Severe inflammation of the ego is in evidence as ex-therapist Peck (Further Along the Road Less Traveled, 1993, etc.) muses on life and recounts his 21-day tour of Great Britain's ancient megalithic sites. Following his nephew's wedding at a famous London church, Peck and his wife, Lily, set out by train for Wales, the English Lake District, and Scotland in search of stones, similar to those at Stonehenge, set up in mysterious patterns more than 4,000 years ago. Peck tells us that he is too clever and possibly too humble to write an autobiography and that this is the closest he will get to it. As we follow him from the ``litter'' of Paddington Station to Cardiff, where the best hotel vaguely reminds him of Calcutta and he finds the natives unintelligible, we hear of his embarrassment at his privileged upbringing on the better part of Manhattan's Park Avenue and of his marital infidelities (which he says have ceased due to the onset of late middle age). He cites, as a bit of British provincialism, the fact that an English clergyman was scandalized at his $10,000 fee for a day's speaking engagement (half the priest's yearly income). As for Scotland itself, Peck found Glasgow ``grimy and littered'' and somehow missed out on its ancient cathedral and renowned architecture. He visited the New Age Community at Findhorn (which also disappointed him) but failed to call at the nearby 13th-century Pluscarden Abbey, with its remarkable stonework and vigorous religious community. Eloquent in his allusions to the Druids, the Merlin legend, and the mysterious people who built the stone circles, the author seems to have been hardly aware of their more recent counterparts. For the moment, Peck seems to have run out of road.
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-7868-6021-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
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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