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SHADOWS OF THE GRASS

Name: SHADOWS OF THE GRASS
Author: Isak Dinesen
ISBN: 0140180435

by Isak Dinesen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 1960

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To any reader who met Baroness Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) first through her memorable Out of Africa these new pieces carrying us back to her African plantation will be heart warming news. Twenty five years absence has depended the memories, sharpened certain features, and made possible these human reflections of the life and the people that gave it meaning. Her Somali servant, Farah, emerges life size, a towering presence — "my servant by the grace of God"- who made her every action and decision momentous. After a quarter of a century she can sub-title her pen sketch "Portrait of a Gentleman". There's humor as well as philosophical content in her choice of incidents to round out this sketch. And there is, too, a growing understanding of his religion as a Muslim. There are others of her staff and her neighborhood but this stands out. Then too she writes of adventures — of hunting and the lion she shot, feeding on a dead giraffe; of her role, confessedly one imposed by a superstition-ridden people, as a healer, with a scrap of letter written by her king as a magic piece; of Abdullah, Farah's small brother, and the different place he held in her household, in her life. Throughout one senses deeply the role she played as mistress and friend — and the philosophy that grew within her in the ten years she struggled to keep the plantation intact. The writing needs no encomiums; every reader knows there is delight in store.

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 1960

ISBN: 0140180435

Page Count: 106

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 16, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1960

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ON MODERN MARRIAGE AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS
by Isak Dinesen & translated by Anne Born

- BOOK REVIEW
LETTERS FROM AFRICA, 1914-1931
by Isak Dinesen

- BOOK REVIEW
CARNIVAL
by Isak Dinesen

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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.