Devon Book Club discussion

Hi I'm currently reading The Pilgrim's Progress. For those who've not read it, it is an allegory about Christianity. The Pilgrim in question, Christian, sets out in search of the Celestial Gate, meeting various trials and assistance along the way. I will say more about it when I finish it, but it got me thinking that a lot of the books I enjoy are ones that make me think about issues of philosophy and of belief systems. I love it when a book (and I'm not saying The Pilgrims Progress fits the bill - in many ways it doesn't) stops me and helps me question the way I see the world. So, this new topic is about that - what have you read that has had that kind of impact on you?

The book I have just finished: Baptism for the Dead is about a woman who has been brought up in the Mormon faith. It follows her struggle to shake free from that faith and the issues that struggle creates both in her and in the people around her. It shed a light on a way of life about which I knew little and was very thought-provoking.

Kathy wrote: "The book I have just finished: Baptism for the Dead is about a woman who has been brought up in the Mormon faith. It follows her struggle to shake free from that faith and the issue..."

sounds really interesting. I love books that take you somewhere you wouldnt normally go to intellectually. Last year, for instance, I read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Set in Nepal it is the tale of one man's journey in search of enlightenment. He lives the life of an ascetic, seeking meaning in life. Beautifully written and made me stop and think about the values we live by.

Ian wrote: "Kathy wrote: "The book I have just finished: Baptism for the Dead is about a woman who has been brought up in the Mormon faith. It follows her struggle to shake free from that faith..."

I read Siddhartha a very long time ago, I remember really enjoying it but not much else about it, must read it again sometime.

Ley wrote: "Ian wrote: "Kathy wrote: "The book I have just finished: Baptism for the Dead is about a woman who has been brought up in the Mormon faith. It follows her struggle to shake free fro..."

My memory of it is already fading - I forget far too quickly these days but the main message I took from it was that you cant achieve enlightenment through following a creed, relying on others to teach or to show you the way - you have to find insight yourself. Siddharta tries both blind allegience to Buddhism, then rejects that for the material world, then ultimately finds peace and enlightenment between those two polarities. The book uses powerful images and metaphor, most significantly the river - representing life. Reminds me of the quote from Heraclitus who says something like "you can never step into the same river twice"

Have just started Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel Dennett. He is a well-regarded philosopher and this book is about how we think. Some intriguing insights - I like the section on relishing mistakes (but avoiding/reducing them in future) as a form of evolution - DNA changes in this way and we evolve biologically - I like that idea. I was remembering that the chap who invented post-its did so after his glue mixture failed to be properly adhesive - illustrates the point. Occams razor, reductio ad absurdum - its all going on in this book. I'll offer any other nuggets as I understand them.

Am part way through The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Lifeby Deepak Chopra. An intriguing read that explores identity, belief, dimensions of life and death and much more. A controversial writer, Chopra's style is hard to pin down. He is deeply spiritual, often religious (without being evangelical) and challenging of our belief systems. He is often criticised for his belief in alternative remedies, to the detriment of modern medical treatment. This book merits slow and often repeated reading; I don't agree with a lot of his ideas but I find them very stimulating and thought-provoking. I am enjoying the book. I wonder who else has read Chopra?

I'm not wild about that spiritualist stuff, like Chopra. It's just stringing a load of word games together, with a bit of pseudo-science dropped in.

What I enjoy is evidence-backed books. Two of my favourites are:
The Bible Unearthed, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman - these are two leading archeologists who demonstrate that the "history" of Israel portrayed in the Bible, right up to Kings, is fictionalised. For example, there is no evidence whatsoever of the Jews in Egypt, or the Exodus - indeed there is evidence to the contrary. Also that while David and Solomon existed, they were kings of only a minor hill tribe. This really challenges Israel's claims in Palestine.
The Jesus Mysteries, by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, which similarly identifies that the gospels are mythology - interestingly, it was a group of German theologians who first investigated this, expecting to find evidence to confirm their beliefs but finding there was none.

Susanne wrote: "I'm not wild about that spiritualist stuff, like Chopra. It's just stringing a load of word games together, with a bit of pseudo-science dropped in.

What I enjoy is evidence-backed books. Two of ..."

They sound really interesting. I need to diversify my reading a bit away from novels.

Susanne wrote: "I'm not wild about that spiritualist stuff, like Chopra. It's just stringing a load of word games together, with a bit of pseudo-science dropped in.

What I enjoy is evidence-backed books. Two of ..."

They look interesting Susanne, I'll take a look. Yes, George Eliot lost her faith partly as a result of translating David Friedrich Strauss's The Life Of Jesus Critically Examined, which covered some of this ground in the 19thC.

Davids post of earlier his week got me reflecting on books that made me stop and think. Some that spring to mind are Iron in the Soul;The Tin Drum, Life of Pi; Sum: Forty Tales from the AfterlivesDemian / Siddartha; The Divine ComedyThe Unbearable Lightness of Being; The Golden Notebook; ArielMy Name Was Judas; Bilal's Bread: A Novel; All Quiet on the Western Front; Crime and Punishment; The Ice Palace. I could go on.

What is is about those books and poetry that has an impact? They are quite different - ranging from classical texts by Dante to modern allegory from Yan Martel. Sartres work dissects existential notions of freedom, Dostoevsky explores responsibility and accountability. Some are very hard hitting (Bilals Bread, which is about child abuse), some are almost comedic but are incisive. Remarque's account of war, whilst brutal at times, hits hardest when he tells of teh sense of displacement of a soldier returning from the front to the ordinariness of life in his village.

Books are no replacement for experience but, as we cant expose ourslves to the full range of experience, they do offer a way of taking us outside of our world and giving us new perspectives. In some cases they give us an opportunity to look at our existence through different eyes.

What books have had an impact on you?