Arden, a white South African who left her homeland in 1966 for the US, returns and trains to become a sangoma, a traditional healer; her first book is a mostly absorbing description of this spiritual and political journey. Arden goes back to South Africa filled with guilt and shame about her whiteness. After a series of visions, she visits a black seer who tells her that she has ``the spirit'' and must study to become a sangoma. What ensues is an often moving tale of a white woman struggling to reach across racial barriers in a dramatically charged environment, a Westerner trying to let go of her skepticism about superstition and alternative healing, and an individual finding that she possesses completely unexpected powers. Her descriptions of the African landscape are stunning in their visual specificity. However, there are points at which Arden's originality flags; she slips in a fair number of appeals to the ``universe,'' not to mention references to ``Mother Earth'' and her ``nurturing `' powers. The final kicker, though, is in the last paragraph: ``We rode into that enchanted sunset.'' Sometimes, too, her descriptions are a bit repetitive—she too often uses the adjective ``salmon'' to describe the sky, for instance. Throughout, too, her narrative displays far too little sense of humor, considering the absurdity of many of the predicaments she faces. She is a Californian vegetarian who is ethically and viscerally squeamish about killing animals—a crucial part of sangoma training and ritual—yet she is relentlessly earnest about these conflicts. Should interest anyone who wants to know more about race relations, post-apartheid South Africa, or traditional healing; it is also a strong and unusually concrete spiritual memoir, despite some triteness and a distressing humorlessness.
Pub Date: July 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8050-4207-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1996
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.
