A thoughtful, surprising work on the nature of consciousness.
Richheimer questions our assumptions about the basic structure of the universe in this work blending philosophy, spiritualism, and physics.
What if the world is not made of atoms, as science teaches us, but of consciousness? Richheimer suggests this in his treatise on the ways modern people misunderstand the nature of reality. The materialism of the title refers not to consumerism, of course, but to the concept of literal material: the upward causality theory of reality in which elementary particles form the basis of everything we experience. The alternative, which Richheimer calls spirituality, says just the opposite: “It postulates that consciousness is the ‘ground substance’ of creation and follows ‘top down’ causality since it hypothesizes that consciousness is transformed into cosmic mind and then into the material world.” While spirituality seems almost by definition beyond the purview of science, Richheimer argues that recent developments in quantum mechanics and biology have suggested otherwise. He takes the reader through such mysterious territories as near-death experiences, the mind-body connection, animal instinct, and life after death. By eschewing dogmatism and approaching each topic with an open mind, the author hopes to challenge the reader’s assumptions regarding how the universe really operates. Despite the specialized material, Richheimer’s prose is accessible enough for the general reader to follow: “There is no question that psychedelic drugs can produce many of the same experiences described by mystics,” he writes. “This has led many neuroscientists to label all mystical experiences as a product of abnormal brain chemistry.” The author has a doctorate in chemistry, but the influence of New Age spiritualism suffuses his work. The book is dedicated to the spiritual guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti—Richheimer’s “spiritual preceptor and guide” and inspiration—and there’s some talk of God. While the premise might alienate some readers, Richheimer approaches his arguments with honesty and curiosity and little preachiness. Those interested in the intersection of spiritualism with contemporary hard science will find him to be a suitable guide: knowledgeable, nonjudgmental, and expansive.
A thoughtful, surprising work on the nature of consciousness.Pub Date: July 15, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Innerworld Publications
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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