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HARD TRAVEL TO SACRED PLACES

Name: HARD TRAVEL TO SACRED PLACES
Author: Rudolph Wurlitzer
ISBN: 1-57062-024-5

by Rudolph Wurlitzer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 5, 1994

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A Southeast Asia travelogue that looks for spiritual sustenance but instead finds distraction in spiritual tourism and lengthy quotation. Accompanied by his wife, photographer Lynn Davis, Wurlitzer (Slow Fade, 1984, and author of the screenplay for Bertolucci's film Little Buddha) takes the reader, in maddeningly desultory fashion, to Thailand, Burma (now known as Myanmar), and Cambodia. The motive for the trip is to mourn the accidental death of Davis's 21-year-old son. Wurlitzer desperately wants to convey the course of an inner, rather than an outer, journey—but he fails. Apparently believing that all quotations are equally self- explanatory and useful, he jump-cuts his narrative with anything he comes across: from a Buddhist quote to a newspaper account of a Buddhist monk ``caught having sex with a female corpse in a coffin at a Samut Prakan Temple'' in Bangkok. It takes a while for Wurlitzer to realize that their spiritual journey has been a failure. ``We seem to be locked into movement for its own sake, as if by constantly changing the outside we will in some way encourage a realization within of the truth of impermanence.'' The same, sadly, might be said for the reader, who has had to wade through descriptions of this couple's trek through capitalist Thailand, particularly Patpong (the sex district); a Thai princess's birthday party; a shorthand account of politics in Burma; and visits to many of the famous Buddhist temples, including Cambodia's Angkor Wat. But by the end, the two travelers are physically weakened and not spiritually strengthened. The only thing ``hard'' about this travel might be that they felt they had to undergo it at all. A disjointed pastiche of Buddhist touchstones, Southeast Asian politics and temple lore, and personal expressions of grief. Go elsewhere for all four.

Pub Date: Aug. 5, 1994

ISBN: 1-57062-024-5

Page Count: 142

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.