Paris, Eugene Atget - Andreas Krase

Eugene Atget is "the" photographer of Old Paris. Between 1897 and 1927 he recorded the imprint of history as no other photograher has done. Daily tracing the changes in the face of the city was not only his profession, but also his vocation. When he was laid to rest in 1927, his funeral went virtually unnoticed, yet today Atget is regarded as one of the most important photographers of all time.

Atget's pictures of Paris are evocative a time that has largely passed in Paris. Of course, the charm of Paris is how much remains of its past. Atget documented the city while creating fabulous pictures that demand attention in simple ways. His photos encompass the Paris not popular with tourists. He doesn't shoot pictures of crowds or big events. His photos favor empty streets and alleys more than people. Great artistry documenting the most ordinary of a totally unordinary city.

This book is one of many the publisher, Taschen, produced for its twenty-fifth anniversary. This one, along with others I have seen, are great bargains with quality printing and an informative text. A wonderful book to enjoy--history, Paris, and great art.

No Beginning. No End. - Jakusho Kwong

When the sun first comes up and shines on you, he said, your shadow is big behind you.  But as you continue to sit, your shadow gets smaller and smaller, until finally it's just Buddha sitting there.

This book, made up of many short chapters, reads like lectures to students of Zen.  At times it is basic and quite understandable to someone who is not a practioner of Zen, while at other times it addresses complex issues addressed more to students than casual readers interested in Zen.  I was surprised that all 18 reviews of this book on Amazon.com gave the book the top ranking, five stars.  In looking over the reviewers, however, it appeared that most were students of Zen.

I liked the book and it was a worthwhile read.  I have read other books on Zen and with that basic understanding, I could follow most of the writings.  Like most other Zen books, this one contains many quotes and anecdotes from both historical and present day Zen masters.   Janusho Kwong is the successor in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki who wrote the famous Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.  He is co-founder and abbot of the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. 

109 East Palace - Jennet Conant

In the days that followed, she learned that the man she had met, who went by the name of Mr. Bradley, was actually J. Robert Oppenheimer, a famous American physicist from the University of California at Berkeley and the leader of a secret wartime project. Bradley was the name he would use in and around town, and the way she was to address him in public. She would learn never to mention his real name and, for that matter, never to mention him at all. Not to anyone. She was told never, under any circumstances, to use the word "physicist." "I was told never to ask questions, never to have a name repeated," she wrote, recalling her initiation into the most momentous scientific project of the twentieth century.

This book tells the story of Los Alamos largely based on the diaries of the Robert Oppenheimer's assistant.  It presents the human side of the development of the secret city and the creation of the atomic bomb.  While focused on Oppenheimer, the reader is also is given an insight into the people that made up this city.  It was the largest gathering of scientists ever put to one task in a single place.

The author gives the reader a good feel for the Santa Fe area in the early forties.  We see the difficulties of rapidly building an entire city and scientfic labs in a remote desert location.  The challenges of keeping the whole operation top secret make for an intriguing read.  For me, the last third of the book dragged a little as the focus moved from Los Alamos to the challenges Oppenheimer and others faced in the subsequent McCarthy era.  I also would have liked more details on the scientific challenges and less on details like setting up kitchens in the homes. 

I didn't like this book nearly as much as the author's previous novel, Tuxedo Park, which I highly recommend.  Still, it is an enjoyable read about a most fascinating endeavor.