musil’sThe Man Without Qualities, his visit to the aged Colette, a sketch of Thomas Mann, the strange tale of The Bridge on the River Kwai, the rise of Angus Wilson to stardom. In perhaps the funniest chapter, Warburg describes how he was duped by a plumber from Devonshire who pretended to be a Tibetan lama. A 1952 business deal by Secker & Warburg with Heinemann anticipates more recent consolidations in the publishing industry. Throughout Warburg’s memoir of literary and publishing history, the passionate personality of his wife, Pamela de Bayou, stands out, commenting on, criticizing and sometimes transforming a situation or a policy. All Authors Are Equal is for anyone who enjoys good books and the making of good books, and for all students of publishing. In the author’s own words: “The book as a whole may be seen as the story of my publishing life, the chapters and sections of chapters are in the main stories within the story. So it is that the book is a hybrid not an autobiography, not a history of a publishing house, not a philosophy of publishing, not a series of critical studies, but a bit of all these. [...] The deeper feelings of publishers are not often revealed to their authors while the publishing relationship exists. The publisher tends to be wary, diplomatic, reserved, rather hopeful, slightly pessimistic, laudatory, jolly, critical, or so diverse a mixture of all these as to end up more or less blank. Praise is dangerous — it might give an author ideas. Blame is perilous — the author may stop writing or even seek another publisher. To tell an author the unvarnished truth, as the publisher sees it, is no doubt hazardous, but it is a policy I have always tried to follow as far as possible, and with that policy I have had more successes than failures.” Praise for An Occupation for Gentlemen: “An engaging autobiography... Mr. Warburg writes with a nice light touch and with considerable charm and humor. His remarks about publishing are interesting and pointed.” — Orville Prescott, The New York Times “An entertaining and instructive book about two deep and ancient mysteries, human character and the trade of publishing.” — Jacques Barzun “Fredric Warburg’s autobiography is... wonderfully engaging. Mr. Warburg is that rarity among publishers. He writes extremely well.” — Moss Hart
At a cocktail party in the 1950s, a businessman said to Frederic Warburg, “You seem to know a lot about publishing. Now tell me, is it a business or an occupation for gentlemen?” This memoir seeks to answer that question. Written in 1959, An Occupation for Gentlemen covers the author’s life until 1939; its sequel, All Authors are Equal, recounts Warburg’s life at the helm of Secker & Warburg until he retired from publishing in 1971. In this first volume, Warburg recounts his school years at Westminster boys’ preparatory school, at Oxford’s Christ Church, and his apprenticeship at Routledge & Sons, which dismissed him because he insisted that the firm should publish fiction in addition to academic books. In 1936, with financial help from his aunt Agnes, Warburg and a partner purchased the publishing firm of Martin Secker. Renamed Secker & Warburg, it became known as anti-fascist and anti-communist, publishing André Gide'sBack from the USSR and George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. From then on Secker & Warburg published all of Orwell's books and Orwell and Warburg became intimate friends. “An engaging autobiography... Mr. Warburg writes with a nice light touch and with considerable charm and humor. His remarks about publishing are interesting and pointed.” — Orville Prescott, The New York Times “An entertaining and instructive book about two deep and ancient mysteries, human character and the trade of publishing.” — Jacques Barzun “Fredric Warburg’s autobiography is... wonderfully engaging. Mr. Warburg is that rarity among publishers. He writes extremely well.” — Moss Hart
The Peddler's Trade is a picaresque, satirical novel based on my five years in West Africa from 1955 to 1960. The central character, through a series of comical accidents, finds himself working for the Spillswell Flour Company while, without knowing it, carrying the credentials of a clandestine agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. He stumbles along the West coast of Africa in the throes of becoming independent as corrupt and incompetent colonial regimes are about to be replaced by equally corrupt and incompetent African governments. Behind the sardonic humor the book dramatizes the tragic chaos about to envelop the region. A chaos which continues in more virulent form today. The feckless central character rides an airline as ludicrous as Don Quixote's Rosinante flown by a drunken, lubricious former Polish fighter pilot while falling in love with the supposed Chanteur Sewing Machine representative, Leila Defesse, who is in reality an agent of the French CIA, the Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure. The book mirrors the satirical works of Evelyn Waugh in the nineteen thirties, "Scoop" and "Black Mischief" in which Waugh painted a devastatingly prescient portrait of the African disaster looming over the horizon. Still the best two books ever written on the Dark Continent.
Now in its second edition, The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French reveals the hidden cultural dimension of contemporary French, as used in the press, going beyond the limited and purely lexical approach of traditional bilingual dictionaries. Even foreign learners of French who possess a good level of French often have difficulty in fully understanding French articles, not because of any linguistic shortcomings on their part but because of their inadequate knowledge of the cultural references. This cultural dictionary of French provides the reader with clear and concise explanations of the crucial cultural dimension behind the most frequently used words and phrases found in the contemporary French press. This vital background information, gathered here in this innovative and entertaining dictionary, will allow readers to go beyond a superficial understanding of the French press and the French language in general to see the hidden yet implied cultural significance that is so transparent to the native speaker. This fully revised second edition includes: a broad range of cultural references from the historical and literary to the popular and classical; an enhanced analysis of punning mechanisms used in the press; over 3,000 cultural references explained with updated examples; a three-level indicator of frequency; new and expanded chapters on the French of Quebec, institutional and academic references, and English borrowings in the areas of IT and medical science; over 600 online questions to test knowledge before and after reading. The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French is the ideal reference for all undergraduate and postgraduate students of French seeking to enhance their understanding of the French language. It will also be of interest to teachers, translators and Francophiles alike. French students in khâgne, Sciences-Po and schools of journalism will also find this book valuable and relevant for their studies. Test questions and solutions are available at www.routledge.com/9780367376758, in addition to three online chapters. These bonus chapters explore figurative expressions involving the names of animals, the language of the law and slang terms.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft's hugely entertaining and well researched history of the Tour de France is already established as the definitive account of cycling's greatest event. Since the book was last published in 2007, much has changed. Bradley Wiggins' historic victory in 2012 - the first Briton ever to secure the yellow jersey - brought him a knighthood and garnered more interest in the race than ever before. Yet the months after were dominated by an even bigger story, as Tour legend and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong was stripped of his titles and confessed on Oprah to doping in each of his victories. Suddenly, everything that we thought we knew had happened was no longer true. In this new and comprehensively revised edition of the book, Wheatcroft not only brings his story of the Tour fully up to date to mark the race's 100th running in 2013, he also reflects on the changes brought about by the scandals that have rocked the sport to its core. Yet for all the controversies of modern times, he vividly captures the essential glory and romance of the heroes who battle to conquer one of sport's greatest challenges.
