Customer Reviews:
 come on, it's better than that. April 16, 2008
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
What an odd/interesting bunch of reviews. This book is not just a rant, and by the way, an informed and rationally-argued case is not the same as a belief (jn the religious sense.) CH is formidably well-informed, witty and bitterly angry at man's inhumanity to man (and in particular, to women and children.) And that is how he judges religion, for the damage it causes. He does not try to explain the origins of religion or find scientific reasons for its spread, and so he is not vulnerable to charges that he doesn't understand theology. (He probably understands much more about their religion than do the literalists, fundamentalists and extremists, in any case.) Reviewers who claim it is hard going should consider their own capacities in a more critical light, I'm afraid. It is lucid and forceful. It also modest and moving in places. And how about some humility, some of you - he has been to places that would cause the rest of us to need to change our underwear very frequently indeed. But if -( aha! perhaps this it!) you are yourselves looking for absolute answers, you won't find them here, because it is not of course a bible. That's the point, my good fellow-travellers. No more holy texts we have to obey under threat - they are proven to be toxic.
CH is also bravely (in the current circumstances) outspoken about Islamists.
Look - this is a very fine book indeed. Read it and make your own mind up about any kind of dogmatic or religious belief, but don't duck his arguments. That would be cowardly, and we can't give way to the cowardice of dogmatism any more. The planet is too small and crowded for that sort of nonsense.
 An enthralling rant April 16, 2008
25 out of 30 found this review helpful
It must be admitted at the outset that, as other reviewers have noted, this book is a rant. This leads on occasions to digressions which can detract from the cohesion of the arguments being presented. The arguments themselves, however, are compelling and well-constructed.
The questions Hitchens poses cut to the core of whether religion serves a useful purpose in the world, or not. He asks, for example, whether religious explanations of the origins of man and the world are adequate and whether the presence of religion in the world helps man to act in a more moral way and so make the world a better place. His categorical answer to both of these questions is `no' and he marshals ample evidence from history and from religious texts to prove his point. Some critics have claimed that he selectively uses passages from the holy books to serve his purposes. If one examines the passages he has chosen, however, their very existence in the holy books at all often proves the points he is trying to make.
Hitchens' style is dry, conversational, often sarcastic and occasionally very amusing. The book is quite an enjoyable read.
drily amusing and conversational March 27, 2008
27 out of 31 found this review helpful
I cannot start by saying, " I am an atheist, but.." as a couple of previous reviewers have begun - that's always a peculiar opening, like, " My best fiend is black, but...". So I claim no particular stance and picked up the book to browse through it. I was instantly captivated by Hitchens' conversational style and dry wit. Some people have called it a "rant" but to me it was more like having the professor round for a couple of drinks and him feeling free to expound his real thoughts in a way he would not do in a formal lecture. In this sense it was a comfortable and easily readable book with lots of information and interpretations of religious beliefs which at times had me chuckling out loud. He expresses his opinions with a sense of astonishment that anyone could think otherwise, and if he really were in that chair across the room I would hesitate to challenge his erudition and conclusions. Yet he does this in a way that entertains, and I was surprised that I wanted to continue reading to the end rather than discard it halfway through, as I often do with polemical books, usually thinking, "yeah, yeah, you've made you point", and return to my thriller.
To be recommended as a provocative and entertaining read.
He certainly ain't March 25, 2008
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
Christopher Hitchen's "God is not great" is an interesting contrast to Dawkins' "God Delusion". Dawkins seeks to prove that religion does not make sense of the world but evolution does, and he is better at this than at the philosophical arguments. He writes eloquently and well and makes many of the points that I would. However he falls into the trap of the liberal who can understand anyone except someone who can't understand him, as Lennie Bruce put it. He's only really going to convince atheists. Hitchins on the other hand works to the theme "religion makes things worse" though he makes a principled rejection of terms such as "dogma" and "mantra". He also does not restrict himself to the great monotheistic religions, and the wealth of examples of recent world faith experiences he quotes is most impressive. As a former Marxist and a Christian of several variants he is a bit subject to ad hominm arguments, but I find his views impressive.
 Poor effort March 14, 2008
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
Like most readers of this book, I suspect, I am an atheist and read it as a way of arming myself with useful arguments against religion and the existing of a supreme being. However, this is a poorly thought out book, rambling and dry though with occasional flashes of humour. Compared to the locked-on laser focus of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion it's way off the mark, with none of the clarity or elegance of prose of Dawkins' book. At one point Hitchens accuses Dawkins of arrogance - this from Christopher Hitchens, one of the most monstrously arrogant, self-regarding people you could find!
There are occasional flashes of wit and some nice deconstructions of historical religiosity, and Hitchens very nicely shows up the destructive, murderous side of religion (it is undoubtedly the cause of more suffering and division of people than any other force in human history), but overall this book is not great and you'd be far better off with The God Delusion.
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