A rather odd book, sketching the history of a 19th-century revolt against industrial machinery and seeking to find in it some lessons for today. Although efforts by workers to smash machinery that they suspected might rob them of jobs have been traced as far back as 1675, and similar occurrences took place in the United States in the 1820s and '30s, the 15-month period of Luddite activity from 1811 to early 1813 (which included ``pseudonymous letters, nighttime raids, quasi-military operations...and a campaign to instigate fear'') has attracted the most attention from historians- -more than may seem warranted. Protests in the name of a nonexistent General Ned Ludd broke out mainly in the English midlands, causing some ú100,000 worth of damage and great trepidation in the upper classes, but the unrest was effectively ended by the execution of 14 ringleaders in January 1813. The conditions that provoked Luddite actions were appalling, and indeed Charlotte Brontâ described these events as ``a sort of moral earthquake,'' but the contemporary relevance Sale (The Conquest of Paradise, 1990, etc.) sees in them remains doubtful. The last third of the book is devoted to the horrors of current technology, ranging from the joblessness it produces (``the notion that new technology somehow creates new jobs and increased wealth is hogwash''); to a list of grievances and disasters (Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez, the fact that ``computers are always `down' when you need them,'' etc.); to the creation of ``disposable jobs.'' Sale is a little coy about what he would do about all this, quoting proponents of ``the dismantling of nuclear, chemical, biogenetic, electromagnetic, television and computer technologies''; praising a farmer who does his work with horses and writes with a pencil, in daytime, without electric light; and finding an ideal in old Amish communities and in Indian tribes. The author's anger against the excesses of our industrial civilization is clear enough, but his remedies are unpersuasive.
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-201-62678-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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
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