An occasionally dry but profound exploration into the unknown.
British political philosopher and critic Gray (European Thought/London School of Economics; Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia, 2007, etc.) explores the great quest for eternal life.
The author’s noteworthy analysis plumbs the great enigma of death and the afterlife, pitting the ideas of rigid Victorian-era skeptics against more progressive-thinking individuals like 19th-century philosophers Henry Sidgwick and Frederic Myers. Both men eschewed the popularity of secular thinking and grew eager for proof of paranormal phenomena and philosophies delivered outside the realms of religious ideology or “scientific materialism.” Automatism, cross-correspondence (communications with the spiritual world), séances, mediums and subliminal though—all were vigorously investigated by Sidgwick, Myers and others, however stymied by the naturalistic theories of Charles Darwin, who asserted that a belief in human immortality only served to cushion the inevitable likelihood of universal extinction. Gray also examines Russian secular pseudo-religion dubbed the “God-builders,” who sought “deliverance from a chaotic world” and argued that science was capable of demonstrating death as a passage to another plane of consciousness. One such advocate was Russian diplomat Leonid Krasin, who attempted to freeze Lenin in the hopes of reviving him via “scientific resurrection.” But these beliefs can be challenged and overturned, Gray asserts, as in the history of author H.G. Wells, whose torrid love affair with a suspected Russian double-agent altered his lifelong belief in controlled evolution. Of course, more contemporary means of techno-immortalism, such as cryonics, calorie-restricted diets and nanotechnology, can be challenged, the author contends, by basic theism. Writing with stiff, academic solemnity, Gray evenhandedly weighs source material from books, poetry and quoted dialogue and rhetorically offers cautionary trepidation toward a subject that continues to bewilder: “What could be more deadly than being unable to die?”
An occasionally dry but profound exploration into the unknown.Pub Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-17506-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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