Good idea, disappointing result. Novelist Shreve (The Visiting Physician, 1996, etc.) and her novelist-to-be son, Porter, have collected short essays on justice authored not by lawyers or academics, but by writers addressing the subject through personal narratives. Running throughout these contributions is a central theme captured in the title: Justice cannot be reduced to questions of law. Unfortunately, the volume ultimately does not quite work. Selections that reflect personal experience, such as Richard Bausch's recollection of a racist remark made to a friend during his childhood, or a journalistic report, such as Blanche McCrary Boyd's account of the trial of Susan Smith, expose the potent emotions and nagging doubts that can surface when notions of justice are counterposed to clearcut questions of innocence or guilt. In contrast, the less focused and more abstract sets of reflections, notably John Casey's rather lengthy discussion of how questions of justice ``nourish'' fictional works, seem pallid and out of place. While the former outnumber the latter, however, in the end the whole volume adds up to less than the sum of its parts. The better essays are suggestive, but none are conclusive, and the overall effect is to leave the reader hanging in many different ways rather than illuminating the subject from a variety of perspectives. The premise that justice cannot be codified because it is a function of the complexities of real life is not only worth exploring, it may positively require more lengthy exploration than can be derived from short essays.
Pub Date: July 21, 1997
ISBN: 0-8070-4406-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1997
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
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