This is as distinguished and richly rewarding a book of criticism as has appeared in America in many years. Trilling here takes his place among the all too few critics who have anything real to say: that is, they know their material, they know what the values of literature really are, and what a warm discussion of these values can be. In this book, Trilling has chosen nine different writers, among them Wordsworth, Keats, Howells, Flaubert, Henry James and Jane Austen- widely disparate figures. But he has given his book unity by not discussing them individually, but in relation to one problem, the development of the self. And to this concept, so pertinent at this time, he brings illumination and insight. The essay on Keats is perhaps the finest, and Keats himself states the theme for Trilling in a letter written not long before his death to his brother: "Call the world if you please 'The Vale of Soul Making'... I say Soul Making; Soul as distinguished from an Intelligence. There may be intelligences or sparks of divinity in millions- but they are not Souls till they acquire identities, till each one is personally itself." And in this drama of "Soul Making", Keats sees circumstances as the flint against which the heart must prove itself... It is this theme which Trilling weaves with skill and great sensibility into each of these nine essays and gives this its value in the realm of belles lettres.
Pub Date: Feb. 14, 1955
ISBN: 0156700654
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
