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THE REAL TADZIO

Name: THE REAL TADZIO
Author: Gilbert Adair
ISBN: 0-7867-1247-3

THOMAS MANN’S “DEATH IN VENICE” AND THE BOY WHO INSPIRED IT

by Gilbert Adair ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2003

When Thomas Mann laid eyes on the seraphic Wladyslaw Moes, a young aristocratic Pole vacationing in Venice, it was as though...

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An offbeat, engaging footnote to a standard-bearer of “gay literature, of what might whimsically be defined as ‘homotextuality.’ ”

When Thomas Mann laid eyes on the seraphic Wladyslaw Moes, a young aristocratic Pole vacationing in Venice, it was as though this vision of youth—“this sailor-suited ephebe,” writes novelist Adair (Love and Death on Long Island, not reviewed, etc.)—delivered intact the entire narrative of Death in Venice to Mann. In this thumbnail biography, readers learn the fate of the inspiration for Tadzio, twined with an impressive amount of cogitation, for so short a study, on the novel’s (and the film’s and the opera’s) dynamism—realism and symbolism, psychology and mythology, classicism and raunchiness—while taking fair measure of the story’s iconic resonance. Adair swerves comfortably between the life of Moes, who suffered all the wretchedness expected for being an aristocrat in post-WWII Poland, yet remained a dandy until the end of his days, and the novella he provoked, that “catastrophic loss of dignity suffered by a great and mature artist infatuated by a very much younger object of his lust.”

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-7867-1247-3

Page Count: 112

Publisher: N/A

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.