The jungles of Borneo can bring adventurers to their knees—and elevate adventurous writers to admirable heights, as evidenced by Eric Hansen's Stranger in the Forest (1987) and, now, by free-lance writer Johnston's smart, passionate account of rafting down the island's treacherous Boh River. When Johnston arrived in Jakarta on the first leg of her journey to the Boh, she learned that her luggage had remained in L.A.—a portent of miserable weeks to come. Ill-equipped but still game, she joined her companions, who included—in addition to three guides paid for by Sobek, the travel company sponsoring Johnston as the trip's writer—two high-fashion models, a wealthy Italian, a Florida couple, a Chicago lawyer, and a pair of young Australians. Each flares to life on Johnston's crisp pages, but none more so than the author herself. For as much as an exciting jungle journey, Johnston's trip reveals itself as an odyssey of self-discovery during which she, the only group member over 40, enters menopause. And with the hot flashes that strike in the middle of the steaming nights comes knowledge of a border crossed: ``Yesterday, I had been young; today I was middle-aged.'' Always proud of her physical prowess, Johnston now must reorient herself as a woman whose primary challenges will be emotional and mental, not physical. And the trip itself develops into just such a challenge as the author and her companions struggle through Job-like trials generated by bees, leeches, ants, rapids, waterfalls, floods, rancid food, open sores, foot rot, moldy clothes, and, above all, the unrelenting wet heat that turns the jungle into a sauna from hell: ``I was surprised all over again at how spongy and rotten everything was. The entire forest floor was being devoured by ravenous microorganisms....'' A powerful adventure of the heart as well as the body: not to be missed.
Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-74010-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
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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