Barrie 6

I loved this book. It was so refreshingly different from almost everything else I've read recently.

Good things:

It was atmospheric without being overly-descriptive

The protagonist was innocent and good and unique

It was short - it felt like a tight story, with no padding

It was an easy read. I read it in 3 sittings, which is unusual for me!


Less good things:

It took a while to get going. I enjoyed the build up, but there wasn't much resembling a plot for the first 30%, I would say

On reflection, I think there are some plot holes. I had a few questions in my head when I finished, about why certain people had done certain things.


Overall, though, this was an easy 5 stars and my favourite book so far this year.

I'd recommend this to anyone who feels like reading something different. It's a novella - I read it in one sitting. For me, it was well written and easy to read. Certainly thought-provoking and such a high concept / original idea. The ending left me a little disappointed, but that is perhaps more about my tastes than the book itself.

I really enjoyed this book. It's insightful as well as informative, and Durant's prose is flowing and easy-to-read, with occasional flights of poetic style.

He covers the following philosophers in detail:
1. Plato
2. Aristotle
3. Bacon
4. Spinoza
5. Voltaire
6. Kant
7. Schopenhauer
8. Spencer
9. Nietzsche

There were some omissions / thinkers I wish he'd written more about:
- Classical philosophy after Aristotle (the Stoics and Epicureans)
- the Catholic philosophers (Augustine, Gregory, Aquinas)
- the early ‘natural philosophers' (Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton)
- Descartes
- Locke
- Bentham and Mill
- Marx

Of course, there's an advantage in keeping a book to a reasonable size (this one was actually not too heavy or thick and quite comfortable to read, as opposed to the monstrosity that is Bertrand Russell's doorstopper!)

The title is accurate, because it reads more like a story than a textbook. It's more than a series of biographical sketches of the major philosophers, though. Durant traces the history of thought, trying to tease out the zeitgeist of each era. I especially liked the way he introduced the birth of philosophy in ancient Greece in the context of what was happening at the time. He offers some clever answers to questions such as, “Why Greece?” and “Why then?”

At the end of each chapter, Durant offers us 2-3 pages of “Criticism” where he responds to the philosophical ideas he has just outlined. These were among the highlights of the book for me. In every book such as this, the author must avoid two opposing extremes: a purely factual, dry and passionless account of things on the one hand, and an overly opinionated, biased, emotional commentry on the other. I think Durant has found a good middle way here.

Hope this review was helpful to somebody. If you've read this far, and you like this kind of book, I think you should get it - you'll almost certainly enjoy it.

There were definitely several moments when I had to suspend my disbelief, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

The mysteries kept me curious, and the various reveals and twists were satisfying. There's enough science there that it all seems somewhat plausible (if you don't think too much about it).

The protagonist was interesting - not particularly likeable but a genius-type who I found myself rooting for. There's an unusual reveal near the end that tells us something about his past that I found shocking.

There are some plot holes that don't spoil the story but made me less invested in what was happening.

It wasn't perfect but I liked it. I think most sci-fi fans and speculative fiction enthusiasts would enjoy reading it. I'd read more by Nicholas Binge.

I do enjoy Freida McFadden's books. It's clear that she's found her niche and knows exactly how to write it. Ward D is a real page turner. There's just enough going on to keep you hooked but not too much that it's a strain to keep up. It's a light read, to be sure, but satisfying. The ending left a smile on my face.