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ALEXANDER THE CORRECTOR

Name: ALEXANDER THE CORRECTOR
Author: Julia Keay
ISBN: 1-58567-690-X

THE TORMENTED GENIUS WHOSE CRUDEN’S CONCORDANCE UNWROTE THE BIBLE

by Julia Keay ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2005

Unlikely to start a Cruden craze, but Keay makes an interesting argument.

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Meet the mastermind behind the concordance of the Bible in a new, revisionist biography.

Anyone who has ever searched for a word on BibleGateway.com owes a debt to Alexander Cruden (1699–1770). In the 1720s, he decided to compile a concordance of the English Bible. His wasn’t the first, but it was the most sophisticated and remains definitive; it has not gone out of print since its initial publication in 1737. Cruden, a devout Calvinist, catalogued every one of the King James Version’s 777,746 words. He also included explanations of unfamiliar terms, helpfully pointing out, for example, that scorpions are dangerous reptiles “more mischievous to women than men.” He undertook this mammoth task in his spare time, working as a professional proofreader by day. Keay (The Spy Who Never Was, 1991) positions herself as Cruden’s champion and defender against previous biographers, who have typically described him as “confused,” “unhinged,” “a man of diseased mind”: in a word, “insane.” Although Cruden was committed to mental wards at least three times in his life, Keay takes pains to show that he was the victim of ignominious plots and actually quite sane. In her eyes, it was downright liberating when Cruden’s sister had him committed yet again in 1753. This insult, she argues, actually freed Cruden from “his incessant struggle to prove his sanity.” Since absolutely everyone, even his own sis, thought him mad, why bother trying to change public opinion? He “would eventually emerge from this catharsis . . . generous, brave, angry and, if increasingly eccentric, also rather admirable.” Keay’s interpretation is commendably consistent, but she is so hell-bent on asserting Cruden’s sanity that the reader may occasionally wonder if the lady doth protest too much.

Unlikely to start a Cruden craze, but Keay makes an interesting argument.

Pub Date: June 21, 2005

ISBN: 1-58567-690-X

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Overlook

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2005

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.