Burgess has qualified his "Student's Guide to Contemporary Fiction" so modestly and variously in his introduction that one hesitates to further question its utility. It is intended as a survey-summary to enable younger readers to "organize their reading economically." However college students will have outstripped the limited critical annotations here, and high school readers (also a designated audience) won't have time—or spend it—on many of the minimal writers included. Then again its deliberately extensive overview is in a sense restrictive, since Mr. Burgess, who is a very stimulating cicerone, has obviously curtailed criticism to the point of providing convenient categories with accessible annotations. He defines the novel and some of its earlier exponents, traditional forms, and then topically arranges (Utopias and Dystopias, War the Roman Fleuve, etc.) a numerically impressive representation of American, English and European novelists. A list of writers and their works appears at the end of each chapter (and admittedly has already dated this)—the comment, as such, is usually charitable; the book is to be appraised within its self-declared intentions and limitations.
Pub Date: Nov. 29, 1967
ISBN: 0393041417
Page Count: -
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1967
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
