The human condition is beset by two sensations of spiritual and emotional oneness; Tolkowsky believes he has demystified the link between them—and the meaning of life.
Throughout human history, we have tried to analyze and understand our place in the universe. There are two states of being: a desire to be part of the greater sense of self in a larger world and the more standard human-deity relationship model. In Tolkowsky's exhaustive philosophical study, he examines these distinct states of being and tries to divine how they operate within us all. There is a oneness that comes from “Voidish wholeness” and one that comes from “Intellectual wholeness.” Relying on this framework, Tolkowsky uses religion, philosophy, linguistics, ethical tenets and even physics to illustrate that these ideas actually operate in concert together and not apart. It’s this spiritual balancing act that bridges the gap between the two poles, and shifting between the two senses as needed is the natural state of mind. This is much deeper than a mere debate between the schools of Eastern and Western religions. Selflessness and harmony with nature are, in the author's view, as necessary as a relationship with a monotheistic god. Pursuing one without the other is futile and highlights humanity's eternal folly. As a philosopher, Tolkowsky is an exacting analyzer of theories. He untangles them from their sometimes convoluted roots and uncovers the bare concepts. He draws inspiration and wisdom from the minds of Descartes, Kant and Aristotle, to name a few. As a writer, Tolkowsky doesn’t dumb down the context in his work at all, so the layperson may have a hard time following some of the more obtuse connections without a developed taste for logic and reason. Ultimately, each sense of oneness is explained to be missing an element provided only by the other; understanding this relationship is crucial to the meaning of life. A stimulating read for the philosophically minded, especially for abstract thinkers and those stout with intellect.
Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2010
ISBN: 978-1592994571
Page Count: 237
Publisher: Inkwater Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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