ClÇment now does for world religions what Jostein Gaarder did for philosophy in the popular Sophie’s World (1994): Pack the basics into an informative, thick brochure, weave a story through the ideas, and offer the result as a novel. Less a novel than a course in —religion for dummies,— ClÇment’s mÇlange will be most interesting to those undereducated about other religions or curious to see how she will portray the religions they know best. Generally, the narrative gives balanced, easily digestible presentations of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and most of their variations. The nominal hero is Theo, a terminally ill young Parisian taken by his aunt Martha on a round-the-world trip she and his parents hope will restore his health. Theo’s an intelligent student of computer games, and his travels are engineered as a seek-and-find: he receives clues from various places and over the phone from Fatou, his girlfriend back home. The clues never add up to much, but they do indicate the next stop on the itinerary and are useful to ClÇment as pegs on which to hang more worldviews and histories. The odyssey begins in Jerusalem, where polite Christian, Muslim, and Jewish clerics tell their stories. Then it’s on to Asia, land of the Buddha and the Tao, through Russia, and across the sea to South America. A trip to New York City provides a glimpse of Harlem Baptists and a marriage proposal to Aunt Martha from Brutus, their Brazilian guide. In Greece, Theo’s grandmother asks what the boy has learned. Comparing all spiritual thought to a tree, he answers, —I felt the power of God, I swear to you. It’s just that I found it everywhere——a moral that seems as consequential to Theo’s life as a universal love of puppy dogs and lilacs. A pleasant almanac garnished with enough dialogue and local color to insure its pilgrimage to the shelves where the novels are kept.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-55970-499-3
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Arcade
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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