An examination of dreamtime visions that’s absorbing and frustrating, by turns.
A Nigerian author explores the convergence of dreams and reality in this nonfiction work.
“If I could bring all the beautiful things I see in the dream world to the real world,” Udejiji opens in this debut book, he would “replace everyone’s nightmare with flying dreams…to help humanity ultimately conquer the universe.” The author recounts in detail some of his more fantastical dreams, from an account of escaping a pursuing mob by flying away into the sky to stories of monsters and of scientists who created a “system” involving “an implant attached to the DNA of every person.” A spiritual thinker who often blends biblical references with a distinctly West African cosmology, Udejiji emphasizes the “intersection between the dream world and the real world,” providing instructions to readers on how to decipher his “encrypted” dreams. However, he also provides sociopolitical notions of a better world. Much of the book’s analysis offers specific commentary on a vision of a more just and prosperous Nigeria; one part, for instance, envisions a new city in the author’s home region—an economic and cultural hub that “will give us a second chance to make Africa great again.” Another chapter (“If I were the President of Nigeria”) details potential solutions to the country’s social and religious strife and offers concrete plans for infrastructure and civil service development. This is an often surreal read that includes vivid descriptions of such things as mushroom houses with “elevators stretching from the bottom six hundred feet to the sky.” This colorful imagery, however, often detracts from the author’s more grounded political commentary on topics that range from African ethnic divisions to the wealth of the Catholic Church. It’s a relatively brief work at fewer than 125 pages in length, but its prose style is occasionally stilted and repetitive, and it might have been improved by tighter editing; at one point early in its narrative, for instance, the author tells readers, “I do not remember if I talked about this earlier in the book.”
An examination of dreamtime visions that’s absorbing and frustrating, by turns.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 9781665570220
Page Count: 136
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2023
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
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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