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A SHEEP'S SONG

Name: A SHEEP'S SONG
Author: Kato Shuichi
ISBN: 0-520-20138-8

A WRITER'S REMINISCENCES OF JAPAN AND THE WORLD

by Kato Shuichi & translated by Chia-ning Chang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999

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paper 0-520-21979-1 A bestseller in Japan, where it has gone through more than 40 printings since its was first published in the late ’60s, this autobiography of a noted Japanese man of letters will strike many Western readers as serious, well-meaning, and mind-numbingly dull. Shuichi (History of Japanese Literature, not reviewed) came of age just as his homeland began its descent into the vociferous imperialist militarism that culminated in WWII. But politics and the international situation hardly affected his schooling, every minute didactic and pedagogical significance of which Shuichi seems compelled to detail. Though he was against the war, he kept his opposition largely to himself, waiting out the conflict as a medical student, then a doctor. After the war, he leapt at a rare chance to travel in Europe on a scholarship. Doing a little medical work, as well as translating and whatever other jobs he could pick up, Shuichi traveled extensively, living for substantial periods in France and England. Eventually, he decided to turn his full attention to writing and the world of academia, punching the clock at universities around the world. The original book ends in the early 1960s; an update for the English edition adds little beyond rÇsumÇ and curricula. Shuichi’s extensive comparisons between Japanese and Western culture seem stilted and shopworn, though they may have been interesting to his original Japanese readers. Translator Chang does an excellent job of providing helpful annotations throughout and gently guiding readers through the thicket of unfamiliar names and terms. The book has a thin degree of sociological interest, but its overwhelming effect is soporific. (13 b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-520-20138-8

Page Count: 508

Publisher: Univ. of California

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999

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.