The Dramatic Universe

A review speaks not directly to that which is reviewed but rather to the relationship between reviewer and the reviewer. When we give a rating to a book we are not so much rating the book as we are rating the “fit” of the the relationship we have with the book. This makes the average star rating of anything a much less significant measure than it might seem.

The measure of the “fit” or fitness of a relationship with something or someone is partially a measure of how well our needs were met. How nourished we felt by it or them. And everyone has different tastes and everyone has a different capability to extract the inherent potential nourishment of the specific something or someone.

I rate this book 6 stars. That is to say that if I could take a single book with me on a one-way trip anywhere in the universe, this is the book I would take. Its my soul mate :-). It is my taste. Yum! I'll come back to that in a sec. But having said that I know that I extracted only a portion of the nourishment this book has to give. It is a feast. But to understand requires capability, and the full wisdom of this book is beyond my current capability. I left much more on the table than I was able to digest. And I am so satisfied.

If you are curious about the world, your life, the cosmos, reality, our place in the universe and you've spent a lot of time thinking about that then this is the book for you. John Bennett is a genius. He is the most masterful philosopher you've never heard of. Indeed as a philosopher he makes every other philosopher that has ever existed look like a f-ing amateur. Really. The fact that he is not more well-known is such a shame because what he has to so is so much more useful than any other philosopher ever. He takes us on a journey from a single number (1) to the edges of reality, and connects that in a series of explicit logical steps.

I generally buy and read (or listen) to digital books these days almost exclusively. Most of the books on my bookshelf are a decade or more older. But this is one which I want to touch and really have a sense of ownership. I love this book. Yesterday I received Volume 2 in the mail. I start on it tomorrow. Yay