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GARDENS OF REMEMBRANCE

Name: GARDENS OF REMEMBRANCE
Author: Thomas McCarthy
ISBN: 1-874597-66-9

by Thomas McCarthy ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 26, 1999

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A forgettable hodgepodge of childhood memoir, travel diary, and essays on poetry. Like ancient Gaul, this book is divided into three parts—none of them quite related to others. Award-winning Irish poet and novelist McCarthy opens with childhood memories of his blind grandmother. After devoting a few pages to his upbringing in Waterford, Ireland, he jumps ahead to his college days in Cork, where he studied poetry. We—re introduced to several Cork poets, each of them obscure to most American (and Irish) readers. McCarthy next offers his opinions on Irish immigration and contemporary Irish culture. There’s nothing particularly interesting about McCarthy’s views: “Every idea I have about my country isn—t conceived for a seminar—it is, rather, a product of one way of life here, a justification for living.” Whether he’s discussing personal or public issues, McCarthy never delves very far below the surface. His best moments come when he’s describing his job as a librarian in Cork: “Bad days in a public library can be terrible: constant queues, screaming children, distraught pensioners risking broken bones to beat each other to the latest Maeve Binchy, and perhaps, the boss in a foul humour.” The book’s second part is a five-month diary of his time spent teaching Irish literature at a small Minnesota college. McCarthy’s insights about America are frustratingly few and mundane. American students are earnest, Minnesota winters are harsh, teaching is exhausting, and he misses home. The final part of the book is a collection of six essays on various Irish poets (among them Theo Dorgan, Sean Dunne, Greg Delanty). Many of the cited poets write in Gaelic, yet McCarthy quotes their poems without English translation. Lacking organization, focus, and depth, this book is a bland mixture of incompatible ingredients tossed haphazardly into a pot.

Pub Date: March 26, 1999

ISBN: 1-874597-66-9

Page Count: 200

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999

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.