Books in English

The Eyes of Love in
Doctor Zhivago
by
Neil McKinnon

In this innovative essay about David Lean’s movie (5 Oscars in 1965), the author focuses on the actors’ and actresses’ eyes and the way to light them onstage. Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Sir Alec Guinness and… Mrs Julie Christie who embodies the memorable Lara.
An important book for all large-screen amateurs who worshipped this cinematographic adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s (Nobel Prize for literature) novel. One fantastic epic.

But… upon reflection we may ask ourselves: is this movie one about the Russian Revolution on which was grafted a romance? or is it a great love-story with the 1917 revolutionary background?
The answer will be yours, thanks to Yuri Zhivago’s eyes, or Pasha Antipov’s, or Lara Antipova’s. Without neglecting Komarovski’s.
Neil McKinnon graces us here with an elaborate study, as writes Anna Pasternak in a foreword:
“If you loved David Lean’s sweeping epic of
Doctor Zhivago, re-visit the emotive power with this original, moving and clever analysis of a masterpiece. Much more than a basic film-review, this deeply personal account is in service to Pasternak’s unforgettable love story and his immortal portrayal of his Lara.”
(Anna Pasternak, grand-niece of Boris Pasternak; Mrs Pasternak is the author of Lara: The Untold Love Story That Inspired Doctor Zhivago)

Wait no more, hesitate not, allow yourself to be carried away by the balalaika and its amorous whirl… and surrender to the charm, the eyes of Madame Julie Christie…

Released in September 2022
(A translation into French of McKinnon’s work is expected in 2023, reserve it by clicking HERE)

our latest publication “for our students”
Concerning bʊk, all our trainees will benefit from a 25% discount on public price.

bʊk
best technology ever
for word-addicts
by
Nicolas Prudhomme

(book in English)

A special and original piece to make progress in English, intended for French students:
— on the left-hand page, the text itself
— on the right-hand page, difficult words or unusual expressions are explained in English (at times translated) with a few grammar rules reminded once in a while.
One is therefore able to read without breaks at one’s own rythm, without obligation to turn to a dictionary every five seconds. A Glossary will offer extra indications.
Book is available in paper version and digital version. We recommend the paper version as it will enable you to take notes… and it’s so much easier to carry around!



Released in October 2021

Bilingual Guide to
Film Photography
by
Bernard Binette 
& Nicolas Prudhomme


This is THE book all passionate photographers ought to buy!!

From folding cameras to view-cameras, from Super-Angulon lenses to mirror ones, from Verichrome to GAF, from Brovira to Lupex or Guilleminot, from Pellix to Zorki, from depth-of-field to fill-in lights, from Wratten to Lee… a whole range of bygone terms are here brought back to memory.
Without forgetting the movie cameras.

Along with Lighting, the Laboratory section is obviously a key one and you will find an extensive range of descriptions about developing and printing.
Tricks of the trade are numerous and many anecdotic stories about Film Photography are sprinkled here and there to offer better background. (35 chapters with the necessary information to learn about film photography.)

Each chapter starts with a full-page picture in B&W to illustrate properly the specific subject at hand. All explanations, techniques, gear used… are of course bilingual and the index will come in pretty handy. Buy and get started, now!

Released in April 2021

Farewell, Sir Connery.
Hello again, James!!
by
Moany Penny

(book in English)

Our authoress – imaginary – here uses a funny pseudonym to represent “her” James-darling’s lovesick secretary… For Moneypenny and Bond form this legendary couple of the Sixties-Seventies movies that bear a so-British charm.
The book will bring to memory numerous Bad Guys, as well as the glorious James Bond Girls that did so much for the fame of the saga. 
Our youngest readers might need to turn to the internet… or – much better! – view the films for many references about characters pop up here and there: Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton and Diana Rigg form the unavoidable female trio, without forgetting others: Drax, Tatiana Romanova, Solitaire, Octopussy… Jaws or Pussy Galore… the awful Rosa Klebb… and the alluring Ursula emerging from the sea. Wow.
You will also learn many aspects of the immense actor that Sean Connery was. All of it with lots of double-entendres.
And oh, when one remembers that the producers in 1961 weren't that keen on hiring the man because he wasn’t sophisticated enough… it took Mrs Saltzman to persuade them: she had felt at once that all women would be magnetized by his manliness!!!
Quite a treat, rest assured. A love(ly) read.
Will James be able to resist them all?

(The most witty readers will – of course – have noticed that there lies a tiny “mistake” in the title: one should write either “Sir Sean” or “Sir Sean Connery” concerning 007’s knighthood. But our authoress is here less serious than she used to look onscreen…)

The book exists translated into French under the tab Romans (novels). A real treat.

Released in December 2020

"Sheridan, Painter of his Time"
by
Annie Zwobada

(book in English)

Essay about the famous Irish playwright, Richard Sheridan, written in 1950 by a French student for her Diplôme d'études supérieures.
The authoress, aged only 22, here proves how well she mastered this new language, mixing quotes and social context with humour.
Sheridan was known for his sharp critic about the lifestyle of his times: duels, gambling debts, cuckoldry, ruthless political ambition… all that is present in his plays (The Duenna, The School for Scandal, The Rivals, amongst others) whose characters originated from the “good society”  of Bath, city of thermal waters.
Sheridan (1751-1816), politicians with the Whigs (Tories’ ancestors), was also renowned for his exceptional oratory abilities.
 
Annie Zwobada will become an English teacher and will contribute to training teachers at the Paris Laboratoire de langues (Institut pédagogique national). Her essay had rested in an old-and-forgotten folder… for the last seventy years.

The book shall no doubt be of interest to candidates to Bachelor degrees in English (or even higher up with Agrégation level: Sheridan was to be studied in the literature programme of 1950, 1963, 1980 and 1996 right beside the unavoidable Thackeray, Woolf, Smollett, Shakespeare, Dickens, Shelley, Milton or Tennyson…

Released in February 2020

 

Making exam-revising easier for our students in English, such is the aim of all our

pedagogical documents (Fiches Vol.1 - Vol.2 et Exercices corrigés)

French people will test themselves with Exercises (that include detailed corrections)

and will download the vital Irregular Verbs list – which is to be learnt by heart…

English pedagogical sheets
vol. 1      (ebook in Pdf)
by
Nicolas Prudhomme




15 themes grouped into 86 pages.
Learn how to distinguish the 3 “—ing” forms, use the right tense about action, make new words, revise your prepositions, express the ideas of duty, of will, of permission… Not to forget dangerous look-alikes!
To make progress in English. No paper version; each student is invited to print his/her copy in landscape format.

Released in January 2017

English pedagogical sheets
vol. 2     (ebook in Pdf)
by
Nicolas Prudhomme



15 themes grouped into 88 pages.
Form interrogative propositions easily, use the appropriate link-words, master numbers and quantities, pronounce (a little better) the “TH”,  learn about the numerous meanings of the verb "to get", use the passive voice without hesitation… 15 different chapters, including common sayings and usual phrasings that will be of help to French students.

To make steady progress in English. No paper version; each student is invited to print his/her copy in landscape format.

Released in April 2020

The Wild’n’Wicked
Wizardess of Ooze
by
Jane BLAND

 (book in English; slightly dirty, only slightly)

Mrs Bland speaks about a “fountain woman”. Do not, however, be misled by the authoress’s name: she is nowhere near any idea of blandness… quite the opposite!

So, ride the tide … for endless pleasures, because she’s good at wording them. And a great part of the deal is to keep one’s sense of humour. Whatever the circumstances.

And oh… don’t you start telling Jane that “wizard” is a noun for males only. Always on the lookout for originality, she invented “wizardess” (that translates in French as «magicienne») because “fairy” seemed a little plain – much too ordinary for her kind of gal’.
Deliciously naughty, indeed. C’mon, guys, take a deep breath and dive in because Jane’s book about pleasure of the flesh pairs well with fresh leisure. Despite a very intimate subject, this work is definitely funny!
 
Released in July 2021; stands among the best-sellers of BoD online bookstore
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