A masterfully perceptive reading of this seductive play’s “endless wonders.”
A wise inquiry into an “erotic and yet transcendent” play.
The uber-prolific Bloom (Humanities/Yale Univ.; Falstaff: Give Me a Life, 2017, etc.) now has his own book series: Shakespeare’s Personalities. The first book explored Prince Hal’s loyal friend, Falstaff, one of the Bard’s most complex characters. Bloom continues to instruct and entertain with this in-depth look at the “most seductive woman in all of Shakespeare,” the Egyptian queen who describes herself as “fire and air.” Bloom fell in love with actress Janet Suzman’s portrayal of Cleopatra in 1974, and her image “lingers” with him still. In 1607, just one year after Macbeth premiered, Antony and Cleopatra was first performed. “Without the fierce sexuality that Cleopatra both embodies and stimulates in others,” writes Bloom, “there would be no play.” As usual, the author expects a lot of his readers as he meticulously provides a close reading, quoting extensively as he examines the text. For him, the play is “a brilliant kaleidoscope, a montage of shifting fortunes, places, personalities, excursions into the empyrean.” Shakespeare’s Cleopatra “beguiles and she devastates,” and “no one else in Shakespeare is so metamorphic.” She is “radiant” at age 39 and instantly puts “Antony’s heart in her purse.” Bloom loves to ponder over certain words—e.g., Cleopatra’s use of the “rich” word “oblivion” or the subtle “sexual implication” of “Do.” The “law” of her personality—“ebb, flow, ebb, return”—is about renewal and vitality, while Antony’s is “ebb, flow, ebb, and do not return.” Bloom often references other Shakespearean characters as he delves into what makes Cleopatra, Antony, Octavius Caesar, and other characters tick. His discussion of Shakespeare’s “unique mastery at portraying the art of dying” is especially fascinating.
A masterfully perceptive reading of this seductive play’s “endless wonders.”Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6416-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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