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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Man's Philisophical Journey, November 19, 2001
This review is from: Transcend: There are Rights, There are Wrongs... And then, There are Truths (Paperback)
Transcend is a book that's hard to describe, or rather, hard to categorize. It's part travelogue, part memoir, part philisophical rumination. It's the kind of book I wish my professors had had me read in my freshman philosophy class, because it's real philosophy, written by a real person, someone who truly and earnestly believes in what he is saying, someone who wants to change the world and actually took action and wrote a book. The first section of the book is a bit about Richard Joseph's life, his background and his travels through Asia and how he came to be traveling. This part makes for enjoyable reading. Joseph has an easy writing style that makes you feel like you are sitting having coffee or a beer with him, chatting with him, rather than reading. Towards the end of the first part, a friend commits suicide, and this suicide sends Joseph into himself, sends him thinking. The end product of these ruminations is the second half of the book. Joseph tries to understand why there are so many inconsistencies in current society, inconsistencies rooted somehow in race, gender, wealth and power. I cannot do his philosophy justice in a few sentences here. I will say only read this book. It is thoughtful, it will get you thinking. As I said before, I wish I had read this my freshman year in college because I think it can foster many meaningful discussions and debates, all the while being completely readable, thoroughly engaging. Joseph ponders and explores the underpinnings of our society. Transcend will make you think.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The realities and inconsistencies of life, August 7, 2001
This review is from: Transcend: There are Rights, There are Wrongs... And then, There are Truths (Paperback)
I highly recommend this book to readers who would enjoy a thought provoking hard look into the lifestyles, excesses, and inconsistencies of American culture. The book outlines the adventures and realizations that author Richard Joseph experiences in his travels around the world. The story itself is a source of inspiration. The reader is taken on a rollercoaster ride through the trials and tribulations of the author's early life in New York City, into an entertaining story of realization. After reading the book I found myself re-examining my own life and the lives of those closest to me. The book has truly inspired me to take a hard look at my personal goals and long term plans for the future.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
insight and optimism right when we need it, November 20, 2001
This review is from: Transcend: There are Rights, There are Wrongs... And then, There are Truths (Paperback)
I met the author of this book on October 21, at an art festival in Brooklyn. His work was being displayed under the title Transcend: Confronting images of alternate paralleling realities. The photographs stopped me cold in my tracks. They were photographs mostly of kids in India in unthinkable conditions. Two young street kids with hardened expressions holding up a sign 'want to wear my shoes for a day?' Under the portrait was a quote from Woodrow Wilson about poverty being good for not much else than as a breeding ground for madness and bad tempered behavior. How appropriate. I came to another photo similar to the book cover of a person building what appeared to be a memorial offering with the World Trade Center in the back ground. So many memorials were made like this all over the five boroughs right after the Trade Center attack. I later realized that photo was taken before Sept 11th. Many people were analyzing this photo display. I had to wait my turn for a viewing of each successive photograph. Needless to say, when I saw the artist on the other side of the room selling a book also named Transcend, speaking to the public in a low keyed unassuming manner, I had to get a copy to see what this was all about. This book is a beast. The story reads like a hell bent roller coaster. There are highs and lows, deep passages that no one in their right minds would argue against, and of course the author's 'sawed off New York' humor. It's a great story in itself that is not about some guy and his adventures but about some of the people who had crossed his path along the way. People who had something to say, share, or teach, whether they were helping him along, or trying to kill him, literally - that knife on the cover is no coincidence. Then the pages cross into part two. If I were to describe this section of chapters in a few words I'd call it: An x-ray of the human soul. There is a tremendous amount of insight crammed into these pages that the author insists is merely the end result of the right amount of direct exposure. His argument for getting on track with a truly consistent outlook toward life is rooted in this idea of each individual taking that first step toward direct physical exposure! Rich backs this theory with a number of quotes and jolting statistics, along with encouraging words. And when you step away to mull these pages over, and the passages about how we are really only a small minority on a planet of 6 billion other people essentially the same as ourselves, you can't help but feel that it's time to start seeing what else is out there in person, especially now. Rich urges the reader not to back away from the darker areas of our self-knowledge, but on the contrary, to get as close to what it is that none of us know for sure. We don't know how we've received our lives. We don't know why we were put here. We don't know where we will be going after this. The book's stance is that we can only speculate, hope, and maintain beliefs. According to Rich, by not denying these mysteries but by living within the parameters of what we do know, the bi product would be that we would work that much harder at sculpting THIS world into the ideal existence, just in case that this place and this life in the end turn out to be 'the big prize' after all.
What the author defines as truths are essentially reminders of what we already know. Statements to the effect of each one of us is a caretaker of this WHOLE world and of our lives, and that we are now living under global circumstances where excuse making is no longer an option. The question is: are we living our lives in observance of these truths? The statistics that he includes effectively demonstrate the validity and urgency in these statements. Transcend calls for all of humanity to take charge in the here and now, for the sake of our own longevity, for the prospects of life for our children, for the environment, and ultimately for the rest of the populations that we are sharing this world with.
When you shut this book you just can't help feeling optomistic, significant, and empowered.
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