In this long and challenging book Edmund Wilson presents a critical analysis of the works of some 30 men and women, novelists, generals, poets; politicans, diarists, who saw the Civil War at first hand and who wrote of what they saw. "The period of the Civil War", Wilson says in his introduction, "was not one in which belles lettres flourished, but it did produce a remarkable literature .... of speeches, pamphlets, private letters and diaries, personal memoirs and journalistic reports." From this literature, beginning with Harriet Beecher Stowe and ending with Justice Holmes, he has culled fascinating examples, with them presenting excellent pocket biographies of their authors. Great men — and lesser ones — are seen through their own works and the eyes of men who knew them: Lincoln and Lee; Sherman and Mosby; the Confederate Richard Taylor, to whom Stonewall Jackson was hero; Grant, an amazing man, whose memoirs "may well rank as the most remarkable work of its kind since the Commentaries of Julius Caesar" — and many others. Women are represented by a fine chapter on Harriet Beecher Stowe, and by excerpts from the diaries of the mulatto teacher, Charlotte Forten; and three Confederate ladies, staunch Secessionists who loathed slavery: Kate Stone, Sarah Morgan, and the incomparable Mrs. Mary Chesnut. No book for hurried reading, this brilliant study will appeal to discerning readers both North and South; it belongs in public and university libraries, and in all comprehensive collections of American literary criticism.
Pub Date: April 26, 1962
ISBN: 0393312569
Page Count: 852
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1962
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
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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