Susan Nussbaum's debut novel, winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, is, as Rosellen Brown says, "a celebration of...
Continue »
Charleydog, July 20, 2007 (view all comments by Charleydog)
Are we seeing a trend today in the "Is religion or God real?" literature theme? Mr. Hitchens presents a logical view of why religion is at the root of "evil" things. I just finished reading "The Last Templar" by Raymond Khoury who says that Jesus was not the Son of God, but just a man and that the whole Christianity thing is based on myths. Albeit that The Last Templar is supposed to be fiction (but based on the Knights Templar) and Mr. Hitchens' book is non-fiction, but both present a very worrying theme.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (19 of 71 readers found this comment helpful)
Veritas, July 11, 2007 (view all comments by Veritas)
Hitchen's mastery of this topic is apparent on every page. Having assumed I had been the only little boy in church who did not 'believe' it's now, as an adult, so enlightening to realize that I was hardly alone. The absurdity of the fairy tales masked as religion are discussed with great precision. The dastardly means with which religion has effectively interfered with government, medicine, science, sexuality et.al. are far more damaging than I had ever considered. The level of research is truly top drawer. Hitchens is not only a brilliant writer but even more important one of the few intellectuals being read by Americans. He may indeed be my generation's next Gore Vidal.
As the United States turns ever more theocratic, and as every Presidential candidate leaps into debates on "faith" this may be the most important book of the last several years. Highly recommended.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (61 of 80 readers found this comment helpful)
migwilo, April 30, 2007 (view all comments by migwilo)
This book is a definite skeptic. However, the questions concerning religion and beliefs in god are perenial. They cannot be answered the way the book sought to answer.The questions will reman with us.If religion has caused many human misery as the book pointed out, it is not because of beliefs in God but because of the activities of humans that usually does not have anything to do with the belief.The book is recommended for everyone who believes since it will help one to see what people are saying about belief. Above all, the book is very entertaining and informing.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (30 of 71 readers found this comment helpful)
spokenseason, April 30, 2007 (view all comments by spokenseason)
God Is Not Great, OUCH! Literally, from cover to cover Christopher Hitchens takes the reader on a ride not soon forgotton. This is the era for religion confusion and Hitchens, at his utmost best has given all of us something to reflect on.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (25 of 48 readers found this comment helpful)
mikeintus, April 25, 2007 (view all comments by mikeintus)
Hitchens has outdone Hitchens. This illuminating book is all I hoped for from this entertaining and educating writer. No one escapes Hitchen's penetrating gaze and insightful thinking; reflecting on this book's balanced review of the history of religion and how religion has helped and hurt man's aspirations for peace on earth will be fruitful for all. Religion's penchant for establishing holy and sacred places and things that serve as roadblocks to peace is revealed in Hitchen's usual great writing.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (31 of 48 readers found this comment helpful)
One of the most informed journalists in the country (he seems to have been everywhere, met everyone, and read everything), he is also one of the most entertaining. His command of the language is legendary; his wit ferocious. His skill in marshalling facts in service to an argument is a wonder to behold. Readers won't pick up this book just to find out what Christopher Hitchens thinks about religion. They'll read it because, whether or not he persuades, he always makes it worth your while to hear him out.
by C. P. Farley
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Hitchens, one of our great political pugilists, delivers the best of the recent rash of atheist manifestos. The same contrarian spirit that makes him delightful reading as a political commentator, even (or especially) when he's completely wrong, makes him an entertaining huckster prosecutor once he has God placed in the dock. And can he turn a phrase!: 'monotheistic religion is a plagiarism of a plagiarism of a hearsay of a hearsay, of an illusion of an illusion, extending all the way back to a fabrication of a few nonevents.' Hitchens's one-liners bear the marks of considerable sparring practice with believers. Yet few believers will recognize themselves as Hitchens associates all of them for all time with the worst of history's theocratic and inquisitional moments. All the same, this is salutary reading as a means of culling believers' weaker arguments: that faith offers comfort (false comfort is none at all), or has provided a historical hedge against fascism (it mostly hasn't), or that 'Eastern' religions are better (nope). The book's real strength is Hitchens's on-the-ground glimpses of religion's worst face in various war zones and isolated despotic regimes. But its weakness is its almost fanatical insistence that religion poisons 'everything,' which tips over into barely disguised misanthropy." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review A Day"
by Mark Warren, Esquire,
"Test your faith severely or find a champion for your feelings, but read Hitchens. It's a tendentious delight, a caustic and even brilliant book. And with the title alone, he takes his life in his hands, which right there has got to be some proof of his thesis." (read the entire Esquire review)
"Review"
by Booklist (Starred Review),
"Hitchens intends to provoke, but he is not mean-spirited and humorless. Indeed, he is effortlessly witty and entertaining as well as utterly rational. Believers will be disturbed and may even charge him with blasphemy...and he may not change many minds, but he offers the open-minded plenty to think about."
"Review"
by Librbary Journal,
"[A] provocative, challenging, and passionate work — a religious believer's and apologist's nightmare."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"It's clear from page to page that Hitchens...is having a grand time twitting the folks in the white collars and purple dresses, in the turbans and beehives. Like-minded readers will enjoy his arguments, too."
"Review"
by Los Angeles Times,
"The strength of this book is the undeniable eloquence of its indignation....Its weakness is that the thinking in it has indeed oft been thought."
"Review"
by Boston Globe,
"[Hitchens's] indictments are trenchant and witty, and the book is a treasure house of zingers worthy of Mark Twain or H. L. Mencken."
"Review"
by New York Times,
"Hitchens has outfoxed the Hitchens watchers by writing a serious and deeply felt book, totally consistent with his beliefs of a lifetime. And God should be flattered: unlike most of those clamoring for his attention, Hitchens treats him like an adult."
"Review"
by San Francisco Chronicle,
"God Is Not Great is somewhat of a disappointment t1; not so much for those who disagree, who will simply be irritated, but for those of us who think that it has an important case to make and were hoping that this might be the book to carry that message to the people."
"Synopsis"
by Libri,
Hitchens takes on his biggest subject yet--the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. With insight and wit, he describes the ways in which religion is man-made, immoral, and repressive and argues for a new enlightenment through science and reason.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
