Sheds interesting new light on some familiar authors.
Two British academics explore the interplay of science and science fiction.
Brake (Science Communication/Univ. of Glamorgan) and Hook (Science Fiction/Univ. of Glamorgan) begin with the late Renaissance, “the age of discovery” and probably the first period in history when the term science fiction meant anything useful. Johannes Kepler’s Somnium, which smuggled a heretical Copernican viewpoint into the story of a lunar voyage, may be the first scientifically informed piece of fiction. The authors follow the genre through several eras of science, looking in each chapter at a handful of works that reveal the period’s common themes. For example, Mary Shelley was “the first great skeptic” of “the mechanical age,” warning in Frankenstein that science can overreach, while the works of Jules Verne, “its chief positivist,” exemplify the period’s faith in the truths of science. H.G. Wells, a student of Darwin’s champion T.H. Huxley, brings evolutionary themes to such books as The War of the Worlds. Some of the authors’ choices are provocative: French, German and Russian writers and filmmakers are the primary focus of their chapters on “the astounding age,” the first half of the 20th century. American fans may find this focus odd, but it recognizes the genre’s international scope. More surprising is the omission, in the discussion of “the atomic age” (1945–60), of some of its most popular writers: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. On the other hand, the titles Brake and Hook choose to characterize the era—1984, Cat’s Cradle, A Canticle for Leibowitz and Earth Abides—are all first-rate and worthy of the attention they receive. The book is at its best in the last two chapters, which examine the works of William Gibson, Vernor Vinge and China Miéville, plus films like Blade Runner and Terminator 2, as illustrations of the unease aroused by computers and genetic engineering.
Sheds interesting new light on some familiar authors.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-230-01980-5
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
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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