This is really two books: the first, a critical analysis of the literary and personal influences on the young Camus; the second, a selection of his unpublished writings—essay, prose, and verse—produced between the ages of 19 and 21. It is misleading to call Viallaneix' essay "introductory," since it assumes a working familiarity with Camus' oeuvre as well as those of the writers and philosophers he read as an adolescent—Gide, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer, among others. The translator has thoughtfully provided explanatory notes for some of the more obscure references, but the reader who approaches this essay cold will find the going rough; those with the requisite background will find it insightful and illuminating. As is often the case with juvenilia, the pieces are more important for what they tell us about the author's mature works than for their intrinsic value as finished works of art. With-in the short span represented here, one follows the development of Camus' conception of literature (which emerges as a fully developed philosophy of art in The Rebel) from the "oblivion" of dreams to a "deliverance." Themes and images that turn up in the later works reveal themselves—the Mediterranean sun, for example, which assumes such an important role in The Stranger. The overall impression is of the young writer's seriousness of purpose, a touching sincerity, and an inveterate lyricism (which he strives to discipline), expressed in an endearingly clumsy style, as Camus attempts to define his task as an artist. Even before opening the book, we know it is significant; we discover that it is also affecting and charming.
Pub Date: Nov. 8, 1876
ISBN: 0241895219
Page Count: -
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1976
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
Did you like this book?
Noted jazz and pop record producer Thiele offers a chatty autobiography. Aided by record-business colleague Golden, Thiele traces his career from his start as a ``pubescent, novice jazz record producer'' in the 1940s through the '50s, when he headed Coral, Dot, and Roulette Records, and the '60s, when he worked for ABC and ran the famous Impulse! jazz label. At Coral, Thiele championed the work of ``hillbilly'' singer Buddy Holly, although the only sessions he produced with Holly were marred by saccharine strings. The producer specialized in more mainstream popsters like the irrepressibly perky Teresa Brewer (who later became his fourth wife) and the bubble-machine muzak-meister Lawrence Welk. At Dot, Thiele was instrumental in recording Jack Kerouac's famous beat- generation ramblings to jazz accompaniment (recordings that Dot's president found ``pornographic''), while also overseeing a steady stream of pop hits. He then moved to the Mafia-controlled Roulette label, where he observed the ``silk-suited, pinky-ringed'' entourage who frequented the label's offices. Incredibly, however, Thiele remembers the famously hard-nosed Morris Levy, who ran the label and was eventually convicted of extortion, as ``one of the kindest, most warm-hearted, and classiest music men I have ever known.'' At ABC/Impulse!, Thiele oversaw the classic recordings of John Coltrane, although he is the first to admit that Coltrane essentially produced his own sessions. Like many producers of the day, Thiele participated in the ownership of publishing rights to some of the songs he recorded; he makes no apology for this practice, which he calls ``entirely appropriate and without any ethical conflicts.'' A pleasant, if not exactly riveting, memoir that will be of most interest to those with a thirst for cocktail-hour stories of the record biz. (25 halftones, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-508629-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
Did you like this book?
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
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
