Massive (800 pp.) and excellent first volume of a projected two-volume biography by Boyle (German/Cambridge) of the protean genius Goethe. Writing for a general audience as well as scholars, Boyle opens with a carefully constructed historical context to show the Goethe was an anomaly in the age named after him: an elitist during an age of democratic revolution; a classicist during a period of sentimentalism; a man who secularized art and experience during a period of religious revival, grounding his knowledge in observation over theory and tradition-which led him to reject Newton as well as the received beliefs of Christianity. Each chapter is divided into life, events, nonliterary activities-such as Goethe's study of science (geology, botany, and physics)-and an analysis of related literary works, the lyric poems, The Sorrows of Young Werther (more a reflection of the taste of the age than Goethe), the classical plays, and the evolving Faust. The unifying theme is Boyle's belief that Goethe was motivated by unfulfilled goals, usually women but also an idealized life in Italy-which he ultimately visited at age 36, when from the shores of Venice he saw the sea for the first time. In spite of his self-image as Promethean creator, solitary, suffering, desolate, he became a cultural icon in Weimar, turning the ancient republic, where he had gone to be tutor to the Prince and rose to be Prime Minister, into a haven for the artistic and intellectual elite. At age 40, the handsome, charming, and seductive womanizer-after a long courtship with a married woman and many abandoned peasant girls-took responsibility for the son he fathered by the 23-year-old Christina Vulpius, whom he married 16 years later. This clear, methodical, dispassionate representation of Goethe is especially timely given the tumultuous social and intellectual changes in contemporary Germany, its reunification and cultural reassessment reminiscent of Goethe's lifetime.
Pub Date: May 1, 1991
ISBN: O-19-815866-1
Page Count: 763
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1991
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
