The best conservative treatment of the Pope to date, but so fiercely partisan that no one to the left of William Buckley will be able to stomach it. Johnson has outstanding credentials in both journalism (erstwhile editor of the New Statesman) and history (including a solid History of Christianity), which lend some intellectual weight to what is basically a rather simplistic case: the Catholic Church has been seriously ill, but John Paul is its skilled and resolute physician, and with any luck the patient will make a splendid recovery. Even more telling than this medical analogy, however, is the political one in Johnson's title: after the destructive hurly-burly of the Vatican II Commonwealth, Catholics now have a vigorous king back on the throne. After a brisk and pointed summary of Karol Wojtyla's pre-election career, Johnson presents the Pope's life since October 1978 as a sort of holy war on five fronts: against the crucifixion of man (by Marxist-Leninist atheism), the temptation of violence (to which Latin American theolibs are especially prone), secularization by stealth (contraception, feminism, etc.), threats to Catholic certitudes (such as papal infallibility), and the shadow of heresy (as cast by Hans Kung and his ilk). If you can accept without protest Johnson's apotheosis of the pope (any pope) as the high priest of the planet, you may well be swayed by this forceful plea-for-the-defense. If not, Johnson's effort is liable to sound like just another shrill blast on the Vatican trumpet.
Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1982
ISBN: 0892831839
Page Count: -
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1982
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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