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ON DIALOGUE

AN ESSAY IN FREE THOUGHT

A professor's casual, more or less philosophical ruminations on the liberating function of dialogue. This volume of Grudin's philosophical essays follows Time and the Art of Living (1988) and The Grace of Great Things (1990). The tone of this collection is conversational, and its intention is vague. Perhaps it aims, as the publisher opines, to reveal ``how the use of dialogue can open the door to greater creativity.'' It often has the feel of a self-help book, as when Grudin (Literature and Humanities/Univ. of Oregon) talks about dialogue between lovers. But his interdisciplinary ambitions are much larger. He explains how dialogue can fix the former Soviet Union; how it can renew the university; how it makes science work; how it is an intrinsic element of American freedom; how it functions in literature; how it can heal the breach between nature and modern consciousness. Though the amiable Grudin is often entertaining and imaginative, he conceives of dialogue in an impossibly amorphous way. Dialogue has a long tradition in philosophical thinking, but Grudin does not bother to position himself within that tradition. In addition there is much preening: he likes to tell the reader about his sabbaticals to prestigious universities, trips to interesting places, dealings and with big publishers. And what will happen when the world at last cottons on to the Grudin dialogics (which he finds already at work in environmentalism)? ``The mental landscape of Western intellectuals will be much less alienated, much closer to the vision of a mystic and intuitive confidence of a child. Community and engagement will become intellectual rallying cries, and the European prophets of alienation and absurdity will leave the bookstore shelves to join the Chartists and Prohibitionists in underground library repositories. There will be just as many loonies and dilettantes as ever, but everybody will be happier.'' Nostradamus in a tweed jack and a Volvo.

Pub Date: June 26, 1996

ISBN: 0-395-77187-0

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1996

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

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

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