In his Preface, Burgess claims that his two-volume autobiography (this being Volume I) will close his writing career. If so, the author of such potent inventions as a Clockwork Orange and Earthly Powers passes from the literary scene on a rollicking, energetic note. This is lively reminiscence suffused with irony, a gently farcical account of a confused but not unhappy youth. Writers, Burgess states, are "not remarkable people. . .the career of a taxi-driver is far fuller of incident." Often true, and true of the bare bones of Burgess' life. Yet it is his genius to present the minutiae of his life's first half (this volume covers up to age 42) not as flat detail, but as reverberatory springboard for social, psychological, and philosophical speculation. Asides such as "social mobility is built into women and may be an aspect of their biology" season nearly every page and provide universal reference for Burgess' particular experiences, in this case his lifelong attraction to restless, peripatetic women, especially his free-spirited wife, Lynne, who conducted quiet extramarital affairs, including one with Dylan Thomas, for the duration of her liason with Burgess. Sex, in fact, more than the religion implied in the title and more than the music which was Burgess' early passion (he began writing seriously only in middle age, harboring hopes until then of being a composer) proves the metronome clocking his life; salty, teasing descriptions of couplings abound, adding spice to Burgess' arched-eyebrows telling of his middle-class childhood in Manchester, WW II service on the home front, and intellectual and geographical wanderings (including a lengthy stay in Malaya, colorfully evoked). A wise and witty autobiography, resplendidly entertaining and chock-full of the memorabilia of a typical life lived with atypical fervor: top-drawer Burgess.
Pub Date: Feb. 25, 1986
ISBN: 0140108246
Page Count: 460
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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