The history and significance of deathbed words, by Guthke (German Art and Culture/Harvard; B. Traven, 1991). Guthke tries to unravel the puzzle of why people say what they do at death, and why other people take these words so much to heart. Tradition holds that last words reveal the real self (thus their honored status in courts of law). Guthke cites several instances in which last words epitomize the speaker (``Franz Kafka's last coherent remark was...`Kill me, or else you are a murderer.' Could anything be more typical of the master and victim of paradox?'')—but often, the author notes, last words are invented or rephrased by others for literary or social purposes (e.g., Goethe's ``More light!''). Deathbed testaments, then, are most significant as ``artifacts'' expressing ``the mystique of the final moment.'' As for the motives of the speakers, Guthke speculates that they often boil down to a desire for ``secular immortality.'' The author demonstrates that final utterances, while not an infallible guide to cultural norms, do change over time—the medieval idea that one died damned or blessed (with the latter often signaled by the dying repeating Jesus' last words with their final breath) making way for the Enlightenment's worldly and witty last mots. Anthologies of last words; last words' uses in film (Citizen Kane's ``Rosebud''), literature (Kurtz's ``The horror, the horror''), and Shakespeare's plays; and the improbable last words of Poe, Wilde, Thomas More, and Walter Scott receive in-depth analysis. Otherwise, this is a bit of a magpie's nest, crammed with examples, in which, despite Guthke's impressive industry, the brightest baubles remain the last words themselves (Brendan Behan, speaking to the nun who was wiping his brow: ``Thank you, Sister! May all your sons be bishops''). The last word on last words, for now. (Two halftones.)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-691-05688-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
