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THE EARTHEN VESSEL

Name: THE EARTHEN VESSEL
Author: Nancy Wilferd
ISBN: 978-1-4984-0401-3

by Nancy Wilferd ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2014

An astonishingly accessible biology introduction that should especially appeal to devout Christians.

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A retired nurse provides an explanatory tour of the human body and discusses its intricacy as evidence of God’s design.

The world of scientific explanations and the spiritually miraculous are rarely presented as compatible, but debut author Wilferd does exactly that. She announces her dual aims: to furnish an “easy-to-read and easy-to-understand” account of the body’s various parts and functions, and to show that “humans are the most complex and beautiful of all creation.” She impressively achieves her first goal, surveying the body’s biological structure with encyclopedic thoroughness. The author examines its cellular structure and DNA, the composition and work of blood and the circulatory system, the “musculoskeletal system,” and the body’s sundry parts and roles in keeping people alive. She also supplies a remarkably lucid account of the ways in which the body defends itself from sickness and disease, breathes, digests, and reproduces. Wilferd repeatedly observes that the body is amazingly efficient and gifted with an elaborate architecture, both “evidence of the miraculous Hand of God at work.” For example, a discussion of the nature of blood is followed by one about the “precious blood of Jesus,” and a wonderfully concise account of the lysosome comes immediately before a report about the genetic link between Mary and Jesus. The author permits herself some edifying digressions, too, about the health risks of smoking and circumcision and the danger of shaken baby syndrome. Wilferd’s presentation of the body is not just lucid, but also artfully synoptic—she reduces complex biological issues to their most basic parts without oversimplification or condescension. Her book could serve as a useful short reference guide or an introduction for newcomers to the subject. In addition, even if readers disagree with the author’s theological inferences, she still persuasively demonstrates the marvel that is the human body. But she can become dogmatically strident when it comes to the issue of conception: “No one who understands DNA can deny that life begins at conception.” Of course, lots of geneticists, right or wrong, do precisely that.

An astonishingly accessible biology introduction that should especially appeal to devout Christians.

Pub Date: June 30, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4984-0401-3

Page Count: 214

Publisher: Xulon Press

Review Posted Online: April 17, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.