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INTERIOR LANDSCAPE

Name: INTERIOR LANDSCAPE
Author: Marshall McLuhan
ISBN: 1111521646

by Marshall McLuhan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1969

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The multiplicity of the contemporary world breeds pedants and gurus: we need the former to show us the weaving, the latter so we may behold the design. Occasionally these differing, functions come in one outsize personality, like the celebrated Marshall McLuhan. We never see the element we are immersed in, says McLuhan—at least, we don't until we take some perspective on it, an aerial view, perhaps, which brings things in close-up: (the "mosaic" of the daily newspaper, for instance) or which expands into panoramic largesse (the "landscape" of the mind, "model" of the universe, and so forth). Not exactly novel terms or ideas, of course, but they are peculiar to McLuhan, and it's nice to see, as this retrospective (1943-1962) selection of literary criticism demonstrates, that he's been using them for quite a while. Here he is on Ulysses, which because it all takes place on one day he likens to a newspaper: "The frankly newspaperish aspect of this epic derives from the speculations of Mallarme who regarded the press as a new kind of popular poetry. . . . History is abolished not by being disowned but by becoming present." This sounds iconoclastic (and a little raffish: Mallarme's hierarchy of values, Joyce's myth-making—these do not appear to "fit" McLuhan's insight); but, never fear, McLuhan (pedant as well as guru) is sanely anchored to tradition. Thus in his interesting essays on Keats (the "music" of the language) and Tennyson (the "picturesque" idiom) he celebrates the Romantic movement as a continuing experience, and even designates Coleridge as the prototype of Cubist discontinuity. Like the Kennedys, McLuhan is a New Frontiersman with conservative tastes; like them, he has had his moment of glory. His prose is most dazzling when most inexplicable; he feeds our fancies.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1969

ISBN: 1111521646

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1969

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOST TETRADS OF MARSHALL MCLUHAN
by Marshall McLuhan and Eric McLuhan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
By Marshall McLuhan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GLOBAL VILLAGE
by Bruce Powers & Marshall McLuhan

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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.