``Nearly all good writers are `crime writers,' '' contends Freeling, author of 31 crime novels of his own (Flanders Sky, 1992, etc.), in this collection of essays and aperáus on the writers and writings that most interest and influence him. It is a collection as original, insightful, and intriguing as his novels. Although the genre is much maligned, crime writing is, of course, a universal form: Cain murdering his brother; Oedipus searching for the murderer of his father; Shakespeare's heroes murdering each other's souls. Its concern with power, mystery, the ``deep-hidden movement of the heart,'' and, at its best, its careful deployment of language make it a refuge, an often secret delight for intellectuals, politicians (some of whom write crime novels of their own), and those for whom the understanding of power and the nuances of human behavior are most important. In readings enviably perceptive and lyrical, Freeling explores the personal dimensions and secret charms of Stendhal (``the first to see crime in terms of ordinary emotions''), Dickens (who saw crime everywhere), Conrad (praised for the ``architecture'' of his novels), Kipling (``the outstanding prose artist of the English language''), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dorothy Sayers, and Georges Simenon. He rightly ridicules the ``giant armada of criticism'' that has grown up around Conrad and the institutionalization of Agatha Christie (``the darling of Hungarian students learning English''). Freeling demonstrates the importance of an educated heart as well as a critical vocabulary, of eclectic taste, and, in an eloquent ``Apologia pro vita sua,'' a good mate, in this case his long-suffering wife, whose support prompts him to say, ``the metaphysical nature of woman is the soul of art.'' Freeling here demonstrates that good reading and criticism, like good writing, require the skills of a crime writer, and he has clearly mastered all of them.
Pub Date: June 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-87923-973-5
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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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