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LEGACIES

Name: LEGACIES
Author: Joan M. Erikson
ISBN: 0-393-03443-7

PROMETHEUS, ORPHEUS, SOCRATES

by Joan M. Erikson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 22, 1993

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A rambling and, ultimately, rather pointless retelling of ancient heroic tales, by a psychologist and author (Wisdom and the Senses, 1988, etc.) who tries without much success to connect the narratives to the daily realities of modern life. ``Myths are the prehistory of mankind,'' according to Erikson, who here traces our moral and psychic ancestry back to the sagas of the Greeks. She is particularly concerned with the origins of the creative impulse, and so it's not surprising that she dwells upon precisely those figures who represent the birth and triumph of human genius—or, more specifically, of the human soul. Prometheus, the demigod, awaken's humanity's dormant creativity with the fire he sends down from heaven; Orpheus, by ``singing his sadness,'' helps us to ``accept the fact that we are not isolated and unique but share daily shame and loss and can do so more resolutely if we face it together''; and Socrates gives his very life in an attempt ``to unveil the infallibility of truth—the beauty and strength of authenticity which can be found in the invariable core of the human being.'' Erikson's observations are often striking and fresh, but she ties them so closely to the texts at hand that her work becomes little more than a random and discursive commentary. Had she expanded her reflections more generously, Erikson might have given us a meditation whose scope was large enough for both the myths she describes and the world they address; as it is, her examination of the ancients comes in morsels too small to sustain much thought. Precious notions too slight and casual to carry us along.

Pub Date: Feb. 22, 1993

ISBN: 0-393-03443-7

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992

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.