Fiction. Translated from the French by Nathanaël. FLOWERS OF SPIT is a corrosive narrative that surrounds the inflamed character of Flore Forget. Written as a long soliloquy, this novel is a delirious howl, an expectoration in the face of the world, a dolorous dive into the depths of identity. Is it possible to emancipate oneself from one's tragedies, from the the individuals that have touched our lives and have died? Is it possible for flowers to bloom from cinders and spit? Filled with a vitriolic rage that teeters between despair and redemption, this work propels us into the memories inherent to scorched flesh. It is an implacable story, one propelled by a raw, breathless style that strikes us where it hurts the most.
Québécoise par son père et allemande par sa mère, Caroline Akerman-Marchand, sorte d’alter ego de l’autrice, est une jeune Montréalaise, qui étudie l’allemand à l’université. Par une après-midi chaude de juillet, elle rencontre « Monsieur le professeur Karlheinz Mueller-Stahl », par hasard, à la banque. Le professeur d’allemand, connu et respecté, ne parvenant pas à retirer de liquide au guichet automatique, demande à son étudiante de lui prêter un peu d’argent. "Je me souviens de cette rencontre fortuite, impromptue, avec le professeur Mueller-Stahl, puisque mon existence en fut transformée et que ce moment vif constitue ma première conversation avec celui qui incarnera ce que je considère comme mon entrée en littérature et ma déclaration d’amour à la culture, la grande culture européenne." Impromptu est ainsi le récit de la fascination qu’exerce l’Europe, « la vieille Europe » en Amérique du Nord, et particulièrement au Québec. Mais la réalité est parfois bien éloignée de cet imaginaire collectif, et c’est ce que va découvrir notre narratrice. Texte critique et un brin moqueur, autant sur le milieu universitaire que sur l’impérialisme culturel européen, Impromptu est aussi une histoire d’exil, de retour aux sources pour la narratrice qui tente de renouer avec ses origines allemandes. À PROPOS DE L'AUTEURE Née à Chicago en 1961, d’une mère française et d’un père grec, qui a grandi en Algérie, Catherine Mavrikakis vit depuis toujours à Montréal, où elle enseigne la littérature et la création. Elle est l’autrice d’une quinzaine de romans et d’essais. Publiée aux éditions Héliotrope au Québec, c’est grâce aux éditions Sabine Wespieser que nous l’avons découverte en France.
Hervé, the friend with AIDS; his lover, Hervé, also afflicted; Hervé the hairdresser; Hervé next door who has defenestrated himself: in A Cannibal and Melancholy Mourning the narrator confronts the deaths of so many friends, all named Hervé. But the dead cannot be buried so easily; they live on, spectres haunting her, as the cumulative effect of all her Hervés becomes a multifaced Death that simultaneously angers, saddens, cheers and confuses her. In this unfolding series of encounters between the living and the dead, Mavrikakis draws on Deleuze, Freud, Foucault and novelist Hervé Guibert to make of herself and of this visceral, compelling novel a kind of living mausoleu where those unable to speak may still be heard.
Hervé, the friend with AIDS; his lover, Hervé, also afflicted; Hervé the hairdresser; Hervé next door who has defenestrated himself: in A Cannibal and Melancholy Mourning the narrator confronts the deaths of so many friends, all named Hervé. But the dead cannot be buried so easily; they live on, spectres haunting her, as the cumulative effect of all her Hervés becomes a multifaced Death that simultaneously angers, saddens, cheers and confuses her. In this unfolding series of encounters between the living and the dead, Mavrikakis draws on Deleuze, Freud, Foucault and novelist Hervé Guibert to make of herself and of this visceral, compelling novel a kind of living mausoleu where those unable to speak may still be heard.
Gold has traditionally been regarded as inactive as a catalytic metal. However, the advent of nanoparticulate gold on high surface area oxide supports has demonstrated its high catalytic activity in many chemical reactions. Gold is active as a heterogeneous catalyst in both gas and liquid phases, and complexes catalyse reactions homogeneously in solution. Many of the reactions being studied will lead to new application areas for catalysis by gold in pollution control, chemical processing, sensors and fuel cell technology. This book describes the properties of gold, the methods for preparing gold catalysts and ways to characterise and use them effectively in reactions. The reaction mechanisms and reasons for the high activities are discussed and the applications for gold catalysis considered. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction to Catalysis (892 KB). Contents: Introduction to Catalysis; The Physical and Chemical Properties of Gold; Physical Properties and Characterisation of Small Gold Particles; Preparation of Supported Gold Catalysts; Chemisorption of Simple Molecules on Gold; Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide; The Selective Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide; Selective Oxidation; Reactions Involving Hydrogen; The WaterOCoGas Shift; Reactions of Environmental Importance; Catalysis by Soluble and Supported Gold Compounds; Miscellaneous Reactions Catalysed by Gold; Commercial Applications. Readership: Postgraduate level researchers in academia and industry, as well as general readers.
The fascination with gold is a story which spans millennia, however scientists have recently found a new interest for gold when it is divided into miniscule grains, such as gold nanoparticles. This scientific enthusiasm started in various fields of science in the middle of the 1980s and the present book offers a panorama of the major scientific achievements obtained with gold nanoparticles.Various topics are reviewed such as: gold nanoparticle preparation methods, their plasmon resonance and thermo-optical properties, their catalytic properties, their use in biology and medicine as well as their possible toxicity and, finally, their future technological applications. The book also contains an in-depth study of the use of gold nanoparticles throughout the ages, starting from times where the concept of nanoparticles was beyond the realm of human imagination. All these topics are presented by world-class scientists within a set of self-contained chapters.This book may be used as an advanced textbook by graduate students and scientists who need an introduction to gold nanoparticles. It is also suitable for experts in the related areas of chemistry, biology, material science, optics and physics, who are interested in broadening their knowledge and who wish to have an overview of the subject. Each chapter gradually leads the reader from the basics of a topic towards some of the current scientific challenges in the area. The necessary background material to achieve a solid understanding of each topic and the scientific literature to go further in the field is provided.
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