A high-toned social and architectural history of a grand house, warmed by un-self-conscious love. (28 illustrations)
When a Palladian villa outside Venice is your country home, being house-proud comes with the territory.
But the Gables, who spend summers and winters in Atlanta, aren’t trying to prove anything here other than their good fortune as they tell readers what it’s like to live in such a monument. In 1987, hankering for a place in the country and not finding one in New Hampshire, Sally Gable (whose sensible, cultured voice provides the first-person narration) spied an ad in the New York Times Sunday Magazine about the availability of a residence by 16th-century master Andrea Palladio. Two years of negotiations followed before the superb piece of Renaissance architecture was in their hands. Sally doesn’t come right out and state the price, though readers won’t begrudge the Gables their wherewithal (Carl is a lawyer and businessman), for it is clear from the outset that they not only cherish the villa but feel a deep sense of responsibility for it. Whenever repairs are needed, they always ask: How would Palladio have dealt with this problem? Of the 18 authenticated Palladian structures in existence, Villa Cornaro is a humdinger, with both recessed and projecting double porticos, 104 frescoes and abundant statuary—not to mention scorpions, pigeons “depositing yucky acidic gray excrement over our sixteenth-century brick and terrazzo floors,” a leaky roof, a primitive kitchen and some rotting joists. Though Sally pays respect to the town, its market and its citizens, her principal concern is the villa. She ferrets out its history, figures out where it fits in the Palladian oeuvre and tries to understand its small mysteries, from why there are no frescoes in some of the main rooms (no need for trompe l’oeil when the columns and niches and statues are real) to why tunnels lead hundreds of feet to the lake (primitive air conditioning, maybe).
A high-toned social and architectural history of a grand house, warmed by un-self-conscious love. (28 illustrations)Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-4000-4337-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2005
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
