Good for entirely ignorant souls seeking a shallow survey of piquant Jewish historical moments and characters. Serious...
This mishmash of history and biblical scholarship attempts to counter current prevalent stereotypes of Jews and assumptions about Judaism.
In the face of the dogged stereotype of the “pious and prayerful” Jew, Kirsch (King David, 2000, etc.) contends that there never has been a single “correct” Jewish faith, practice, or race. Although he frames the whole argument using the example of Sarah, a woman who dared to laugh at a vengeful God, the enormity of the topic keeps overflowing this frame, and the chapters jerk along from topic to topic and century to century with either too much or too little explication. Kirsch’s enthusiasm never flags. From the discovery of abundant ancient fertility figurines (“teraphim”) in sites all over Israel, Kirsch extrapolates the existence of a people who were “bold, curious, and daring.” When it comes to toughness, too, the Jews got there first; according to Kirsch, the Sicarii, Jewish assassins who operated during the Roman rule of Judea, “literally invented the art of political terrorism.” More frustrating than this boosterism is the fact that Kirsch’s “untold history” has in fact been told countless times and will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Jewish culture. Some of the author’s revelations include the fact that the Bible had many authors over a long period of time; that those authors may have included one or more women; that some of the patriarchs married non-Jews; and that false messiahs appearing through the ages have often enjoyed great success. Kirsch’s breathless tone as he whips aside curtain after curtain to reveal the obvious is grating, and the labor needed to follow his logic exhausting.
Good for entirely ignorant souls seeking a shallow survey of piquant Jewish historical moments and characters. Serious readers should look elsewhere.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-670-03009-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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