Skip to main content

Book reviews: Man's Search for Meaning and The God Delusion

 







I was leant 'Man's Search for Meaning'- it's a short book, written by a doctor who survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The point of the book is that we can all find meaning and purpose in life, even in the most terrible of circumstances, and this meaning will sustain us, even in Nazi death camps. The 'meaning' can vary from person to person, and can be anything from the desire to write an academic book to the desire to care for your children. Although this book should be uplifting, I didn't find it particularly so- what stuck with me the most was the author's descriptions of his memories of life in the camps.

Inspired by Dar's post (Dar's posts seem to be my inspiration for all things book related- I also had a clear out of books which I was no longer inspired to read) today I decided that, as I was feeling a bit under the weather, I would sit and read a book, rather than vegging out in front of the TV.
Assisted by two of the cats (Tinkerbell at the front, Merl at the back of the photo), I spent the afternoon finishing off the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, which I first bought soon after it first came out (I reckon about 7 years ago..). I read about half of it then, and I found it very useful, as I finally properly realised that not being religious was actually an option (duh!). I really enjoyed reading it all the way through this time, as I found it humourous.

The Douglas Adams quote that Dawkins uses in the book is fast becoming one of my favourites:

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

Pretty much sums it up for me.

Comments

  1. EcoCatLady21 March 2014 at 18:23

    Well, you certainly look comfy all covered in cats! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NicolaB22 March 2014 at 09:20

      Who wouldn't be :) I sometimes sleep with all three of them sleeping on me- one on my stomach, one on my lap and one on my ankles!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous13 May 2014 at 11:31

    I felt the same about The God Delusion! I listened to the audio book which was recorded by the author in his droll voice. Man's Search for Meaning keeps being recommended to me and I will read it eventually.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book review: Newton and the Counterfeiter

I really enjoyed this book- it was only about 250 pages long, so I whizzed through it. (Well, relatively- it took about a week). It describes the (relatively brief) conflict between Isaac Newton and William Chaloner. I knew shamefully little about Newton before starting this book (other than the obvious 'scientist who thought up gravity when an apple landed on his head'.) The book describes his early life, and rise to fame as a scientist. (Apples are barely mentioned). Later in life, he was appointed Warden of the Royal Mint, at a time when England's coinage was debased and in need of re-minting. Part of his role as Warden was to chase down anyone who was counterfeiting coins- this was punishable by death, as it was considered treason against the monarch (whose face was on the coinage). Thus, Newton came into conflict with counterfeiter William Chaloner, who first came to London as a runaway apprentice, trying to make his fortune. (One of my favourite parts of the b
3 comments
Read more

2014 aims and review of 2013 aims

After all of the Christmas feasting (the fridge is still full of cheese, and sprouts that didn't get cooked), and despite the first cold of the winter, I am feeling the urge to get cracking with some projects, and finish up all of those little lingering jobs that I've been putting off. One of those is to work out what I am aiming to achieve this year...and this is what I have come up with: - complete first module of C&G knitting course and start second. Save enough money to pay the course fees for the whole course. - donate 2% (minimum) of earnings to charity. I am planning to donate at the end of each month, and to donate to a variety of causes, local, international, animals, people, conservation- hopefully a wide variety. - read down the house- I'd like to read 12 books this year, which would leave quite a few books unread. But it'd be nice to establish the habit of reading again. - reduce stash of knitting yarn from just under 40,000 metres to under 30,000 m
10 comments
Read more

Belated round-up

Having just re-read my 2014 aims post , and noticed that I intended to write a monthly round up of my progress, I thought it was about time for, err, a three-and-a-half monthly progress summary! - C&G knitting course- I have made slow progress on this- although slow is better than none! I have at least written out a giant list of what I need to do to finish the module so that I can have the satisfaction of ticking things off said list. I've knitted a few more samples and written up the notes on them. I think I need to focus more on this aim, if I am to actually finish the module this year. I seem to have a bit of mental block about it though, and I am not sure why. - donate 2% of earnings to charity. I have been doing this, although more by sponsoring people for the London Marathon and joining the National Trust than by picking a charity each month and donating to it, which is what I originally envisaged. I am wondering if donating less often, say every six months, would b
3 comments
Read more