by Peter Huber ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 1994
A curious, contentious, but always interesting sequel cum polemic that conjures up the ghost in Orwell's machine. Huber (Galileo's Revenge, 1991), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute for Policy Research, has two abiding convictions: that 1984 remains ``the most important book published since the war'' for its prescient recognition that the information and technology culture would pose the late 20th century's determining challenges for human culture; and that Orwell was nevertheless ``completely, irredeemably, outrageously wrong'' about the implications of the technology he so perspicaciously portrayed. Writing from a postCold War, postinformation superhighway perspective, Huber argues that the convergence of information and communication technologies Orwell foresaw in his ``telescreen,'' far from condemning society to the grim panoptic coercion of the Party, are by their nature driven toward the creation of markets in information and services that will inevitably elude the grasp of centralizing authority and ultimately topple it (adducing as evidence the Internet and the role of information technology in the collapse of the Soviet empire). He makes this case in a singular fashion, alternating passages of conventional literary and political critique with his own sequel cum rewrite of 1984—a patented computer-aided ``palimpsest'' assembled largely in Orwell's own words from shreds and patches of both the original novel and his other writings—in which the fearsome interrogator O'Brien, the Party, and the vast totalitarian superstates all perish not by self-conscious political activism or revolt, but simply through the innate logic of the technology they wrongly believed they could control. Many readers may question Huber's libertarian faith in market forces and in the inevitable Big Brotherdom of all social planning or collective endeavor; and matters aren't helped by a style whose affectations, when not simply reformatting Orwell, can border on the precious. But overstated and overlong as it may be, Huber's undertaking remains ambitious, strikingly original, and thoroughly provocative.
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-02-915335-2
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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