I became aware of All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age
because of the NY Times book review podcast, and am happy to have picked it up. Its basic premise is to track western mankind's outlook on the world as influenced by our various religious philosophies and how they have been portrayed in popular literature of the times. Starting with the ancient Greeks as portrayed by Homer in his epics 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' as an easily understandable, easily ordered polytheistic world, then on to Aeschylus 'Oresteia' trilogy highlighting the conflict between the New Olympian gods and the old Furies, on through Dante's Aristotleian graded version of sinner and saint (hence the nine circles), eventually leading to the longest chapter of the book, and the most comprehensive, about Melville's 'Moby Dick'. Now, I have yet to read this book, and for the first time I am pleased about that fact. After reading 'All Things Shining' I now know that the story of 'Moby Dick' is a multi-textured, multi-layered one, and though I may have seen some of those textures/layers I am not the least bit confident I would have seen them all. As for the actual 'new' philosophy this book offers I, though clearly not as seasoned as these writers in the world of philosophy, found their offerings somewhat meek. The majority of the book is a history of philosophy both ancient and modern, and the thesis they present falls a little flat in comparison though I suppose that is to be expected after reviewing the philosophical ideas that changed the world in their times.
All said, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, not because of what they did or did not offer, but because of what I learned. I am a confirmed bibliophile, and the new perspectives that they have gifted me with in this book makes it easily a permanent reference guide for literature. Not everyone will enjoy this book because not everyone can enjoy this book, but anyone with any interest in literary philosophy should absolutely pick it up.
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