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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Reads a bit like a research paper. Many different cultural ideas of heaven are woven together to support its existence along with personal letters the author received after publication of his book Proof of Heaven.
This book can be read either before or after Proof of Heaven as the author makes references to that work which help the reader understand anything relevant to this book.
Recommended for readers who are interested in Near Death Experiences and the Afterlife.
This book can be read either before or after Proof of Heaven as the author makes references to that work which help the reader understand anything relevant to this book.
Recommended for readers who are interested in Near Death Experiences and the Afterlife.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I enjoyed reading Eben's account of his near death experience in his first book however the writing in this book has not held my interest. It feels as though Eben is trying to weld philosophy, spirituality and science, 3 subjects which may interelate but are separate entities. The personal stories from readers are touching and could have possibly been a lovely collection on their own.
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
I have to admit that I didn't know much about Eben Alexander before i cam across this book (that I got in the form of an ARC from the publisher). But I was interested in his point of view and what he had to say. Irregardless of his experiences during his comatose state. I do recall all of the fanfare of his 2012 title Proof of Heaven. In Map of Heaven it looks like he is trying to respond to his critics within the scientific community, while giving a voice to the masses who received him so well; for being brave enough to recount NDE accounts. his prose is two pronged, and built like the wedding cake he is trying to build in that he is marrying his knowledge of science and philosophy with that of his new vocabulary that has been acquired from his NDE.
If you are looking for an intelligent discussion on the subject of NDEs, and the existence of consciousness beyond the physical body I highly suggest you scoop this title up when it hits bookstores on October 7th.
to read more of this review go on over to my blog over at kopavikommunique.wordpress.com
If you are looking for an intelligent discussion on the subject of NDEs, and the existence of consciousness beyond the physical body I highly suggest you scoop this title up when it hits bookstores on October 7th.
to read more of this review go on over to my blog over at kopavikommunique.wordpress.com
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Not what I expected based on the title and the author.
Since Alexander is a scientist, I expected him to lay out a logical argument for the afterlife and back it up with research, religious mythology stories, and anecdotes from ordinary people. That is what the title implies, after all.
Instead, the book felt more like a stream of consciousness writing, with no logical structure or order to the chapters or to the "evidential" anecdotes. There were no thesis statements at the beginning of chapters, no conclusions at the end of chapters, nothing. Far from a "map", I couldn't tell you where the book had been or was going at any point in it.
I recall 3 very short mentions of research specifically on the afterlife and a handful of tidbits about the brain and consciousness from the neuroscience perspective. Alexander mentions many religious views of the afterlife, that is true, but like the rest of the book, there was no rhyme or reason for when they appeared in the text. They were sprinkled like fairy dust throughout, as if throwing a religious reference into a section would make it more believable.
Throughout the entire book, Alexander references the details of his own experience without fully explaining it. I understand that was done in a previous book. However, nothing about the blurb or title suggested I needed to read the previous book in order to make sense of this one.
I'm not disagreeing with Alexander's premise. On the contrary, that's why I wanted to read this book. However, I feel he didn't have a clear view of what audience he wanted to target - religious folks, scientists, those who'd had NDEs? - and thus used a shotgun approach to scatter his ideas in the hopes to reach the most people and ended up failing at reaching any of them.
For a much better book on a similar topic read [b:Impossible Realities: The Science Behind Energy Healing, Telepathy, Reincarnation, Precognition, and Other Black Swan Phenomena|14343120|Impossible Realities The Science Behind Energy Healing, Telepathy, Reincarnation, Precognition, and Other Black Swan Phenomena|Maureen Caudill|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1340796241s/14343120.jpg|19985033] to see how I feel this type of writing should be done.
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I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Since Alexander is a scientist, I expected him to lay out a logical argument for the afterlife and back it up with research, religious mythology stories, and anecdotes from ordinary people. That is what the title implies, after all.
Instead, the book felt more like a stream of consciousness writing, with no logical structure or order to the chapters or to the "evidential" anecdotes. There were no thesis statements at the beginning of chapters, no conclusions at the end of chapters, nothing. Far from a "map", I couldn't tell you where the book had been or was going at any point in it.
I recall 3 very short mentions of research specifically on the afterlife and a handful of tidbits about the brain and consciousness from the neuroscience perspective. Alexander mentions many religious views of the afterlife, that is true, but like the rest of the book, there was no rhyme or reason for when they appeared in the text. They were sprinkled like fairy dust throughout, as if throwing a religious reference into a section would make it more believable.
Throughout the entire book, Alexander references the details of his own experience without fully explaining it. I understand that was done in a previous book. However, nothing about the blurb or title suggested I needed to read the previous book in order to make sense of this one.
I'm not disagreeing with Alexander's premise. On the contrary, that's why I wanted to read this book. However, I feel he didn't have a clear view of what audience he wanted to target - religious folks, scientists, those who'd had NDEs? - and thus used a shotgun approach to scatter his ideas in the hopes to reach the most people and ended up failing at reaching any of them.
For a much better book on a similar topic read [b:Impossible Realities: The Science Behind Energy Healing, Telepathy, Reincarnation, Precognition, and Other Black Swan Phenomena|14343120|Impossible Realities The Science Behind Energy Healing, Telepathy, Reincarnation, Precognition, and Other Black Swan Phenomena|Maureen Caudill|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1340796241s/14343120.jpg|19985033] to see how I feel this type of writing should be done.
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I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.