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Bricks to Babel
A collection compiled from Koestler's lifetime writings follows his progress from seeking political solutions to solve mankind's problems to his attempting to find ultimate meaning in science and philosophy
- GenresPhilosophy
697 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Arthur Koestler
152 books948 followers
Darkness at Noon
(1940), novel of Hungarian-born British writer Arthur Koestler, portrays his disillusionment with Communism; his nonfiction works include
The Sleepwalkers
(1959) and
The Ghost in the Machine
(1967).
Arthur Koestler CBE [*Kösztler Artúr] was a prolific writer of essays, novels and autobiographies.
He was born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest but, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. His early career was in journalism. In 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany but, disillusioned, he resigned from it in 1938 and in 1940 published a devastating anti-Communist novel, Darkness at Noon, which propelled him to instant international fame.
Over the next forty-three years he espoused many causes, wrote novels and biographies, and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the prestigious and valuable Sonning Prize "For outstanding contribution to European culture", and in 1972 he was made a "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE).
In 1976 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and three years later with leukaemia in its terminal stages. He committed suicide in 1983 in London.
Arthur Koestler CBE [*Kösztler Artúr] was a prolific writer of essays, novels and autobiographies.
He was born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest but, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. His early career was in journalism. In 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany but, disillusioned, he resigned from it in 1938 and in 1940 published a devastating anti-Communist novel, Darkness at Noon, which propelled him to instant international fame.
Over the next forty-three years he espoused many causes, wrote novels and biographies, and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the prestigious and valuable Sonning Prize "For outstanding contribution to European culture", and in 1972 he was made a "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE).
In 1976 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and three years later with leukaemia in its terminal stages. He committed suicide in 1983 in London.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2025
If you are looking for one book to read by Koestler, this would be it. "Bricks to Babel" offers extended excerpts, summaries, and explanations of Koestler's most important works sweeping over 50 years of his writing career. It goes from his autobiographical and semi-autobiographical works to his interests in science, philosophy, psychology, religion, and parapsychology. Some of this is, of course, more valuable and viable than other parts. Koestler himself will admit as he progresses through his viewpoints that his beholdenness to Marxist ideology was misplaced and alternatives were needed, as well as his interest in Darwinian evolution which could not explain the hierarchical nature of the universe.
A person could describe the book as Koestler's search for meaning in the universe which ultimately comes to: a hope placed in paranormality. Why? He started with bare materialism which included a foundation in Zionism but found the life hard and relatively fruitless. He switched this out for Marxist materialism only to find that hollow and exploitative. Then he went in a more scientific direction by searching how the material of the universe sorts itself and did achieve some success with the notions of creation/creativity and holonic structure (hierarchies where each part is also a whole of what is below it), but this indicates a higher aspect of the universe driven by mind and teleology. Therefore, Koestler set out to test religion. He already abandoned Judaism, so he tried Christianity but thought it alienated man from God. Then he sought enlightenment in Eastern religions only to find them groundless and disengaged with the material of the universe. So, Koestler sought what went past the established material of the universe in parapsychology, quantum physics, and UFOs. These unknowns gave Koestler enough nebulousness to set his hope for meaning and value on what he could not yet disprove.
Where did Koestler go wrong? Basically, with Christianity. Koestler has an short story called "The Misunderstanding" where he tries to present the thoughts of himself as Jesus going to death at the cross. The title is more than ironic since this showcases how Koestler completely misunderstands Christianity. It is like he fully accepts all historical details of the gospels (including miracles) but fully rejects what everyone (including Jesus) said about these things. He puts Jesus at odds against the God the Father, despite Jesus saying they are one (John 10:31) and everything he does is what the Father has laid out, including Jesus' death on the cross which Christ went to willingly. Koestler misunderstands suffering as God's indifference instead of the evils of this world acting against God's will. Christ went to the cross to suffer that our sufferings might join in his sufferings, so that just as he rose from the dead to enter the glory of God, so will we joined to Christ through faith.
A person could describe the book as Koestler's search for meaning in the universe which ultimately comes to: a hope placed in paranormality. Why? He started with bare materialism which included a foundation in Zionism but found the life hard and relatively fruitless. He switched this out for Marxist materialism only to find that hollow and exploitative. Then he went in a more scientific direction by searching how the material of the universe sorts itself and did achieve some success with the notions of creation/creativity and holonic structure (hierarchies where each part is also a whole of what is below it), but this indicates a higher aspect of the universe driven by mind and teleology. Therefore, Koestler set out to test religion. He already abandoned Judaism, so he tried Christianity but thought it alienated man from God. Then he sought enlightenment in Eastern religions only to find them groundless and disengaged with the material of the universe. So, Koestler sought what went past the established material of the universe in parapsychology, quantum physics, and UFOs. These unknowns gave Koestler enough nebulousness to set his hope for meaning and value on what he could not yet disprove.
Where did Koestler go wrong? Basically, with Christianity. Koestler has an short story called "The Misunderstanding" where he tries to present the thoughts of himself as Jesus going to death at the cross. The title is more than ironic since this showcases how Koestler completely misunderstands Christianity. It is like he fully accepts all historical details of the gospels (including miracles) but fully rejects what everyone (including Jesus) said about these things. He puts Jesus at odds against the God the Father, despite Jesus saying they are one (John 10:31) and everything he does is what the Father has laid out, including Jesus' death on the cross which Christ went to willingly. Koestler misunderstands suffering as God's indifference instead of the evils of this world acting against God's will. Christ went to the cross to suffer that our sufferings might join in his sufferings, so that just as he rose from the dead to enter the glory of God, so will we joined to Christ through faith.
October 24, 2019
Todo y nada, nada y todo. La cosmovisión que construyó Koestler a su paso por el tiempo es proporcionalmente inversa a los sucesos que modificaron la sociedad moderna de los últimos cien años. Del caos al caos, nunca hubo orden en el tiempo que vivió. Todo fue desastre tras desastre. No aprendemos la lección de la reflexión histórica.
Su capítulo sobre le equivocad evolución del cerebro es el más esclarecedor. Se aventura a explicar el mal como algo que la madre natura no hizo, o tal vez omitió.
Sus opiniones sobre la ciencia y la espiritualidad rompen con el paradigma, sobre todo la segunda, no es ingenuo. Todas las intervenciones humanas producen dolor, injusticia y sufrimiento. Puesto que llenamos nuestra creación con egoísmo e indiferencia, no nos importa saber que el otro la pasa mal. Abrió muchas aristas para las futuras investigación sobre el rumbo de la civilización, dibujó los inicios para despertar a la verdad última: no estamos aquí para sufrir, estamos aquí solo de paso...
Su capítulo sobre le equivocad evolución del cerebro es el más esclarecedor. Se aventura a explicar el mal como algo que la madre natura no hizo, o tal vez omitió.
Sus opiniones sobre la ciencia y la espiritualidad rompen con el paradigma, sobre todo la segunda, no es ingenuo. Todas las intervenciones humanas producen dolor, injusticia y sufrimiento. Puesto que llenamos nuestra creación con egoísmo e indiferencia, no nos importa saber que el otro la pasa mal. Abrió muchas aristas para las futuras investigación sobre el rumbo de la civilización, dibujó los inicios para despertar a la verdad última: no estamos aquí para sufrir, estamos aquí solo de paso...
March 7, 2016
Incredible heights of thought
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews