Book Review Club: Proof of Heaven

Proof of Heaven 
by Eben Alexander, M.D.
Simon & Schuster, 2012

When I heard about this book, I pre-ordered it for my Kindle. Apparently I wasn't the only one. His website says the book debuted at #1 in e-book sales!

I've been interested in NDE (near-death experience) literature since reading Raymond Moody's Life After Life in the mid-1970s. So I didn't approach the book as a skeptic but a believer, and one who is familiar with the genre.

Dr. Alexander's experience is unique in several ways.

1. As a neurosurgeon, he was very much a scientist and a skeptic, so when he went into a protracted coma, he had no preconceived ideas about what to expect. No one was more surprised than he when he had a revelatory spiritual experience.

2. His coma was caused by an unusual condition in adults: gram-negative bacterial meningitis, which shut down the neocortex of his brain, the part that medical scientists say makes us human. That part of his brain was completely inactive during his coma. After he recovered, Dr. Alexander tried, and failed, to find a rational, scientific explanation for what happened to him. In addition, his survival of the meningitis without any brain damage is quite remarkable.

3. His NDE differed somewhat from those reported by other survivors. For one thing, while in coma, he had no idea who he was/had been on earth. Most patients who suffer NDEs have all or some part of their neocortex still functioning. As a result, he felt no compulsion to return to his previous life. Nevertheless, his family gathered around and prayed for him and he was ultimately drawn back to his life on earth.

During the coma, he initially spent a lot of time in a murky, undistinguished state he called the Realm of the Worm's Eye View. In time, a light appeared to him and he rose into a bright and beautiful spiritual realm where a lovely young woman acted as his guide. He traveled through areas of "heaven" he dubbed the Gateway and the Core. The message he brought back is simple:

You are loved and cherished.
You have nothing to fear.
There is nothing you can do wrong.

Before his coma, he would have said that all consciousness comes from the brain. Now he believes we are spiritual beings inhabiting mortal brains and bodies.

If you have any interest in this subject, I recommend the book. I found it quite fascinating and Dr. Alexander does a good job of explaining medical and scientific concepts in ways a non-scientist can understand. You can read more online at http://www.lifebeyonddeath.net/.

Linda

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@Barrie Summy

Book Review Club: Twilight of the Elites

Twilight of the Elites
by Christopher Hayes
Crown Publishing, 2012
Adult Non-fiction

Hayes examines why "America feels broken" and comes to the conclusion that our meritocracy has failed us. We are in a new "crisis of authority".

The last such crisis occurred in the 1960's when the whiz kids of the WASP elite led us into disaster in Vietnam. The Civil Rights struggle triumphed at the same time, which led to the formation of a new meritocratic elite, chosen from the "best and brightest" of the nation, including women and minorities. This led to the election of Barack Obama, the country's first African-American president. But by then we were nearing the end of a decade of elite failure. Hayes writes:

The central tragic irony of the presidency of Barack Obama is that his election marked the crowning achievement of the post-1960s meritocracy, just at the moment that the system was imploding on itself.

Hayes walks us through each elite failure of the "Fail Decade" from the intelligence debacles that led the Iraq War, the engineering failures that led to the busting of the levees around New Orleans, and finally to the banking crisis that created the worst financial slump since the 1930s. He includes the pedophile priest scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in some detail. None of it makes for a pretty picture.

But why has so little changed? For instance, why are there so few bankers in jail? The problem is that at some point elites become self-perpetuating and self-protective, dysfunctional and corrupt. They become so sure of their own merit, they cannot accept responsibility for their own failures.

The rise of the meritocracy, and the rise in compensation to those at the top, has led to an astounding gap of inequality between the "best" and the rest. This is the big downside of the system. Equality of opportunity isn't enough, esp. when it doesn't really exist in some areas of the country. That isn't to say we necessarily want equality of outcome, but the more prosperity is shared by everyone, the better we do as a nation and as a society. Education alone cannot solve the problems, esp. since schools are not funded equally.

So how to fix the mess we're in?

There are two approaches, according to Hayes:

- the institutionalists, like President Obama, want to fix the system - a tweak here, a tweak there

- the insurrectionists, like economist Paul Krugman and the Occupy Movement, think the system is irrevocably broken and needs to be changed radically.

I lean more to the insurrectionist point of view myself. (I am still royally pissed that the banks got away with massive mortgage fraud.) In any case I agree with Hayes's conclusion that "the answer lies in a newly radicalized middle class" that insists on finding ways to level the playing field.

Whether, or when, that will happen remains to be seen. Either way, it's going to be a bumpy ride for most of us.

Twilight of the Elites is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book, and I recommend it highly.

About the author:
Christopher Hayes is Editor at Large of The Nation and host of Up w/ Chris Hayes on MSNBC (Sat 7-9am and Sun 8-10am.)

As always, click on the graphic below for more book reviews. My thanks to Barrie Summi for organizing our monthly book club.

Linda


P.S. Dear FCC, I bought the ebook from Amazon and read it on my iPad.

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Book Review Club: Drawn/London Eye Mystery

DRAWN by Marie Lamba
Young Adult Time Travel, 2012

Michelle DeFreccio, an American teenager just moved to England, is a talented and sensitive artist. Her father has started teaching at an upscale English academy, which Michelle now attends. She hopes to start over without the baggage of her past, namely her "psychic" mother and schizophrenic brother and the label De-Freak-O.

But life in England has its own challenges. As an American, she's not always sure how to navigate the social divide within her school. More troubling are the pictures she finds herself sketching of a young man in Medieval garb, a young man named Christopher who refuses to stay on the page. Before Michelle knows it, she is drawn into the past where her presence changes things, not always for the better. Worse, she's in love with a man who died long ago and there's nothing she can do to save him. Or is there? She tries to figure out what happened in the past in order to change things, sometimes with terrible consequences.

I am so impressed by this book. I was utterly "drawn" into it by the great story and wonderful writing. One of the best YA novels I've read in recent years. Five stars.

THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY
by Siobahn Dowd
Middle Grade mystery, Random House, 2007

Ted Sparks is budding meterologist who sees the world through the language of the weather. A 12-year-old genius, Ted also suffers with high-functioning Asperger's Syndrome. His brain is wired differently than most people's which allows him to see connections between things and people that others miss.

This comes in handy when his 13-year-old cousin, Salim, disappears while riding the London Eye. Salim and his mother, Aunt Gloria, come to town to visit with Ted, his parents and his older sister Kat, often referred to by Ted as Katastrophe. Salim and Aunt Gloria are on their way to live in New York, but Salim doesn't want to go. Is his disappearance from the Eye a crime or the ill-fated prank of a disgruntled teenager?

Ted and Kat work together (somewhat reluctantly at times) to solve the mystery of Salim's disappearance and are surprised to find that they make a good team. Ted may be the genius, but Kat is pretty smart, too, in a more practical way.

Ted's narration is a delight. I love his voice and the interesting and strange connections he makes in his brilliant mind. Though he doesn't have good social skills, he tries to learn appropriate responses, and his quirks become endearing to the reader. Very enjoyable read.

Barry Summie's Book Review Club is back after a summer break  As always, click on the graphic below to read more great reviews.

Hope everyone had a great summer!

Linda

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