Because of its subject matter, this work will spark attention and debate. At bottom, however, Carroll remains an angry...
A highly personalized history of the first 2,000 years of Catholic-Jewish relations retold as a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end—at Auschwitz.
A former Paulist who abandoned the priesthood to marry, Carroll (An American Requiem, 1996, etc.) sets out here to show that anti-Judaism has always been at the core of Christianity, and that it could have been otherwise if the Catholic Church, in particular, had opted for roads not taken. His instinct—to show this history from both Jewish and Christian perspectives—is a good one, and had he confined himself to his stated subject, he might have produced a reliable (as well as a strongly written) account of a tortured relationship. But this narrative is as much about Carroll as it is about anything else: it begins and ends in his own self-dramatizing meditation on the controversial cross erected several years ago at Auschwitz—the meaning of which he misconstrues—and not a single chapter is free of long recollections from the author’s past. These Zelig-like appearances give the text a confessional cast that distorts the very history he is trying to tell, allowing personal memoir to condition the reader’s response to the material and—at crucial points—to substitute for argument. His endnotes reveal an often-careless use of scholarship and a highly biased use of journalistic sources. Although he traveled to Rome in the course of his research, for example, Carroll did not bother to interview the scholars there who are most knowledgeable about the life of Pope Pius XII, and his handling of the Edith Stein canonization indicates a poor understanding of the saint-making process.
Because of its subject matter, this work will spark attention and debate. At bottom, however, Carroll remains an angry 1960s-era Catholic, and his ambitious effort to trace the course of Christian animosity toward the Jews might have been more balanced and convincing if he were less inclined to present himself as a paradigmatic man of our times.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2001
ISBN: 0-395-77927-8
Page Count: 752
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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