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chambecc 's review for:
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Man, this book...
Sasha Sagan - yes, daughter of THAT Sagan - gives us a book that is simultaneously silly and light-hearted at some points, and then devastatingly sad and existential at others. She reflects on ritual, meaning, and life itself. Why do humans do the things we do? Why do we have rituals? Why do so many cultures and religions separated across a vast chasm of time share so many things in common? She explores these questions and more, with anecdotes from her own life and plenty of research into other religions and cultures throughout human history. From the changing of the seasons, to marriage and sex, to monthly rituals, to the book's closing chapter on death... she covers a lot of ground.
Sasha is herself secular, so she does not adhere to an organized religion - it seems fair to say that she is "spiritual," but in a secular way. Her spiritualism is rooted in an awe of the vast wonders of our universe, not worship of a particular deity. Yet she argues that ultimately, whether you're religious or not, science need not spoil our sense of wonder at the world and universe we inhabit - in fact, it can only enhance and enrich it.
There is one event that looms over the book - one event that the narrative circles back to again and again - and that is the death of her father, the beloved astronomer Carl Sagan. She was barely a teenager when this happened, and it became - as she herself acknowledges - the defining experience of her life. As someone who has loved Carl Sagan since I was myself a young teenager, the passages about his passing are simultaneously the most devastating and the most moving of the book.
Read this book, it will make you more appreciative of the beautiful texture of life, but be prepared for a serious feels trip.
Sasha Sagan - yes, daughter of THAT Sagan - gives us a book that is simultaneously silly and light-hearted at some points, and then devastatingly sad and existential at others. She reflects on ritual, meaning, and life itself. Why do humans do the things we do? Why do we have rituals? Why do so many cultures and religions separated across a vast chasm of time share so many things in common? She explores these questions and more, with anecdotes from her own life and plenty of research into other religions and cultures throughout human history. From the changing of the seasons, to marriage and sex, to monthly rituals, to the book's closing chapter on death... she covers a lot of ground.
Sasha is herself secular, so she does not adhere to an organized religion - it seems fair to say that she is "spiritual," but in a secular way. Her spiritualism is rooted in an awe of the vast wonders of our universe, not worship of a particular deity. Yet she argues that ultimately, whether you're religious or not, science need not spoil our sense of wonder at the world and universe we inhabit - in fact, it can only enhance and enrich it.
There is one event that looms over the book - one event that the narrative circles back to again and again - and that is the death of her father, the beloved astronomer Carl Sagan. She was barely a teenager when this happened, and it became - as she herself acknowledges - the defining experience of her life. As someone who has loved Carl Sagan since I was myself a young teenager, the passages about his passing are simultaneously the most devastating and the most moving of the book.
Read this book, it will make you more appreciative of the beautiful texture of life, but be prepared for a serious feels trip.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent