A lively insider's look at life on the Seine from seasoned Associated Press correspondent Rosenblum (Who Stole the News?, 1993, etc.). When Rosenblum finds himself kicked out of his apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis, he buys a houseboat and explores the river that harbors France's soul. He begins at the source in Burgundy, where water wells up unspectacularly from three cracks among the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple, and ends at the mouth at Le Havre, where the Germans made a last stand in 1944. Along the way, he offers history as far back as the Paleocene period when the bed of the Seine was the floor of a shallow inland sea, investigates river towns like Giverny, which inspired Monet to realize those radiant panels of water lilies, laments pollution by nuclear power plants that generate 75 percent of France's electricity, and explains the economic evolution of a waterway that once flourished as mom-and- pop-run barges busily transported freight only to lose out when state-owned rails and roads undercut rates. Peppered throughout are anecdotal asides: a sampling of items that float by his launch in one half-hour period includes ``one mattress, countless Styrofoam containers, a bloated pig, several condoms, dead fish, live ducks, a television set, someone's jacket, someone else's trousers, many people's lunch.'' He also presents an astounding collection of river dwellers that makes one wonder ``if the Seine manufactures characters or merely attracts them.'' And despite his obvious Francophile tendencies, he recognizes that the homeless huddling in camps under the bridges represent ``the flotsam of a society headed for trouble.'' Rosenblum's prose brilliantly captures the spirit of the Seine—the name originates from the Gallic Sequana, meaning twisting or tranquil. Alternating romantic and acerbic tones inspire admiration, if not always envy, for a historically revered culture.
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-201-62461-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
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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