A fast-paced and engaging biblical dramatization.
A revisionary look at the story of Moses.
Kanbar (Don’t Let Your Film Die, 2015, etc.) prefaces his fun, poetic take by listing some of the questions surrounding the enigmatic, titular biblical figure—the foremost being: why does God refuse to let him enter the Promised Land? Moses’ tragedy, and particularly the fact that his fate is so out of synch with his service, holds a fascination for Kanbar. This book is his fanciful, speculative attempt at filling in gaps in the story, taking the form of a stage drama along the lines of the Broadway hit Hamilton. In it, a “Leader” takes on expository narration duties, but there are also speaking parts for a wide variety of characters from Scripture, including Moses; his brother, Aaron; the pharaoh who kept the Israelites in bondage in Egypt; a chorus of Israelites; and God himself. Kanbar opts not to adopt the stilted cadences of the King James Bible; instead, he uses a conversational, slangy diction throughout as he takes his audience through the familiar events of Moses’ life, from killing an Egyptian overseer (“This Egyptian dude / is goin’ to be dead”) to confronting the pharaoh and repeatedly demanding that the Israelites be set free. The pharaoh at one point responds, “You sound like a broken record. / Losing free labor, you know, / would cost me a lot of dough. / So the answer is still ‘No.’ ” Each segment begins with some spirited scene-setting by the Leader, proceeds through dramatic exchanges that often sound as if they’re meant to be sung rather than spoken, and concludes with a “Source and Commentary” paragraph for readers. The characters’ contemporary-sounding dialogue doesn’t always work, and it often feels forced (as when one character shouts out “Oy vey!”). Even so, the dramatic format does an effective job of dusting off these canonical characters and holding them up to fresh scrutiny. Indeed, Kanbar’s enthusiasm is so infectious that readers will wish the “Source and Commentary” sections were longer.
A fast-paced and engaging biblical dramatization.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5394-4168-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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
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