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TIME BITES

Name: TIME BITES
Author: Doris Lessing
ISBN: 0-06-083140-5

VIEWS AND REVIEWS

by Doris Lessing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2005

While this collection of random journalism—some dating back to 1974, but most from the past decade—has the inevitable...

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Agreeable ephemera—book reviews, forewords to reissues, personal essays, etc.—illuminating the distinguished novelist’s nonfictional preoccupations.

Now 86, Lessing (The Grandmothers, 2004, etc.) occasionally comes across as a cranky old lady in scattered asides about the horrors of political correctness (a bit much from a former Stalinist), the deleterious effects of 1960s “hedonism” and the fact that no one knows the Bible anymore. In general, however, these short works show her to be living very much in the present. “The Tragedy of Zimbabwe” scathingly anatomizes the corruption of Robert Mugabe’s regime, betrayer of the hopes for black empowerment and a multiracial society in her former homeland of Rhodesia. A half-dozen pieces, including reviews of several books about Sufism and two tributes to Idries Shah, remind us of Lessing’s pioneering interest in the mystic tradition and her understanding that the West ignores the achievements and history of Islam to its own detriment. “After 9.11” casts a cold eye on America’s tendency to feel “unique, alone, misunderstood, beleaguered,” reminding the U.S. that other nations have suffered terrorism with considerably less self-pity. In the collection’s warmer moments, Lessing eloquently praises writers she loves (D.H. Lawrence, Jane Austen, Christina Stead, Stendhal, Olive Schreiner) and some noteworthy contemporary works, from Desmond Morris’s Catlore (she adores cats and birds) to Alma Guillermoprieto’s Dancing with Cuba. The power of literature is a perennial theme, and on more than one occasion Lessing movingly notes the hunger for books expressed by people in impoverished Third World countries. Storytelling has always shaped society, she argues in “Problems, Myths, and Stories.” It is not just a leisure-time distraction for the privileged, but a means of imparting values and instruction on proper behavior.

While this collection of random journalism—some dating back to 1974, but most from the past decade—has the inevitable repetitions and a rather scattershot feel, it still gives a nice sense of Lessing’s character and commitments in vigorous old age.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-083140-5

Page Count: 384

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ALFRED AND EMILY
by Doris Lessing

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CLEFT
by Doris Lessing

- BOOK REVIEW
THE STORY OF GENERAL DANN AND MARA’S DAUGHTER, GRIOT AND THE SNOW DOG
by Doris Lessing

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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.