Part travelogue, part war memoir, this insubstantial, disjointed reminiscence succeeds as neither. In 1953, buoyed by a book advance, Mowat (Born Naked, 1994, etc.) and his wife, Frances, returned to Europe to revisit some of the battlefields where he and his fellow Canadians had fought during WW II. Clearly, he was a witness to enormous suffering and carnage, so much so that eight years later the wounds were still painfully fresh. He describes recoiling in disgust from the few German tourists he encountered and keeping away from sites where the bad memories would be too overwhelming. Much of the book, in fact, is an anti-memoirish ellipsis, even avoidance, of the past. While one doesn't begrudge Mowat this reluctance, it does give a strained, unfulfilling quality to the writing. In fact, there seems to be so much that he doesn't really want to remember, one wonders why he wrote this book at all. His war is much better described in his letters home, collected in My Father's Son (1992). As for Mowat the traveler, large parts of this book are all too reminiscent of a neighbor's endless back-from-vacation slide show: a large bolus of barely digested detail. Mowat does shine, however, in his depiction of the natural world. His descriptions of the resiliency of nature—and even man—are particularly moving, as again and again he finds new life reappearing on even the most devastated battlefields. Ducks return to a firing range, ponds form from bomb craters, saplings sprout in shell-torn mud. Here, in the constancy and strength of nature, Mowat finds a grain of hope against human folly. An unsatisfying ramble, salvaged by a few striking passages.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-57098-103-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
The Johnstown Flood was one of the greatest natural disasters of all time (actually manmade, since it was precipitated by a wealthy country club dam which had long been the source of justified misgivings). This then is a routine rundown of the catastrophe of May 31st, 1889, the biggest news story since Lincoln's murder in which thousands died. The most interesting incidental: a baby floated unharmed in its cradle for eighty miles.... Perhaps of local interest-but it lacks the Lord-ly touch.
Pub Date: March 18, 1968
ISBN: 0671207148
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968
IN THE NEWS
A media-savvy scientist cleans out his desk.
Tyson (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, 2017, etc.) receives a great deal of mail, and this slim volume collects his responses and other scraps of writing.
The prolific science commentator and bestselling author, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, delivers few surprises and much admirable commentary. Readers may suspect that most of these letters date from the author’s earlier years when, a newly minted celebrity, he still thrilled that many of his audience were pouring out their hearts. Consequently, unlike more hardened colleagues, he sought to address their concerns. As years passed, suspecting that many had no interest in tapping his expertise or entering into an intelligent give and take, he undoubtedly made greater use of the waste basket. Tyson eschews pure fan letters, but many of these selections are full of compliments as a prelude to asking advice, pointing out mistakes, proclaiming opposing beliefs, or denouncing him. Readers will also encounter some earnest op-ed pieces and his eyewitness account of 9/11. “I consider myself emotionally strong,” he writes. “What I bore witness to, however, was especially upsetting, with indelible images of horror that will not soon leave my mind.” To crackpots, he gently repeats facts that almost everyone except crackpots accept. Those who have seen ghosts, dead relatives, and Bigfoot learn that eyewitness accounts are often unreliable. Tyson points out that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so confirmation that a light in the sky represents an alien spacecraft requires more than a photograph. Again and again he defends “science,” and his criteria—observation, repeatable experiments, honest discourse, peer review—are not controversial but will remain easy for zealots to dismiss. Among the instances of “hate mail” and “science deniers,” the author also discusses philosophy, parenting, and schooling.
A media-savvy scientist cleans out his desk.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-324-00331-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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