Alienating and off-putting.
A plotless rambling memoir of sorts told through the lens of a man wrestling with his inner demons.
“This book is both a chance for me to get some thoughts off my chest, as well as to explore ideas with you my reader which I may not have, and you probably haven’t either, ever before,” Robinson declares in a dubious mission statement. The book is not a coherent tale so much as the wild meanderings of an author trapped inside the overgrown forest of his head. Though readers gather that he is British and has been institutionalized, nothing else is comprehensible. Robinson switches randomly from third-person to first, as in “He didn’t feel a hit the cigarettes had once provided him. Only a dull warm feeling inside his lungs. But it was enough. I have written books on how to stop smoking, but now that I have relapsed I am not going to lie to you.” A few pages later he offers, “The three greatest moments of my life are none of your business. But suffice to say that they exist and so do I presently, as you do too. Remember that.” The author seems to want to invite the reader into his mind while simultaneously slamming the door, mirroring the near-schizophrenic state of his story. Headings like “Alternative MacBeth” and “Interpretations Corinthians 1:13 from the Bible” appear with absolutely no connection to the surrounding material. There’s even a ruminating digression into the conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia, followed by the words “Enter the Matrix.” Robinson then segues into quotes from an online discussion forum about the standoff. The online Yahoo! Zimbabwe forum also makes an appearance, along with 9/11 conspiracy theories. By the time readers reach the book’s last third–featuring the hero Jo’s progression up the martial-arts belt ladder and the “New Jo-jutsu (Cheeky Monkey Style) syllabus and ranking/grading system”–they may feel as if they’re trying to decipher a foreign language.
Alienating and off-putting.Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4251-5599-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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