Word: idealize
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...guardians of this ideal are the Baha'is, followers of the Persian prophet Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i faith, which at 142 years old, is considered to be one of the world's newest religions. Since then the numbers of his followers have continued to grow, and now number close to three million. Although their numbers are not comparable to other world faiths, Baha'is are widespread and have representatives in far-flung corners of the world...
...beau ideal of a dusty country town, McKellen is all boisterous affection and puckish candor. From the moment he capers onto the stage, he seems infinitely more alive than everyone around him. No matter how thwarted or downcast, he never loses his vision of life as adventure rather than mere existence. But as his admirers gradually realize, the very boyish traits that make Platonov so appealing also render him irresponsible: unlike the safe and predictable dullards around him, he has simply never grown up. In the funniest yet most poignant scene, he feverishly debates whether to stay faithful...
...simplicity. In Pigs from A to Z (Houghton Mifflin; $15.95), Arthur Geisert's suite of copper etchings follows siblings with curly tails and mischievous minds as they construct a wolfproof tree house by the letters. En route, the illustrator-author ingeniously employs words that describe his book (eerie, ideal, spectacular) and performs the hardest task in children's literature: enlightening with surprises...
Daniel Janzen, 47, is a tenured professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania, but for the past 14 years his home has been a rented, tin-roofed cabin in an isolated Central American wilderness. The location, Santa Rosa National Park on Costa Rica's Pacific coast, is ideal for his favorite pursuits: rambling across abandoned pasture, collecting seeds and caterpillars, weighing and identifying trapped mice, netting insects by night -- work he calls "muddy-your-boots biology." Janzen, in fact, spends so little time in Philadelphia that he maintains no residence there. He prefers to sleep...
...ideal, of course, is Madame Bovary, a novel whose only flaw may be that its perfection chills the sympathies traditionally required for a cozy read. Emma's large appetites and rebelliousness may be less scandalous today, but they are no less frightening than they were to the l9th century French bourgeoisie...