Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings

Customer Reviews:

Stone monstrosities both comic and demonic.......2005-01-29

Almost every tourist who has ever climbed to the top of the North Tower of Notre-Dame de Paris has taken a photo of his or her companion leaning over the balustrade between two gargoyles (technically 'chimeras'), and surveying the streets below. It's the ultimate gargoyle photo-op. I'm surprised this author was able to photograph the gargoyles without a tourist leaning between them. I was only slightly disappointed to learn from this book that much of the stonework on this tower is nineteenth-century restoration by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, "started in 1845 to repair damage done to the cathedral during the Revolution." However, he did attempt to use molds of the originals.

Basically gargoyles are waterspouts, but to me they are proof that medieval stonemasons had a lively sense of humor--which they might have inherited from the Etruscans or the Egyptians, who also used animal-shaped stone waterspouts. Strictly speaking, gargoyles that do not spout water are known as 'grotesques' or 'chimeras.'

It surprised me to learn that gargoyles used to be brightly colored--oranges, reds, and greens were favored--and sometimes gilded. The author believes that "gargoyles may be survivals of pagan beliefs...incorporated into church decorations for superstitious reasons." I've read many a horror story based on this assumption, most notably "The Cambridge Beast" and "The Sheelagh-na-gig" by Mary Ann Allen.

Encounters between gargoyles and people are unique to the Cathedral of Saint John in Den Bosch, the Netherlands: "As a monstrous creature leaps out from the top of the buttress, the people cringe in terror, each one leaning back in an attempt to escape the attack of their horrible assailant." Americans tend to make pets of gargoyles, but that was not their original purpose. After all, midair is the reputed realm of demons (Ephesians 2:2).

Some of the gargoyles pictured in this book are laughing at us. A carved gargoyle-monk of the Old Cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Toul, France appears to be emptying the contents of a barrel onto his unsuspecting colleagues below. "Some [gargoyles] are so appealing that it is hard to imagine they were intended to be regarded as anything other than good creatures. Indeed, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame in Paris are even said to keep watch for drowning victims in the Seine."

This book is an enchanting collection of photographs, legends, and travelogue. If you ever intend to go gargoyle-hunting in Europe, make certain a copy of "Holy Terrors" is stored in your carry-on.

gothic terror.......2002-03-30

...I got the two books Holy Terror's and American Gargolyes... it was a great deal. The book is loaded with pictures of gargoyles from across america and desrcibes what type of gargoyle and where it is located in america. The photographs are beautiful and descriptive through out the book. If you gargoyles get the two books for the price of one. Highly Recommended!!!!

gothic terror.......2002-03-30

This book is one of the best books I got from [amazon.com]. I got the two books Holy Terror's and American Gargolyes... it was a great deal. The book is loaded with pictures of gargoyles from across america and desrcibes what type of gargoyle and where it is located in america. The photographs are beautiful and descriptive through out the book. If you gargoyles get the two books for the price of one. Highly Recommended!!!!

Arguably the best all-around book on gargoyles to date.......2000-09-05

It's got everything... the history, the pictures, the lore, the awe-inspiring Notre Dame Cathedral! An excellent comprehensive work by Janetta Benton. If you only ever buy one book on the subject, this is the one.

Family Appeal.......2000-02-10

"Holy Terrors" is that rarest of books, one that is of genuine value to adults curious about art and architecture, but also very much capable of holding the interest of children. My five-year-old son loves the pictures--especially the "Hairy human with animal head" that adorns the cathedral in Burgos, Spain. We also both appreciate the excellent selection of medieval illustrations, such as Schongauer's "Temptation of Saint Anthony." Skimming through "Holy Terrors" is a fun way to introduce kids to one of the cultural treasures of Europe.

Holy Terrors - Gargoyles On Medieval Buildings

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Holy Terrors - Gargoyles On Medieval Buildings
Janetta Rebold Benton
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KIV7CC

Book Description

This volume combines the author's The Secrets of Cartooning and The Art of Cartooning. Appropriate for artists of varied skill levels, this treasury of illustrated step-by-step instructions is rich in the period style of the 1920s and '30s. It features practical advice on depicting faces, motion, anatomy, caricatures, animated features, and political cartoons.

Customer Reviews:

Great job.......2005-09-06

great job fast service books look new two thumbs up

Step-by-step cartooning instructions.......2004-05-19

Artists of all skills levels will find CARTOONING, CARICATURE AND ANIMATION MADE EASY a simple presentation of step-by-step cartooning instructions presented by professional Thorndike: the result of a republication of two classics SECRETS OF CARTOONING and ART OF CARTOONING, which appeared in 1936 and 1937, respectively.

Customer Reviews:

open your eyes, to a whole new world!.......2007-05-20

this book, published in the early 70's takes on a new meaning for serious cooks seeking inspiration. when you read this book be prepared to be transported to a world before mass transport, the specter of iqf (individual guick freezing) and strawberries year round... this relates a tale of two strong women putting great regional food out; not because it is the trendy thing to do, but because it is the only option. instead of being repetitious, it shows the durability of the classics. read this book as a primer for alice waters and local eating.

Extraordinary.......2004-02-09

This is, without a doubt, the most extraordinary book on food and gastronomy ever. Brilliantly written, a true snapshot in time.

The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth.......2002-08-03

I originally read this book as a library book in it's first edition. It was one of the seminal influences in my discovering France and discovering my own love of cooking and fine food. Over the years I acquired several other books by Roy Andries De Groot and he never failed to inspire me. This one is absolutely a classic for any one who loves food and travel.

Non pareil.......2000-10-01

One of the other reviewers noted DeGroot's gift for description, and was amazed when he learned that deGroot was blind. I, who knew he was blind before I read the book, was also amazed and continue to be -- though there are telltale clues throughout, as, for example, when he describes eau de vie de prune as deep purple in color. Not in his lifetime or mine: it is clear as water...it simply tastes dark purple. But no matter about DeGroot's blindness or occasional factual slips; this is one of the greatest (and oddest) cookbooks in English, one of the very few to sit comfortably on a shelf with the works of Madelaine Kamman, Elizabeth David, Richard Olney, and MFK Fisher. Like the best works of those other authors, this is fundamentally a book about life-well-lived, not merely about cooking, eating and drinking. Nonetheless, the recipes work well and the stories behind them provide more than enough context and inspiration to pursuade you to try them. The oddness comes from the fairy-tale atmosphere DeGroot creates and maintains throughout. The mysterious old inn (no longer extant, of course) in the village at the top of the alpine valley could almost have come from the Brothers Grimm -- except there are no evil witches, just two kindly and aging lesbians, and the cauldron in the kitchen is not bubbling over with unspeakables. I have been cooking seriously for thirty years, have taught cooking in Parisand other places, and have been the executive chef of a Michelin rated restaurant in London (I'm now a lawyer and business consultant in California). In my restaurant in London (6 Clarendon Road, W11, now run by my friend and grand gourmand, Paul Fisher) I gave a copy to all the senior cooks, and insisted that they read it -- not for the recipes specifically, but for the wonderment, dedication and attention to detail I felt sure it would inspire. It did. Truly, a not-to-missed book.

Beautiful!.......2000-09-30

If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to that Auberge! (if only it were still there) The way he describes his first steps into the hidden valley, sound like the opening to The Sound of Music ... I read this book with growing love and fascination. It inspired me to study cooking at the French Culinary Institute. I haven't tried these specific recipes yet, though they sound like French classics. Thank you, thank you, for telling this story.

Recipes From the Auberge of the Flowering Hearth

Average customer rating:

Exquisite Gastronomic Adventure into French Provincial Inn Cooking

Recipes From the Auberge of the Flowering Hearth
Roy Andries De Groot
Manufacturer: Bobbs and Merrill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GWM09G

Customer Reviews:

Exquisite Gastronomic Adventure into French Provincial Inn Cooking.......2006-07-24

Roy de Groot wrote this food and recipe journal describing French dining, listing the menus, and the way dinners were served to guests, each accompanied by recipes and instructions in detail for their preparation. His journal has marvelous reports on private dinners, the histories of recipes, and the sources of the foods used. It was published in 1973 by Bobbs-Merrill Co.
For instance, he describes how the cheeses used are made and how they taste.
He injects his opinions of how dishes tasted, how they were served and the wines that accompanied them.
In addition to recipes, he describes how the dishes are prepared in depth, something left out of most cookbooks.
One such menu is for an Au Revoir Buffet Lunch for Friends from Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. It starts with a bread and garlic soup topped with Alps Gruyere cheese, and includes FOUR main dishes, salad, a cheese tray and a mocha ice cream parfait. Goodness.
If you can find this book, buy it. It takes us to a time and place of peace, friends and and savoring food and companionship.

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The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth
Roy Andries De Groot
Manufacturer: The Ecco Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LZFRHA

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The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth
Roy Andries DeGroot
Manufacturer: Bobbs-Merrill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006C8UOK

Customer Reviews:

An intelligent gem.......2005-05-07

Big Clay Pot, set in 200 B.C.E., is a lovely little story that captures a slice of two lives and presents them cleanly, artfully and without adornment.

The art is deceptively simple, but Scott Mills certainly has packed Big Clay Pot with amazing depth and expression. The story is broken into brief vignettes, many of which are whimsical, a few of which are poignant, and one or two of which are downright sad.

Kokoro is wizened and old, his face a shapeless mass like the eponymous pot. Sun Kim is young, appealing and cute, but thankfully not at all like the preadolescent sex kittens that dominate Japan's popular manga style of art.

Big Clay Pot is an intelligent gem of a tale.

meditative and minimalist.......2001-01-18

In a world where shiny art and shiny costumes are the norm, its a refreshing change of pace to find a graphic novel like this. A quick read, this is a wonderfully heartfelt story of untraditional love and human relationships. I hesitate to call it a 'coming-of-age story' because that would seem to denigrate just how beautiful this story really is. The characters are real and the minimalist brush lines are expertly placed to convey the perfect emotions without the clutter of unnecessary crosshatching or gawdy computer coloring. I read Big Clay Pot and find myself relaxing from the sometimes overwhelming chaos of daily life. Easliy one of the best things I've read in a while.

Average customer rating:

Big Clay Pot
Scott Mills
Manufacturer: Top Shelf Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MBZAGQ

Amazon.com

Readers who have dined on a surfeit of private lives this past year might find themselves quipping, à la Gertrude Stein: a memoir is a memoir is a memoir is a memoir. But, in the hands of Eugene Jolas, friend and sometimes editor to such pivotal modernist figures as Stein, Joyce, Hemingway, Breton, and Gide, the memoir becomes an invaluable intellectual and historical document. Born in New Jersey and reared in Alsace-Lorraine, the trilingual Jolas was intimately acquainted with borders and frontiers. In fact, his life crossed and recrossed a series of sharp divides: poetry and journalism; romanticism and modernism; France, Germany, and the U.S. After a hardscrabble decade spent chasing after journalism jobs in the United States, Jolas returned to Paris as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. There he made the acquaintance of some of the century's greatest literary and artistic figures; later, he came to found and edit Transition, the influential journal that first published portions of Finnegans Wake. To some extent, his recollections can be read as a paean to being in the right place at the right time (possible subtitle: Famous Surrealists I Have Known). Jolas is a powerful writer in his own right, however, and his anecdotes shed light on far more than just his own individual life. Even in the rarefied avant-garde circles in which Jolas moved, the political movements of the '30s cast their long shadow, and some of the book's most powerful passages detail his disillusionment with the German Romantic poets and their brand of idealized nationalism. Now being published for the first time, almost 50 years after Jolas's death, Man from Babel is a memorable chronicle of the century in the process of being born to itself.

Book Description

This autobiography of Eugene Jolas, available for the first time nearly half a century after his death in 1952, tells the story of a man who, as the editor of the magazine transition, was the first publisher of Joyce's Finnegans Wake and other signal works of the modernist period. The book sheds new light on international modernism and the historical avant- garde.

Henry McBride Series in Modernism and Modernity

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Modern Humanities Research Association on July 1, 2000. The length of the article is 660 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Man from Babel.(Review) (book review)
Author: Craig Monk
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 2000
Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
Volume: 95 Issue: 3 Page: 816(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Man From Babel.(Review): An article from: New Criterion

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Man From Babel.(Review): An article from: New Criterion
Christopher Carduff
Manufacturer: Foundation for Cultural Review
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Foundation for Cultural Review on November 1, 1998. The length of the article is 536 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Man From Babel.(Review)
Author: Christopher Carduff
Publication: New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 1998
Publisher: Foundation for Cultural Review
Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Page: 74(1)

Article Type: Book Review

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The Man who loved languages: a scholar with the ability and audacity to rebuild the Tower of Babel died a year ago, but his controversial project lives ... memoriam): An article from: American Scholar

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The Man who loved languages: a scholar with the ability and audacity to rebuild the Tower of Babel died a year ago, but his controversial project lives ... memoriam): An article from: American Scholar
Richard B. Woodward
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000KLRQSI
Release Date: 2006-11-15

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2006. The length of the article is 6399 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Man who loved languages: a scholar with the ability and audacity to rebuild the Tower of Babel died a year ago, but his controversial project lives on.(Sergei Starostin)(In memoriam)
Author: Richard B. Woodward
Publication: American Scholar (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 75 Issue: 4 Page: 44(14)

Article Type: In memoriam

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The New Tower of Babel: Manifestations of Man's Escape from God

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The New Tower of Babel: Manifestations of Man's Escape from God

Manufacturer: Franciscan Herald Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H6UR1Y

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