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haleyscomet13's review
3.0
3.5 / 5
This book was a bit different of a read for me than normal for a variety of reasons. Namely, I tend to focus my reading on fiction (aside from the occasional memoir). Not only that, but the sole principle of this piece was to analyze and pin point what it is that could be awaiting us once we meet death and how to feel at ease with that (especially from a Christian perspective). This is a topic I’m entirely uncomfortable with facing 9 times out of 10, so I really had to force myself to focus on the content and absorb it.
I would say this book is a decent recommendation for anyone struggling with the potential uncertainty of the afterlife. For those seeking reassurance from a Christian perspective, with many arguments and rebuttals refuted and one sole claim laid out. Having a tiny bit of a background in philosophy would certainly help the read go more smooth, but other than that it is a pretty run of the mill text.
The author seemed to, to an extent, still be working out the answer in his head at times, which was hard for someone like me who was hoping for more of a firm opinion and strong stance. He certainly still has a claim he is arguing for, but there are times in the piece where it’s not the strongest.
The only other issue I have with this piece is that there were a good chunk of grammar and spelling errors. Not the biggest deal in the world, but it’s still important to take note of!
This book was a bit different of a read for me than normal for a variety of reasons. Namely, I tend to focus my reading on fiction (aside from the occasional memoir). Not only that, but the sole principle of this piece was to analyze and pin point what it is that could be awaiting us once we meet death and how to feel at ease with that (especially from a Christian perspective). This is a topic I’m entirely uncomfortable with facing 9 times out of 10, so I really had to force myself to focus on the content and absorb it.
I would say this book is a decent recommendation for anyone struggling with the potential uncertainty of the afterlife. For those seeking reassurance from a Christian perspective, with many arguments and rebuttals refuted and one sole claim laid out. Having a tiny bit of a background in philosophy would certainly help the read go more smooth, but other than that it is a pretty run of the mill text.
The author seemed to, to an extent, still be working out the answer in his head at times, which was hard for someone like me who was hoping for more of a firm opinion and strong stance. He certainly still has a claim he is arguing for, but there are times in the piece where it’s not the strongest.
The only other issue I have with this piece is that there were a good chunk of grammar and spelling errors. Not the biggest deal in the world, but it’s still important to take note of!
callmeevan's review
5.0
Pieper is just brilliant. He has a way of bringing the strongest statement of a position to the fore to grapple with it adequately. He fruitfully dialogues with thinkers philosophical and theological, Catholic and non-. This book gives much clarity to the question, "what happens when a man dies?" Also fascinating that he puts the question of how to die at the center of all philosophical endeavor. Finally, though he takes "living language" and popular ideas and intuitions about death seriously, the book offered correction to some of my own unexamined assumptions about death which I had inherited from...well, from who knows where. For example I would previously not have objected to the concept of the immortal (vs indestructible or eternal) soul. The lingering difficulty for me is to see death as merited punishment; I tend to think it's true but I wanted more attention given to this question, and in particular the death of innocents who merit no punishment.
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