An exciting, colorful, if downright surreal tale based on the book of Revelation.
A novel explores the impact of the Christian apocalypse on a small group of survivors.
Shaw (The 1961 Voyage Through the Big Creek Wilderness, 2014) structures his new book around the framework of the end times outlined in the book of Revelation and elsewhere in Scripture. These end times have a fairly strict (and much-debated among Christians) chronology. Christians are “raptured” directly to heaven; those left behind face the Great Tribulation, during which the Antichrist sets up a barbaric world rulership for seven years. His reign culminates in World War III and the battle of Armageddon, after which Jesus returns to Earth, judges the living, and establishes his Millennial Kingdom, a thousand years of blissful peace on Earth. A final confrontation with Satan follows, along with the end of time itself. This basic material has been crafted into countless fictional variations. Shaw’s is lean and full of conversational slang, centering on the adventures of a handful of characters, including physicist Bill Davenport and family man Sean McFadden, who navigate the radically altered landscape of the post-rapture world (“The cost of a ticket to ride on the Rapture flight was to have a firm faith in Jesus Christ”). Likewise readers are introduced to Mira Singer, the young woman who marries the Antichrist, Sal Lom, and bears his child. But the speed of the narrative is such that none of these characters is ever fleshed out. In Shaw’s version of the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus rules the nations of the Earth with the help of lieutenants like Moses, Elijah, and, oddly, George Washington. Although King Jesus rules benignly over humans who are presumably morally pure, readers are told that murder, theft, and adultery still happen in the Kingdom. The fight that Shaw orchestrates between Jesus and Satan at the book’s climax reads more like a bloody video game sequence than anything John the Evangelist might have envisioned, and the novel as a whole shares that same fevered vibe.
An exciting, colorful, if downright surreal tale based on the book of Revelation.Pub Date: March 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5302-3190-4
Page Count: 146
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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
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
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