A profound exploration of faith, centered on famous apparitions.
Losing his religion.
Novelist and nonfiction author Harrigan looks to the story of the Fatima apparitions as a vehicle for telling his own tale of struggling with faith and especially with his Roman Catholic upbringing. The historical aspect of this work are the appearances that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is said to have made to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. The children’s experiences became, and remain, a global sensation in Catholicism, punctuated by three secrets entrusted to Lucia, the oldest child—and the only one to survive into adulthood. The story of Fatima provides a portion of the backdrop of Harrigan’s Catholic upbringing in 1950s and 1960s Texas. The author shares difficult memories of his youth, plagued by Cold War–tinted fears of hell and unwarranted feelings of guilt and shame. Harrigan’s experiences with Catholicism led to his early adulthood exit from faith, and he forthrightly notes that he does not believe in the Fatima apparitions as supernatural events. Nevertheless, he empathizes with the three children and understands their overriding desire to experience such a supernatural moment. Growing up in a mystical faith tradition that emphasized Mary as a prime heavenly connection with each believer, Harrigan fully understands how “their childish imaginations had…been inflamed…by their belief that the Virgin Mary had visited them.” The Fatima aspect of this work is well-researched and interesting, culminating in a visit by the author to various sites in Portugal connected to the visions and to the children. This book will mainly resonate with former Catholics and critics of Catholicism who, like Harrigan, are still actively searching for closure in spiritual terms.
A profound exploration of faith, centered on famous apparitions.Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780593534281
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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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