On the battlefield of GoodReads, the mighty reviewer Arjuna picked up his trusty pen, Gandeeva, and addressed his charioteer (who was none other than On the battlefield of GoodReads, the mighty reviewer Arjuna picked up his trusty pen, Gandeeva, and addressed his charioteer (who was none other than Lord Krishna):
- O Kesava! Take me to the middle of the battlefield, between the opposing armies of Authors and Reviewers, so that I may see who I am fighting against.
And Krishna did so.
But Arjuna, seeing all his favourite authors arrayed against him, was suddenly loath to fight. - O Krishna! he said. How will I use my cruel pen to tear into these dear ones? How will I lay bare their plots, deconstruct their sentences, and take their grammar apart? No, I do not want the glory and likes obtained by such a heinous act! Better a brain-death, reading trash, than such sin! And he threw his pen down.
Krishna smiled and stood up.
- O Partha! Such faintheartedness is not worthy of a warrior like you! Do you think that you destroy books through your reviews? Banish such foolishness from your mind!
Those reviewers who think that they are destroying books, and those authors who believe their books are getting destroyed through reviews, both are equally mistaken: for books are neither created nor destroyed through reviews.
For the book which is published, oblivion is certain: and for that which goes out of print, rebirth is certain. But the story never dies: like human beings change worn clothes, it only changes publishers and dust jackets.
The narrative cannot be destroyed by weapons: it cannot be burnt by fire (read Fahrenheit 451!), it is not drowned in water. It is eternal.
So your karma, O Kaunteya, is to do the review without worrying about its fruits. Do not think of the likes you are going to get: do not worry whether the author is going to find you out and conk you on the head: do not trouble your mind about whether people will be put off from reading the book because of your review. Go into it without attachment: this is the way of the Kshatriya. This is "Nishkama-Karma", the way to eternal glory!
Hearing this, Arjuna was heartened. He picked up his pen, and started to review with renewed vigour.
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is an ambitious project which falls flat - in my opinion, of course.
It is a very good introduction to European philoSophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is an ambitious project which falls flat - in my opinion, of course.
It is a very good introduction to European philosophy, with a few casual references to Eastern thought thrown in for the sake of comparison. Starting with Pre-Socratics, it provides a fairly simple and comprehensive look at classical philosophy. In the middle, it makes a detour into Christian theology and the Middle Ages before emerging triumphantly from the dark with Renaissance thought. Towards the end, it discusses Marxism in detail, and Darwin's evolutionary theory and Freud's psychoanalytic techniques as though they were "philosophies" (while many other path-breaking scientific discoveries are left untouched) before ending with Sarte's existentialism. It seems to be targetted at young readers, and may encourage some of the serious ones to take up the study of philosophy: if so, that much is in the book's favour.
As to the literary merits of the work, I have to regretfully give a total thumbs-down. The story is mostly dialogue; Gaarder uses the ages-old technique of Plato to get across complex philosophical ideas through relatively simple sentences. While the intention is admirable, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Sophie comes across most of the time as rather moronic, and her teacher Alberto sounds like a pompous ass.(view spoiler)[ Of course, there is some justification for the imperfections of characterisation, as Sophie and Alberto exist only in the head of Major Albert Knag who is writing their story: still, the overall responsibility as author lies squarely at Gaarder's door. (hide spoiler)] Towards the end, the style of dialogue became so repetitive as to become grating: for example, the sentence: "a mere bagatelle, Sophie." is uttered like a chant by Alberto at regular intervals (to be totally fair, it may be a problem with the translation, but I do not think so).
(view spoiler)[Gaarder's idea to frame this (novel? -treatise?) as a "story-within-a-story", even though a laudable attempt, fails due to the total ineptitude of execution. Towards the end, as Sophie and Alberto "escape" from the book into independent existence in the land of imagination, the structure of narrative collapses like a pack of cards. The "Philosophical Tea Party" (a conscious take-off on Alice's Mad Tea-Party) reads like a cross between a scene from a play by Beckett and a movie by Bunuel. By last third of the book, the reader starts wishing for the end to come quickly. (hide spoiler)]
I would recommend this book only for casual young readers who want an introduction to European philosophy. If they are really serious, I would recommend The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, which is a much better book and much more exciting....more
I only read this partially, during a phase in my life when I thought that there was some substance to what these so-called 'guru's said. Even then, I I only read this partially, during a phase in my life when I thought that there was some substance to what these so-called 'guru's said. Even then, I was not impressed much by Chopra's 'wisdom' which degenerated very soon into mumbo-jumbo. I guess if I read it now, it will rate only one star - and some heavy sarcasm....more
Nandakishore
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philosophy
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