The Last Passage: Recovering a Death of Our Own
Heinz, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at California State University, provides a provocative though somewhat effusive examination of death practices in a religious, historical, anthropological, and mythological context. He criticizes contemporary American views of death, wherein old age is seen as a curable ailment and the topic of death avoided. Our unimaginative, spiritually impoverished death system, Heinz argues, begets a shallow, dispirited existence. Through revitalization of ritual within the context of community and religion, we can bring hope and renewed meaning to our deaths. Heinz admits that his own Christian beliefs color his discussion, but he compensates by devoting ample consideration to other religious traditions. In conclusion, he looks to music, the visual arts, dance, theater, and language to help invigorate the connection between the living and the dead. This scholarly analysis includes a rich bibliography and is recommended for all libraries.?Annette Haines, Central Michigan Univ. Libs., Mount PleasantCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.