In the Absence of God
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"There are essentially three views of life available to modern man. One might believe that God exists and provides a firm foundation for also believing that life has meaning, morality has warrant, human rights are not arbitrary, and that justice will ultimately prevail. Or one might believe that God does not exist but meaning, morality and the rest are possible nonetheless, or thirdly, one might believe that God has "died" and that any hope for meaning, right and wrong, good and evil, human rights, etc. has died with him. In the Absence of God is the story of how, on a college campus in New England for three weeks in the beginning of one fall semester, the implications of these three views work themselves out."--Publisher's description (p. [4] of cover)
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In The Absence of God written by philosophy professor Dr. Cleary in 2012 was a very intriguing novel. The novel discussed many different philosophical concepts in two different ways: first through conversations and secondly through the actions of the characters. These philosophical concepts are discussed throughout a lot of dialogue and through many social situations, such as romantic relationships, friendships and crimes.
As the reader, one can see the consequences that these worldviews present and also how worldviews can shift and change depending on the outcome of certain decisions that are made. Even though this novel did deal with some very dark and gruesome crimes, there were also some good philosophical concepts that are brought up and discussed. This is a great book to read if a person is into philosophical concepts and ideas and it is a way to think things differently whether one is a Christian or not.
My reason for giving this book three out of five stars was mainly because of the pacing issues. There were parts of the novel that were fast paced and I could not put the book down. There were other sections of the novel that truly seemed to drag on and I just wanted to get to a more exciting section of the novel. The novel could have been a lot shorter maybe by 100 pages or so, so that a lot of the information could be condensed and they there could be more action and a lot less dialogue. Even though I give this book three out of five stars it is still a good book and recommend it for any reader who enjoys philosophy, people who think deeply about concepts and readers who wonder about how certain decisions affect one's life.
