eor

During the first few days of vacation I read the second book

derien's brother gave to us about his calling. Look back to #32 on this list to see the review of the first.

First, let me say that the best bit of Dr. Lee's (I'll use Dr. Lee because those are the two bits of his name that have stayed the same) writing that I've read is the Preface to this book. The Preface is clear, flows well, and expresses viewpoints that seem very sensible to me. The rest of the book doesn't even read like it was written by the same person.

This book has an unhealthy fascination with computer metaphors. For the most part the metaphors feel like they were tacked on by someone who didn't have a clear knowledge of either the technology or how to write metaphors. In some places they miss the mark and muddy the point. In others they are downright wrong and work to disprove the point they were meant to reinforce.

The book is laid out into chapters based on the enlightenments mentioned in the title. But don't expect there to be a logical progression from one to the next. For the most part I could discern no logical progression and no flow after the first few chapters. Chapter 9 may talk about Gods as active creatures, where Gods were explained away in chapter 4 as a creation of man and society. If you're hung up on such technicalities you won't make it past chapter 2 where you're told to stop trying to learn. After chapter 2 you'll put down the book and go get another David Sedaris book.

Many of Dr. Lee's starting points are ideas that I agree with. He starts with things that many people agree with: war bad, consumption bad, hate bad, earth good, love good. But beyond those starting points this book isn't a road to a better world it's a maze. Perhaps Dr. Lee has a real and meaningful message, but he's not going to deliver it to people through the medium of a scrambled hash of western philosophy and eastern mysticism.

35. Dr. Ilichi Lee (aka Dr. Seung Heun Lee) "The Twelve Enlightenments for Healing Society"