Lots about the difference between Japanese Buddhist aristocratic culture and Shinto popular culture—with examples from films, plays, novels, prostitution—pegged, indeed chained, to the familiar idea that "hedonism is held in check by social taboos." I.e., "what one sees on the screen, on stage and in comic-books is usually precisely the reverse of normal behavior. The morbid and sometimes grotesque taste that runs through Japanese culture—and has done so for centuries—is a direct result of being made to conform to such a strict and limiting code of normality." Nonetheless Buruma rejects the idea that the Japanese are unique: rather, they resemble Europeans of the Middle Ages. So: "while the heroes and heroines of this book tell us something about the culture that created them. . . they tell us far more about ourselves." As cultural analysis, this is neither coherent nor subtle. Buruma starts off by distinguishing between Japanese progenitors Izanagi and Izanami and Adam and Eve—or "pollution" vs. Original Sin. He likens the samurai to the European knight-errant—save for "the Christian ideal of principled, indiscriminate compassion." He seconds Ivan Morris' observation that all Japanese heroes are anachronisms. As an olla podrida of comments and description, however, this has its truths and its voyeuristic attractions. Across the board, high to low, "everyone is dressed for his or her part." While the Westerner "appeals to a sense of logic," a Japanese appeals "to his own heart." Etc. As to the Japanese underside, we visit a strip tease (which climaxes in a magnifying-glass display of genitals), take in the violent and/or pornographic plot-lines of innumerable popular entertainments, see the salary man (sheepish) at home and (randy) after hours. But with the same few, stereotypical points made over and over.
Pub Date: April 26, 1984
ISBN: 0394537750
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984
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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