Saturday, December 20, 2014

Book reviews in the New York Times

The god Krishna and Kaliya, the serpent king, from 17th-century India.

'The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Volume I: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism'

Edited by JACK MILES, WENDY DONIGER, DONALD S. LOPEZ JR. and JAMES ROBSON
Reviewed by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
The first volume of Norton's two-part anthology includes texts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Daoism.

From left: Part of an 800-year-old Torah scroll; a page from an 11th-century manuscript of the Quran; and the opening of an illuminated Latin Gospel of Luke from the 15th century.'The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Volume II: Judaism, Christianity, Islam'

Edited by JACK MILES, DAVID BIALE, LAWRENCE S. CUNNINGHAM and JANE DAMMEN McAULIFFE
Reviewed by KAREN ARMSTRONG
The second volume of Norton's two-part anthology compiles texts and commentaries on Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Also in the Book Review
Phil Zuckerman

'Living the Secular Life'

By PHIL ZUCKERMAN
Reviewed by SUSAN JACOBY
As more Americans eschew religious affiliation, a sociologist examines the secular lifestyle.

H. G. Adler'The Wall'

By H. G. ADLER. Translated by PETER FILKINS.
Reviewed by CYNTHIA OZICK
Cynthia Ozick reviews the final installment of H. G. Adler's Shoah trilogy.
Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett: By the Book

The author of "Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks" is a great fan of rereading. "We'd all have been better off to have read half as many books. Twice."
·         By the Book: Archive
An 18th-century painting of the Hindu god Shiva.

'Ardor'

By ROBERTO CALASSO. Translated by RICHARD DIXON.
Reviewed by PANKAJ MISHRA
Roberto Calasso delves into the enigmatic web of ritual and myth that defined the ancient Vedic world.

A Mandean baptism in the Tigris River, May 2003.'Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms'

By GERARD RUSSELL
Reviewed by MOHAMAD BAZZI
Gerard Russell chronicles the long survival of religious minorities in the Middle East, and the extreme peril they face today..
Transfigured by and into art: Joan of Arc at the coronation of King Charles VII in 1429, in a painting by Ingres in the Louvre.

'Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured'

By KATHRYN HARRISON
Reviewed by SARAH DUNANT
Kathryn Harrison's biography interweaves Joan of Arc's story with both fictional and historical interpretations.

Billy Graham preaches to more than 100,000 Berliners in June 1954.'America's Pastor'

By GRANT WACKER
Reviewed by ROBERT P. GEORGE
A study of Billy Graham's ministry examines how American culture shaped him - and he shaped it.
Pope Francis kissing the foot of an inmate at a juvenile detention center in Rome last year.

'The Great Reformer'

By AUSTEN IVEREIGH
Reviewed by MOLLY WORTHEN
A biography of Jorge Mario Bergoglio traces his Argentine origins and his path to the Vatican.

François Villon'The Brotherhood of Book Hunters'

By RAPHAËL JERUSALMY. Translated by HOWARD CURTIS.
Reviewed by TADZIO KOELB
François Villon travels to Jerusalem in this literary mystery.

'A Philosophy of Walking'

By FRÉDÉRIC GROS
Reviewed by LAUREN ELKIN

Charting the many ways we walk, and what they say about us.


No comments: