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MAY THE LORD IN HIS MERCY BE KIND TO BELFAST

From oral historian Parker (Bird, Kansas, 1989, etc.), riveting interviews that speak to the heart of the ``Troubles'' in Belfast, where even to be neither Protestant nor Catholic is not sufficient: ``what matters is where did you begin?'' Parker learned that everything in Belfast, from your choice of camera shop to which hotel you stay in, is affected by religious affiliation. This ``need for knowledge of someone's present faith or antecedents isn't for the purpose of expressing empathy or antagonism, but purely so that...once you know whether you share common background, or you do not, you can avoid saying the wrong thing, or wrong word, to unwittingly cause offence.'' Having noted these parameters, Parker talks to a range of Belfast citizenry: Catholic and Protestant; Republican and Loyalist; IRA and RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary); clergy and laypeople; and those who concentrate on nonsectarian issues like women's rights or education. One of the most impressive is the principal of the groundbreaking Lagan Integrated College, who is trying to encourage compromise rather than the ``We must win, they must lose attitudes.'' Nearly all, whether a sixteen year-old delinquent declaring ``I'm not one for all this religious business....I'm just your ordinary thief just taking things that come my way,'' or an anguished father whose beloved daughter was killed at a roadblock by British soldiers and who believes ``unification's got to be done democratically, never through bloodshed,'' are troubled by the current situation. The responses also suggest why change will not be easy: there's the great weight of history; enormous economic problems remain; and both religious hierarchies refuse to seek common ground. A book that, with talk of peace in the time, could hardly be more timely. But it is also a sobering reminder of just how perilous and difficult the peace process will be.

Pub Date: March 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-8050-3053-0

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1994

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NUTCRACKER

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

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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