Customer Reviews

Evil: An Investigation

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book has much of value, but ultimately left me unsatisfied. At the end, I empathized with how the person must have felt who heard the blind men describe their encounter with the elephant; each had latched onto part of the reality of the beast, but their individual pieces didn't add up to a coherent portrait.

In "Evil: An Investigation" Lance Morrow offers a series of descriptions of evil at work in our world. He draws on his own experiences--an encounter with Milosevic, as well as on the terrible events that have dominated so much of the human story. Whether it's Hitler, Caligula, or the events of 911, Morrow has interesting observations, elegantly expressed with the same gifts that have graced the pages of Time magazine for almost 40 years. Most intriguing is his assertion that evil "is always a story, a narrative played out in the world." He poses many intriguing questions--such as whether evil can be committed to further the good, or if degrees of evil exist; but the answers are few.

At the core, though, something is lacking. Morrow ultimately asks if we can--or even if we should try--to understand evil. If that's true, than what is the purpose of this work? I came to these pages hoping to find some sort of greater clarity, if not a definitive explanation. That's why I ultimately finished this book with a sense of disappointment.

I was born in 1969, so the most horrible thing I ever saw before 9/11 was the Challenger exploding just after take-off, like most of Morrow's students that he mentioned in one chapter. I was too young to remember anything of Vietnam or WWII or anything like that. And this book serves as a reminder of history's lessons.

This isn't my typical reading ~~ my dad loaned this book to me to read. This isn't a typical book either, nor a typical subject. I've never really thought much about evil or what it means as I've never really been exposed to it. Morrow writes, in essay-style (which makes it easier to read and to grasp his thoughts in a way that makes you ponder each word), about evil. It's not a scientific study. It's not a book that puts the blame on people. It grasps different thoughts of evil, what it means and he used examples to back each thought. Yes, Hitler may be the most popular subject in this book, but that is probably because Morrow grew up with hearing the horrors of the concentration camps as he was born in the late 1930s.

This is one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. It is also not an easy read ~~ it is rather dark since Morrow expounds on the subject of evil and whether evil is ever justified or not. He also explores different types of evil ~~ though it is hard to do so since evil is evil and he'll admit that too in this book. He doesn't touch much on the theologian definition of evil in this book ~~ but rather on his thoughts and questions of what he defined is evil.

If you're in a reflective mood, this book would be a good choice. I think philosophy majors, religion majors and even English majors should read this book ~~ it's not your typical book, and it's a book that makes you ponder. You have to come up with your own definition of evil but this book is a great start on that journey. It is also a great discussion fodder for any book group.

7-2-04

This book is not a philosophical or theological investigation into the metaphysical or ontological nature of evil. Morrow does not attempt to clarify what evil consists of, nor does he try and describe what its essential features might be. Instead, he offers anecdotes and descriptions of various events where evil manifests itself in various ways which are sometimes obscured by ideology or political interests that obscure the very presence of evil. In this regard, his book can be thought-provoking since it is easy for most people to believe that whatever side is opposed to theirs is wrong if not evil; however, it may be that neither side is good and evil wins the day since it has locked both sides into the idea that the other side must be destroyed. As a result, Morrow reminds us that evil is perhaps its most pernicious when it takes on an everyday logic of legitimacy, as something which makes up what is mistakenly considered as a perfectly acceptable part of one's everyday life and outlook on the world - for example, the kinds of ethnic hatreds that define much of the world today. However, because Morrow is unwilling to address the metaphysical and theological dimension of evil, the book is unsatisfying and seems to buy into the very sort of agnosticism that is wedded to modern nihilism which promotes much of the evil Morrow observes: after all, if God exists everything changes and there is a Good, a measure against which evil stands out in stark contrast. Morrow's unwillingness to consider the theological dimension in any depth (at times he writes as if he thinks any notion of the devil is superstitious or an anthropological/sociological curiosity) means that he often talks of evil as if it were a substance, not a personal energy that seeks to disfigure, defame, and destroy. Consequently, if there is no metaphysical or transcendental reality or truth that determines evil, and what is considered evil at any one time would seem to be historically bound and determined. Even if Morrow rejects the existence of God, he doesn't take the next step and ask how we are to understand evil in a metaphysically fat-free world. Lastly, while Morrow's book is full of descriptions of physical, historical evils - atrocities of war, murder, plunder, etc. - he never discusses in any depth the role of ideology. As others have remarked, the gas-chambers of the Nazis and the gulags of modern communists states began in the classroom of educated professors of philosophy, history, and psychology who preached revolutionary ideas from everything from the state and the family to religion and the arts. In the end, Mr. Morrow has written a thought-provoking book on a limited level which should have been a 15-paged essay in the Atlantic Monthly or Harpers.

Morrow's book is a lightweight study of evil. It's evil light. He offers up the usual predictable melange of evil historical characters and events but never gets around to analyzing its cause, its origin, or its purpose in history, if it has one. At least he fingers Stalin for the evil monster he was, and that's pleasantly surprising, considering that Morrow is a left-leaning journalist. I got the impression, however, that Morrow was scratching around the itch, and the book left me feeling cheated. Morrow is not religious and scorns theodicy, which is that branch of theology that attempts to vindicate God's goodness and justice in the face of evil's existence. Because he is a secularist, he never considers theology or what great theologians such as Augustine, Aquinas, or Calvin have to say about it. He does not identify or define a summum bonum, and how can you effectively discuss evil without at least knowing what that is? Moreover, does Morrow believe in some kind of overarching purpose to life and, if so, what is the purpose of evil? Is evil simply the absence of goodness, or is it an active force against all things good? Would we know evil if we did not know goodness? Morrow asserts that war is evil unless it is fought to defeat evil, e.g., World War II. But shouldn't we take into consideration a fuller understanding of the historical contexts of violent conflicts rather than judge them by 21st Century standards? What about ancient warfare? What about the wars chronicled in the Old Testament? Are Alexander the Great and King David ancient versions of Adolf Hitler? The ancient world was replete with warfare, and on it depended the survival of the clan, the city state, the nation, or the empire. So integral to ancient life was war that Heraclitus says, "War is the father and king of all." Is a war of survival evil because it is not directed against evil? Are there differing degrees of evil and, if so, what are they? The book raises more questions than it answers, and for this reader, it didn't really answer much of anything. When Morrow calls US involvement in Vietnam evil, and apparently on the same plane as Stalinist or Khmer Rouge evil, he loses me altogether. He shows his journalistic bias. My Lai was not the defining moment of Vietnam, and if you're going to trot that out onto the stage, why neglect the terror and bloodshed visited upon the Vietnamese people by the North Vietnamese communists and the Viet Cong? All that aside, I believe that a more philosophical approach to the nature of evil would be more satisfying a study, and that no study of evil can begin to get anywhere meaningful without discussing the existence of God.

Appreciating this book requires the right set of expectations. Mr. Morrow's underlying assumption is that "evil is a famously elusive subject"; "that evil is like black magic," and; that "mind on the level of art" addresses evil more satisfactorily than the disciplines of "theology, philosophy, politics, science -- for all their institutionalized intellectual apparatus.." So, what does Morrow "think/feel" about evil? That evil "is not an abstraction or principle, but is, rather, the world's narrative energy. Evil makes the world go round; goes round the world." The "proof of the existence of evil is in the stories about evil. The reality of evil is in the stories. And nowhere else." Evil,as in the book under review here, excels, not surprisingly, at telling stories. Morrow asks more questions than he answers in these stories (which he thinks "evil" is prone to do anyway), but he is very good at finding continuities across differing scales. For example, he is able to make you think about the possible similarities between evil on the scale of Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia, and the more common place, but often viscious, office setting. (His story of an office secretary, then having an affair with the head of a university department, and her attempt to sabotage the career of a vulnerable, yet talented female faculty member has, he thinks, "the presence of evil in it").

The difficulty with this book is that Morrow seems to want it both ways. On the one hand, he contends that that generalizations about evil are tenuous, because it's elusive and each story is itself unique. On the other hand, descriptive generalizations about evil, or statements that appear that way, are unbiquitous in the text. "Evil is a hermit crab." "Evil is a wandering presence." "It rises like a think black gas between our destructive capacities." "Evil tries to be complicated." "Evil is an absolute." And so on throughout. Descriptive statements that are evocative of evil would seem to presuppose the very analytical understanding that Morrow claims is not accessible -- on what basis are they part of the set "evocative set?" It's possible to argue that to investigate evil is to summon one's artistic mental capacities, which his stories, all well-told by this prose-master, are intended to accomplish. But then there is the problem that Morrow does not want to maintain that "evil is relative."

A reader can lost in these woods. In fact, at one point he maintains that investigating evil is like wandering the dark corridors of a haunted medieval castle. Readers who signed up for a less unsettling tour will be disappointed. Those who do take the tour will find that much of what Morrow conveys is powerful preliminary work for a more rigorous and clarifying treament of evil.

This is a very good book for a certain kind of audience, and a not-so-good book for other audiences.

A few people have remarked that this book is "light." I agree. The book is a breezy read, and not something I would consider a true philosophical or historical argument.

On the other hand, the text is gripping. It gnaws at you. This is a concrete work that is brimming with images that will stay with you for some time. Morrow's prose is in top form; he's an excellent author and very passionate about the subject.

The main detraction from the book is that Morrow rarely stays on a single topic. Some sections of the book have a very stream-of-consciousness feel to them, as if they were written linearly. In some books this would be a death sentence. It isn't here though, instead it leads your mind in curious, meandering directions. Whether you enjoy this book will largely depend on how you feel about such a structure.

In conclusion, this work is certainly a textbook, and if you're looking for a true scientific, historical, or philosophical investigation you won't find it here. However, if you're content to ponder a string of thought provoking ideas presented more or less haphazardly (and some would say that's how evil is normally encountered, at random rather than in strictly defined patterns) you may find this an enjoyable read.

I've spent a fair amount of time researching this theme in preparation for writing a sequel to a novel. There are a number of good books on the subject, "Evil in Modern Thought" and "A Problem from Hell," are two that I recommend highly.

Morrow's book is, however, in a class by itself, because of the way he directs questions of morality to the reader so that you have little choice, but to get personally involved in his exposition. This, in my view, is the whole point of studying the matter.

I find the smug and condescending review by Publishers Weekly to be excruciatingly irritating and suggest that the reviewer should take a hard look at his or her own objectivity. Morrow's book is incredibly thoughtful and deserves a wide audience.

I am enjoying this book. I've recommended it to others. When I'm finished it, I'll read it again. That's the biggest compliment I can give it.

I see where others have called it "light." People do often look down their noses at things they don't understand, or at writing that they envy. This book has initiated some interesting discussions in my house. I think everyone should read it. Some of it isn't comfortable, I'll grant you, but a discussion of evil -- including where we might find it -- should be that way.

This book started out as several essays in "Time" magazine, and there is a certain disconnected quality to it as Morrow rambles from anecdote to anecdote. Eventually he presents a convincing portrait of radical evil in its multiple manifestations. To believe in such a thing as "evil" implies a belief in God, because the very concept of evil cannot exist without the other. Morrow explains that there is an opposition in all things and evil exists in order to provide opportunity for humanity to overcome it. This sounds panglossian, I know; that is, simplistically optimistic. But Morrow is not blind to the horrible price exacted by evil. He provides several hair-raisng examples from history, from "Mein Kampf" to Rwanda, to Bosnia, to the local hermit down the road with a dark secret. Since 9/11, "evil" has come back into public consciousness after a time of peace and prosperity (the '90's) when the idea of it was considered mostly a joke. Morrow provides a good antidote to this moral fecklessnes.

Lance Morrow is singularly one of the most engaging writers in American journalism, and has been for years and years. His cover stories and essays for Time Magazine have surpassed almost anything that appears in that publication, just as with his earlier books. "Evil" continues this standard of excellence. He writes with intrigue, curiosity, drama, thoroughness and eloquence. Reading it will not only be a pleasure -- as you enjoy his mastery of the language -- but it will also make you smarter.