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Introducing God To You

Name: Introducing God To You
Author: Eric C. Aymes
ISBN: 978-1-4196-6477-9

by Eric C. Aymes ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 10, 2007

A heartfelt but occasionally murky elaboration of personal devotion.

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A short, concentrated meditation on the nature of Christian faith.

Aymes’ very brief debut centers on both the nature of God and the nature of good and evil, moving from the concrete to the conceptual and back. The strength of the book lies in its straightforward preaching about the ways God makes himself manifest to his followers as “a marvel and a wonderment for all the universe to see.” God made the spirit of man immutable, Aymes writes, and he intends that spirit to triumph over sin. On these scriptural questions, the author is on his home ground, and Christian readers will appreciate these passages’ tightly written fervor. Overall, the book’s prose is scripturally literate but often so densely argued that the threads of discussions sometimes get lost. At times, for example, the author reaches for ideological complexity, as when he grapples with God’s nature as a “person” and a principle; at others, however, he slips into oversimplifications such as, “If the thought is good the action is good and if the thought is evil the action is evil.” Consistently, the work takes ill-judged swipes at science, specifically the theory of evolution, citing its “pompous attitude” that seems to say, “I don’t need you, I can get along without you”; this mischaracterizes a scientific schema that’s as dependent on intraspecies cooperation as it is on interspecies competition. Likewise, when the book states that “Nature is too complex to be a product of evolution because evolution is the reaction of substances to change becoming living forms and this indicates pre-existence,” it muddles several ideas without aiding the author’s main points about the nature of faith. Also, when the book states that God’s “existence and presence are positively confirmed,” it’s unlikely to convince nonbelievers, scientists, or members of religions such as Hinduism.

A heartfelt but occasionally murky elaboration of personal devotion.

Pub Date: July 10, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4196-6477-9

Page Count: 58

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing

Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.