note that the book isn’t ‘defeating darwin’ but ‘defeating darwinism.’ johnson’s case is against philosophical naturalism, not against evolution per se. in fact, he makes several comments in the book that seem to suggest that evolution is something he’s friendly to—just not the standard ‘unguided, mindless’ version.

written for laypeople; so the good news is that it’s very readable. the bad news is that there are several claims he makes that, while they may be correct, are definitely controversial and debatable. he just doesn’t take the time or go into the detail necessary to defend some of those claims, which is unfortunate but hopefully intentional.

the bottom line is that philosophical naturalism is an assumption, not an incontrovertible fact. and if you buy philosophical naturalism, the case for a creator-regardless of what mechanism is used to bring about creation-is closed from the outset.

johnson is arguing that a) this assumption needs to be admitted and unmasked and b) it’s probably not such a good assumption.

leonard does a spectacular job of dialogue, and that was the case here. but the storyline was just so-so. it’s an okay book, but i enjoyed ‘get shorty’ and ‘be cool’ more.

my favorite grisham novel!

crichton has a strong propensity for preaching in his books, and many (most?) of his characters end up really one-dimensional. that’s definitely the case in ‘state of fear.’

but i learned a ton (as with all his books). it was very well researched. and above all it was very entertaining, which was precisely what i needed as a welcome break to plato and logic.

that’s the promise with which the book opens. it had the exact opposite effect on me.

to martel’s defense, it is an incredibly well-written book, but it was seriously depressing. i trudged through the last 100 pages or so just so i could say i had finished it.

favorite movie soundtrack ever. very well put together, and it introduced me to half a dozen bands i’d never listened to before.

ever. ever ever. read it three times. changed my life. caused me to see the world in a completely different way.

keep in mind—this is not light reading, but it’s unbelievably rich.

sa::tm

it was horrifically boring. the nichomachean ethics are the biggest bright spot, but 90% of this was mind-numbing.

glad to say i’ve read it, but that’s about it.

sa::tm