bookshelf

THE JEWS AND GERMANY

Name: THE JEWS AND GERMANY
Author: Enzo Traverso
ISBN: 0-8032-4426-6

FROM THE 'JUDEO-GERMAN SYMBIOSIS' TO THE MEMORY OF AUSCHWITZ

by Enzo Traverso ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 1995

bookshelf

A derivative and unfocused account of ``the problems posed by Judeo-German culture as a whole'' from the Enlightenment to German reunification. Traverso, an Italian-born archivist at the Bibliothäque de documentation internationale contemporaine in Nanterre, originally published this book in France in 1992. It is a work best described as intellectual journalism, a genre that hovers between journalism and scholarship and that is almost nonexistent in the US. Alas, in this promising case the union fails: The book is too awkwardly written to pass as good journalism and insufficiently original to pass as a serious contribution to scholarship. The author's primary intent is to refute the notion of ``Judeo-German symbiosis,'' the theory that an authentic mutual interchange took place between Germans and German Jews such as Mendelssohn, Heine, Schnitzler, and Kafka. Traverso contends that the famous symbiosis never took place, that the supposed dialogue was a Jewish monologue within German culture. Few would argue the contrary. His assertion, then, serves as a framing device for his presentation of the important literature on the topic of German Jews and German anti-Semitism. He offers short profiles of major figures (Theodor Herzl, Bernard Lazare, Rosa Luxemburg, Hannah Arendt, Joseph Roth) and discussions of important moments in the history of German anti-Semitism, including the recent Historikerstreit (quarrel of the historians), in which some conservative intellectuals argued that Nazi genocide was a response to communist barbarism and hence neither so unique nor so morally repugnant as to require continuing German shame. He also considers what German reunification has meant for the Jewish question. This volume would be a good introduction to its subject were it not for tangled prose that obscures the author's points. Traverso's book, rich in information and potentially good journalism, snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Its thesis is a paper tiger, and it relies exclusively on well-known published sources.

Pub Date: July 12, 1995

ISBN: 0-8032-4426-6

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Univ. of Nebraska

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.