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Pathways Through the Bible, by Mortimer J. Cohen; and A History of the Jews, by Solomon Grayzel
- Abstract
Mortimer J. Cohen’s Kinderbibel and Solomon Grayzel’s history of the Jews for the common man compare favorably with that vast body of well-intentioned popularizing literature that is, according to Henry J. Cadbury’s pertinent phrase, totally unaware of the “peril of modernizing.” But to compare favorably is not to be blameless.
These two books are but two more examples based on a strange theory of popularization: a theory that holds it self-evident that the average juvenile or grown-up American Jew prefers clichés built on other clichés—as against any fresh, independent thought, feeling, or insight—and considers an easy flow of familiar sounds the prime criterion of literary value.
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