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ON BLINDNESS

Name: ON BLINDNESS
Author: Bryan Magee
ISBN: 0-19-509890-0

by Bryan Magee & Martin Milligan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1995

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Two philosophers, one blind since just after birth, exchange views more over their philosophic differences than their perceptual ones. Oxford professor and social activist Magee looked for a counterpart and correspondent in Milligan, the head of philosophy at the University of Leeds and a campaigner for the rights of the blind. This resultant, diverging book collects their brief correspondence (cut short by Milligan's death), starting with empirical questions over sighted and blind perceptions of the world and the differences in comprehending and describing it. Their dialogue quickly and unsurprisingly veers from the stated topics into a purely philosophic debate over types of knowledge and theories of epistemology. Milligan, citing Bertrand Russell, subscribes to the idea that all knowledge is effectively propositional, distinct from sensory experience and easily transferred; Magee, preferring Kant and Schopenhauer, distinguishes between the separate knowledges by acquaintance and by description, i.e. ``knowing'' vs. ``knowing that/about.'' Their temperamental differences likewise emerge quickly: Milligan is an analytic and combative debater, sensitive to any presumption about blindness from the sighted; Magee is a sympathetic, flexible investigator, ready to change topics and tactics. Although their philosophic differences are eventually put aside unreconciled, the two find useful common ground in discussing problems the recently blind have in adjusting, with special attention to John Hull's memoir of going blind, Touching the Rock. Milligan at his best (when not arguing over logical positivism) fascinatingly conveys the experience of his condition without making excuses for his handicap; he offers intense descriptions of the feel of different spaces, of ``hearing'' obstacles, and of his own dreams. Milligan and Magee's tangling with philosophic theories of knowledge detracts from their intelligent, unfortunately truncated dialogue of the experience of sightlessness.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-19-509890-0

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TRISTAN CHORD
by Bryan Magee

- BOOK REVIEW
CONFESSIONS OF A PHILOSOPHER
by Bryan Magee

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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.