In all this, the author fails to provide a specific mailing address for evil, whose image remains a bit fuzzy. Even so, this...
Impressionistic, sometimes glancing ponderings on evil as theological construct, historical fact, and journalistic staple.
The E word makes for a big subject, and it gets batted around a lot among politicians (“evil empire,” “axis of evil”) and pundits. Time.com columnist Morrow (Heart: A Memoir, 1995) weighs in with a declaration that evil, which he never quite defines, is a reality—though, echoing a trope from The Usual Suspects, he adds, “Evil has made a successful career over many centuries by persuading people that it does not exist.” In the pages that follow, Morrow expands on that argument in several directions. Some are quite helpful for anyone seeking to understand why bad things happen to good people: Evil, writes Morrow, is a normal part of life; evil is committed by ordinary folks just as often as by criminal masterminds, and ordinary people can do considerably more damage when they set about misbehaving; young people are more evil than old ones (though perhaps only because evil youngsters get killed off before they can become evil seniors). Others veer into the bizarre, as when Morrow posits that the Third Reich was “an evil national mirthlessness,” layering it on with the still stranger thought that “no people with a decent sense of humor would have tolerated Hitler and his grotesque crew and absurd racial theories for five minutes.” Do funny folks then have no evil in them? So Morrow suggests before going on to pummel the late Kurt Cobain for having committed a few creepy sexual images to print (failing to consider that Cobain may have been trying on a literary mask or two) and the present culture in general for having produced Cobain, Columbine, and other monstrous entries in Morrow’s hall of shame.
In all this, the author fails to provide a specific mailing address for evil, whose image remains a bit fuzzy. Even so, this is a good—and readable—selection from its résumé.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-465-04754-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003
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
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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