Synopses & Reviews
For centuries, men and women have turned to the Psalms more frequently than to any other book in the Bible. The reasons are not hard to find. With their passionate lyricism, their wild fluctuations between faith and fear, and their marvelous, incantatory rhythms, the Psalms provide the most
extended and deeply personal treatment of the human call to God. The emotional power of such prayers, and the literary artistry with which they are expressed, are as compelling today as they were 2000 years ago.
That power and artistry are made magnificently apparent in Sixty-One Psalms of David. This is not so much another translation as an inspired and engagingly fresh rendition of the Psalms. Following the tradition of Ezra Pound's versions and Robert Lowell's Imitations, David R. Slavitt--himself an
esteemed poet and translator of Ovid, Virgil, Seneca, and others--casts the Psalms into a modern idiom that stays faithful to the original but strikes the ear remarkably like contemporary speech. Perhaps the most innovative and immediately appealing feature of these renditions is Slavitt's skillful
use of traditional poetic forms. Here the Psalms are compressed, clarified, and given the satisfying shapes and textures of English poetry. Working most often in rhymed tetrameter quatrains, but also employing rhymed couplets and other forms, Slavitt brings all the subtlety and expressive power of
English versification to these Psalms, and the result is a poetry that fits comfortably in the lineage that includes Sir Philip Sydney, John Donne, William Blake, and Richard Wilbur. Metrically supple, vividly physical, and marked by felicitous phrasing throughout, these renditions preserve the
spiritual directness of the originals while giving readers the added pleasures of a new, and seemingly effortless, formal variety. As poet and Jewish folklorist Howard Schwartz has observed on this collection, "In Slavitt's hands the Psalms become an intense, one-sided conversation with God. They
cohere in the only way a fine book of poems can, unified by the poets voice. The full range of emotion emerges, especially fear, disgust at the foibles of humanity, loathing of one's enemies, and awe and trust in God."
Readers well familiar with the Psalms will want to have Slavitt's new renditions alongside the Bible on their shelves, as a highly inventive and illuminating counterpoint. And readers coming upon these verses for the first time will feel themselves blessed to discover poetry and prayer so
beautifully joined.
Review
"Zimring and Hawkins have over the years, together and individually, shown a remarkable ability to offer insightful, timely, and practical opinions and research. That knack is continued in
Incapacitation: Penal Confinement and the Restraint of Crime."--
The Criminologist"In this volume, Zimring and Hawkins bring intellectual vigor to describing the history of incapacitation as a concept, detailing previous research on incapacitation, and estimating the economic crime control and other impacts of incapacitation on the state of California. Incapacitation is an important addition to the literature for those who have concerns about the direction of American crime policy."--The IARCA Journal
"Incapacitation does everything that a book on this neglected subject should do, and does it brilliantly. The authors are masters not only of penology and empirical research methods but also of economic theory and jurisprudence. Using data derived from recent increases in prison and jail populations, they skewer overly optimistic estimates of the gains of increased incarceration."--Albert W. Alschuler, University of Chicago
"At a time when long imprisonment is being advanced by pundits and politicians as America's answer to its crime problem, Zimring and Hawkins offer a brilliantly conceived, sharply analytical and badly needed examination of the topic."--Jerome H. Skolnick, University of California, Berkeley
"Zimring and Hawkins, two highly respected scholars, review and critique all of the evidence on the costs and benefits of prison, and tackle the toughest question of all: why hasn't the growth of prison populations reduced crime significantly? Their answer is well-reasoned and empirically informed, and should be must reading for analysts, students, and policymakers interested in crime policy."--Joan Petersilia,University of California at Irvine and former President, American Society of Criminology
Review
"A tremendous contribution to criminology, criminal justice policy, and sentencing jurisprudence...by far the most comprehensive and trenchant analysis of incapacitation yet written. This book does for incapacitation what Zimring and Hawkins' first book did for deterrence."--James B. Jacobs, Director, Center for Research in Crime and Justice, New York University School of Law
"Anyone who wants to get beyond the simplistic rhetoric of the current 'three strikes and you're out' debate, and take a serious look at what has been happening to state sentencing policies, should read this book."--Peter Greenwood, RAND
Synopsis
The one, sure way that imprisonment prevents crime is by restraining offenders from committing crimes while they are locked up. Called "incapacitation" by experts in criminology, this effect has become the dominant justification for imprisonment in the United States, where well over a million persons are currently in jails and prisons and public figures who want to appear tough on crime periodically urge that we throw away the key. How useful is the modern prison in restraining crime, and at what cost? How much do we really know about incapacitation and its effectiveness?
This book is the first comprehensive assessment of incapacitation. Zimring and Hawkins show the increasing reliance on restraint to justify imprisonment, analyze the existing theories on incapacitation's effects, assess the current empirical research, report a new study, and explore the links between what is known about incapacitation and what it tells us about our criminal justice policy. An insightful evaluation of a pressing policy issue, Incapacitation is a vital contribution to the current debates on our criminal justice system.