by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1997
A gathering of fiction and nonfiction pieces by di Lampedusa (18961957), best known as the author of The Leopard, a magnificently dramatic tale closely drawn from the author's own aristocratic world in Sicily at the turn of the century. This volume is exciting for the insight it provides into the evolution of that masterpiece through the original text of a previously abridged memoir, ``Places of My Infancy.'' The collection also includes ``The Professor and the Siren,'' an enchantingly sensual, fablelike story, and two other short stories, ``Joy and the Law'' and ``The Blind Kittens'' (the latter is the remaining fragment of an unfinished novel). The memoir evokes the author's Sicilian childhood and home, which he loved with ``utter abandon'' until that life vanished with the Risorgimento. Di Lampedusa reminisces about the the palace-size 18th-century house (``a self-sufficient entity . . . a kind of Vatican as it were'') and about the garden, ``brim full of surprises.'' By contrast, ``Joy and the Law'' is a tale that chronicles morality and honor, set against the corruption that then dominated Sicily. The story also hints, in its style, at di Lampedusa's admiration for Dickensian narrative. The collection's centerpiece, however, is a sampling of his short essays (appearing in English for the first time) about his favorite literary icons, including Austen, Stendhal, and Shakespeare, written as notes to lectures he intended for a small group of students. These essays are intuitive and highly anecdotal, yet thoroughly informed. Literature was di Lampedusa's consolation, as his wife observed, for any moment ``when he saw something disagreeable.'' He might, indeed, as translator Gilmour comments, have ``sacrificed ten years of his life . . . for the privilege of meeting Sir John Falstaff.'' This gem of a volume offers delightful glimpses of a writer worthy of attention well beyond the university circles that have until now adulated him.
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1997
ISBN: 1-86046-022-4
Page Count: 185
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1997
Share your opinion of this book
More by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
BOOK REVIEW
by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa ; translated by Stephen Twilley
by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
Share your opinion of this book
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by E.T.A. Hoffmann
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.