In the five stories included in this collection––“The Wall,” “The Room,” “Erostratus,” “Intimacy” and “The Childhood of a Leader”––the French master of Existentialism displays his powers of narrative and psychological insight at their most effective. Sartre’s characters and situations mirror the conflicts, complexities, neuroses and sensuality of the twentieth century. His intellectual underworld includes a modern Erostratus who is compelled to murder, a psychotic who communicates his hallucinations to his formerly-sane spouse, an unfaithful wife still bound to her impotent husband, a boy’s metamorphosis into an anti-semitic fascist, and the astonishing fate of a political prisoner. The close-ups of these people living in a contemporary world are vividly real; their stories are gripping and almost unbearably suspenseful. Polyphonic themes of decadence, sexual perversion, insanity and political and social amorality are skillfully woven throughout the entire collection of stories.
The State University of New York at Albany (also known as University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a publicresearch university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
The Uptown Campus, the university's main campus, is located mostly in Albany, with a small portion (a dorm "quad" and the athletics complex) spilling into theMcKownvilleneighborhood in the neighboring town ofGuilderland(official address: 1400 Washington Avenue in Albany). Its visual effect has been described as "Dazzling one-of-a-kind" by architectural critic Thomas A. Gaines, who called it "a formal masterpiece" and "a study in classical romanticism."[25]Designed in 1961–1962 by noted American architectEdward Durell Stoneand constructed from 1963 to 1964, the campus bears Stone's signature style that includes towers, domes, fountains, colonnades, canopies, and other features typical for the era. Stone's campus layout emphasizes residential quadrangles, also known as "quads", surrounding the academic buildings.
At the hub of the Uptown Campus is the rectangular "Academic Podium", featuring 13 three-story buildings under a single overhanging canopy roof. The Podium's showpiece is a central pool with fountains and an off-center circular bell tower, or "Carillon", which also serves as a water storage reservoir.[26] In April 2012, the university undertook a complete renovation of the main fountain and water tower area, as well as of the Campus Center fountain. There is LED lighting in the base of the fountain, and a new, more interactive center element with seating areas. Completion of the project is scheduled for fall 2013.[27]
A portion of the Academic Podium of the Uptown Campus
The domed Main Library, the Performing Arts Center, and Campus Center face the pool from the west, east and south, respectively. The Campus Center was under construction from Spring 2015 and was finally completed Fall of 2017 adding more space and dining options for students. To the north is a grand entrance, which welcomes visitors by way of a "great lawn" (Collins Circle) and the university's Entry Plaza. Four residential quadrangles are located adjacent to the four corners of the academic podium. Each quad consists of a 23-story high-rise dormitory surrounded by a square of low-rise buildings.[28]
