For the stoically inclined, a fine vade mecum come donation time.
Bard College classicist Romm continues his ongoing project to reintroduce the Roman philosopher Seneca to modern readers.
Seneca’s reputation has long been tarnished by his association with the emperor Nero, who made him fabulously rich and then, jealous and mad, contrived to force him to commit suicide. Thinking it would stave off that unhappy end, Seneca offered to give up his wealth, to no avail. He had clearly been thinking about the whole business of giving and receiving, as Romm’s bilingual assemblage of documents, including the essay “De Beneficiis” (“On Benefits”), makes clear. Writes Seneca, “Here’s the mark of great and good hearts: To seek good deeds for their own sake, not for the profits that flow from them, and to look for good people even after meeting bad ones.” There’s a lot to unpack there, but the driving idea is that a gift given in expectation of some favor or return isn’t a gift at all. Continues Seneca, “No one writes down good deeds on a ledger or calls them in by day and hour like a greedy collection agent. A good person never thinks of them, unless reminded by the one making return; to do otherwise is to make them into a loan.” Then there’s another sort of demerit, namely the shame attendant in choosing the wrong person—an ingrate who doesn’t properly acknowledge and appreciate the effort—to receive one’s gift. Gifts must be chosen wisely; you don’t give “books to a simpleton, or nets to a scholar.” In a helpful running commentary that accompanies his vigorous translation, Romm glosses Seneca to mean that the best gifts are given anonymously and received gratefully. And as to the real return? Well, there’s definitely a payoff: “A good conscience.”
For the stoically inclined, a fine vade mecum come donation time.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-691-19209-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
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