Comment by Jonathan Schell. In recent days, political columnists and others have been pondering whether or not President Reagan's reelection has given him a "mandate." It's a strange question to be asking after a landslide victory, but there are reasons for doubt. The electorate that chose Reagan also returned a Democratic majority to the...

The Talk of the Town Master Class by Timothy Crouse. Talk story about master classes given by Birgit Nilsson, the Swedish soprano, at the Manhattan School of Music. Twelve of the school's voice majors (out of a total of 107) were selected to appear at the first two sessions, before invited guests; then Mme. Nilsson chose the best six to...

The Theatre by Edith Oliver.

Musical Events by Andrew Porter.

The Current Cinema THE CURRENT CINEMA UNREAL by Pauline Kael. Review of "The Killing Fields," which is based on Sydney Schanberg's 1980 Times Magazine article, "The Death and Life of Dith Pran." It shows the Khmer Rouge transforming Cambodia into a nationwide gulag, and the scenes of this genocidal revolution have the breadth and terror of something deeply imagined...

Profiles THE LIGHT IN THE EYE by Kennedy Fraser. PROFILE of British photographer Norman Parkinson, 71. When not busy photographing lovely, famous, rich, or royal people all over the world, he runs a pig farm and sausage-making factory on the Caribbean island of Tobago, where he has made his home for the past twenty years. As an apprentice...

Books by Whitney Balliett.

The Talk of the Town Gerard Phelan by William McKibben. Talk story about Gerard Phelan, receiver for the Boston College football team. Last month, Doug Flutie, quarterback of the team, threw a 64-yard touchdown pass caught by Phelan. When they came to town 4 days after the game for a lunch at Sardi's, writer spoke to Phelan...

Fiction Hey, Kids! by Bruce McCall. Congressional investigators conducting an inquiry of the Central Intelligence Agency's manual for the Nicaraguan rebels say they are also investigating the agency's role in preparing a comic book for Nicaraguan citizens. The comic book shows how to puncture tires and stop up toilets as a means of overthrowing the government...

Books by Whitney Balliett.

The Talk of the Town The Deep by Emily Hahn. Talk story about a talk on "Marine Pharmacology: Aquatic Animals in Biomedical Research," at Education Hall, at the Aquarium in Coney Island. Dr. George Ruggieri, the director of the Aquarium and the Osborn Laboratories of Marine Science, which are part of it, welcomed the audience of mostly high school students...

Fiction Slow Homecoming by Peter Handke. The daydreaming Sorger was on a plane from California to N.Y., thinking of his estrangement from his brother and sister. When the plane landed, a stranger named Esch asked Sorger to share a cab with him. They parted company in midtown, but Esch asked Sorger if he had time to...

Poetry The Company We Keep by Susan Prospere. Do you know we stayed two houses apart/one night without...

Poetry George Eliot Country by Amy Clampitt. From this Midland scene--glum slag heaps...