Going Clear

Ok so full disclosure...I did not “read” this book but I did thoroughly enjoy the HBO documentary of the same name, produced by the author ... So I am giving this one a good review putting my faith in the television representation. (And my quick review of other GoodRead Opinions)

I had no idea just how crazy L. Ron Hubbard was. Highly recommend if you like reading “can't look away, train-wreck style” non fiction. There are many horrific passages but the one about the young woman who was groomed to be Tom Cruise's girlfriend pre Katie Holmes was so sad.

I've read a lot about Scientology, watched a lot of documentaries, but this book taught me a lot. I enjoyed the format, as well as the extensive sourcing.

A detailed look into the history of Scientology. Honestly scary how much they can get away with without the US government being able to do anything. E.g. all the stalking they do to try and get people who leave to come back, or how they abuse their followers (technically willingly, but cmon they're basically brainwashed).

I've given it a 5 since it was very detailed and well researched, however it isn't quite as gripping to read as something like a book on Jonestown for example (which is morbid to say) so it's probably more like a 4.5.

What a crazy book. I'd watched the documentary when it aired (and rewatched it as I was nearing the end of the book), but the book has so much more. Nuts.

(I started this on audiobook and listened to about ~10 hours of it that way and then finished it in print when I got home. The audiobook is fine, but I don't think the narrator necessarily adds anything to it here, and it was kind of annoying to have audio footnotes.)

Anyway, this was TOTALLY FASCINATING. Like, I knew Scientology was weird, but... WHOA.

I also appreciated Lawrence Wright's in-depth research and even handedness. Like, I basically agree that pretty much all religions have things that sound bonkers and have to be taken on faith. Are thetans really that much weirder than the idea that we have immortal souls that will live on in heaven?

That said, of course, the documentation of all the kidnapping and such is just... hard to process?? Also after reading about all the ways the Church of Scientology goes after people who speak out about it made me really admire Lawrence Wright (and his team of factcheckers, etc) for publishing this book. WOW.

anyway, SUPER interesting and I definitely also want to watch the documentary.

Incredible book

While I enjoyed this, I also found it a fairly dense read. It is chock-full of great and interesting information, but seems to focus more on Hubbard's insecurities and failures as a man rather than on Scientology as a whole. The ending was lack luster, as well.

Definitely based in more fact and research than other books on Scientology, but it ultimately fizzled for me.

Fascinating, disturbing–downright scary, even. We've all heard the wackadoodle things Scientology teaches and the rumors of abuse that go on within it, but this book magnifies all that by about a million. It appears very well-researched, though at times it could have used some better organization. If everything in here is true, I don't understand how the “religion” is not only still allowed to operate under a tax-exempt status and be constitutionally protected, but how aren't half the leaders in jail? I also fear for Wright's safety, given the great lengths the cult has gone to in the past to subvert investigative journalists.

And while I understand how some people can be drawn into Scientology by the flashy celebrities, the promise of solving all your problems, etc., I don't understand how any sane, rational person manages to stick around and think “yeah, this is definitely true for me. This makes sense.”

Lawrence Wright, who wrote the excellent “The Looming Tower”, tackles Scientology in this new book. The result is not a success. Too many personalities, too much time spent on Hollywood people and Tom Cruise in particular. he could have cut 100 pages from this overlong book. Scientology is very weird.