A confusing, advanced guide for those interested in an esoteric interpretation of Islam.
A mystical interpretation of the Quran and the nature of Islam.
The author, who practices the mystical Sufi tradition of Islam, leads the reader through his complex metaphysical interpretation of religion as described in the Quran, or as he writes, “Because I believe the book is not so much a ‘Book of God’s Commandments’ as it is a ‘Book of Secrets,’ which, if not READ properly, can leave one in severe deprivation.” This interpretation relies on a special understanding of the use of the letter B in the Quran’s text, based on the position of that letter in the original Arabic. The author encourages the reader to “read” (generally in all capital letters) the Quran in order to gain the same understanding. Grasping the author’s message requires familiarity with the Quran and related concepts—many of the terms the author uses, such as “rasul,” are untranslated or unexplained. His interpretation appears to be that God, as explained in the Quran, is less a deity than a concept that humans can incorporate, and those who treat God as a separate being are missing the point of the religion. The details of this interpretation are explained in part through metaphor, as when the author contrasts the open-platform aspect of the Linux operating system to the closed nature of Windows; in part through advances in neuroscience and other forms of research; and via the author’s own analysis of verses from the Quran, from which he concludes that “Man (not humanoid) has been created as the vicegerent of earth. The only way he can actualize this and attain the level of ‘the most dignified of all creation’ is if he becomes worthy of the principle of ‘vicegerency.’ ” Exclamation points appear frequently throughout the book’s pages, as does bold text. Many of the footnotes direct the reader to the author’s other works. Each chapter ends with a date and location, suggesting that the book is a collection of essays written between 2002 and 2005. The text has been translated into English. This guide looks to be most useful for those who already have a solid grounding in the Quran and Sufi beliefs and want to expand their understanding.
A confusing, advanced guide for those interested in an esoteric interpretation of Islam.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615725246
Page Count: 284
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
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
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