Holy Cross professor (Middle East Studies) and State Department consultant Esposito calls for a more balanced and informed view of the Muslim world. For the thousand years since the Crusades, Muslim cultures have been demonized by Western writers. Muslims have been thought of as violent, irrational, and resistant to change, and the Muslim world as a monolithic bloc acting in hysterical concert. Esposito attempts to provide a more complex and sympathetic view of this globe-spanning religion, starting with its inception and including the recent spread of ``fundamentalism''—a term to which he objects. ``Liberal or mainline Christians,'' he argues, automatically think of fundamentalists as ``static, retrogressive, and extremist''; Muslim ``fundamentalism'' is more aptly termed ``revivalism'' or ``activism,'' and is often embraced by well- educated, responsible members of the community. Esposito cautions against equating modernity or intellectual sophistication with secular modes of thought, and points out that what appears to be modernization to Western eyes is seen as a legacy of colonialism by many Muslims. He includes a brief but lucid account of Islam's origins as one of the ``Abrahamic'' religions (along with Christianity and Judaism), as well as wonderful thumbnail sketches of major Muslim countries, organizations, and movements. Esposito rightfully points out that, far from being inordinately repressive, Muslim nations allowed divergent religious groups to worship under state protection, subject to a poll tax. But he does seem to underestimate the Ottoman threat to Europe in the 15th through 17th centuries, and the level of hostility to the West among Muslim countries today. He also fails to address properly the role of women in Muslim countries, but does try to explain Muslim outrage at Salman Rushdie. A much-needed and highly accessible account of an ancient and widespread culture too often presented only in terms of villainous stereotypes.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-19-507184-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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