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THE SONG OF SOLOMON

Name: THE SONG OF SOLOMON
Author: Owen Sypher
ISBN: 978-1-4787-7107-4

REVEALED

by Owen Sypher ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2016

A deeply thoughtful Christian reading of the Song of Solomon that will furnish students and experts alike with plenty of...

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A highly detailed study of one of the most beloved sections of the Bible.

Sypher’s densely packed debut is a thorough, point-by-point and verse-by-verse commentary on the biblical Song of Solomon. The author opens his account by noting the sharply divergent interpretations of the text over the millennia; some take its sexual content literally, while others, such as Jewish scholars, take it as an extended metaphor for God’s relationship with his chosen people. Christians, meanwhile, approach the text as a kind of allegorical prophecy involving Jesus Christ’s relationship with his “bride,” the church. Sypher takes a different approach “while not disregarding the others”—an admittedly tricky feat, as the second and third interpretations are fundamentally incompatible, and both Jewish and Christian commentators have traditionally taken a dim view of reading the text as erotic love poetry. Throughout, the author makes canny use of the Song of Solomon’s dual nature in its depiction of two lovers, which leads him very smoothly to discussions of the spiritual dualities that fill the story of Jesus. He also fills out his line-by-line reading with a rich variety of allusions to other parts of Scripture; his interpretations range over the whole of the Bible and are uniformly interesting. Indeed, he subjects every image in the Song to a passionately readable, if sometimes hyper-specific, multilayered interpretation. Many of his spiritual glosses feel like particularly incisive Sunday morning homilies: “Jesus is only Lord of those who will let him rule in their lives,” he tells readers at one point, and at another, he says that Christians are “lovesick, so in love with the Lord.”

A deeply thoughtful Christian reading of the Song of Solomon that will furnish students and experts alike with plenty of fuel for discussion.

Pub Date: June 30, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4787-7107-4

Page Count: -

Publisher: Outskirts Press

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017

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.