Princeton Weekly Bulletin March 29, 1999

In Print

    

"Complex Pleasure deals with questions of literary feeling in eight major German writers -- Lessing, Kant, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, Musil, Kafka, Trakl and Benjamin. On the basis of close readings of these authors, Stanley Corngold makes vivid the following ideas: that where there is literature there is complex pleasure; that this pleasure is complex because it involves the impression of a disclosure; that this thought is foremost in the minds of a number of canonical writers; that important literary works in the German tradition -- fiction, poetry, critique&endash;can be illuminated through their treatment of literary feeling; and, finally, that the conceptual terms for these forms of feeling continually vary. The reader will also find fascinating, hitherto untranslated material by Nietzsche and Kafka." (from the book cover)

    

Work and Welfare, edited by Laurance Rockefeller University Professor of Politics Amy Gutmann. (Princeton University Press, 1998)

"The Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow directs his attention here to one of today's most controversial social issues: how to get people off welfare and into jobs. With characteristic eloquence, wit and rigor, Solow condemns the welfare reforms recently passed by Congress and President Clinton for confronting welfare recipients with an unworkable choice&endash;finding work in the current labor market or losing benefits. He argues that the only practical and fair way to move recipients to work is, in contrast, through an ambitious plan to guarantee that every able-bodied citizen has access to a job." (from the book cover)

    

Von der Idee des Menschen: Über Friedrich Schiller, by Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures Walter Hinderer. (Königshausen and Neumann, 1998)

"Schiller's heightened capacity for both concrete observation and conceptual thinking, for reason and feeling, reflection and affect make him the prototype of the modern writer. His work responds to questions of a philosophical, anthropological, existential, aesthetic kind in their political, historical and social connections. Walter Hinderer's new book consists of two parts: one devoted to Schiller's wide-ranging theoretical work, especially in anthropology and poetics. The second consists of detailed analyses of Schiller's representative dramas, which illustrate the close interrelations of his aesthetic theory and dramatic practice. The introduction documents the main stages of the author's life and literary and philosophical development." (from the book cover)

    

The Art of Living, by Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities Alexander Nehamas. (University of California Press, 1998)

"Philosophy can be seen as made up of two very different ways of responding to the figure of Socrates. The dominant tradition follows the later Plato and tries to provide answers to Socrates' questions. Philosophy in this mode is made up of theoretical, impersonal arguments about our obligations to others, the nature of the good life, what we can know and what there is. But Nehamas is out to invigorate another neglected mode. In this Socratic mode, there is an enhanced emphasis on what kind of life one leads, what kind of self one becomes, when one lives with the question of how to live. For Nehamas, Socrates' 'major accomplishment is that he established a new way of life, a new art of living,' and in so doing constituted himself as the unique individual he became. The question for Nehamas is: how can one possibly follow suit?." (review by Jonathan Lear, New York Times Book Review, October 25, 1998)

    

After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s, by Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor of Social Sciences Robert Wuthnow. (University of California Press, 1998)

"In After Heaven, Robert Wuthnow describes how American spirituality has changed from the 1950s to the present. He shows that spirituality for many people has been affected by the unsettledness of our society during the past half century -- by changes in families, communities, education and work that have weakened the ability of religious organizations to define the meaning of spirituality. The new ideas of spiritual freedom that emerged during the 1960s began to legitimate a spirituality of seeking that went outside established religious institutions. Wuthnow concludes the book by describing a spirituality based in practice, which he sees as a potentially transformative path for people who are unable to dwell comfortably within one religious community and who want more than a spirituality of endless seeking." (from the book cover)

    

The View From the Tower: Origins of an Antimodernist Image, by Class of 1900 Professor of Modern Languages Theodore Ziolkowski. (Princeton University Press, 1998 )

"Immediately after World War I, four major European and American poets and thinkers -- W.B. Yeats, Robinson Jeffers, R.M. Rilke and C.G. Jung -- moved into towers as their principal habitations. Taking this striking coincidence as its starting point, this book sets out to locate modern turriphilia in its cultural context and to explore the biographical circumstances that motivated the four writers to choose their unusual retreats. From the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia to the ivory towers of the fin de siècle, the author traces the emergence of a variety of symbolic associations with the proud towers of the past, ranging from spirituality and intellect to sexuality and sequestration." (from the book cover)

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, translated and edited by Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature and Comparative Literature Stanley Corngold. (W.W. Norton & Co., 1996)

"Franz Kafka's 1915 masterpiece is presented in the acclaimed translation by Stanley Corngold. The novella is fully annotated and is accompanied by selected textual variants. 'Backgrounds and Contexts' introduces readers to The Metamorphosis in the richest possible setting. Kafka's letters and diary entries illuminate the creative process behind Gregor Samsa, his family and their nightmarish ordeal. 'Criticism' is a collection of seven essays from the period 1970-95 that offers a variety of perspectives on the novella by Iris Bruce, Nina Pelikan Straus, Kevin W. Sweeney, Mark Anderson, Hartmut Binder, Eric Santner and Stanley Corngold. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included." (from the book cover)

    

Georg Philipp Telemann, by Le Triomphe de l'Amour (Donna Fournier, viola; Assistant Music Librarian Tom Moore and Laura Ronai, flute; and Janet Palumbo, harpsichord). (Lyrichord Discs, 1999)

"For a musician, specializing in Baroque is not a ticket to wealth, fame or glory. Baroque players are the classical equivalent of folk singers, plying their trade steadily, for the love of it, to a dedicated audience usually counted in the dozens rather than the hundreds. But, as in other musical specialities, the work gets noticed. The Princeton-based Baroque group Le Triomphe de l'Amour have just released their first recording, a disc of Telemann trio sonatas on Lyrichord. Their reputation is growing." (review by Peter Spencer, Star-Ledger, February 26, 1999)

Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound: An Introduction to Psychoacoustics, edited by Assistant Professor of Computer Science Perry R. Cook. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1999)

"How hearing works and how the brain processes sounds entering the ear to provide the listener with useful information are of great interest to psychologists, cognitive scientists, and musicians. while a number of books have concentrated on individual aspects of this field, known as psychoacoustics, there has been no comprehensive introductory coverage of the multiple topics encompassed under the term. Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound is the first book to provide that coverage The book begins with introductory chapters on the basic physiology and functions of the ear and auditory sections of the brain, then proceeds to discuss numerous topics associated with the study of psychoacoustics, including cognitive psychology and the physics of sound An accompanying audio CD includes many sound examples to help explicate the text. (from the MIT Press catalog)

Loose Connections: Joining Together in America's Fragmented Communities, by Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor of Social Sciences Robert Wuthnow. (Harvard University Press, 1998)

"Through a national survey of 1,500 Americans and more than 250 indepth interviews with community leaders, volunteers and ordinary citizens, Robert Wuthnow once again focuses his trained and caring eye on America's quest for community and spirituality in the contemporary world. 'Loose connections' are Americans' new ways of joining together, from neighborhood task forces to support groups to meetings around single issues such as toxic waste or local schools. Wuthnow acknowledges a significant change in the nature of our affiliations, away from masonic lodges and ladies' auxiliaries and toward more flexible and limited groupings. He sees this shift as a largely positive: a constructive adaptation to the broader changes in families, communities, corporate structures and government. Americans are joining more varied and informal networks, and Wuthnow helps us understand why this is happening and how the experience of working with others toward specific ends, even in loose connections, contributes to stronger ties within the community as a whole." (from the book cover)