Dillard, author of a sustained spiritual exploration in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, takes on Job's question in this densely packed meditation, which whirs with images of dying moths and angel wings, and centers on the accidental burning away of a young child's face. "Holy the Firm" (from esoteric Christianity) is the name of a hidden substance, the basest and "dullest," which is yet "in touch with the Absolute." Dillard fantasizes a circle joined and passing through the brightest idea: "Hold hands and crack the whip and yank the Absolute out of there and into the light, God pale and astounded. . . His right hand is clenching, calm, round the exploding left hand of Holy the Firm." The answer to a burnt child is, in a sense from Job ("Who are we. . ."), but we may need the light (from a candle, a torched child) and the sacrifice. A difficult, restless rumination—remarkably, in these days of liturgical placebos, God obsessed and disdaining easy comfort.
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1977
ISBN: 0060915439
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1977
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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