Nick Pateras | God is Not Great
BOOK REVIEW | Guest review by marshal peacock
god is not Great - Christopher Hitchens
An excellent perspective against religion, albeit heavy in some spots which loses readers
Controversial, opinion-splitting and brilliantly eloquent. This is Hitchens. As ever, in his book god is not Great, Christopher Hitchens delivers what we all have come to expect from him in an excellent and truly enthralling argument against religion. In typical fashion, Hitchens leaves it all on the table in this effort, attacking all possible forms of religion and leaving no prisoners in his wake. This is what separates this book, and Hitchens’ work in general, from the rest, making it a breath of fresh air. There is no focus on any one sect or type of religion throughout this book, but rather there are examples from all different forms that make the argument stronger and far more interesting. In addition to his diverse illustrations, Hitchens also incorporates science and logic to further his case as to why religion "poisons everything". This combination of logic and real-life examples serve as a powerful cocktail that challenges the mind to think outside beyond the norm and more importantly, pushes the reader to fully contemplate their own opinion on such a topic.
"Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it."
In terms of the writing style, the book is quite dense which in my mind is one of its downsides. Although it is always good to learn new words and research new topics, it becomes frustrating when you must do so every one or two pages. Hitchens draws on his extensive knowledge of world affairs and command of the English language to make a point, which can be exhausting on the reader and make it so that progress through the book can be taxing at some stages. For me, this was the greatest pitfall, but I do not think it was significant enough to detract me from finishing this gem of a book.
On the whole, I strongly recommend this book to persons interested in questioning the religious establishments, as you will be hard-pressed to find a better work to do so. However, this is not for the reader looking for something light to read on the beach on holiday. The language choice and context of examples can also be hard to keep up with at some points, but I found that this expanded my vocabulary and led me on some wonderful Wikipedia adventures.
-MP, June 2014