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Book reviews for "Marx,_Steven" sorted by average review score:

The Politics of Historical Vision: Marx, Foucault, Habermas
Published in Paperback by Guilford Press (01 October, 1996)
Author: Steven Best
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Exclnt intro to 3 philosophers ideas on history and society
This little known and under-rated book is a great place to start for someone interested in the post modern philosophy of history and society. If you want to learn about the ideas of Marx, Foucault and Habermas, and what they mean in current philosophy, but don't want to commit to their difficult, lengthy and sometimes down right awful prose, Steve Best will explain in a readable fashion some of their most discussed ideas. I approached the book with that goal in mind and I think it served that purpose very well. However, if you do not like to consider ideas in the abstract, this book, and perhaps philosophy itself, may not be for you.

There are references to many other philosophical figures (Kant, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Debord, Dilthey and many, many more) whose ideas were precursors or points of contention to the three reviewed in The Politics of Historical Vision, and which either ground or contrast the modern concepts with their prior and current milieux.

The book can also serve as a starting point for those with an interest in philosophy, it is a nice way to survey social and historical philosophy and become acqainted with the ideas of many thinkers. This is also one of the books strengths, and I found it very rewarding.

The book requires careful attention in some parts, to grasp the more complicated ideas, but does so without dragging on and on, reiterating the same point too many times. Best has done an excellent job here, making a rather difficult subject more accessible and giving the reader new ways to think about history as an engaging subject and how it can be manipulated to serve a purpose, beneficial or not to larger social interests.

It has been a while since I read it, so that accounts for the lack of detailed analysis in this short review.


Shakespeare and the Bible (Oxford Shakespeare Topics)
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (1900)
Author: Steven Marx
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Poorly written.
(...) I love Shakespeare, and I thought this book would be
informative, but I was sadly mistaken. Marx uses mainly his own
opinion as "proof" of connections between Shakespeare and
the Bible. Of course there are "connections"--Shakespeare
lived in Elizabethan England. But I wouldn't go so far as to compare
King Lear to Job or The Tempest to Revelations. Marx's comparisions
are feable and superficial at best.

He remains unconvincing
throughout the book, which he pitifully tried to force into a format
like Shakespeare's plays. Each chapter is divided into "five
acts." I would have thought an intellectual would have realized
this format was completely wrong for a non-fiction piece.

There are better books out there.


Kiss the book!
Marx' analyses of the parallels between Shakespeare and particular parts of the Bible are astute. The Biblical themes of suffering and redemption, (as in the Pentateuch, the Book of Job, and Revelations, among those discussed by Marx) are such a rich vein throughout Western literature, stemming from its first "book," the Bible, that it is actually odd that more people don't pick up on this aspect of Shakespeare; too often people read him for his sexual politics or Greco-Roman ethics. But Shakespeare is much larger than just these, or the sum of them...
Marx' book is excellent cross analysis in the same style as Harold Bloom and Northrup Frye. You will have a better sense of Shakespeare, The Bible, and your own life and what the hell to do with it after reading this slim but satisfying study. Before or after you read this, check out Northrup Frye's two volume study on the Bible, and virtually everything by Harold Bloom. Also read Herbert Schneidau's "Sacred Discontent," for a full historical analysis of the profound influence of the Bible on Western Culture. Love it or hate it, you've got to understand it.


Marxism and Morality
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (1987)
Author: Steven Lukes
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The Travel-The-World Cookbook: For Kids of All Ages
Published in Paperback by Goodyear Pub Co (1996)
Authors: Pamela Marx and Steven MacH
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Youth Against Age: Generational Strife in Renaissance Poetry (American University Studies IV: English Language and Literature, Vol. 21)
Published in Hardcover by Peter Lang Publishing (1986)
Author: Steven Marx
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