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Three Wells: Essays and Lectures on the Biblical, Political, Geometrical Mind
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December 20, 2024
I was interested in Professor Sacks' theories about biblical interpretation. Given he's edited studies of the Books of Genesis forward and Job, and another on Torah Hebrew grammar, while I waited for those to arrive (from a small press), this copy came first. It's a posthumous tribute, with a preface by a colleague at St John's College, Santa Fe, and a short biographical afterword by a rabbi, and in the middle, essays and erudite talks on the bible, geometry, his mentor Leo Strauss, The Tempest.
I didn't gain as much as I was hoping for from the lit-crit meets analyses content. Sacks isn't a drone, but neither is he that engaging, at least on paper. His articles on Torah roam all over the place, as if lecture notes rather than cohesive, punchy, or even memorable insights, although naturally he knows his languages and pays close attention to the readings of particular verses. Unless one's as steeped in the scripture as he is, the recall needed from that to follow easily his trains of digressive thought keeps these suited for the seminar, rather than accessible to all.
Of course, the intensity of the liberal arts Great Books education Sacks was lucky to attain as first a student and then a teacher at St John's means his atmosphere would have been rather hermetic. He moves to look at classic proofs of theories, relating their comprehension to how in Strauss' terms,
the realm between knowledge and ignorance can be roamed to pursue honest inquiry (122). Moses glimpsed the Promised Land, and so might a seeker from a summit progress (163) into a life of the mind fulfilling one's quest; such a searcher may ask questions when answers loom imminent. (159)
I didn't gain as much as I was hoping for from the lit-crit meets analyses content. Sacks isn't a drone, but neither is he that engaging, at least on paper. His articles on Torah roam all over the place, as if lecture notes rather than cohesive, punchy, or even memorable insights, although naturally he knows his languages and pays close attention to the readings of particular verses. Unless one's as steeped in the scripture as he is, the recall needed from that to follow easily his trains of digressive thought keeps these suited for the seminar, rather than accessible to all.
Of course, the intensity of the liberal arts Great Books education Sacks was lucky to attain as first a student and then a teacher at St John's means his atmosphere would have been rather hermetic. He moves to look at classic proofs of theories, relating their comprehension to how in Strauss' terms,
the realm between knowledge and ignorance can be roamed to pursue honest inquiry (122). Moses glimpsed the Promised Land, and so might a seeker from a summit progress (163) into a life of the mind fulfilling one's quest; such a searcher may ask questions when answers loom imminent. (159)
Displaying 1 of 1 review