ON FORGIVENESS: HOW CAN WE FORGIVE THE UNFORGIVABLE? & CREATING A LIFE: FINDING YOUR INDIVIDUAL PATH

You may well be thinking these are unusual choices of reading material for me and you'd be right but recent events within my family ...

Well, lets just leave it at that both books proved helpful at a time when I found myself struggling. TT

ON FORGIVENESS: HOW CAN WE FORGIVE THE UNFORGIVABLE? by RICHARD HOLLOWAY.

Using Derrida's provocative paradox as the epigraph and starting point for his new book, Richard Holloway tackles the complex theme of forgiveness. It is a subject that he explores from both a personal and political perspective but underpinning this examination is his belief that religion has given us many of the best stories and metaphors for understanding the act. He proceeds to relate forgiveness to such events as September 11th, the Truth Commission in South Africa, and the ongoing conflicts in Palestine/Israel, Northern Ireland and Serbia

On Forgiveness is a discourse on how forgiveness works, where it came from and how the need to embrace it is greater than ever if we are to free ourselves from the binds of the past. Drawing on philosophers and writers of the calibre of George Steiner, Frederick Nietzsche, Jacques Derrida, Hannah Arendt and Nelson Mandela, Holloway has written another fascinating and timely book.

- Inner Front Cover Blurb

SOURCE ... On loan from the library at the Diocese of Newcastle's Resource Centre by Mr T. I thought I too would give On Forgiveness a read.

READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.

MY THOUGHTS ... Though very much a book with the author's Christian faith at its heart this is what I thought of as an 'accessible' read; Holloway's secular stance of what is often thought of as a 'religious' topic refreshing.

Not too theological (though I dare say some would argue it warrants a more indepth philosophical debate) and certainly never 'preachy' ... at no point does Holloway ever insist we MUST forgive instead exploring the ramifications of when we do or likewise, don't, forgive ... its ideal for both those of faith and those of none dealing with as it does the inherent value of forgiveness for all.

CREATING A LIFE: FINDING YOUR INDIVIDUAL PATH by JAMES HOLLIS.

Creating A Life is a powerful commentary on the importance of the examined life, illustrating how we may arrive at an understanding of our life choices and relationships by exploring our core complexes and personal history.

With insight and compassion grounded in the humanist side of analytical psychology, Hollis elucidates the circuitous way of individuation. The text is deeply enriched by the inclusion of poems and excerpts from the works of many modern writers (including John Fowles, Rike, D.H. Lawrence, Thoreau, Pascal and Kierkegaard).

- Back Cover blurb

SOURCES ... Purchased on the suggestion of a psychologist.

READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No, neither book was read as part of a challenge.

MY THOUGHTS ... In a nutshell, a book which sets out to "explore the attitudes and practises necessary for the second half of life".

Using excerpts from the works of various writers (some of whom were familiar, most of whom weren't) the author, a graduate of the Jung Institute in Zurich, takes you on a scintillating journey albeit it one that as he says "will not solve all your problems or heal your pain." 

At times uncomfortably challenging. Sometimes a  tad wordy and academic; many of the metaphors going over my head, I admit I was on occasion seen to throw my hands up in the air and shout 'what?'  BUT oh my goodness! Thought provoking, astonishingly insightful, a real eyeopener; how it spoke to and of me.