by John Schwartz ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
An odd but alluring retelling of the works of an obscure author.
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Schwartz (Some Women I Have Known, 2015, etc.) reintroduces a forgotten Dutch literary giant in this work of literary criticism.
Jozua Schwartz, under the pseudonym Maarten Maartens, was one of the most popular novelists writing in English at the turn of the last century—a feat made even more impressive by the fact that he spent most of his life in the Netherlands and that his first language was Dutch. So popular were his 14 novels and four volumes of short stories that Maartens became an intimate of Andrew Carnegie and was hosted at the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. Following his death in 1915, however, Maartens’ work fell into near total obscurity—an injustice that the author of this volume seeks to set right. A great-nephew of Maartens’, he offers this introduction to 13 of the writer’s novels, with a second volume covering his first self-published novel and short fiction to follow. Schwartz writes in his introduction that the book “is not a scholarly effort. It is a collection of impressions of Maartens’ novels as his nephew experienced them.” After a short overview of Maartens’ life and career, Schwartz grants a chapter each to Maarten’s commercially published novels. Each includes a few notes on the novel’s publishing history, its reception, its principal characters, a summary of the story’s events, a brief note on its themes, and a selection of choice passages. The thorough summaries make up a majority of the text, averaging 25 pages each, and they’ll give readers a sense of Maartens’ talent and craft. Several of them, including those for The Sin of Joost Avelingh (1889) and God’s Fool (1892), may make readers want to seek out the original novels. As a means of stirring more interest in the author, the book succeeds, although anyone planning on reading the novels perhaps shouldn’t read too far into the summaries. Readers may wonder why Schwartz hasn’t simply republished the novels themselves, as they’re surely now in the public domain. Even so, there’s something wonderfully Borges-ian about reading summarizations of unread novels of a forgotten writer. One hopes that Maartens will return to print in the near future.
An odd but alluring retelling of the works of an obscure author.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-939688-61-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Elijah Wald ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2015
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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