A good introduction to Milosz’s prose work, capturing the range of a memorable mind.
Prose miscellany by the famed poet and Nobel laureate (Milosz’s ABC’s, 2000, etc.) proves he does not need funny spacing to dazzle his readers.
Spanning more than a half-century of the author’s life and thought, the collection mingles free-floating whimsy and earthbound gravitas as it probes the eternal questions of life from some remarkably fresh vantage points. The brief essay “Miss Anna and Miss Dora” manages to hit on the frailty of human existence, the vagaries of memory, and the birth of sympathy in a swirling loop of emotion that never skitters toward the mawkish—and in only two pages. Continuing on, and with a generosity bordering on the motherly, he pours out essays for your delectation, from biographies of friends and acquaintances to musings on human nature and excurses on the state of poetry. “Anus Mundi” ponders the creation of lyric poetry after Auschwitz; “Carmel” meanders along the California coast with Robinson Jeffers’s ashes in the air; “Letter to Jerzy Andrzejewski” praises the nobility of doubt. The maxims, anecdotes, and aphorisms culled from his notebook teem with humor, insight, and luminous warmth. “I am here,” Milosz states in “My Intention”: “and the only thing we can do is try to communicate with one another.” The breathtaking evocativeness of Milosz’s prose coupled with its radiant reflections creates a meaningful sense of synergy with his mind. The introduction by editors Carpenter and Levine provides modest access to his world, although it could offer more detail and biography for readers new to this writer.
A good introduction to Milosz’s prose work, capturing the range of a memorable mind.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-374-25890-2
Page Count: 460
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2001
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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