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METAPHOR AND MEMORY: Essays

Name: METAPHOR AND MEMORY: Essays
Author: Cynthia Ozick
ISBN: 0679734252

by Cynthia Ozick ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 13, 1989

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Thirty polished but thorny essays, most of which have appeared in Harper's, the New York Times Book Review, and the New Yorker. Generally less accessible than her novels (The Messiah of Stockholm, 1987; etc.) because of their presumption of familiarity with Jewish traditions, these pieces deal mostly with writers (Primo Levi, William Gaddis, Theodore Dreiser) and writing. Ozick's style in a majority of the pieces, moreover, can only be described as Talmudic, echoing with a determination to explain, convince, and instruct. However, in a brief "Forewarning," the author does issue a caveat that her ruminations are not to be viewed as expressing "a Weltanshauung"; they are, she insists, merely "an illumination." Among the more accessible essays is "A Short Note on 'Chekhovian,'" in which Ozick discusses the "inwardness" as well as the "solidity and precision" of the Russian master. Equally revelatory are her thoughts on "Henry James' Unborn Child," in which she sensitively explores the possible psychological sources of an evocative short story that James was unable—or unwilling—to complete. Ozick also considers such wide-ranging matters as the problems of translation and, in the title essay, metaphor as history. Here, Ozick's frame of reference leads her to controversial conclusions, as when she insists that translating from Yiddish to English is uniquely difficult because of the disparity between Jewish and Christian concepts (surely translating Japanese haiku must be at least as difficult). Stimulating forays into an original mind; but many, with just cause, will find these essays a frustrating exercise in hermeticism.

Pub Date: April 13, 1989

ISBN: 0679734252

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ANTIQUITIES
by Cynthia Ozick

- BOOK REVIEW
CRITICS, MONSTERS, FANATICS, AND OTHER LITERARY ESSAYS
by Cynthia Ozick

- BOOK REVIEW
FOREIGN BODIES
by Cynthia Ozick

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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.