The inimitable novelist gives an exuberant posthumous performance in this eclectic collection of (mostly) previously unpublished addresses, talks, and incidental pieces. ``We Canadians are gluttons for instruction; we dote on lectures,'' Davies observed to one of his many audiences, but anyone's literary appetite will be glutted on these collected talks—with such topics as his own novels, forged paintings, and Canadian cultural identity. The prolific Davies and his publisher were contemplating this volume just before the author's death, and his widow and daughter have turned up enough material for two (the second, Happy Alchemy, will revolve around theater and music). With his background in the theater and pomp-and-circumstance academe, to say nothing of his literary breadth, Davies proves a veteran at the lectern, ready to expound on seemingly everything. Although he has the podium-persona of a curmudgeonly, elitist Canadian author, valuable (sometimes tendentious) insights emerge from his discussions of his experiences of character-building at school, the preservation of Canadian cultural identity in the face of NAFTA, and the medical profession's balance between science and humanism. For more general themes, e.g., ``Literature and Technology,'' ``Fiction of the Future,'' and ``Creativity in Old Age,'' Davies diffuses his opinions entertainingly, if occasionally superficially, but never loses his audience. On occasion he is called on to be simply a toastmaster: giving a convocation address on the virtues of poetry without putting the undergrads to sleep, introducing Canadian colleague Mavis Gallant, or reminiscing divertingly about his editorship at Saturday Night magazine, Canada's equivalent of Harper's. Most fittingly of all, Davies lectures on Dickens's spellbinding public readings and the theatrical effects of A Christmas Carol. As Davies noted in a diary entry prefacing one of these talks, he had to leave special room for laughter in his running time.
Pub Date: July 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-670-87336-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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