On Equilibrium [Paperback]

John Ralston Saul (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Canada, Limited (2002)
• ISBN-10: 0140288031
• ISBN-13: 978-0140288032
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,811,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful book; deeper than it looks, April 19, 2003

By 

Stuart Hammond (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Equilibrium (Ideas) (Audio CD)

John Ralston Saul's latest book carries on a theme that runs through Voltaire's Bastards and The Unconscious Civilisation: reason, deprived of memory, imagination, common sense and other human qualities, inevitably leads to disaster. Whereas Saul's previous books depicted the disaster (e.g. a chapter on the international arms trade, `The Flowering of Armaments' in Voltaire's Bastards) this book focuses on a remedy to unchecked reason- 6 human qualities, which balance one another. These are: Common Sense, Ethics, Intuition, Imagination, Memory & Reason.
Initially I found this book fluffy reading; it lacks the detailed, fact-filled, and societally oriented argumentation that makes up Voltaire's Bastards. With time and reflection I have come to see wisdom in Saul's approach; the book is encourages us to rethink society through our own lives and with our own qualities. As Donald Rumsfeld lectures about invading Iraq, Reason listens to his arguments while Memory sees Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in 1983. Witnessing the slow pace of the United Nations, Ethics worries that humanitarian aid is being delayed, but Common sense remains calm, knowing that compromise comes slowly or not at all.
I highly recommend this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Tour de Force, August 29, 2003

By 

Mark Twain - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Equilibrium (Hardcover)

This is quite possibly the best book Saul has written to date. His writting style is lucid and in a sense, quite remarkable. He examines the central aspects that make us human and examines them in comparison to history. Highly Recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, November 16, 2008

By 

Sydney Carton "Sydney Carton" (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Equilibrium (Paperback)

I'm dismayed by the low rating of this book. I enjoyed it immensely, particularly the part about Jean Moulin, the French Resistance leader who was an astonishing individual. I love Saul's books because he offers fascinating and little known examples from history while making angry but spot on points about the decline of our culture. I wish he wrote more.