Sartre, like Camus, has always been concerned with salvation. Both denied God and both were Catholic renegades. But Camus, seeking participation in life and reconciliation with nature, asserted man's right to happiness here and now. For Sartre, given the condition of the world, Camus' philosophy was merely sentimental or inspirational, an example of what he calls "bad faith." It is only by traveling in "the direction of History" that man's destiny can be realized. And for Sartre that meant the socialist future. Between Existentialism and Marxism, a collection of his most recent essays and interviews, emphasizes the dialectical turning point when existential or subjective awareness is heightened by neo-Marxian analysis, when the purely symbolic act enters the arena of real action, when universal values transcend individual consciousness. "How a man comes to politics, how he is caught by them, and how he is made other by them" — this defines Sartre's rocky journey. He tells us that "the Vietnamese are fighting for all men, and the Americans against all men," that "the machine cannot be repaired; the peoples of Eastern Europe must seize hold of it and destroy it," that the "duty of the Left" is to learn "to unite all the exploited to overthrow the old ossified structures" and thus attain the true revolution. In short, another version of the Absolute which Camus, of course, condemned, as tyranny, but which Sartre insists is the only path to freedom. Sartre's brilliance, however, is not to be seen in these cloudy ideological discussions, but rather in the three essays on Kierkegaard, Mallarme, and Tintoretto, striking and original pieces which inflame an otherwise ponderous book. Here he deals with the "quest for purification," the creative man's eternal task, makes concrete ideas which elsewhere are abstract, and in the celebration of Mallarme, in particular, writes with such power that he produces a sort of prose poem.
Pub Date: March 7, 1975
ISBN: 1844672077
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Controversial biblical scholar Crossan restates his thesis that the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus tell us more about the polemics of the early Christians than about what really happened. For Crossan (Biblical Studies/DePaul Univ.; Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, 1994, etc.) Jesus was the leader of a liberation movement that contrasted itself with Rome by seeking to empower rather than dominate people. He argues that the accounts of Jesus' trial, death, and especially resurrection are fiction, a patchwork of themes drawn from the prophets and written down as history. Moreover, he sees the role attributed to the Jews in Jesus' condemnation as reflecting a much later historical situation, when the vast majority of Jews had rejected the Christians' claims that Jesus was their messiah. This book is essentially a polemical reply to Raymond Brown's acclaimed Death of the Messiah and a popularization of Crossan's earlier study The Cross that Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative. Crossan takes fierce issue with Brown, who holds that the various agendas at work in the passion narratives do not mean that they lack a strong historical basis. Crossan's pages are marred by his frequent sardonic references to Brown, and although he argues his case well, it stands or falls according to whether the reader accepts his highly reductionist position that the supernatural, or even the unusual, could not have happened. Inevitably, Crossan's reasoning comes across as circular, and even arrogant, when he pronounces on events that are presupposed to be unique by an appeal to his own reading of what is ``more likely'' to have happened. Thus he holds that a nobody like Jesus could never have had a trial before Roman governor Pilate and that his crucified body was probably eaten by dogs from a shallow grave. Brilliant writing in the service of a disappointingly dogmatic positivism.
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-061479-X
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good, but less than earthshaking, discussion of biblical women, designed for study, reflection, and inspiration. Freelance writer Kam believes that by questioning the social and cultural biases of the writers of the Bible, women can find new interpretations and insights in their own struggles against what is still a male-dominated society. She envisions this book as an aid in that quest. Following an introduction on how to use her volume and a prologue that describes the life situation of women during biblical times and the multiplicity of deities (male and female) worshiped then, Kam presents the stories of most of the women of both the Old and New Testaments. Each chapter, devoted to a woman or group of related women, follows a similar format. A background section provides the context of the story both in the text itself and in its historical setting. This is followed by a retelling of the story, paraphrased in order to avoid the allegedly sexist language of the original material. For each section, Kam then provides a homiletical meditation, followed by a prayer, a series of ``connections'' (questions for discussion and further reflection), and a bibliography for further reading. Of particular interest is her discussion of the prophet Huldah, who is sought out by the priest Hilkiah, on behalf of King Josiah, to judge the authenticity of a newly found book of the Law; Kam portrays Huldah as the founder of biblical criticism. Kam disputes that Rahab (the Canaanite woman who aided the Israelite occupation of her homeland) was a prostitute, even though she is so identified in the biblical text. Rebekah, Isaac's wife, is vividly depicted as a powerful woman and a manipulative matriarch for Israel. Absent are Zelophehad's five daughters, whose actions changed Israelite inheritance laws, and Orpah, who is seen as a mere foil in the story of Ruth and Naomi. Based almost entirely on the work of white feminists, the volume could have benefitted by more attention to scholarship by women of color. Best suited to a women's study group or Sunday school setting, the volume may be used as well for personal daily devotions.
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8264-0804-4
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Continuum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
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