Burgess has qualified his "Student's Guide to Contemporary Fiction" so modestly and variously in his introduction that one hesitates to further question its utility. It is intended as a survey-summary to enable younger readers to "organize their reading economically." However college students will have outstripped the limited critical annotations here, and high school readers (also a designated audience) won't have time—or spend it—on many of the minimal writers included. Then again its deliberately extensive overview is in a sense restrictive, since Mr. Burgess, who is a very stimulating cicerone, has obviously curtailed criticism to the point of providing convenient categories with accessible annotations. He defines the novel and some of its earlier exponents, traditional forms, and then topically arranges (Utopias and Dystopias, War the Roman Fleuve, etc.) a numerically impressive representation of American, English and European novelists. A list of writers and their works appears at the end of each chapter (and admittedly has already dated this)—the comment, as such, is usually charitable; the book is to be appraised within its self-declared intentions and limitations.
Pub Date: Nov. 29, 1967
ISBN: 0393041417
Page Count: -
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1967
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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