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THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE ALPS

Name: THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE ALPS
Author: Paul Hofmann
ISBN: 0-8050-3259-2

YEAR-ROUND DELIGHTS IN SOUTH TYROL AND THE DOLOMITES

by Paul Hofmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 1995

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A comfortable blend of anthropology, history, and travelogue, with more than a touch of personal memoir thrown in. Born in Vienna and residing in Rome, Hofmann (The Spell of the Vienna Woods, 1994, etc.) has been a regular visitor to the South Tyrol/Dolomites area since 1936, when he spent a summer holiday visiting his Tyrolean wife-to-be. He begins his tour in the 1930s in Sterzing, his wife's hometown. At that time the place was overrun by the Italian army (Italy had won the region from Austria in WW I) and officially called Vipiteno; in their frenzy to Italianize, the conquerors even rechristened the dead, changing the names on headstones so that ``a long defunct Joseph Kollman posthumously became Giuseppe Colma.'' The Germanophones quietly seethed under the rule of Italian Fascists until after WW II, when they gained back much of their autonomy. By the 1980s, the author notes, the area had become so complacently multicultural that it was held up to the former Yugoslavia as a model of interethnic harmony. From Sterzing/Vipiteno and the surrounding countryside, Hofmann travels to the capital city of Bolzano/Bozen, from which the stunning Rose Garden rock formations can be seen glowing pinkly at dusk; thence to Merano/Meran, where the Freuds and Kafka used to vacation; and all around the lofty peaks of those ``pallid mountains,'' the Dolomites. Along the way Hofmann meets colorful locals and stops at castles, churches, ruins, old spa towns, and new ski and summer resorts, mixing analysis of current conditions with myth and history from recent and ancient times—a fitting way to view a people and a region that sit solidly in these many eras. Too much practical information for the armchair traveler, perhaps, but a charming and erudite tour of an area rich with its long past.

Pub Date: July 25, 1995

ISBN: 0-8050-3259-2

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE VATICAN’S WOMEN
by Paul Hofmann

- BOOK REVIEW
UMBRIA
by Paul Hofmann

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SEASONS OF ROME
by Paul Hofmann

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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.