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RECLAIMING THE CANON

ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHY, POETRY, AND HISTORY

Though the title suggests another culture-war screed, this book comprises polished lectures on Homer, Plato, Tolstoy, Conrad, Yeats, and other canonical must-reads. Late in this collection of 20 essays based on classroom lectures, Sinaiko (Humanities/Univ. of Chicago) modestly notes that he left a remunerative and senior administrative position to return to something he loves, teaching. Delivered originally to audiences composed, variously, of University of Chicago undergraduates, Air Force Academy facutly, and members of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society, these jargon-free, thoroughgoing essays never fail to hit their pedagogic mark. Unsurprisingly, many are centered on the significance of teaching and the search for knowledge, especially in Plato's Socratic dialogue Laches, as well as Tolstoy's artistically tempered didacticism in Anna Karenina and War and Peace, Confucius's Analects and the psychoanalytic procedure. There may not be a common theme linking them—even that of a college-level humanities survey course—but throughout, Sinaiko's attention to textual detail, articulate summaries, and objectivity serve him well. (The temptation to skip taking notes sometimes arises, though, during the mandatory summary of Plato's parable of the cave in the Republic or yet another discussion of Conrad's Heart of Darkness.) The closest he gets to the current controversy over the canon is in an essay on Hume's open-minded ``Of the Standard of Taste.'' There Sinaiko declares he is more worried about deserving works going unappreciated than about the decline of the Great Books, but likewise, the only way to recognize contemporary greatness is to read and reread those works that have stood the test of time. Reclaiming the Canon makes it easy to see why Sinaiko has been twice distinguished for excellence in undergraduate teaching and why he takes his revered occupation so seriously: old-style, no-nonsense humanities taught with thorough grounding and relish. (illustrations, not seen)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-300-06529-9

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Yale Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

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NUTCRACKER

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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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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