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PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS

The fourth and final volume of the Oxford philosopher/historian's collected essays consists of appreciations of persons he has admired and in most cases known: Churchill and Roosevelt; Chaim Weizmann; distinguished fellow-dons; and, from stays in his native Russia in 1945 and 1956, Pasternak and Akhmatova. A galaxy of unlikes, reflecting Berlin's pluralism—"the acceptance of a multitude of ideals appropriate in different circumstances and for men of different callings," as Noel Annan notes in a discerning introduction. So Berlin defends Churchill's archaic, highly colored prose as the expression of an all-encompassing, all-fusing historical imagination; and stirringly contrasts Churchill's internalized "sense of the past" with Roosevelt's sensitivity to "the smallest oscillations" of the external present. They represent two types of statesman, the visionary and the intuitive (reminiscent of Berlin's division of historians into "The Hedgehog and the Fox"). Chaim Weizmann, to Berlin, is the great man who makes "what seemed highly improbable happen"—in this case, of course, creation of the state of Israel. Berlin himself, we learn, became a Zionist as a schoolboy at St. Paul's c. 1910; he is acutely aware of the discomfiture of "assimilationist" West-European Jews, then and later, and attributes the very possibility of Israel to the Yiddish-speaking Jews of the Pale of Settlement—who "developed a certain independence of outlook" from their "involuntary confinement." Weizmann, for all his Anglomania, eminence, and authority, remained "flesh of their flesh," down to his gestures and inflections. Among the scholars apotheosized, some will be merely names, if that, to most American readers (Richard Pares, Hubert Henderson, John Henry Plamenatz); headnotes might valuably have been provided for pieces that, moreover, are in several instances literally eulogies. But one need have no special knowledge to appreciate Berlin's recall of historian—and Zionist—Lewis Namier, fulminating again Marx ("a typical Jewish half-charlatan, who got hold of quite a good idea and then ran it to the ground just to spite the Gentiles"); or his tributes to Maurice Bowra, a limited critic but "a major liberating force" or the latter-day, paranormally-preoccupied, still-prophetic Aldous Huxley. Apropos of his meetings with the hounded, uncompromising Pasternak and Akhmatova, Berlin is content to convey their overwhelming presence—plus Pasternak's anger at Berlin's solicitous attempt to dissuade him from publishing Doctor Zhivago abroad, and Akhmatova's embrace (commemorated in "Poet without a Hero") of the first Westerner to Bring her news of the outside world in 30 years. Memorable reading for persons, too, of many sympathies and interests.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1980

ISBN: 0691088586

Page Count: 324

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1980

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

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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