While this collection of random journalism—some dating back to 1974, but most from the past decade—has the inevitable...
Agreeable ephemera—book reviews, forewords to reissues, personal essays, etc.—illuminating the distinguished novelist’s nonfictional preoccupations.
Now 86, Lessing (The Grandmothers, 2004, etc.) occasionally comes across as a cranky old lady in scattered asides about the horrors of political correctness (a bit much from a former Stalinist), the deleterious effects of 1960s “hedonism” and the fact that no one knows the Bible anymore. In general, however, these short works show her to be living very much in the present. “The Tragedy of Zimbabwe” scathingly anatomizes the corruption of Robert Mugabe’s regime, betrayer of the hopes for black empowerment and a multiracial society in her former homeland of Rhodesia. A half-dozen pieces, including reviews of several books about Sufism and two tributes to Idries Shah, remind us of Lessing’s pioneering interest in the mystic tradition and her understanding that the West ignores the achievements and history of Islam to its own detriment. “After 9.11” casts a cold eye on America’s tendency to feel “unique, alone, misunderstood, beleaguered,” reminding the U.S. that other nations have suffered terrorism with considerably less self-pity. In the collection’s warmer moments, Lessing eloquently praises writers she loves (D.H. Lawrence, Jane Austen, Christina Stead, Stendhal, Olive Schreiner) and some noteworthy contemporary works, from Desmond Morris’s Catlore (she adores cats and birds) to Alma Guillermoprieto’s Dancing with Cuba. The power of literature is a perennial theme, and on more than one occasion Lessing movingly notes the hunger for books expressed by people in impoverished Third World countries. Storytelling has always shaped society, she argues in “Problems, Myths, and Stories.” It is not just a leisure-time distraction for the privileged, but a means of imparting values and instruction on proper behavior.
While this collection of random journalism—some dating back to 1974, but most from the past decade—has the inevitable repetitions and a rather scattershot feel, it still gives a nice sense of Lessing’s character and commitments in vigorous old age.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-083140-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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