by Matt Kellum ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 12, 2016
A mature, compassionate religious guide.
A Christian debut self-help book that uses the metaphor of a mirror to illustrate its advice on spiritual growth.
Kellum is a physical therapist, a former combat veteran, and a lifelong Christian, and he intersperses his theological insights with anecdotes from his life and work. He employs a mirror as an allegory to expand upon the ideas of a believer seeing, being reflected, and assessing truth as he or she pursues a deeper relationship with God. Fifteen chapters cover variations on this theme, such as being plunged into darkness, being seduced by superficial appearances, or finding out unattractive secrets. There are two exercises in the text that emphasize Kellum’s central ideas, urging readers to list what obscures their spiritual sight, and to list the people that they’ve helped or neglected. A study guide at the end of the book provides questions that are linked to specific sets of chapters. These questions are quite sophisticated (such as “Remaining teachable is an essential trait….Discuss why we tend to rebuke the teacher (and God) before receiving the message”) and require both a solid knowledge of Scripture and an honest assessment of self. Kellum is also specific and pragmatic when discussing temptation and the means to resist it. This book does characterize atheists and followers of non-Christian religions as alienated and misled, but it also provides sound advice, advancing a healthy spirituality that neither shames its readers nor dodges biblical principles. Kellum doesn’t overdo the mirror metaphor, either; instead, he creatively uncovers various aspects of it that are relevant to the Bible and to everyday life. Unlike many testimonials, his personal stories are consistently fresh, humorous, and touching.
A mature, compassionate religious guide.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-5995-2
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2017
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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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
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