1 comments about Lucia Joyce: To Dance in the Wake.

1. This review is based in good part on Joan Acocella 's comprehensive review which first appeared in 'The New Yorker'. It also makes use of information provided by D.T. Max in a story on Joyce's grandson , Stephen Joyce and his efforts to protect the family from too close public scrutiny.
   Shloss worked for many years on this book, and her aim is to both rehabilitate Lucia Joyce from the image given of her by Joyce scholars Richard Ellmann( The great Joyce biographer) and Brenda Maddox( Biographer of Nora Joyce).
   As Schloss sees it Lucia Joyce was herself a creative artist who was not simply an inspiration but a real collaborator with her father in the creation of 'Finnegan's Wake'. This claim is one Acocella believes there is no real evidence for, and is in fact the major exaggeration of the book.
   Other claims of Schloss however are given greater credibility. The primary one is that Lucia Joyce was victimized, institutionalized unnecessarily through the treacherous actions of her brother Georgio. As Schloss sees it James Joyce was Lucia's defender in the family , loved her and believed in her genius. But in his dedication to his work, especially to the completion of 'Finnegan's Wake' he did not take the time and effort to stand up to his wife Nora and son Georgio who worked against Lucia.
   Lucia's sad story, her schizophrenia, her rejection by three assistants of Joyce, including Beckett and Alexander Calder, her failed efforts at a dancing career, her tale of childhood wanderings with an indigent father artist, her language difficulties , her long period of institutionalization is told here in great detail.
   Schloss has tremendous sympathy for her subject.
   Unfortunately she in trying to make Lucia Joyce a subject of interest is unable to change the fact that the reason most people have had or will have interest in her is because of the possible light her life throws on that of Joyce itself.
   Certainly the illness of his daughter was for Joyce a major source of worry grief and frustration.
   Yet in the way Schloss tells the story Joyce himself too appears a victim, both of his other family members, and of his genius.
   He also appears as an often neglectful but nonetheless largely caring father who could not prevent his child from having a life of great pain and suffering.

No comments about The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland, 1300-1455.

No comments about John of Paris on Royal and Papal Power: A Translation With Introduction of the De Postestate Regia Et Papali of John of Paris (Records of Civilizati).

No comments about Lady Unknown: The Life of Angela Burdett-Coutts.

2 comments about Footsteps of the Hunter.

1. He wrote a good book on small histories of his war. But no many on aerial war ! it's curious, i like his writing but why he doesn't speak of these planes or comrade ( gunther rall, 5 sentences, we don't know about of his first victory, etc...). Curious !



2. A typical book in the genre of war memoirs. The text illuminates the human aspect of the war as seen from the perspective of a regular pilot. Adolf Dickfeld served with III./JG52 with the famous Hermann Graf. Later on he was transferred to II./JG2 and II./JG11. The author offers some unexpected details about the life of an occupational force in the various theaters of operations. Episodes of aerial duels are interspersed with accounts from the daily routines of his unit. The Dickfeld memoirs are sparse on details of historical events. The book offers few dates of events and no maps. Also, few references are made to the overall context, in which the author operated. Unfortunately, memoirs by front-line troops often share this lack of factual documentation and I have grown to accept it.
   
   There are two problems with this book though. The first one has to do with the rather poor editorial work on this publication. There are several spelling mistakes and clumsy translations of German terms and expressions. The second weakness of the book is that the author is torn between remorse for the war crimes of the occupational forces and the blind bitterness of a conquered combatant. Sometimes he would erupt in apologetic diatribes. Other times he would try to rationalize German atrocities by comparison to other historical (supposedly similar) events. Both sources of these emotional outbursts are off-beat in my humble opinion and detract from the readability of the text. In that sense, Luftwaffe Fighter Ace by Norbert Hannig and Alert in the West by Willi Heilmann are better reads on the same subject.

No comments about Reminiscences Of Daniel O'Connell: During The Agitations Of The Veto, Emancipation, And Repeal (Classics of Irish History).

1 comments about W.B. Yeats: A Beginner's Guide.

1. This is a clear and readable introduction to the work of Yeats. It has explication of major works, and a section which summarizes criticisms of Yeats work. There is also a feature in which key concepts involved in the Literature are defined.
   I saw the shortcoming of the work when I read a description of the last years of Yeats life and work. Too brief, and not true to the whole complexity of his situation.
   But the work does meet the test of being what it advertises itself as being.

1 comments about The World Encompassed: Drake's Great Voyage 1577 - 1580.

1. Wilson's book gives the reader a taste of the tremendous adventure this must have been for Drake and those in his group. Very soon, into the South Atlantic, they were in strange, new waters where mystery and superstition dominated the thoughts of the explorers. There is so much more the reader longs to know - what were the thoughts of the average crew members? What did the physical sights look like to them. What was day-to-day life like on this long voyage? Of course, Wilson had little to go on. The principal diary of Drake was lost after he turned it over to the Queen. The book is readable and exciting. With few earthly frontiers left, we can only imagine the spirit of adventure these men must have felt. But so much is lost down through the ages. Even the Ship - the Golden Hind - was itself not preserved and decayed into rotten wood. We must be thankful for what little is left to know about this great voyage.

No comments about Nelson: Britannia's God of War.

No comments about The Second Madame: A Memoir of Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess D'orleans.