by Colin Legerton and Jacob Rawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2009
An earnest, revealing travelogue.
Two American students of Asian cultures and languages chronicle their extensive travel through diverse, multiethnic regions of China.
According to the Communist government, note debut authors Legerton and Rawson, China has 55 recognized ethnic minorities outside of the majority Han group, which makes up 90 percent of the total population. The remaining minority still incorporates 120 million people, organized into “autonomous areas” across China’s vast landmass. The authors concentrate on these autonomous regions of the northeast, southwest and northwest, focusing on a dozen ethnic groups, their culture, way of life and language. Since Legerton and Rawson speak Mandarin, Uyghur and Korean, their conversations with locals seemed to glide along easily. They learned that the government allows the autonomous regions some advantages, such as exemption from the one-child policy; however, the ethnic residents are often denied passports and freedom to practice religious celebrations. The authors visited areas and peoples far and wide, including the ancestral forested hunting grounds of the northern Daur, Ewenki, Oroqen and Hezhen, where the residents are now prohibited from hunting; the thriving pockets of Koreans around White Head Mountain; the harsh terrain of the Inner Mongolians; the Kinh fishermen of the Gulf of Tonkin; the Wa people located near the Myanmar border; the self-profiting Naxis in the old-town architectural gem of Lijiang; the matrilineal society of the Mosuo on the shores of Lugu Lake; the Tibetans Buddhists; the Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in the arid northwest. Legerton and Rawson even scouted out a legendary, nearly extinct group of Jews in Kaifeng. Their youthful discoveries reveal a marvelous tapestry of vibrant history and culture.
An earnest, revealing travelogue.Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55652-814-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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