Indiana Books

Polzin's work is brilliant, but intended primarily for serious scholars who have a good knowledge of the text. His analysis of the language of the text as well as exploring the multiple possible meanings of the original Hebrew are only part of what makes this an important text.

Polzin's literary analysis is also a tremendous addition to the field. In many areas where the text has been generally thought of as contradictory, he finds plausible interpretations that create continuity and add to the meaning of the text. Further, his understanding of the redactors possible intent greatly enhances the readers understanding of the primary text.

Finally, the theological implications of his commentary deserve consideration. Polzin brings the characters of Samuel and Saul, two of the Bibles most interesting personalities, fully to life. His exploration of their flaws and failures as well as their successes makes his interpretations that much more meaningful.

While not always easy, the text is a must addition for any serious or aspiring scholar of these texts. If you are a beginner, begin with a good translation and easier linear commentary like Alter or Fox. If you want to go deeper, I urge you to purchase this important text.

I've had this particular edition of Juvenal on my shelf for at least ten years, finally picked it up, and was stunned; take away some of the Roman references, and it's as if Juvenal is writing in the next town today. The 1958 Rolfe Humphries translation is also strikingly modern, even hip. Yes Juvenal is cynical, but it's the kind of attitude that makes one think. His world 1900 years ago is so much like our own; the phrase "bread and circuses", reflecting both civilizations, is one of a number we get from Juvenal. Both the original and the superb translation are biting stuff, not for tepid constitutions. If you are a thinker, however, buy and keep this volume. It's has the value of a stiff drink.

The murder of a young child in Canton, Illinois in the 1950s led to the conviction of Lloyd Miller for the crime. The real explanation was pretty wild with the UFOs and all the probing and mutilation and all. I got pretty confused in trying to figure out how a man wearing a pig mask could eat over 190 hamburgers from some guy's taco stand "on Elm Street" in something like 3 hours. But President Eisenhower was really the star, and when his wife visited Canton and testified on behalf all alien space commanders AND underground lizard people, even though they were arch enemies, I nearly stood up and cheered. Surely Ike was a great American and continues to dance on the grave of communism.

The Scenic Route: Stories From the Heartland is an anthology of stories gathered from the twentieth anniversary of Storytelling Arts of Indiana, an organization founded to promote the art and wonder of storytelling in daily life through its annual festival, concerts, workshops, programs, and other events. A diversity of authors contribute their slice-of-life impressions written with earthy realism and flavored with dashes of wit, wisdom, irony, and enigma. "In adulthood, I learned the real Crockett was a man of mixed qualities - an ambiguous fellow. The old Disney movie showed Davy going down in glory, swinging Old Betsy at the attacking forces of Santa Ana. In reality, he was among a small group taken alive. Likely he tried to talk his way out of the predicament, but he failed. Like him, I, too, met my Alamo. Unlike him, I lived to prevaricate another day." Highly recommended.

I've never read a book that touched me so much! Gibran writes in vivid figurative language and lots of imagery. He strums strings of the heart with his insight into situations and stories. Also, if you like this, you'll love Broken Wings.

`Seizing the New Day' is a wonderful book about enslaved southerners of Charleston, South Carolina freeing themselves. They are 'seizing the new day,' no gifts are discussed here. They are a somewhat surly group, quick to anger, but careful to keep long term goals in mind. They are still a surly group at the book's end, but they have made a lot of progress.

The focus is very narrow, but richly detailed. We only follow the events in Charleston. Who lived next to whom? What church did they go to? What school did they attend? Who did they marry?

This is a story of the `Civil War.' Told from the street level of Charleston between 1850 and 1870, it twists the `accepted story' presented by Hollywood. I'm used to the Civil War starting with the shelling of Fort Sumter and ending with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. This version of the `Civil War' starts with the Nat Turner rebellion and ends with the 15th amendment. Instead of the great establishment leaders like Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, this war is fought by people that won't abide with bondage. It is a war between slave owners and those they seek to dominate.

There is no talk of a Northern Army `freeing' people, the most prominent army unit mentioned is the 21st United States Colored Troops. The mayor of Charleston surrendered the city to them on February 18, 1865.

The book is organized into 7 chapters. The first two and last are narrative, the war story. Chapters 3 through 6 develop sub themes regarding how the winners of the war (remember, the Mayor surrendered to colored troops) went about establishing economic, educational and community institutions for `the New Day.'

The book is careful to bolster its case by retelling hundreds of stories pulled from contemporary sources; autobiographies, newspapers, government documents, etc. Anyone writing a civil war film script would find this book a welcome source of authentic street scenes.

Despite the bold title, the notion of `seizing liberty' is rather hidden in the multitude of individual stories recounted here. It's easy to read the book as a colorful recap of many small and disconnected efforts. I suspect this reflects the author's desire to maintain academic respectability. The story about Lee and Grant is, after all, the accepted version.

If you want to know what meaning 'means' in linguistics inquiry then this is an incredible volume. Eco's discussion of theories of meaning based on dictionaries and encyclopedias and the relationship between the two shoud be read by linguists and computer scientists alike as this debate (which is really the heart of much of the book) has direct bearing on theories of grammar and artificial intelligence (much to the detriment of most modern theories of the latter). The only real complaint I have is that the initial chapter is quite dense and definitely not understandable for the reader not versed in at least some of his concepts--I had family members who wanted to know what I study and so I gave them this volume and they could not get past the first chapter to the meat of the book, which is very well written.

The authors of this anthology would answer that question with an emphatic "yes!" Battenhouse's anthology brings together writings from an important school of Shakespearean criticism which holds that the Bard's works exemplify traditional Christian teachings as mediated by such thinkers as Boethius and, especially, St. Augustine. It is sometimes called the Augustinian school. A critic's assumptions can greatly influence his or her interpretation of a work. For example, Romantic critics, such as Coleridge and Bradley, hold that the character Hamlet's main problem is his vacillation in carrying out his father's ghost's demand that Hamlet revenge his murder. The Augustinians disagree. They believe there are numerous signs in the play that the ghost is actually a demonic hallucination intent on deceiving Hamlet. Horatio and Marcellus suspect this and tell Hamlet not to follow the ghost. Hamlet's decision to follow the ghost anyway, say the Augustinians, is the first of many errors he makes which result in the "accidental judgments, casual slaughters" with which he ends so many lives, including his own. In fact, Hamlet's whole ethic of revenge is very dubious morally, as are the suicides of Romeo, Juliet, and Othello. Shakespeare's Christian Dimension challenges many widely-held assumptions about the meaning of the plays. These critics anchor their interpretations firmly in the moral and theological writing of Elizabethan and earlier times. Battenhouse has assembled a fine group of critics here. His book is well-organized and easy to use. One need not read the whole book to get the Augustinian view of a particular play. The book is a feast for lovers of Shakespeare.

This anthology is made up of chapters written by a variety of authors/specialists on either the Holocaust or Ukraine. Some of these chapters are most likely taken straight from books that these authors have previously published (i.e. Bartov's chapter is pretty much from his lastest book entitled "Erased"), which detail various aspects of the Holocaust in Ukraine before, during, and after the Second World War. Today, most of the attention has been focused on either the Holocaust in Poland or the Soviet Union in general, not so much on specifically Ukraine. This book aims to correct that missing page in western historiography on the Holocaust.

Being from Ukraine I found much of the information within the pages of this book engrossing to read about. Specifically, the history of Jews and Ukrainians in Galicia was very intriguing. I found it interesting that the Ukrainians in this area were affected by German/Austrian anti-Semitism which differed from that of other areas within Ukraine which was more affected by Polish and Russian anti-Semitism. There is an entire chapter which chronicles the destruction of Ukrainian Jewry village/town/city by village/town/city and year by year, an excellent reference. One of the chapters also notes how much more research is needed in regards to the role of Police Battalions, which in Ukraine actually killed more Jews than Einsatzgruppen C and D combined! Something that undoubtedly few know about. As with any book worth its salt this one raises as many questions as it answers, questions which hopefully will be answered in the near future as our knowledge and understanding of this event within the borders of Ukraine grows. Highly recommended for those with an interest in either the Holocaust or Ukrainian history during this time period.

This short book is one of the best books written on film criticism. It is by no means comprehensive; however, Mr. Wollen chooses his focus carefully. The book is organized around three topics: the work and theory of Sergei Eisenstein, the auteur theory, and semiology. Mr. Wollen presents a clear, concise explication of each topic, augmented with many examples from films as well as other arts. Unlike many books on theory, Mr. Wollen's ideas are not obscure, and his language does not obfuscate the subject; his are, in fact, the clearest, most readable explanations of the basics of these theories that I have ever read. That is not to say the book is simplistic, however brief it may be. For the novice, this is a first-rate introduction to some of the basic principles of film criticism. For the authority, it's a pleasant read, a refresher on some classic ideas in film.