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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If There Isnt A God, There Should Be Someone Like Him, December 7, 2002
This review is from: God's Funeral: A Biography of Faith and Doubt in Western Civilization (Paperback)
One of my reasons for reviewing this book is to correct some false impressions ... First of all this is not a book about the period of the Enlightenment, and secondly it does not discuss "centuries" of thought. A.N. Wilson's task is to depict the decline in faith among intellectuals (and the working class poor to some extent) in Victorian England - the period essentially between 1837 and 1901. Some authors lecture to you from a distant rostrum; Mr. Wilson sits down with you in your living room, and talks to you in an informed and witty manner. While it might help to have a modicum of knowledge of history and philosophy to get the most out of this book, it's not really necessary. He might drop a phrase on you like "rotten borough" (a voting district under the control of a few individuals) without explaining it, but that's a minor problem. I did encounter one small annoyance, and that was ANW's tendency to occasionally tease you with little tidbits of information. In one of his many, interesting mini-biographies he might say, "And then there was the incident of such and such, but as that story is so well known I won't bother repeating it here." But I want it repeated here; I am not acquainted with the story. As I stated above, ANW has quite a sense of wit. It's not often that you read a book on such a topic, and find yourself chuckling frequently. Let me give an example. Most authors would have told you that Benno Erdmann was a leading proponent of Hegelian philosophy after Georg Hegel's death. Wilson expresses the thought thusly, "Erdmann was Hegel's representative on earth." Mr. Wilson is at his best in telling us about the religious and philosophical beliefs of Carlyle, Ruskin, Cardinal Newman, George Eliot, the nincompoop Herbert Spencer, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Hardy and many others including a chapter on our best known American philosopher, William James. Many British intellectuals no longer believed in God, but did believe in the social utility of religion, i.e. God, or no God, religious teachings help keep society from falling apart. Of course 19th century Englishmen were still nervous about the prospect of a French-like revolution occurring on their home turf. Others felt that the beliefs and rituals of religion were so moving that if there isn't a God there really should be someone like Him out there. If you think that learning history is a matter of diligently plowing through obfuscatory prose, then you will experience this book as a guilty pleasure.
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32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful contribution to the History of Idea, September 14, 2000
This review is from: God's Funeral: A Biography of Faith and Doubt in Western Civilization (Paperback)
In this book, A.N. Wilson, already a success as a novelist and as a biographer sets out to investigate the demise of the relevance of God as Institution. Through examining the works and lives of figures both major (Hume, Nietzche, Darwin, Carlyle, Goethe) and minor (Sherman and Irving) he sets to pinpoint the demise of 'God' as a relevent and important institution. Obviously, any close minded fundementalist of any stripe is going to see ghosts in this book of what it is NOT. Wilson presents neither a case for belief or non-belief, just an investigation into why people did or didn't themselves. He is sympathetic to both sides though it is obvious, to use the terms of the German philosophers which (necessarily) he investigates, his world is one of Being rather than Becoming (i.e. it is illogical to think that somehow Man has transcended the needs for God in some kind o f end-of-history fashion.... And in doing this, he created a remarkable, erudite, easily readible book that does a commendible job of examinining its subject. He is a widely read and thoughtful man and clever enough to put together a book that is a joy to read. People into the history of ideas would obviously profit from reading this book; die-hard non-believers will dislike the fondness he has for the middle of the roaders like Hardy and Carlyle. It is a great book and entirely worth your money. Buy it with my reccomendation.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievably Excellent Book, May 22, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: God's Funeral: A Biography of Faith and Doubt in Western Civilization (Paperback)
The title is a bit misleading, as Wilson really writes (wonderfully and with wit, by the way) about the complexities and tensions of doubt and belief or knowledge and faith during, mainly, the 19th century (with repercussions in the 20th and 21st, of course). While a great number of thinkers and writers are discussed in this book, Wilson brings them, their personalities, and their ideas alive with a few deft brushstrokes (penstrokes?); the talent of the novelist is obviously at work here, to great effect. Incredibly insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and moving.
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