Pallid, unconvincing portrait of the doyenne of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, the mid-Victorian art movement whose members—Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, Holman Hunt—were as well known for their laudanum and license as for their innovative paintings. It seems to be true, as Jones (an English journalist) admits, that `` `finding' Christina as a person is not an easy task....'' Primary sources about the neurasthenic and sexually repressed Rossetti are in extremely short supply, and her earliest biographers seemed intent on canonization. Jones, however, generally accepts her subject's explanations for her actions at face value, neglecting the revelations that the application of modern psychology to Rossetti's behavioral patterns might have produced. Many readers will suspect deeper motivations for Rossetti's rejection of Charles Cayley as a suitor than the stated fact that Cayley did not belong to the Church of England. Jones also seems unaware of the sheer oddness of much of Rossetti's behavior: When, for instance, a contemporary points out that Rossetti was in the habit of picking up scraps of paper on the street ``in case they had the name of Jesus printed on them,'' the author allows the information to pass without comment. Jones seems most intent on reestablishing Rossetti's reputation as a major Victorian poet and as a kind of protofeminist; but except for the gothic ``Goblin Market,'' few of Rossetti's verses rise above clichÇd sentimentalism, and Jones's comparison of Rossetti's work to that of Emily Dickinson is truly far-fetched. The author is only slightly more successful in depicting her subject as a victim of male domination. If anything, Rossetti played the ``frail blossom'' for all it was worth, especially in relating to her long-suffering brother, William. Disappointingly short on both drama and insight. (Nineteen b&w illustrations.)
Pub Date: May 21, 1992
ISBN: 0-312-07017-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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