A fitfully enlightening exploration of the political transformation of the former Soviet satellites, by Goldfarb (Political and Social Science/New School for Social Research). Like Oxford's Timothy Garton Ash, Goldfarb mixes political, social, and cultural analysis with personal experience of the ongoing revolutions in Eastern Europe. There is a good deal here that is illuminating: background on Lech Walesa, who actually has spent more time mediating and averting strikes than leading them; a portrait of the postrevolutionary education minister in Bulgaria, who was seemingly unable to conceive of a university system not centrally controlled; and a description of the Soviet Writers Union, which gave great financial benefits to its members as long as the Party line was toed. Goldfarb is ruthless in his dissection of the death of Communism: ``The failure of `actually existing socialism' (as it has been called by those who wish to distinguish between realities and their dreams) has been so thoroughgoing that the connection between dreams and realities can no longer be denied.'' But while saying that protagonists of this ``third way'' between Communism and capitalism ``were destined from the beginning for the historical dustbin,'' the author seems to expect such an outcome from any system: ``Socialism is simply not the answer to all social ills. But neither are capitalism or nationalism.'' He never resolves this dilemma. Occasionally far-fetched (Goldfarb argues that Jeffrey Sachs, the Harvard economist advising the Polish government, ``represents for Poland a new totalitarian temptation of the laissez-faire kind'') but frequently perceptive. A curate's egg of a book.
Pub Date: March 20, 1992
ISBN: 0-465-01605-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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