A sweet memoir with insufficient universal resonance to capture a wide audience.
Roelofs recounts her husband’s battle with terminal cancer, and the strength she drew from both family and her spirituality.
In 1959, the author met her future husband, Marv—they were both freshman at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They wed three years later, and enjoyed an enviable marriage, but after 55 years, disaster struck: In 2018, Marv was diagnosed with late-stage small cell lung cancer, an aggressive disease already traveling through his bloodstream. The doctor gave him only weeks to live; a painful round of chemotherapy would only have added a few months to his life, at most. With an astonishing bravery, Marv decided against treatment: “I’ve lived a good life…I’ve been blessed. If this is God’s time for me, I’m okay with it.” The author chronicles the remaining days of Marv’s life—despite the doctors’ predictions, he lived more than six months. Ultimately, the cancer exacted a terrible toll on both his body and mind—besides the pain, he suffered considerable cognitive diminishment and even hallucinations. Roelofs lovingly assumed the role of his principal caregiver, an emotionally trying task, and began to prepare for the inconceivable—a new life without her husband. Her remembrance is a tapestry of complementary perspectives—she reprints email correspondences with various friends and family members, includes passages from her own blog, and shares Marv’s views on life, communicated in his own words. This is an exceedingly personal memoir, one that furnishes a granularly detailed account of Marv’s struggle, his family and upbringing, and the author’s part in his life. Roelofs' candor is admirable, and her courage impressive, but this is likely too narrowly personal an account to garner a broad readership. This tender reminiscence will be appreciated most by those who knew and loved Marv.
A sweet memoir with insufficient universal resonance to capture a wide audience.Pub Date: April 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781632695901
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Deep River Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
