An unusual, hybrid alert—part worthy analysis, part alarmist scenario—to a Canada possibly to be sundered next year by a separatist Quebec. Journalist Lamont's (Campus Shock, 1979) essayish analysis lacks lively scenes, but it contains much wisdom and information about the current state of Canada. Most Canadians these days don't view their country as a contract between its two founding peoples; Canadians outside Quebec seek a strong federal government but Quebecois seek autonomy. Federalist Canada lacks both a strong sense of patriotism (he notes that it took nearly a century for the country to get a flag) and ``an effective farm league'' to groom potential national leaders. Lamont tracks Canada's ``love-hate'' relationship with the United States, its highly divergent regions (from rich British Columbia to the poor Atlantic provinces) and the unhealthy French-Canadian nationalism ``embroidered'' onto what Quebecois consider their history of constant humiliation. He observes cogently that Canada's public embrace of multiculturalism has not only enraged Quebec but also threatened the country's already weak identity. Some two fifths of the book is a nightmarish vision of a future break-up: Anglophones and francophones throughout the country crack down on each other; riots erupt in Montreal; Native Canadians attack power plants; US troops are called in. An independent Quebec can't join NAFTA; Canada's split economy falters; the wounded country both hampers American interests and gives up its ``international Boy Scout image.'' Conflict with a weakened Russia could also arise. Lamont's hopes to maintain Canada are worthy, but after such sturm und drang, he merely suggests that Canadians must reign in both spending and their sense of victimization. Likewise, he fails to suggest policies for the United States that would stem the potential disaster.
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 1994
ISBN: 0-393-03634-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1994
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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