Book Description
This revised and updated second edition of a highly successful text embraces a universal approach to three major developments in classical physics: namely, nonlinear waves, solitons, and chaos. The authors include new material on biology and laser theory, and go on to discuss important recent developments such as soliton metamorphosis. They also offer a new section on a direct method to study transverse instabilities of pulse-like structures. A comprehensive treatment of basic plasma and fluid configurations and instabilities is followed by a study of the relevant nonlinear structures. Additional key features comprise color illustrations of soliton dynamics and end-of-chapter problems. In general, it will be of value to final year undergraduates and beginning graduate students studying fluid dynamics, plasma physics and applied mathematics.
Customer Reviews:
Obtuse and opaque tome.......2006-07-11
The main thrust of this textbook is soliton theory and examples in plasma physics. There is some additional material borrowed from fluid dynamics, but the flavor is still plasmas. This text is very analytic. The derivations are often hard or impossible to follow, and the authors seem to assume general familiarity with plasma physics. I don't have that familiarity, so I found the choice of topics covered and the ensuing theory ad hoc and unmotivated. This is the kind of text where you can spend an enormous amount of time grinding through it, and at the end of the day come away with very litte applicable knowledge.
Chaos is for everyone.......2001-06-22
This book delves far beyond the capabilities of a non-physicist such as myself and is not for everyone. However, I have had a regular tennis game for many years with co-author Professor George Rowlnds of Warwick University (UK). Over beer afterwards, he has often expounded on the importance of choas theory in the real world. I doubt but that a handful of people have the expertise to write a proper review of this book but, as none have done so, I offer this as a poor replacement. Your round, George!
Book Description
Plautus was the single greatest influence on Western comedy. Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Moliere's The Miser are two subsequent classics directly based on Plautine originals. Plautus himself borrowed from the Greeks, but his jokes, rapid dialogue, bawdy humour, and irreverent characterizations are the original work of an undisputed genius. The comedies printed here show him at his best, and professor Segal's translations keep their fast, rollicking pace intact, making these the most readable and actable versions available. His introduction considers Plautus' place in ancient comedy, examines his continuing influence, and celebrates his power to entertain.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting..........2003-06-27
This book makes for a good read, though it is not all that funny in today's context. I would recommend this book if you are interested in gaining a deeper understanding the minds of ancient peoples.
Four Comedies..........2000-04-24
a worthwhile read for anyone. but look into it if your taking a college course on roman comedy especially though. it's not a quick read but a good one. the "brothers Menaechmus" stays the truest to roman comedy forn with the five staple characters all in there. not for those wiht short attention spans.
Book Description
Plautus' comedy Menaechmi was the main inspiration for Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. In this edition Dr. Gratwick provides a newly constituted text, a commentary for students giving help with language and context, and an introduction that sheds new light on the interpretation of the play and on Plautus' place in the development of European comedy. Central to Dr. Gratwick's treatment is an analysis of the various meters employed by Plautus, which challenges many conventional views but also offers the student practical assistance with the technical problems involved.
Customer Reviews:
A generally good source.......2007-03-13
Having just completed teaching this text in a course, I'd say there is one main difficulty. This looks like an old typescript done in courier font that's been put into book form. It would benefit from a reset of the font and a more readable design. Other than that, maybe an update with more recent articles on the play would be in order. I'll use it again, but hope Bolchazy Carducci will do a remake. Otherwise a very usable book.
Plautus: Menaechmi.......2006-11-03
This is a first class commentary and a must for anyone interested in the history of Roman comedy. The introduction is clear; the explanation of meter is advanced but insightful; the discussion of the Greek origins of the comedy of errors is useful; and the commentary is tailored to the mid- to upper-level Latin student. I used this text for an advanced Latin course and found it quite good. The single drawback is the play itself - its crafting, structure, and sense of humor can appear clumsy and foreign to the tastes of modern students.
Book Description
Plautus (Titus Maccius), born about 254
BCE at Sarsina in Umbria, went to Rome, engaged in work connected with the stage, lost his money in commerce, then turned to writing comedies.
Twenty-one plays by Plautus have survived (one is incomplete). The basis of all is a free translation from comedies by such writers as Menander, Diphilus, and Philemon. So we have Greek manners of Athens about 300-250
BCE transferred to the Roman stage of about 225-185, with Greek places, people, and customs, for popular amusement in a Latin city whose own culture was not yet developed and whose manners were more severe. To make his plays live for his audience, Plautus included many Roman details, especially concerning slavery, military affairs, and law, with some invention of his own, notably in management of metres. The resulting mixture is lively, genial and humorous, with good dialogue and vivid style. There are plays of intrigue (Two Bacchises, The Haunted House, Pseudolus); of intrigue with a recognition theme (The Captives, The Carthaginian, Curculio); plays which develop character (The Pot of Gold, Miles Gloriosus); others which turn on mistaken identity (accidental as in the Menaechmi; caused on purpose as in Amphitryon); plays of domestic life (The Merchant, Casina, both unpleasant; Trinummus, Stichus, both pleasant).
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Plautus is in five volumes.
Customer Reviews:
great resource.......2006-03-17
I got this to help in my class on Plautus (reading the Amphitruo and Casina) and it has become my constant companion. Plautus is full of colloquial Latin which can be difficult to understand, and the Loeb gives a fantastic translation. Also it is great for the part in the Amphitruo's prologue when Mercury uses legal speak, which is probably the toughest section of the entire play.
Timeless.......2002-08-27
This play, along with another of Plautus' works "Captivii" were combined by Stephen Sondheim to give us the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"
Book Description
"The works of Plautus," writes Palmer Bovie, "mark the real beginning of Roman literature." Now Bovie and David Slavitt have brought together a distinguished group of translators for the final two volumes of a four-volume set containing all twenty-one surviving comedies of one of Western literature's greatest dramatists.
Born in Sarsina, Umbria, in 254 B.C., Plautus is said to have worked in Rome as a stage carpenter and later as a miller's helper. Whether authentic or not, these few details about the playwright's life are consistent with the image of him one might infer from his plays. Plautus was not "literary" but rather an energetic and resourceful man of the world who spoke the language of the people. His dramatic works were his way of describing and portraying that world in a language the people understood.
Since Plautus's career unfolded against the background of the Second Punic War, it is not surprising that his prologues often end with a wish for the audience's "good luck against your enemies" or that the plays have their share of arrogant generals, boastful military captains, and mercenary adventurers. But other unforgettable characters are here as well -- among them Euclio, in the Aulularia, the model for Molière's miser. In these lively new translations, which effectively communicate the vitality and verve of the originals, the plays of Plautus are accessible to a new generation.
Plays and translators:
Volume 4: Persa, Palmer Bovie. Menaechmi, Palmer Bovie. Cistellaria, R. H. W. Dillard. Pseudolus, Richard Beacham. Stichus, Carol Poster. Vidularia, John Wright.
Customer Reviews:
Plautus: The Original Comic Genius.......2000-05-15
This is definitely worth the purchase if you are at all a fan of European Theatre. The plays of Plautus inspired many others, including Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. Thus, any fan of the theatrical world would be missing out if they did not check out this book of the wildly irreverent, slapstick style writing of Plautus.
Book Description
"Mr. Segal has performed the by no means trifling task of making [Plautus's] achievement credible and understandable."--Times Literary Supplement. "It is refreshing to find Plautus examined for what he undeniably was--a theatrical phenomenon."--Classical World. "We certainly need in English a book devoted to Plautus alone and here we have it."--Phoenix. "Many readers will do as I have done: read Roman Laughter with enjoyment and profit."--Classical Philology. "Of all the Greek and Roman playwrights," Erich Segal writes, "Titus Maccius Plautus is the least admired and the most imitated." In Roman Laughter, the first book-length study of Plautus, Segal argues that this neglected writer, often denounced by scholars for such crimes as "barbarous clownery," merits our serious attention precisely because he was the most successful poet of the ancient world. He analyzes the reasons behind this success, placing the author in his social and historical context and observing that Plautus's wildly comedic flouting of Roman law and custom had a cathartic effect upon a people bound by rule in every aspect of their lives. This expanded edition contains a new preface that reconsiders the work of Plautus in light of recent scholarship and also contains essays on the Amphitryon and the Captivi.
Customer Reviews:
Old Time Comedy.......2007-06-27
Although it's been forty years since I have read any Roman comedy in the Latin, I can still enjoy what Plautus and Terence wrote over two thousand years ago. As for the translations, the rhyme scemes used for the different characters and parts of the plot make the play come to life. While laughing at the unfolding story I marveled at the ryhmes and the alliterations. It also didn't hurt that Dr. Douglass Parker was my advisor at the University of California at Riverside, lo those many years ago.
Too colloquial but otherwise good.......2003-05-02
The translations are a bit too colloquial for my taste. In some plays for instance the names are changes, or a character is said to have a Bronx accent! The translators goal was to have lively and performable versions, and they do, so this may not bother everyone.
Each play has a simple stage diagram, and some notes on what the stage should be like (eg, the first house should be grand and imposing, but the neighboring house is small and unimpressive). The stage directions are good. Short helpful introduction.
The book physically is splendid, with nice easy to read type, and the speakers names in full, offset to make them clear.
The translation isn't great.......2000-05-29
I enjoyed the plays but would have liked a better translation. The many liberties that were taken in the translation of the text doesn't do the language justice. It made the translation more comprehensive for the modern reader, but the beauty and poetry of the writing was lost. The repetition of sounds and synonyms was profuse and often became annoying. Otherwise, the plays themselves were great fun and a delight to read. This anthology provides a good sampling of Roman comedy as well as good examples of the continuing themes in the genre. I would recommend it for someone new to the field.
Average customer rating:
|
Oxford Readings in Menander, Plautus, and Terence (Oxford Readings in Classical Studies)
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Greek & Roman
| Drama
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
History
| Drama
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Movements & Periods
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Arthurian Romance
| Beat Generation
| General
| Gothic Revival
| Medieval
| Modernism
| Postmodernism
| Renaissance
| Romanticism
| Surrealism
| Victorian
Greek
| Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Latin
| Instruction
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus
-
Phormio: A Comedy by Terence
ASIN: 0198721935 |
Book Description
This book documents the origins of modern comedy by examining the evolution of 'New Comedy', the Greek genre of which the works of Menander are the only surviving example. Earlier authors like Aristophanes wrote in a completely different style: raucous, bawdy, fantastical, and vaudeville. Menander (of whom Plutarch said, 'what other reason would a cultivated man have to go to the theatre?') and his contemporaries presented civilised, urban comedies based on the themes of quiet domestic dramas. The Romans adapted these comedies giving them their own farcical spin. Though they based their comedies on Greek originals, Plautus referred to them as 'barbarian versions'; they were mockeries on Hellenistic themes. Terence, by contrast, is more like Menander, whose plays he followed with some fidelity, but without success. The Romans did not crave realism, they wanted a good laugh and Terence- though he could have done so- refused to pander to their vulgar tastes. Yet he got his revenge. It was Terence who provided the touchstone boy-meets-girl plots which still appear today in various guises on the silver screen. An authoritative Introduction sets the papers, which are by leading experts in their field, in context and explores connections between them thus examining the legacy for modern comedies. All Latin and Greek is translated.
Book Description
"I consider this the best full-length discussion of Plautine metatheater in existence.... The author talks lucidly about Plautus in terms that the modern student of dramatic literature can grasp, even without knowledge of Plautus.... In short, this is a major contribution to theory about Roman drama and to an understanding of Plautus."
—William S. Anderson, Professor of Latin, University of California, Berkeley
The relationship between actors and spectators has been of perennial interest to playwrights. The Roman playwright Plautus (ca. 200 BCE) was particularly adept at manipulating this relationship. Plautus allowed his actors to acknowledge freely the illusion in which they were taking part, to elicit laughter through humorous asides and monologues, and simultaneously to flatter and tease the spectators.
These metatheatrical techniques are the focus of Timothy J. Moore's innovative study of the comedies of Plautus. The first part of the book examines Plautus' techniques in detail, while the second part explores how he used them in the plays
Pseudolus,
Amphitruo,
Curculio,
Truculentus,
Casina, and
Captivi. Moore shows that Plautus employed these dramatic devices not only to entertain his audience but also to satirize aspects of Roman society, such as shady business practices and extravagant spending on prostitutes, and to challenge his spectators' preconceptions about such issues as marriage and slavery. These findings forge new links between Roman comedy and the social and historical context of its performance.
Books:
- One-Dimensional Metals: Conjugated Polymers, Organic Crystals, Carbon Nanotubes
- Operator Algebras and Quantum Statistical Mechanics 2: Equilibrium States. Models in Quantum Statistical Mechanics (Theoretical and Mathematical Physics)
- Parents Do Make a Difference: How to Raise Kids with Solid Character, Strong Minds, and Caring Hearts (The Jossey-Bass Psychology Series)
- Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts
- Percolation
- Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman
- Physical Relativity: Space-time Structure from a Dynamical Perspective
- Physics As a Calling : Discipline and Practice in the Konigsberg Seminar for Physics (History of Science Ser.)
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Vol. 1 (Third Edition)
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume II
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage
- Calculus: Single and Multivariable
- Solving Equilibrium Problems With Applications to Qualitative Analysis
- The Speed of Dark
- Verdura: The Life and Work of a Master Jeweler
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants
- 2006 Scott Catalogue: Countries of the World J-O
- Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs
- The Crafter's Complete Guide to Collage
- Vascular plants of British Columbia: A descriptive resource inventory
The Versatile Soliton
Solitons: An Introduction (Cambridge Texts in Applied Mathematics)
Classical Electrodynamics Third Edition
