An unoriginal and ultimately unsatisfying analysis.
An argument that the complex organization of the universe must be the result of intelligent design.
Debut author and retired human resources professionalLindberg implausibly contends that when it comes to the thorny question of God’s existence, the “answer may be more clear than many people realize and even much simpler than many people believe.” However, although there are simple answers to simple questions, there’s also oversimplification of philosophical complexity, and the author repeatedly opts for the latter in this book. He provides a cursory review of the major scientific disciplines in order to make a point that isn’t a matter of controversy: that the universe is brimming with extraordinary expressions of exquisite intricacy and is governed by rules of organization. Lindberg argues that the latter can only be explained in terms of a creator’s intelligent design: “The levels of organization listed above cannot exist if there is no directing force.” This contribution to the debate about God’s existence is an old and well-known one, called the teleological argument—a term that the author acknowledges. The principal failing of this book isn’t its lack of originality, however, but the lack of rigor with which it pursues its claims. For example, Lindberg has nothing to say about the problems posed to the teleological argument by the presence of chaos and indeterminacy in quantum theory; he also doesn’t explore the fact that human comprehension of the universe’s laws is limited, although he does concede that such limits exist. The author includes a very brief discussion of another traditional argument for God’s existence—the cosmological argument—but it’s even more superficial. One must give Lindberg credit, however, for the accessibility of his prose, as he manages his discussion of philosophy, religion, and science in the clear language of ordinary discourse.
An unoriginal and ultimately unsatisfying analysis.Pub Date: March 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64-804273-7
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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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