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A WAY OF SEEING

Name: A WAY OF SEEING
Author: Margaret Mead
ISBN: 0688053262

by Margaret Mead & Rhoda Metraux ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 1970

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These essays have a magazine column ring to them limited in depth but nicely balanced, thoughtful but not demanding, familiar but not intimate, with a general tone of challenge, uplift, and measured optimism—not surprising, since they have appeared as a regular feature in Redbook over the past eight years. Reflections on the private and public good from an anthropological viewpoint, they place the issues of contemporary interest in a broader perspective (the generation gap and student power, small communities and world community, crowding and privacy, population control and conservation, etc.) and evaluate the more enduring concerns in their current contexts (religion, morality, friendship, love, and marriage). There are some bold proposals—universal national service, a two-stage marriage system—worthy of an advocate of legalized marijuana, but they are submerged in a general sea of reassuring reasonableness. Traditionalists will certainly be pacified by the staid conception of the sex roles exhibited in several of the authors' pieces and in the two dialogues with young married women. The collection closes in the field with a revisit to New Guinea, leaving many enlightened insights but no great impact.

Pub Date: March 10, 1970

ISBN: 0688053262

Page Count: 335

Publisher: McCall

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1970

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.