Category: Book reviews
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A Study in Existential Philosophy (Part 2)
Change that construct, and you’re well on the road to resolving ‘angst’ or that deep seated, irrefutable, insatiable anxiety from which, 20th century writers like Eliot, Forster, and Woolf and 20th century Existentialists like Heidegger were suffering.
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A Study in Existential Philosophy (Part 1)
Onward forges capitalism until we find ourselves devoid of anything tangible to which we can hold except faceless corporations, sprawling factories, and of course, the next pay check.
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Fire and Fury – as astrological assessment whether it’s more fact or fiction…
The official release date for the Fire and Fury, the book that President Trump apparently does not want us to read, was moved forward. We are told this decision was made by the publisher just hours after Trump’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter, claiming among other things, libel and breach of confidentiality. What might we…
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The Future of Coaching – Vision, Leadership, and Responsibility
This afternoon, I joined the first of four webinars where Hetty Einzig speaks on the future of coaching. Some of the ideas expressed were music to my ears. The primary point, from which all else flows, is that the environment in which coaches practice now is not the same as it was forty years ago.…
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The Glass Bead Game / the ultimate in coaching
One of my favourite novels is The Glass Bead Game, by Herman Hesse. It was published, I think, sometime in the 1940’s. Basically the plot revolves around a utopian community rather like a posh boarding school, where young boys are sent by their wealthy, influential parents to learn that they need to be tomorrow’s leaders.…
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Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed & What It’s Doing to Us
In the western world, you have a duty of self-improvement – to be authentic, competitive, thin, attractive, and (among many other things) coiffed and couture. But did you realise that all the standards to which you aspire are culturally determined, even though you are meant to believe you developed them yourself? Worse, you’re so intent…
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Power and Promise – Utopian Propaganda & Orwell’s Animal Farm
In the preface to his Ukrainian Edition of Animal Farm, George Orwell says that his reason for writing the novel was to reveal what he believed to be the Soviet myth underlying Socialism – the political and economic model that he wholeheartedly embraced. According to Orwell, nothing had caused greater harm to the Socialist movement…
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Original Thinking
it’s 22 March 1921, final day of the Cairo Conference, last chance to determine the postwar future of the Middle East, members of the British delegation have stopped for a photo-shoot, to the amusement of all, Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill has just fallen off his camel…
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Literary Criticism / passage from Winterson’s ‘The Passion’ – how did I do?
With this example of intertextuality, our spiritual selves are challenged to rise above the negativity of the material world to be fully realised in the bosom of God. By referencing the Bible (Matthew 14:22-33), Winterson cleverly triggers brand awareness. God is a powerful spin-doctor.