A well-written and welcoming take on the traditional tenets of Western religion.
A passionate rereading of Christianity and the nature of personal faith.
Canadian author Rozek’s debut takes the form of an enthusiastic top-to-bottom re-envisioning of the Christian mythos. Rozek cites such influences as C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters (1942), Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods (1970) and the Christian-mystic writings of Zecharia Sitchin as she goes back to the Bible with fresh eyes and reads it anew in search of the answers to basic questions such as “Why am I here?” or “What’s the purpose of life anyway?” She views these questions as central to “the game of life” and tells her readers, “To get to the ultimate level, we must play it seriously with all the skills we have.” The schema of quasi–Judeo-Christian faith she derives from her readings is personal and interactive. She reminds her readers that the Bible is full of references to heavenly interactions with the lives of humans, and in her view, this is a necessary thing. “Our world today still needs celestial intervention desperately.” That intervention comes about at the behest of “the Great Ones”—“a collection of benevolent, celestial God-beings: the Source, the Son and Spirit.” She also spends a good deal of time on forerunners and servants, the supernatural beings known as angels. Rozek’s conceptual revamping of traditional biblical ideas ultimately appeals to the well-known Christian narrative: Jesus died as a sacrifice and as a living key to redemption. “By accepting the death of this Great One as a ransom for our freedom,” Rozek writes, “each of us can belong to something far greater than ourselves.” The book then broadens from this dramatized 21st-century recasting of the Messiah story to include some intriguingly wider suggestions for how the faithful of any denomination can find meaning: “The Great Ones know that in order for us to have abundant lives, we must first learn how to love.” Familiar concepts, sure, but Rozek’s unconventional perspective makes them seem invigoratingly new.
A well-written and welcoming take on the traditional tenets of Western religion.Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9919917-0-9
Page Count: 353
Publisher: Books of Life Publishing House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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