A short, cogent exercise in literary criticism that provides some erudite free play with Scripture.
Alter (Hebrew and Comparative Lit/Berkeley) expands his ongoing study of the literature of the Hebrew Bible with an examination of the Old Testament’s influence on three towering literary works.
In the strictest sense of the Word, of course, the truest canon is the Bible. Quite apart from its theology, its poetry and narrative constitute the founding text for much—if not most—of the West’s best literature, and scriptural diction, images, and stories have informed creative writing for literally thousands of years. In order to enlarge our appreciation of the Bible and remind us of its source, Alter reverts here to a consideration of the original (and remarkably expressive) Hebrew. This is especially pertinent in his study of Haim Nahman Bialik’s mythic poem “The Dead of the Desert,” written originally in Hebrew using Biblical diction and vocabulary to produce a powerful story—one more in the mood of a lost chapter of the Gilgamish epic than anything ecclesiastical. In Kafka’s Amerika, Alter finds parallels to Genesis and (especially) Exodus—despite wide and peculiar spins involving hero Karl’s adventures in New York and Oklahoma. (One is tempted to ask if it isn’t possible, somehow, to find echoes of Joseph in every story of a youngster far from home, or whether every author’s concupiscent female eyeballing an inexperienced lad isn’t a descendant of Potiphar’s wife.) Of course, Joyce’s Ulysses is explicitly Homeric—but Alter would discern an equivalent relationship to the Hebrew Bible, asserting that Joyce used both texts as a combined foundation for his mighty novel. Certainly a devoted analysis of Ulysses can uncover myriad sources, but this makes a strong case for the Bible as a significant Joycean wellspring.
A short, cogent exercise in literary criticism that provides some erudite free play with Scripture.Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2000
ISBN: 0-300-08424-2
Page Count: 190
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
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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