Much here is a reiteration of ideas and points Paz has made before more freshly—about the disastrous modernist penchant for utopian revolution, about the term ``post-modern'' (``merely a naive way of saying that we are extremely modern'') and about the fraternal, ahistorical force of poetry. The summarizing tone may stem from a few of these essays having been given as speeches and lectures. Paz is shrewd but Olympian in these pieces, proved correct by the collapse of Eastern European Marxism yet not quite happy with it—or sure about what literary culture will find itself grappling with, once these false gods all are totally cleared away. Thus, interestingly, a large part of the focus here is not on poetry itself but on its epiphenomena: the academy (``Literary criticism becomes an exercise in investigating secrets, in the vein not so much of Sherlock Holmes as of Torquemada and State Prosecutor Vishinsky''), the publishing industry, the audience. About all these he is intelligent but also occasionally vague and generalizing, professing a willed optimism of art while everywhere referring to the seemingly inexorable decay of literature. Not as strong or thought-provoking as other Paz collections- -and more provisional.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-15-170449-X
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1991
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
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
© 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.
