A deeply thoughtful Christian reading of the Song of Solomon that will furnish students and experts alike with plenty of...
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
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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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