The structure of social stratification in the United States

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Vaclav Havel

All life in a police state is interesting, probably corrupt and potentially subversive as portrayed in this absurdist but seemingly autobiographical play by Czech playwright Vaclav Havel. As in Phoenix, to cite an example, police don't care about guilt, innocence, justice or mercy. If anyone is accused of a crime, they want a conviction. In Havel's play, Professor Leopold Nettles is charged with "disturbing the intellectual peace." Only in a police state could anyone invent such a wide-ranging crime. In Phoenix, conviction means a fine. In Havel's play, a conviction may mean an indeterminate sentence in semi-starved misery in a distant gulag. Once suspected, Leopold knows he's guilty in the eyes of the state. The play portrays a variety of people who visit him, proud that he speaks up in defiance of the authorities - - - but unwilling to join him in his stand for intellectual freedom. Leopold, like Havel for much of his life, is utterly alone. But who are the well-wishers who applaud his dissidence? Are they friends, or secret police agents as provocateurs? Two police agents who visit offer a clever means to avoid prosecution; in effect, "just agree to our falsehoods and all charges will go away." Really? A trap? Are the police undermining the government they serve? How can anyone trust anything? Such is the nature of 'Largo Desolato' and life in a police state. --Theodore A. Rushton at Amazon.com.

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Laura Kasischke

Roman d'apprentissage. Comme de nombreux lycéens américains qui fêtent leur diplôme de fin d'études, trois lycéennes se rendent au Mexique, où elles envisagent de passer quelques jours de vacances hors du giron protecteur de leurs familles respectives. Alors que l'une d'entre elles opte pour la plage et le flirt, les deux autres s'intéressent à la culture du pays et acceptent imprudemment de visiter un site maya, en compagnie d'un archéologue, rencontré dans un bar. Anne, la plus raisonnable, narre rétrospectivement, cette expédition éprouvante, alors que, en contrepoint, la voix de Michelle, plus mystique et passionnée, est donnée à entendre, à la troisième personne.

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Sophocles

"Oedipus, the former ruler of Thebes, has died. Now, when his young daughter Antigone defies her uncle, Kreon, the new ruler, because he has prohibited the burial of her dead brother, she and he enact a primal conflict between young and old, woman and man, individual and ruler, family and state, courageous and self-sacrificing reverence for the gods of the earth and perhaps self-serving allegiance to the gods of the sky." "Echoing through Western culture for more than two millennia, Sophocles' Antigone has been a touchstone of thinking about human conflict and human tragedy, the role of the divine in human life, and the degree to which men and women are the creators of their own destinies. This exciting new translation of the play is extremely faithful to the Greek, eminently playable, and poetically powerful." "For readers, actors, students, teachers, and theatrical directors, this new translation of one of the greatest plays in the history of the Western world provides the best combination of contemporary, powerful language, along with superb background and notes on meaning, interpretation, and ancient beliefs, attitudes, and contexts"--Book jacket.

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J. D. Haines

A troubled thirteen-year-old from Chicago moves to Oklahoma, where his part-Cherokee grandfather prepares him to go on a vision quest, then shows him how to live by spiritual ideals on his journey toward manhood.