Nathaniel Mc Mahon

If you're a struggling artist this book is for you.

Revisado: 01-17-24

I barely knew about Rick Rubin last month, but I happened upon this title and nearly every word in it spoke to me is a creative person. I'm not saying it's a silver bullet for creative struggles, but no matter your media there is something in here for you. Ruben's delivery is calm, meditative, and Zen like, and I was able to peacefully absorb it without falling asleep.

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I think this was written for television.

Revisado: 11-13-23

I don't think this was a bad book, but it definitely wasn't what I was hoping for after the first two. For a Sci-Fi novel that is supposed to be of grand cosmic scale it felt very claustrophobic, overly concerned with the perspective of one character that I just never really connected with.
The author also goes into overly detailed and drawn out descriptions of things that are ultimately inconsequential. It was as if he was describing people and certain events in the way he would want to see them on television, and I kept asking myself, "Is this really important?" only to find out later no it really wasn't.
The first book had me hooked, and the second had a great ending that had me looking forward to a grand Space Opera, but this one was half rehash of the second title, and half a character reacting to set pieces. There were some parts of Death's End where descriptions of alien civilizations and extra dimensional oddities had me absolutely immersed, but they were short and too far apart.
If you like the ending to Dark Forest, I would especially recommend stopping there, because Death's End kinda tarnishes that.

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Useful Ideas, may be annoying

Revisado: 07-12-23

This book becomes more of a stage play read when present in audiobook format; a dialogue between mentor and reluctant pupil that presents it's ideas conversationally. The actors playing the roles do a really good job in their reading, (I couldn't help but picture them as Robin and Alfred from Batman). There are a lot of useful ideas, even if you don't take the philosophy as a whole, you'll probably find something here to at least deeply consider.
There are only a couple of things that I think might bother some people:
First, the young protagonist is socially awkward, and can come off a bit too whiny and petulant. I get that the author wanted to humanize the characters, but there are times when I just wanted him to shut up and listen.
Second: the book occasionally gets weirdly irreligious out of nowhere, jarringly so. Pausing everything a couple times to go on tirades about God not existing and what have you, without it ever being necessary to the story or the philosophy within it. I'm not a deeply religious person, but even still it got a few eye rolls from me. So if you're sensitive to the r/atheism shtick, you're probably going to get frustrated at times.
Other than that, there are good ideas mostly well presented. I wouldn't say it was life changing for me any more than other philosophical literature is, but it's certainly unique and offers a lot to think about.

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Essential Literature

Revisado: 01-31-22

I genuinely cannot think of someone who would not benefit from Frankl's work, both in learning of his life story, and his psychological philosophy.
Frankl is both down to earth, and overwhelmingly inspiring in how he turned his experience in Nazi concentration camps into a philosophy that has the potential to benefit generations to come.

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Weird art is weird.

Revisado: 01-22-22

Ever wonder why post modernism is as weird as it is? This book will detail why art is art and where it came from.

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Just a few formatting issues.

Revisado: 10-06-21

Alan Watts was a bit out there, but out there in a way that makes you want to go out and join him. Watts' interpretation of eastern existential philosophy is delivered with insight and humor that stands out among academic philosophers of his time.
That being said, the formatting of this audio book is off, the breaks in the chapters don't match up with the breaks in the audio, and seem to be thrown in arbitrarily.

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Superbly Read.

Revisado: 05-31-21

Each reader adds unique character that fits the tone of their respective books well. Narrated true to the spirit of the original text.

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Not what I expected, but so much better!

Revisado: 02-27-17

What did you love best about The Case for God?

[TLDR: This is a good book on religion and religious history. It's not threatening to anyone (except for maybe fundamentalists) and I think everyone could find something interesting within it.]

I'm not much of a book reviewer, (I'm not much of a book READER to be honest) but every now and then I come across a book that so piques my interest that I have to share it with others. In this case, it's Karen Armstrong's A Case For God. I pick up a religious book every now and then just to get the perspectives of educated persons on the subject, and what I was expecting was an opinionated attempt to prove or disprove God's existence like I've come across before.
This book, however, went in an entirely different direction. The author instead uses a massive amount of historical data to illustrate the progression and evolution of religion, the historical interactions between religious and non-religious organizations and philosophies, and to illustrate how the modern perspective of God may be fundamentally flawed.
I had honestly always had trouble floundering in the sea between my own perspectives on my personal views on faith and my frustration with modern American Christian organizations, but this book definitely done well to clear the water for me.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has even the remotest interest in the subject of God or religion in general. It approaches said subject from a very Agnostic angle that allows anyone to pick it up and find something interesting within its pages.

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