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SAILING BLUE WATER MYSTIQUE SOLO

Name: SAILING BLUE WATER MYSTIQUE SOLO
Author: H. Downing Lane
ISBN: 978-0-228-80979-1

SAILING THE EXUMAS ALONE

by H. Downing Lane ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 15, 2019

A scattered set of ruminations that may make some readers feel lost at sea.

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Retired educator Lane’s account of 51 days of sailing to the Exuma Bahamas and back explores the wonder and flow of solitude.

After difficult breakups, many people have considered taking a trip on a sailboat and not returning for a good, long time. In this debut book, Lane tells of how he did exactly that by leaving Key Biscayne, Florida, to sail to the Great Exuma Bahamas on a 40-foot catamaran named Mystique. When he arrived at the islands, he disembarked and stayed there alone for two months before sailing back to Florida. The concept of being alone in nature is the primary thrust of the book; his aloneness, he says, allowed him to personify objects, clouds, and even ideas. As a result, readers may find it a relief when other humans, such as his son, stepfather, or mother show up, even in his memories. And as much as Lane may crave solitude, some readers will find it difficult to relate to the more ethereal relationships that he recounts in these pages. The author structures each chapter around sayings, lyrics, or anecdotes, and as a result, the organization of the book feels as uneven as ocean waves. There are lists of various things that “flow,” lists of goals, book reviews, and discussions of laws of energy and relativity. However, these seaborne considerations may not be as transformative for the reader as they are for Lane. For instance, he says that a brilliant sunrise appeared and a porpoise escorted him as he departed Miami, and he invests this occurrence with great meaning: “I expected miracles so they appeared wherever I sailed,” he says. Overall, this is not a book for people seeking a grounded narrative, as it floats from shore to shore and idea to idea. However, some may consider this heady boat trip to be a soothing journey.

A scattered set of ruminations that may make some readers feel lost at sea.

Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-228-80979-1

Page Count: 212

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.