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ISLAND OF BLOOD

Name: ISLAND OF BLOOD
Author: Anita Pratap
ISBN: 0-14-302906-1

FRONTLINE REPORTS FROM SRI LANKA, AFGHANISTAN AND OTHER SOUTH ASIAN FLASHPOINTS

by Anita Pratap ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2003

Too bad, since these extraordinary tales don’t require such hype.

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An intrepid Indian journalist recalls covering some of the nastiest stories on earth, involving civil war, casual murder, catastrophic weather, and profound human misery.

Former CNN New Delhi bureau chief Pratap is a wonderful reporter with all senses alert to the most significant details of the scenes she describes. We hear, feel, smell, taste, and see the disturbing stories that were also her specialty at periodicals from India Today to Time. The longest portion here deals with the bitter conflicts in Sri Lanka, the “island of blood” where Pratap battled the elements, insects, and frighteningly dangerous young men brandishing weapons to bring her horror stories to page and screen. She gained privileged access to the opposition forces and their charismatic but ruthless chief, Pirabhakaran, who granted her numerous interviews. Pratap strongly denies any intimate relationship between them, though she expresses a kind of admiration for the strength of Pirabhakaran’s will. Turning to Afghanistan, she relates the rise of the Taliban, once again displaying her journalistic chops in sentences like this one describing a corpse in the street: “Gradually, the dead soldier crumbled into the dust of his doomed land.” She chronicles the Hindus’ destruction in 1992 of the abandoned Muslim mosque, Babri Masjid, and the ensuing savage reprisals. She portrays the horrific 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh, describing in bitter detail what wind and tide and time can do to the fragile human frame. She ends with wrenching accounts of suffering children she has seen, followed by a brief epilogue about the psychological effects this wretchedness has wrought upon her. For contrast, the author occasionally intercuts scenes from her comfortable life at home. Regrettably, clichés and platitudes frequently muffle the impact of Pratap’s sharp reporting, and she’s all too willing to quote others about how talented and fearless she is.

Too bad, since these extraordinary tales don’t require such hype.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-14-302906-1

Page Count: 280

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.