A sophisticated, densely referenced, scholarly take on the perennial traits of human deceit and dishonesty.
An intellectual discourse on the essence and history of duplicity.
In an attempt to answer the question “Is it ever acceptable to lie?” Denery (History/Bowdoin Coll.; Seeing and Being Seen in the Later Medieval World: Optics, Theology and Religious Life, 2005, etc.) delivers a predominantly referential tome on how ancient history viewed deception and why the behavioral evolution of dishonesty, from the Medieval period and Middle Ages to the early modern world, continues to influence society at large. He does so through a multipart narrative offering five differing perspectives on how lying has altered historical events, beginning with an astute analysis of varying theological conceptions of mendacity. The author juxtaposes God and the devil, with each entity exhibiting its own form of both obvious and cleverly cloaked deception. Denery also examines the schematics of the Garden of Eden and ideological debates of theologian philosophers such as Augustine, Calvin and Descartes to create a rich tapestry of creative thought, attitude and presumption. He interprets these theories with an expert hand while exploring how mistruths upended the secular law of the Middle Ages, and he scrutinizes the controversial crossroads of masculine and feminine deceptive traits. Not necessarily for casual readers, Denery’s classroom-ready textbook is often stiffly academic in tone and delivery. The author smartly skirts the tinderbox subject matter of dishonesty within the political arena (which could endure ad infinitum) and concludes with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s take on how lies are simply “problems with natural causes and, hopefully, natural solutions.” Collectively, Denery’s chapters authoritatively chronicle deception’s gradual evolution from a hellish side effect of satanic belief to perhaps the pivotal axis upon which the contemporary world turns, ultimately (and somewhat startlingly) rationalizing that “[w]hile lies might occasionally threaten civil society, they also make it possible.”
A sophisticated, densely referenced, scholarly take on the perennial traits of human deceit and dishonesty.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2015
ISBN: 978-0691163215
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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
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