This book is made up of six lectures sponsored annually by Trinity College, Cambridge. Graves, known chiefly as a novelist, chose for his subject "Professional Standards in English Poetry". His chief point is that poets belong to no guild, group, society or association, have as their only allegiance the Muse herself and if they are false to this "crowning privilege", they betray the cause of poetry. On this theme Graves strings an enormous amount of erudition from Irish, Welsh and Druidic sources, down through the centuries to modern times, and leaves himself ample play for all his pride and prejudices. Besides these lectures there are a few short essays on various aspects of poetry and sixteen new poems by the author. He is erudite, paradoxical, opinionated and occasionally verbose- and addresses an audience of scholars and critics.
Pub Date: July 5, 1956
ISBN: 0836917510
Page Count: 318
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1956
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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