This is a fantastic review - your combination of stylistic critique and the analysis of the book's philosophical themes (mostly around neuroscientific reductionism/materialism) are really well executed.
For me, the process of crafting the book was quite challenging in that integrating the philosophical themes in a way that didn't feel overly contrived was a constant source of friction, but ultimately, I think that's the throughline that made it feel worth writing beyond just an exercise in style alone. As you correctly identified, a lot of these themes play out in arguments between characters, which felt like the most natural way to express this kind of dialogue.
You're absolutely right that the core throughline is this iterative dialogue on materialism and in particular its relationship to the hard problem of consciousness. This topic has interested me ever since I was a teenager, and although I've read a fair amount of philosophy of religion (e.g. various forms of Christian apologetics, including interesting arguments from consciousness like those espoused by J.P. Moreland), I've not been persuaded by theism as a general explanation for consciousness - I moreso lean toward a Philip Goff style articulation of anti-materialism (his latest short book, 'Why?', covers a ton of interesting ground on the anthropic principle and some very interesting newer arguments around psycho-physical harmony).
For the subject of my next novel, I intend to engage with Christianity and the Bible more overtly, but I'm still in the very early stages of thinking about this.
This is a superb review, and it has caused me to purchase the book and look forward to reading it. If you have not read My First Book by Honor Levy I strongly suggest that you do so. It provides a sort of female counterpart to this one, though set at a later date.
My copy of the book recently arrived. I plan to review it here also. The more I ponder the subject of the book, the more I think it deserves a wide audience, as in, it should be available near every drugstore checkout counter.
This is a fantastic review - your combination of stylistic critique and the analysis of the book's philosophical themes (mostly around neuroscientific reductionism/materialism) are really well executed.
For me, the process of crafting the book was quite challenging in that integrating the philosophical themes in a way that didn't feel overly contrived was a constant source of friction, but ultimately, I think that's the throughline that made it feel worth writing beyond just an exercise in style alone. As you correctly identified, a lot of these themes play out in arguments between characters, which felt like the most natural way to express this kind of dialogue.
You're absolutely right that the core throughline is this iterative dialogue on materialism and in particular its relationship to the hard problem of consciousness. This topic has interested me ever since I was a teenager, and although I've read a fair amount of philosophy of religion (e.g. various forms of Christian apologetics, including interesting arguments from consciousness like those espoused by J.P. Moreland), I've not been persuaded by theism as a general explanation for consciousness - I moreso lean toward a Philip Goff style articulation of anti-materialism (his latest short book, 'Why?', covers a ton of interesting ground on the anthropic principle and some very interesting newer arguments around psycho-physical harmony).
For the subject of my next novel, I intend to engage with Christianity and the Bible more overtly, but I'm still in the very early stages of thinking about this.
This is a superb review, and it has caused me to purchase the book and look forward to reading it. If you have not read My First Book by Honor Levy I strongly suggest that you do so. It provides a sort of female counterpart to this one, though set at a later date.
Great review, PBR.
I am an incel
My copy of the book recently arrived. I plan to review it here also. The more I ponder the subject of the book, the more I think it deserves a wide audience, as in, it should be available near every drugstore checkout counter.