by Malissa Williams-Roddy ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 27, 2010
A noble effort, but the execution needs refinement.
In this collection of poems, Williams-Roddy presents her thoughts and prayers on enduring life’s hardships from a spiritual perspective.
Subtitled “My Little Talks With God: A Cry for Justice,” this prayer journal of sorts chronicles the author’s daily meditations. The majority of the poetry concerns imploring God for relief from the world, or critiquing the state of society today. With titles such as “Imprisonment,” “Unfair Treatment” and “Victim of Indifference,” Williams-Roddy presents her viewpoint as being constantly besieged with obstacles and injustices, and appeals to both God and the reader for action. Many of the poems focus on the societal pressure to mask feelings of rage, fear or pain with an unaffected exterior (“I sit here with a pasted smile, / a smirk, a grin, / Trying to keep my composure / from the beginning until the end”). Other works deal with the frustrations and anger of experiencing racism, both directly and indirectly (“Anger, Anger, Anger, Anger, / Is how I feel today. / To enter into this ethnic bondage, / For another day”), as well as the ideas of what it takes to bring justice to the world. The remaining poems are worshipful praises of God’s blessings, with works including “In the Valley” and “Peace.” Williams-Roddy also sprinkles biblical scripture throughout as companion verses to her themes. While the author may have overcome hardships, frequently the reader struggles to identify with her. All too often, Williams-Roddy complains about broad generalities (evil, racism) and offers little in the way of specifics or personal details. Without being able to sympathize with the author as an individual, the large themes just remain large, not relatable. Problems also arise from the on-again, off-again rhyme structure of the poems. The pieces dealing with worship fare better, with some thoughtful meditations on appreciating life as it comes, and a nice balance of adversity and spiritual triumph.
A noble effort, but the execution needs refinement.Pub Date: July 27, 2010
ISBN: 978-1449007812
Page Count: 108
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Stephen Batchelor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 18, 2020
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
by R. Crumb ; illustrated by R. Crumb ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 2009
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.
The Book of Genesis as imagined by a veteran voice of underground comics.
R. Crumb’s pass at the opening chapters of the Bible isn’t nearly the act of heresy the comic artist’s reputation might suggest. In fact, the creator of Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural is fastidiously respectful. Crumb took pains to preserve every word of Genesis—drawing from numerous source texts, but mainly Robert Alter’s translation, The Five Books of Moses (2004)—and he clearly did his homework on the clothing, shelter and landscapes that surrounded Noah, Abraham and Isaac. This dedication to faithful representation makes the book, as Crumb writes in his introduction, a “straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes.” But his efforts are in their own way irreverent, and Crumb feels no particular need to deify even the most divine characters. God Himself is not much taller than Adam and Eve, and instead of omnisciently imparting orders and judgment He stands beside them in Eden, speaking to them directly. Jacob wrestles not with an angel, as is so often depicted in paintings, but with a man who looks not much different from himself. The women are uniformly Crumbian, voluptuous Earth goddesses who are both sexualized and strong-willed. (The endnotes offer a close study of the kinds of power women wielded in Genesis.) The downside of fitting all the text in is that many pages are packed tight with small panels, and too rarely—as with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—does Crumb expand his lens and treat signature events dramatically. Even the Flood is fairly restrained, though the exodus of the animals from the Ark is beautifully detailed. The author’s respect for Genesis is admirable, but it may leave readers wishing he had taken a few more chances with his interpretation, as when he draws the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a provocative half-man/half-lizard. On the whole, though, the book is largely a tribute to Crumb’s immense talents as a draftsman and stubborn adherence to the script.
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-393-06102-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009
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