An idiosyncratic but intriguing and well-argued reexamination of an ancient text.
Hyobel’s second volume in a series on the New Testament’s Book of Revelation challenges traditional interpretations.
The author notes that he has experimented with multiple Christian denominations in the past, but “something deep within me continually resisted most of their thoughts on God.” After more than a decade of studying Revelation, Hyobel sees the notoriously confusing book as a lens that highlights where Christian thinkers “are clearly wrongheaded” in their approach to the biblical God. This book focuses on the cryptic beast of Revelation 13 and builds on his first series installment, Spirits: An All-Embracing Outlook on the Book of Revelation (2022). Hyobel argues for a “universalist perspective” that blends the teachings of Jesus with Eastern spiritual philosophies, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism; overall, he emphasizes a “faith-ideal” of “unity, love and harmony.” This true message of Revelation, the book suggests, has been ignored by Christian theologians, who, for instance, have seen the apocalyptic “beast” and his mysterious number, 666, as referring to such entities as Emperor Nero and the Roman Empire, Ronald Reagan, and the pope. To Hyobel, the beast instead represents “the spirit of greed” who interferes with the ideal harmony between humans and “Mother Nature.” Alternatively, “God’s perfection,” writes Hyobel, “is teaching us to understand our collective humanity.” The book’s strength lies not just in its well-researched, thought-provoking thesis, which is backed by ample citations that demonstrate a firm grasp on the scholarship of both the Bible and Eastern religions, but also in its emphasis on relevant contemporary issues. Revelation’s beast, Hyobel says, is embodied in humanity’s failed responses to climate change, which he convincingly connects to a collective spiritual failing. Even if readers don’t agree with the author’s interpretations, they’ll find it difficultto argue with many of his sound solutions, which include a reprioritization of “nurturing our relationships with the people around us: family, friends, and neighbors.”
An idiosyncratic but intriguing and well-argued reexamination of an ancient text.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2023
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
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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