Nineteen evocations of the City of Light, by the American novelist/essayist/playwright whom Jacques Maritain called ``the greatest French writer of our time.'' Born in Paris of American parents in 1900, Green (The Other One, 1973, etc.) has spent most of his life in the French capital; here, he's celebrating the spirit of the city rather than providing a guide to its more familiar monuments and attractions. He tells of a visit to the garden outside Eugäne Delacroix's studio, of entering Notre Dame one windy night in 1940 to reverence the relics of the Crucifixion, and of leisurely strolls through remote districts, remarking, ``until you have wasted time in a city, you cannot pretend to know it well.'' The text is studded with such memorable observations, although Green occasionally also fulminates against the changes he finds taking place in Paris—the cutting down of many trees to broaden car-clogged streets, the erection of the new School of Medicine on the Left Bank. Paraphrasing an old Roman saying, he comments, ``what the Barbarians left undone, Parisians have accomplished.'' The selections have been written over the past half century, with nearly all appearing in English for the first time here. Green's French text is printed on the facing pages to Underwood's graceful English translation, and the work is illustrated with the author's own photographs of the city. A series of love notes, subtle and charming.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-7145-2927-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Marion Boyars
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1991
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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