Occasionally tangled, but with plenty of juicy existential problems to gnaw on.
An inquiry into the moral and philosophical minds of our best friends.
Does the dog have Buddha nature? So runs the Zen koan. Philosophy professor Rowlands takes a slightly different tack, wondering of Canis lupus familiaris, “If a dog could write a book of philosophy, what would it look like?” It might argue that happiness is a warm bone, might assert that “I bark, therefore I am.” By Rowlands’ reckoning—and he’s not afraid to stretch possibilities into propositions that at first glance might seem absurd—a dog runs free of invidious distinctions, living in a moral universe governed by love, and in all this comes Rowlands’s kicker: “As a general rule, I think, dogs lead more meaningful lives than we do.” To defend the thesis, Rowlands enlists much heavyweight help, although, given Jean-Paul Sartre’s rather dour assessment of the human condition, one wonders if that’s not stacking the deck. Life being tragic, Rowlands supplies a sadly tragic hero with a pet German shepherd that is “deeply paranoid” and “distinctly dangerous” and for that reason is not allowed entry into polite society: His Sisyphean task, as Rowlands notes, is to chase invasive iguanas into the canal that affords him safe room to roam. Is Shadow, the dog, happy? Is his life meaningful? Well, borrowing again from Sartre, Rowlands ponders what the situation might have been if Sisyphus, rolling that rock endlessly uphill, actually took pleasure in the task. Examined life, meaningful life, mirror neurons, and “the groundlessness of our existence and the anguished realization of our groundlessness”: All come into play in his account. Although the book is rewarding in that it sparks a few synapses, before tackling this one, readers will benefit from learning a bit about modern philosophy to be able to decipher dense philosophical prose. Being a dog lover helps, too.
Occasionally tangled, but with plenty of juicy existential problems to gnaw on.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781324095682
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Liveright/Norton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
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