Worth a sequel when this deeply introspective author is further down the road.
In this discerning memoir of self-discovery, a veterinarian and farmer from Zambia unveils her inner workings and concludes that faith, hope, love, God and family are what matter most.
Debut author Kingdom hints early on that sex, violence and bad language may crop up as, at age 37, she looks back at her life thus far. This opening caution seems unnecessary. Sexual escapades are few and rendered in circumspect fashion. Violence is mostly confined to certain harsh veterinarian procedures, including the intrauterine dissection and piece-by-piece removal of a dead or undeliverable livestock fetus to save the mother’s life and spare the farmer the cost of a cesarean. Otherwise, violence lurks as a threat, as when the author, who is white, is warned to stay out of the black part of Pretoria while a student there. And rather than bad language, there are high-minded and even quirky chapter-ending philosophical discussions Kingdom imagines having with a younger sister (“Each religion needs to be seen as an internal organ on the body of earth”). The memoir is unconventionally organized by themes (births, deaths, growth, lessons, disease, fears, fires, rhyme, love, death and beliefs) rather than by chronology. Fears range from deeply etched memories of venomous snakes and giant spiders to musings about whether God is really good. A chapter on disease lists the author’s physical and mental ailments. But Kingdom, without saying so herself, emerges not as a sufferer but as a sturdy type perfectly attuned to the rigors of life in the Zambian bush, ensconced in family and essentially happy to be alive beneath the deep blue African sky. Readers should not expect much about contemporary Zambia or her veterinarian practice; these are hardly her main topics. Nor are the lessons she learns always profound. In one typical example, her chapter on disease builds to the realization that “we get sick.” Though raised in a secular family, she more recently conceived a deep faith in God and felt his presence. But she makes clear that she is still a work in progress with far to go on her journey of self-understanding.
Worth a sequel when this deeply introspective author is further down the road.Pub Date: July 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1492797647
Page Count: 200
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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