Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe

Description

Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of our place in the universe. Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are. He examines what we know about the universe into which we are propelled at birth and from which we are expelled at death, the stories we have told about where we come from, and the stories we tell to get through this muddling experience of life. Thought-provoking, revelatory, compassionate and playful, Stories We Tell Ourselves is a personal reckoning with life's mysteries by one of the most important and beloved thinkers of our time.

Richard Holloway was Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and Chairman of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. His most recent book, Waiting for the Last Bus, was a Sunday Times bestseller.

This may be the book I've been searching for, desperately, throughout most of my life . . . it represents a first step toward a new form of spiritual thought . . . What Holloway does most powerfully is dismiss certainty in all its forms, political as well as religious . . . Holloway brings a message of spiritual hope for all * * Herald * * An engaging, erudite explanation of how he came to be where he now stands and is a warning against the cruel righteousness of many belief systems * * Sunday Times * * If every priest and imam, every MP and CEO, every person like you and me read this, then the world would be a better place. It is devastatingly humane. It blends science, philosophy and religion and admits the art (and artifice) in these avowedly objective forms. Erudition and empathy; I wept -- DAMIAN BARR Engaging and uplifting. . . . this personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what might be the answers to the world's biggest questions is both playful and inspiring . . . The richness of this book challenged the short space of a review * * Daily Mail * * Thought-provoking stimulating . . . a sane guide through the turbulence of the modern world, one written with humour and self-deprecating pessimism * * Independent * * There is much in this book to make you think, much to provoke argument for and against * * Scotsman * * Wise, witty and provocative . . . This is an important book, for all of us who want to understand the world and each other. You put it down refreshed * * The Tablet * * [Told] exceptionally well . . . Holloway is right to ask us to examine the story we live by to see whether it does in fact make us respond in practice to suffering. He does so with his characteristic honesty, verve and punch * * Church Times * * Praise for Waiting for the Last Bus: A wonderful, wise, compassionate and befriending piece of work -- KATHRYN MANNIX, author of With the End in Mind Thought-provoking, revelatory, grave and comforting. It is impossible not to be moved by it in the most profound way -- ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH