A crisp, well-rounded portrait of a family that’s short on excitement.
Reed’s debut memoir recalls growing up in Colorado during the mid-20th century, as portrayed in an intimate chronicle of everyday moments and small details of family life.
Reed’s childhood is set against a rich natural landscape full of bright descriptions of farm life—sunlight, fresh eggs, garden herbs and shady trees. The magnificence of these concrete details, evoked through sharp description as well as black and white photographs, creates an intimately visual effect. Through a child’s eye, Reed paints acute portraits of her mother and relatives, zooming in on the wrinkles of their brows and the undertones of their gently pursed lips. Her account is as much focused on the human interior as it is on landscape and exteriors. Although the book contains a few moments of conflict or discomfort—passive-aggressive battles between the female members of the family, for instance—these moments aren’t necessarily the ones that will pull readers into the story. Furthermore, Reed’s descriptions of her father seem one-sided compared to those of her mother, grandmother and other female relatives. In one scene, the father is asked to spank the girls; upon entering the bedroom, he instead makes them laugh, insisting that he’d rather see them laughing than crying. With such prismatic views of her female characters and their motivations, readers may wonder why the father was spared such analysis. Each chapter falls heavily into description, with little time spent building tension or meaningful conflict; therefore, readers may often feel like museum attendees viewing life behind glass. The telling remains somewhat docile, which could be a compelling feature for readers looking for a dollhouse glimpse into a time and place, rather than a story of conflicting desires or struggles.
A crisp, well-rounded portrait of a family that’s short on excitement.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-1449720995
Page Count: 180
Publisher: WestBow/Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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