No comments about A New Life Of Dante.

3 comments about Gurdjieff: A Biography.

1. I'll just say briefly that this book is the best biographic text of Gurdjieff available, and while it is a bit prolix it is not purple, as someone claimed. Actually I find it almost novelistically readable.



2. Gurdjieff remains a fascinating figure. Sadly the standard of writing is very poor. I don't know a great deal about the author but he sure ain't a scholar or academic on this evidence. Too much horrible, purple prose. Borrow it rather than buy it. Better still search for one of the few people still alive who can give a personal account of G.



3. Having read this twice through, and having read a fair amount of related material, I must say that this is worth the time spent. Without getting lost in the ideas, the author introduced enough of them to be provacative and helpful, while covering the history more throughly than I have seen elsewhere. The book is very well written with good photographs and a great annotation section at the end which is particularly helpful. For those who enjoy fourth way reading, this book has a special place by mining some of the work idea vein while serving primarliy as a means of placing it in history. Definitely gives a good feeling of what an unusual, powerful and challenging man Gurdjieff was.

2 comments about Isaiah Berlin.

1. For some reason, the other reviews, with one exception, are not reviews of John Gray's, "Isaiah Berlin;" they are instead reviews of a compilation of Berlin's writing, "Four Essays on Liberty." I don't know how this happened, but I will review Gray's book, ISBN 0691026351.
   
   Gray presents a compact (168 pages) intellectual biography of Berlin, an affectionate, fair, yet critical survey of his thought and works. It is an excellent resource, and it provides the reader with the background and context necessary for understanding Berlin's rather voluminous and disparate writings. This is especially valuable, as Berlin was a loquacious and sometimes untidy writer, circling around, over, and back through his ideas in way that some may find confusing more than clarifying. In fact, his key ideas were not that many, and not that difficult to grasp, when set out as carefully as Gray sets them out.
   
   If you want more narrative of Berlin's very interesting life, you should consider Michael Ignatieff's, "Isaiah Berlin: A Life," which is also superbly done. Gray concentrates on Berlin's ideas, summarizing the whole of his life in one paragraph in the Introduction.



2. This book came out in the mid 1990s right when the biggest debates were dealing with cultural diversity and affirmative action. No book not even this one can capture the essence and writings of Berlin's writing that expanded nearly six decades yet it provides a fresh analysis of his ideas to those who aren't familiar with the 'history of ideas' and unleashed in the public debate about what to do about the remnants of liberalism and multiculturalism in this day and age. I recommend buying this highly.

1 comments about War Diaries: Notebooks from a Phony War, 1939-40.

1. The main title of this book can be a little misleading, for the entries date from 1939-40, before the war in France really heated up. Sartre saw no action during this period (he was in his early 30s), but he WAS in military service on the front during the "phony war." Mostly, he had a lot of time to think and write.

   Sartre worked on some of the foundations for _Being and Nothingness_ and existential theory in general, so there's some of that here, but this is a marvelously HUMAN document. As well as the sort of intellectual blasts one expects from him (Flaubert's _A Sentimental Education_ is deemed to be "clumsy, disagreeable ... utterly idiotic"), Sartre writes of his insecurities ("In relation to Gauguin, Van Gogh and Rimbaud, I have a distinct inferiority complex because they managed to destroy themselves"; "It's true, I'm not authentic. With everything that I feel, before actually feeling it I know that I'm feeling it ... I fool people: I look like a sensitive person but I'm barren ... I am nothing but pride and lucidity").

   There's a lot about his love of women and burning desire for beauty -- to be IN something beautiful; and his total failure at friendships with men, save for what he termed women-men ("an extremely rare species, standing out from the rest thanks to their physical charm or sometimes beauty, and to a host of inner riches which the common run of men know nothing of ... I'm a woman-man myself, I think, for all my ugliness").

   Sometimes he is flip, sounding more like he's trying out aphorisms for size ("I would condemn someone definitively for a linguistic mannerism, but not because I'd seen him murder his mother"), and sometimes simple and sincere ("A day begun with a breakfast is a lucky day"). Above all, he broods on the nature of freedom and authenticity. This is a much more accessible work than much of his fiction or polished essays.

No comments about John Hick: An Autobiography.

No comments about On Ricoeur (Wadsworth Notes).

No comments about The Good Life.

No comments about Schopenhauer (Blackwell Great Minds).

4 comments about Paul of Tarsus: A Visionary Life.

1. Edward Stourton's take on Paul is from a somewhat unusual stance. A well-known BBC personality, Mr Stourton is also 'a very publically Roman Catholic Cristian'. It shows. He takes the reader through the places and experiences of this sometimes opaque figure and shows us why Paul matters and why he can be so infuriating at the same time. It seems as if Paul's listeners had the same problem with him! Stourton explains the complexity of the man with charm and clarity. This reader continually found himself smiling, and wishing to reach over and tough Stourton and ask him to tell another interesting anectotes. He most have dozens more!



2. Award-winning UK broadcast journalist Edward Stourton presents Paul of Tarsus: A Visionary Life, a heavily researched, in-depth, yet eminently readable biography of one of Christianity's most influential figures. Following in the footsteps of St. Paul from his murky depiction in the New Testament to a fleshed-out personality, Paul of Tarsus reasoning, theology, and narrative skills into a fascinating and dramatic examination. A thought-provoking experience for lay readers and experienced theologians alike.



3. Suppose you were a journalist and your boss called you in the office and said: "I've been hearing many things about this guy Paul; go find out who he is and write a story about him." This book might well be the result.
   
   The book assumes no previous knowledge by the reader, all Bible references are quoted and annotated. Who was Paul? What did he do? Why did he do it? Where did he go? What did he say? What were his thoughts? Who were his friends? Who were his enemies? What were accomplishments? What were his failures? What was his contribution to history? These are many questions to answer, and just as you would expect in a short book, the answers are not exhaustive.
   
   Paul's main ideas are discussed, foremost, perhaps, that faith lies in one's head and heart, not in the Law (something that was first said in Jeremiah 31:33, "I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts"), and compares it with the Hebrews' continuous application of their Law in the bedrooms, kitchens, pockets. Stourton considers Paul's instructions as ad-hoc rules for life until the second coming, something that was thought to be due soon. He contends that Paul was the first to start the gentiles vs. Jews arguments and that he destroyed the idea of Jewish identity by attacking their Law that made them different. His concept that the Church is the body of Christ affected the entire Christian thinking and theology.
   
   The book is not large enough for the author to cover all of Paul's ideas, but being a journalist he does spend particular attention to scriptural inconsistencies: Paul's vision on the road to Damascus and what exactly it might have been; The differing descriptions of the Jerusalem Council in the Acts and in Paul's letters (he goes along with the letters); The astonishing attack on Paul at the Temple after he and all the money he had brought had been warmly received by James (he thinks it was a setup by his enemies); he examines possible reasons why the Acts stopped short of Paul's death. Although he discusses Paul's writings about homosexuality and his attitude towards women, he ignores most of the detailed, mystical theology: Christ's divinity and pre-existence, his victory against sin and Satan, the believers' becoming one with Christ through the rite of baptism, the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of the living.
   
   All in all this is a very pleasant book to read, especially for those who don't know much about Christianity's beginnings. It would probably make an excellent book selection for discussions during the Lenten season. I would have preferred, however, if the author had given references for the non-Biblical quotes he includes. For instance, he quotes Shelby Spong as saying that Paul was probably gay. But where de he say it? Spong has probably written a dozen books.
   
   (The writer is the author of "Christianity without Fairy Tales: When Science and Religion Merge.)



4. The author writes a brief resume of St. Paul:
   
   Born: AD 5, Tarsus, Asia Minor
   Educated: University of Tarsus and School of Gamaliel, Jerusalem Profession: Tentmaker
   Nationality: Jewish with Roman Citizenship
   Career: Persecutor of Christians
   Vision: Sees Christ arisen, AD 34
   Makes missionary journey to Cyprus and Galatia, AD 45-48
   Meets apostles in Jerusalem, AD 49
   Establishes first Christian Churches in Asia Minor and the Balkans, AD 49-56
   Imprisoned in Rome, AD 59
   Beheaded, late 60's
   Publications: 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament.
   
   Fine, except that every single fact listed here are open to dispute. Mr. Stourton has written not exactly a biography, but an investigation into Paul's life. He reports not only on the facts, and possible alternatives, but also on the impact that Paul had on the writers of the gospels (which came much later than Paul's writings) and on the subsequent effects on Jewish and Islamic thoughts.
   
   Mr. Stourton is an accomplished journalist and he has written this book in a style that makes it almost as impossible to put down as a good mystery. Then again, Paul's life has a lot of mystery.

2 comments about Confucius: A Biography.

1. Clements brings the 2,500 year-old philosopher, teacher, and statesman to life. He also provides maps and timelines to put it into perspective and make visualization easier. It's a short, easy, and enjoyable read spliced with words of wisdom from the Analects. In essence we are all here to do certain jobs and should do them to the best of our abilities and not disrupt the social order. He was very enlightened for his time in that he felt jobs should be obtained by merit and not birth. He came up with the idea of imperial exams to make accession fair. Perhaps it would be expecting too much for a philosopher who lived 2,500 years ago but, his idea of equality and a level playing field didn't extend to women. This is left out of the book. It's a well documented biography and the writing is good.



2. Jonathan Clements once more takes a complex topic - in this case, the life of a monumental individual - and boils it down to a fast paced, lean read.
   
   This biography of one of the world's most well-known and near-deified philosophers of all time is clean, concise - and yet gives more than just facts and dates. It actually feels like you have some insight into the man behind all the profound sayings and ideas which have been attributed to him. Anyone who's interested in more than just the fortune cookie Confucius will find this a fascinating read.
   
   Anyone studiying Asian history or philosophy should be required to read this biography before starting their studies on Confucius. It's clear he was a master of common sense and that's worth reading and learning on any level.