A well-told tale of ego and politics subverting justice and a military with a conspicuous lack of honor, set against the...
Attorney Shaines details his experience with a nasty piece of legal and military skullduggery that happened during the Korean War.
Shaines was still wet behind his law-school ears when he was assigned to defend a second lieutenant serving in Korea, George Schreiber, who had been charged with premeditated murder. But before charging into that appalling situation, author Shaines wisely puts the war in Korea into perspective; despite the best efforts of writers like David Halberstam, that conflict remains a shadowy affair. Shaines draws it, assiduously and with conviction, as a murderous, corrupt enterprise, a Cold War folly of dreadful alternatives—Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee. Into this “place of horror and deprivation” came Schreiber, placed in charge of an Air Police guard unit in Pusan. Under his command were two soldiers, Kinder and Toth, who had arrested and roughed up a man of unknown nationality (an “Oriental male” whom some wag dubbed Bang Soon Kil), then shot him to death. It was bandied about that Schreiber, who was on medication for allergies and a bit fuzzy, had insinuated to Kinder and Toth that they should get rid of the man. So Schreiber was put up on charges of murder, Shaines was detailed to serve as his lawyer and the rest of the story concerns the sham that passed as a trial. Shaines tells it in a grippingly direct manner and with an urgent liveliness. It is a sad story of double-dealing and foregone conclusions where the accused will not be acquitted but be given a “fair trial before they hang him.” Although the uniform code of military justice forbids the strong-arm tactics of command influence, wherein the will of a senior officer shall be done (“if the general wanted someone convicted, there would be a conviction”), it was routine in real-world application in Korea. Shaines is bell clear in his depiction of military power mongering, the incompetence of many officers and the outrageous roadblocks thrown up against the defense.
A well-told tale of ego and politics subverting justice and a military with a conspicuous lack of honor, set against the misery of wartime Korea.Pub Date: Nov. 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-1598000214
Page Count: 430
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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