Scholarly horror, marvelously illustrated. Or as Lovecraft, in a wild ecstasy that’s quoted here, would praise it: Ph’nglui...
Tyson sets about “expositing the ways of the dead.”
The Necronomicon is, of course, that eldritch but mythical work of Cthulhu lore often referred to throughout the creepy and gurgling pages of H.P. Lovecraft, the purple pen of Providence, Rhode Island. Here, his skin-crawling nonexistent tome is lifted from the mists of fantasy and loathsomely fleshed out by Tyson, famed dealer in magic and spells and scribe of much nonfiction on magic and the occult (The Power of the Word: The Secret Code of Creation, not reviewed). Long centuries ago, as a youth in Yemen and student of necromancy, Abdul Alhazred sets out to find the arcane wisdom of the ages. He travels through Arabia deserta to the lost city of Irem and hence to Babylon and other unnatural cities that housed the monstrous Old Ones (who will break through again, shapes without substance), and at last to Damascus as he gathers forbidden knowledge for a grisly grimoire of the dead filled with the very lispings of Yog-Sothoth. Cousins to Great Cthulhu, the Old Ones still walk among us, unseen and foul in the lonely places. Their hand is at your throat. Cthulhu himself, man-shaped, bat-winged, and as big as a mountain, flies between the stars, the formless mass of his face hung with many ropes or soft branches and throbbing with a watery softness—for he has no skull. When the stars fix aright, he will rise in fury, and no gods or men will be able to withstand his force. (NB: One needs the essential salts and a large copper kettle, stirred with a long wooden ladle, when corpses of royal blood or wizards are boiled for resurrection.)
Scholarly horror, marvelously illustrated. Or as Lovecraft, in a wild ecstasy that’s quoted here, would praise it: Ph’nglui nigliv’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeb wgab’nagl fhtagn. Id!Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7387-0627-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Llewellyn
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2004
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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