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WALK BEIJING

Name: WALK BEIJING
Author: Annie with Zhu Xiaojian and Lorin Bruckner Coburn
ISBN: 978-1-4196-5907-2

by Annie with Zhu Xiaojian and Lorin Bruckner Coburn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2007

A great accompaniment to guides offering more in-depth histories.

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A guide for travelers seeking the ancient in modern Beijing.

Walk-loving newcomers to Beijing will find a superb resource in this travel guide, geared toward exploring lesser-known parts of the city on foot. Finding such places is no small feat in the bulging metropolis, with official population estimates ranging between 12 and 20 million, so sightseers will appreciate the book’s clear directions, maps and first-timer tips. The guide would serve as an excellent addition to many tourists’ collections, especially those preparing to attend the Olympic Games in summer 2008, when seasonal heat and wind gusts from the Gobi desert will make escapes to Beijing’s many tree-lined parks and darkened temples all the more enticing. Walk Beijing focuses on sites neophytes won’t want to miss–Beijing’s ancient temples, parks, residences and the celebrated Forbidden City. However, it lacks detailed histories of each site. Although it offers shopping tips–bargain hard at the Silk Alley Market–and warns of smog, traffic and crime, the book offers little for those interested in Beijing’s unique modernity. It focuses primarily on tradition, and the landscapes and towers of dynasties past. For details on the avant-garde contemporary art, hip clubs and cheap technologies that fill the lives of Beijing’s youth, readers will need to look elsewhere. Thus, a second in-depth guide on newer attractions might serve meandering travelers well. For readers who have burned off some calories with all that strolling, they can look to Walk Beijing for tips on where to eat and find massages for their worn-out heels.

A great accompaniment to guides offering more in-depth histories.

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4196-5907-2

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.