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THE LANDS OF CHARM AND CRUELTY

Name: THE LANDS OF CHARM AND CRUELTY
Author: Stan Sesser
ISBN: 0-679-41600-5

TRAVELS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

by Stan Sesser ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 1993

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Five sharp essays (expanded from New Yorker pieces) that explore political, socioeconomic, and ecological conditions in five southeast Asian locales: Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and Borneo. Sesser presents concise histories of the territories he visited as well as interviews with the demagogues and dissidents who keep this remote corner of the world in a near-constant state of turmoil. His description of the Singapore scene will probably prove the least familiar to most readers and for that reason comes across as the freshest, most involving, piece here. The author captures the Kafkaesque quality of life in the port city, where every aspect of residents' lives is regulated (Cosmopolitan is banned, and failing to flush a public toilet is punishable by a fine). In his efforts to attract multinational investors, Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Sesser tells us, has become obsessed with social and political ``stability,'' creating a sterile—if enormously prosperous—enclave in which annual economic growth is measured in double digits. Cambodia, by contrast, is a country of immense poverty, racked by shifting political allegiances and shocking compromises. In Sesser's view, the murderous Khmer Rouge will probably regain power, since they seem to be the only entity able to deal with the nation's near-universal political corruption. Moving on to Borneo, the author exposes Japanese involvement in the ecological destruction of the island's rain forests and in the destabilization of the native peoples. An eye-opening report on nations caught between the securities of the past and the uncertainties of the future. (Five maps)

Pub Date: May 10, 1993

ISBN: 0-679-41600-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1993

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.