| The Denial of Death (Free Press Paperback) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ernest Becker
Creator: Sam Keen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 82642
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0684832402
Dewey Decimal Number: 128.5
EAN: 9780684832401
ASIN: 0684832402
Publication Date: August 4, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Like New, never read, may have small remainder mark - Ships from Canada by Air Mail, Delivery within 2 to 3 weeks, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Over 150,000 Amazon.co.uk orders filled
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 The Denial Of Death, by Ernest Becker September 9, 2008
Ernest Becker is fairly easy to read, and the concepts he refers to are either well introduced through the book before they become widely called upon, or they will be clearly understood after a little while.
This is a very wide-ranging work, in which Ernest Becker first paints a comprehensive panorama of the problem of death anxiety from every point of view and possible significance, making use of a wealth of knowledge on the subject within psychology and beyond. At the very last part, he draws a conclusion more clearly of his own, and it feels less like the putting together of a puzzle and more like his own freehand sketching.
Now about my personal experience with this book. The book even proves a lot of what it teaches you, by making you observe the things around you and see exactly what you read, if you had not seen it in yourself before. Another thing Becker achieves is that by the time you come to read the concluding chapter, you had almost reached that same conclusion by yourself, but still his words truly satisfy you. The book taught me first hand what unusual instances transference can have. When I had only a few pages left, I was a bit afraid of finishing it. I am only starting to read psychology now, and in this book I had an object that allowed me to safely and automatically "analyse", so to speak, and once I had finished it, I would have to move on by myself and do it "on my own steam". I realised this before I finished reading the book, which was funny. Then, gladly, the final pages really do not leave you afraid or lost in the middle of the road or feeling down about anything at all (without resorting to any calls for new fantastic unrepressed beings). I think the book instead takes you all the way to a place where there are many directions in which to progress.
Anyway, this book can change what you do and think during and after reading it and whatever you read next. After finishing it, go on the internet and read about Becker's other main works. You will want to read them too.
 We only live once! December 5, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I first came to Ernest Becker's discourse through Woody Allen who, in his interview with Stig Bjorkman, refers to the anthropologist's work when questioned about themes of death. Essentially the book is a remarkable psychological and philosophical exploration of human duality: the `spiritual' inner self (seeking immortality, meaning, purpose) incarcerated in a selfish biological organism, whose sole instinctive function is to reproduce its DNA as quickly and as many times as possible before death. As Becker details, with reference to numerous thinkers (e.g. Freud, Kierkegaard, Rank), death is the stark reality of human existence; a painful paradox, torturing reasoning minds for millennia and the cause of a great deal of human misery. Becker skilfully supports his argument using, for example, psychoanalysis (particularly childhood development), existentialism, belief in the supernatural, the nature of character, heroism, symbolism to reveal the consequences of repression or denial of death: principally self-deceit, fantasy and arrogance. I felt the book described a living hell where human consciousness is `cursed' with the terrifying knowledge of death (other organisms are spared this torment!). For most of us, however, the success of repression enables our thoughts to concentrate on living, loving and fabricating meaning; death is something that happens to other people! Becker shows that humans, who exist in a universe of unimaginable violence and indifference to life, are able to cope, and use, for example, religion (or immortality projects), ancestral continuity (sons and daughters), secular consumerism (capitalist hegemony), and the suppression of logic, observation and reason to keep the fear of death under control. Unfortunately some people are more vulnerable and Becker offers an interesting 1970's insight into mental illness, its causes and effect. The only criticism I have of the book is Becker's outdated views on homosexuality and sexual perversions. Ultimately I think it is worth noting an Epicurean coping strategy: "Death ... is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, we do not exist." A fascinating, thought provoking and, dare I say it, optimistic read (after all we're only human).
Superb, Brilliantly Written and Highly Recommended March 13, 2005
Superb, Brilliantly Written and Highly Recommended. Shows there are as many ways of dying as there are of living. Open to many interpretation and good to think with. I think a closer reading by an earlier reviewer would have avoided the idea that Becker was not advocating for religion but looking at religion as an anthropological phenomena and symbolic action system through which human beings interpret the world, and was definitely not suggesting it was an 'answer' to death.
Quick Comment April 12, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
For me, this has been one of the most important books I have ever read. If you haven't read it, I would obviously encourage you to do so.I noticed that one of the reviewers thought that Becker had surrendered to some sort concept of God. I'm afraid that I disagree strongly with this view. My view is that Becker calls for the courage to be (to steal Tillich's phrase) and that the act or process of creativity is in and of itself meaningful - is possibly the only higher level authentic way of being. It is not at all that he is calling for happy denial. I think he agrues that denial is necessary for mental health but that through a constant creative process denial can be recognized and used as a source and dynamo for growth and self-willed courageous living. True, there are echoes of this in various religious tradtions (I'm thinking particularly of Jewish negative theology and Moltmann-esque Christianity) but in my estimation that says something good about those traditons rather than something bad about Becker's approach. Paul
 Denial of Reason July 7, 2001
11 out of 18 found this review helpful
I ordered this book through Amazon purely on the strength of some of the reviews. It seemed really interesting to me, since it proposed to explain much of human behaviour and thought by reference to our trying (unconsciously) to deny our mortality by making ourselves heroes in some way. This is an appealing (if unscientific) theory, and it is true that the book does explain this fully. Becker clearly had great intelligence and has a keen grasp of academic issues. I especially enjoyed his detailing and interpretation of Freud's feinting episodes. As other reviewers mentioned, he has a great ability to write and it is a juicy book.Sadly, Becker could not leave it at this. About a third of the way through the book, I realised that he thought he had solutions to the problems he expounded, and that this solution took the form of some sort of surrender to God. Through the book, this becomes more evident. I disapprove of this for two grounds: First, it is unfair to mix up scientific research with moralising. As Hume said, one cannot infer the 'ought' from the 'is'. To give a scientific theory, and to explain how we should act now that we know about this theory are two completely separate issues. Yet Becker presents the two to us together, and so convinces us, not on rational, but on emotional grounds, that he is right. Second, essentially, Becker is proposing a pragmatic epistemology, like William James, a philosopher which he says in the book he admires. Which is to say, it is better to lie to yourself and be happy than to be truthful and not as happy. To simplify, pragmatic philosophers would want someone to tell them that their new haircut looked nice, even if it were dreadful. Strange that Becker would have us believe in the book that his is the most honest theory, and that we are being honest with ourselves by accepting his guidance, when the opposite is so. Overall, this is the usual self-help book disguised as some sort of amazing insight into the psyche, and although interesting in an anecdotal way, especially early on, it is largely well-presented nonsense...
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