PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Roland Barthes (1915-80) was a professor at the College de France until his death. His books include Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography; Image, Music, Text; and A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. Chris Turner is a writer and translator who lives in Birmingham, England. He has translated Jean-Paul Sartre's The Aftermath of War, Portraits, and Critical Essays and Andre Gorz's Ecologica and The Immaterial, all published by Seagull Books.
The most striking quality in this volume of newly translated essays by Barthes, written between 1950 and 1977, is their freshness. . . . A humane and consistent vision threads through them: Barthes asserts firmly that literature matters, those in power lie, and killing for the sake of a doctrine is wrong. He writes with a clarity and brevity that strike to the heart of issues still relevant decades after his death: race, propaganda, abuse of power. . . . This collection is strongly recommended: it more than repays the reader's time and effort. --Publishers Weekly
