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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
This book's tone was a turnoff because the author continually referred to his "crippling depression." However, I learned a lot, and it made me think. The most engaging chapters were about Buddhism and Kabbalah. I'd recommend this to someone who's willing to power through an interesting book that it's always totally pleasant.
Excellent memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Weiner's exploration of multiple religions and faith lives and I also enjoyed watching his development process as a spiritual being. This book gave me much food for thought.
Weiner starts out on his quest for the divine after a nurse asks him during a hospital stint "Have you found your god yet?" He then flirts with eight different religions: some mainstream (Catholicism) and others not (Witchcraft and Raelism) in an attempt to fill what Pascal calls his "god-shaped hole" in the human soul.
I didn't think this one was quite as good as Weiner's Geography of Bliss, but I really liked the writing and the honesty and doubt he writes about in each of his explorations with different religions.
I didn't think this one was quite as good as Weiner's Geography of Bliss, but I really liked the writing and the honesty and doubt he writes about in each of his explorations with different religions.
Funny, reverent and irreverent, we all search for something. In that searching we bring ourselves with us, trying to reconcile our experiences and individual oddities with the divine. The author makes that journey fun and perhaps that is the part we don't bring with us and perhaps, should.
It was ok but did not change my life like some books can if you know what I mean.
I picked up this book after reading Weiner's first one, "The Geography of Bliss." I actually found "Man Seeks God" to be better than his other book, maybe because I identified with it more--or perhaps I just found the subject matter more interesting overall.
In this book, Weiner travels the world like he did in "Bliss," only this time it's God he's searching for, not happiness. He takes a look at eight different religions, finding the parts that resonate within him and the pieces that don't, getting an idea for how individuals study and know their own faiths. As someone without a religion of my own, and who holds a Philosophy degree, the religious journeys of people fascinate me in general. So, following Weiner's journey was a satisfying experience for me, as I was able to go through the second-hand motions of attempting to apply the various belief systems to my own life to see what fit and what didn't.
Weiner is at times irreverent, but that's to be expected--no one's true thoughts are reverent all the time, not even for their own religions, and he looked largely into religions outside the "standard." I was glad that he put all his thoughts in, since the whole experience felt truer that way. The book is also interesting from an educational point of view. Because the religions he dabbles in are a bit far-flung (at least to the average Western World person) or are more mystical/lesser-known offshoots of the "big three," I learned a lot about faiths I might not otherwise have ever come across.
There are a lot of similarities in style between "Bliss" and "Seeks," but that's all to the good. Where I spent the last book getting used to Weiner's voice and style of exploration, this time I was able to focus more on the content because I already knew how it was going to be presented to me. I expect it would work the same way if the books were read in the opposite order, but I definitely consider this to be the better book. Highly recommend if the subjects of religion and faith (and the search for) are of interest.
In this book, Weiner travels the world like he did in "Bliss," only this time it's God he's searching for, not happiness. He takes a look at eight different religions, finding the parts that resonate within him and the pieces that don't, getting an idea for how individuals study and know their own faiths. As someone without a religion of my own, and who holds a Philosophy degree, the religious journeys of people fascinate me in general. So, following Weiner's journey was a satisfying experience for me, as I was able to go through the second-hand motions of attempting to apply the various belief systems to my own life to see what fit and what didn't.
Weiner is at times irreverent, but that's to be expected--no one's true thoughts are reverent all the time, not even for their own religions, and he looked largely into religions outside the "standard." I was glad that he put all his thoughts in, since the whole experience felt truer that way. The book is also interesting from an educational point of view. Because the religions he dabbles in are a bit far-flung (at least to the average Western World person) or are more mystical/lesser-known offshoots of the "big three," I learned a lot about faiths I might not otherwise have ever come across.
There are a lot of similarities in style between "Bliss" and "Seeks," but that's all to the good. Where I spent the last book getting used to Weiner's voice and style of exploration, this time I was able to focus more on the content because I already knew how it was going to be presented to me. I expect it would work the same way if the books were read in the opposite order, but I definitely consider this to be the better book. Highly recommend if the subjects of religion and faith (and the search for) are of interest.
At one chapter per religion, this book couldn't be expected to go into much depth, but I still found the author's tone a bit too glib at times, and wondered why he chose the teachers he did. He treats most of the seekers he encounters with respect, though, and offers up some insights and things to ponder along the way.
The author manages to cover a lot of ground in just one book - traditional religions, Eastern religions, cults. It's both serious and funny and I loved it much more than I expected to. I love that he's not afraid to try new things and work, really work hard, to learn how to do them. I love that he's trying to answer big questions for himself and for nobody else which gives the book a feeling of authenticity.
I loved Eric Weiner's "The Geography of Bliss," and his curious, neurotic, Ravenclaw voice shines through again in "Man Seeks God," as he trots around the globe looking for the big answers to life's deepest mysteries. His honesty about his struggle with depression, his natural journalistic skepticism, and his willingness to go all in with each religion he explores, despite his reservations and (mild) misanthropy, make this such a refreshing read.
So far I've described this book in this way: Imagine an NPR journalist had a lot of money to travel the world and research world religions. He thinks he's funny--sometimes he is. But the book could have been half the length. Some parts are solid, others are lacking. Don't expect anything scholarly or researched. Expect interviews and first hand experiences of a cynic seeking God. There's some good stuff in here though