This collection of four essays (1971-73) and three interviews (1971-75) by Sartre assumes additional, touching significance with his revelation that because of blindness his "occupation as a writer is completely destroyed." Nobel Prize winner and, in the opinion of most, the Frenchman of Letters since 1945, Sartre is not concerned in his last essays with the literary and philosophical matters upon which his reputation rests. Rather, he fulminates with unrelenting outrage at instances of political oppression—most effectively, in an impassioned jeremiad against the attempted cultural genocide of the Basques by Franco-Spain. The other essays discuss the failure of traditional electoral politics, the nature of justice and the state, and the Maoist movement—in particular as they affect the French; but Sartre's Marxist alternative clearly intends international correspondences. Of the French Maoists he writes, "they realized that the old bourgeois society was doomed and was only protecting itself from death with the clubs of policemen"; moreover, they "had shown that the only relationship possible between the ruling class and the masses was a violent one." Unfortunately such phrases are closer to pamphleteering propaganda than to the subtle formulations usually associated with Sartre. Nowhere does he plausibly demonstrate the validity of his pronouncements, or convincingly detail the means by which proletariat class-consciousness will extend to the bourgeoisie and lead eventually to the socialist end he envisions. The interviews, however, bristle with intellectual vigor: Sartre's restive preoccupations as a man and writer, autobiographical reflections and reappraisals, a tartly provocative consideration of the woman's movement with Simone de Beauvoir, his latest views of his monumental study of Flaubert, and much more—these further expose one of this century's most formidable minds.
Pub Date: April 15, 1977
ISBN: 0394734602
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1977
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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