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THE WAY TO XANADU

Name: THE WAY TO XANADU
Author: Caroline Alexander
ISBN: 0-679-41900-4

JOURNEYS TO A LEGENDARY REALM

by Caroline Alexander ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 1994

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In this enchanting book, Alexander (One Dry Season, 1989) chronicles her journeys to the exotic places that inspired Coleridge's masterpiece ``Kubla Khan.'' In 1797 or 1798, in an opium-induced reverie, the poet wrote of Xanadu, with its ``walls and towers...girdled round,'' its ``caves of ice,'' its ``mighty fountain,'' and ``Mount Abora.'' Yet the poem's most arresting images are based not on actual visits made by Coleridge, but on written accounts of them penned by others—from Marco Polo to 18th-century American botanists. Thus, Alexander offers as much an exploration of actual geographical terrain as a wide-ranging account of the textual sources that inspired the poet (whom she artfully dubs an ``armchair Odysseus''). Using the poem as her map, she ventures through Inner Mongolia to the ruins of Shangdu (the proper name for Xanadu), Kashmir, Ethiopia, northern Florida, and finally to the poem's literal place of origin on the southwest coast of England. However, she often finds disappointment at the end of her journeys; the legendary Xanadu is little more than ``the bare bones of [a] ruined vanished city.'' But, she muses consolingly, ``I am not convinced that the map of...our tracks...adequately and completely describes the terrain we trod. The truest manifestation...may be that which none of us will ever see.'' Written in robust prose, her book is full of delightful and surprising details about the places today, and she poses thoughtful questions about the nature of experience: Does the real world ever live up to our imaginings, the fantastic visions of our minds and the accounts wrought from them? Though Alexander's journeys sometimes fall below her expectations, the same could scarcely be said of her fine book. The Way to Xanadu is a testament to one woman's dauntless intellectual curiosity and an exquisitely crafted paean to a great poem and to the timeless march of human inquiry and imagination.

Pub Date: June 14, 1994

ISBN: 0-679-41900-4

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
SKIES OF THUNDER
by Caroline Alexander

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BOUNTY
by Caroline Alexander

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ENDURANCE
by Caroline Alexander

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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.