An interesting find, but not a real trouvaille. These notebooks, just recently discovered, date from the months Sartre spent as a "mobilized reservist" in Alsace during the Phony War. They were meant, he suggests toward the end, "to accentuate the isolation I was in, and the rupture between my past and present lives." This caesura, however, had little drama in itself, and much of the material in it can be found in more polished form in Being and Nothingness (1943) and The Words (1964), not to mention the earlier Nausea (1938). Still the curiously appealing, even pathetic features of Sartre the atheistic saint seen in The Words (and elsewhere, such as de Beauvoir's Adieux) often light up some otherwise perfunctory pages. On one of these Sartre mockingly celebrates his triumphs as a prepubertal lover: "I insist on the fact that I wasn't yet ugly. I had fine, fair hair and plump cheeks; my squint wasn't yet very visible. Let us say rather that, even if I wasn't ugly, with sure instinct I was getting ready to be so." Sartre registers his embarrassment and disgust at the sight of male bodies, including his own. He does an unintentionally comic, high-powered psychological analysis of his desperate, losing attempts to diet. He struggles and strains in his never-ending effort to be "authentic," like a medieval monk seeking purity of intention. He endlessly denigrates himself: "I feel no solidarity with anything, not even with myself: I don't need anybody or anything. . . Truly what the Nazis call 'the abstract man of the pluto-democracies'." Yet for a man who claims to be a stranger to intimacy, Sartre displays a good deal of affection (and a great deal of discretion) in recounting his affairs with de Beauvoir and other women. The many long philosophical sections of the notebooks would be impressive ii he hadn't reworked them elsewhere. As it is, they tend to jar with the more personal entries, as Sartre primly/pedantically shifts gears: "I return to time." "I must begin to set my ideas about morality in order." Nonetheless, some of those ideas on morality, such as his rejection of stoicism as a violent form of self-deception, are striking. Important as a document—if not a major event.
Pub Date: April 2, 1985
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1985
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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