Salah Kouhen

This book is not primarily about current issues, rather it is a long text on stories and how humanity interacts with them. I heartily recommend it with the caveat that you must engage with and question the text to get the most out of it (as with any book). Ironically, for a book that is ruthlessly logical in the face of cherished fictions, my main criticism is it is not rational enough. In particular the author presents logic that is not consistent. For example he asserts that a religion is what it's faithful make it (IS is Islam, the crusades were Christian) since their sacred texts can be interpreted in any way the follower desires. He then spends a chapter making his own definition of what it means to be secular and triumphantly concludes that Stalin was, in fact, not secular. Whilst either stance is completely defensible, together they are embarrassingly hypocritical. Similarly, he argues that we are in fact nothing but biological machines governed by chemistry and physics whilst also holding the opinion that the only "real" thing is suffering. What distinguishes suffering from any other phenomenon of our mind such as pleasure or religion is never made clear. His simple explanations of communism, liberalism, nationalism and fascism are excellent and provide, again ironically (the book attempts to reject narratives), a simplified story which provides a useful framework when confronted with these topics in history or current events.