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BACK FROM TUICHI

Name: BACK FROM TUICHI
Author: Yossi Ghinsberg
ISBN: 0-679-42458-X

by Yossi Ghinsberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1994

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Lost in the jungle!—told with a hearty emphasis on endurance and terror. In 1982, the author, an Israeli then in his 20s, was backpacking around South America. After some typically youthful escapades (e.g., tripping on a hallucinogen in Bolivia's desolate Valley of the Moon), Ghinsberg fell in with Karl, a self-proclaimed Austrian geologist who offered to take the author and two others- -thoughtful Marcus, a Swiss, and stalwart Kevin, an American—deep inside the Amazon rain forest. Flying out of La Paz to a remote town, the four were soon hacking their way through dense foliage, dining on smoked monkey meat, and panning for gold on an isolated riverbank. But the adventure was marred by tension between the travelers, spurred by Karl's bossiness and Marcus's whining, and eventually the foursome split up, with Karl and Marcus planning to return to La Paz while the author and Kevin were to raft down the treacherous Tuichi river. It's at this point, midway through the narrative, that Ghinsberg's tale takes flight: Almost immediately, he and Kevin lose their raft and are separated in the river's white waters. Carrying on alone, equipped only with a small bag containing matches, bug repellent, rice and beans, etc., Ghinsberg suffers through a horrific ordeal of starvation; jungle rot; attacks by hornets, leeches, and biting termites; torrential rains; slashing wounds; a jaguar stalking; and maddening loneliness. But after 20 days of being sustained primarily by his will (``I can go on''), the author, near death, spots Kevin approaching in a boat: ``I was safe''—but Marcus and Karl (whose surprising real identity is later revealed) are never seen again. The brutal politics of rain-forest exploitation provide a somber backdrop, but it's the gripping foreground action here that makes this yarn—though lacking the introspective depth of, say, Tracy Johnston's Shooting the Boh—a strong bet for armchair adventurers.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-679-42458-X

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 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.