The Soul of the Marionette

[Dave Monroe]

THE SOUL OF THE MARIONETTE:
A Short Inquiry into Human Freedom
John Gray
Farrar, Straus and Giroux


Compared with that of humans, the life of the marionette looks more
like an enviable state of freedom

In his brilliantly enjoyable and freewheeling new book, John Gray
draws together the religious, philosophic, and fantastical traditions
that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves
about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous
forces--logical, physical, metaphysical--constrain our every action.
Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but
instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone
from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a "human
dominion" almost comically at odds with our true state.

Filled with wonderful examples and drawing on the widest possible
reading (from the Gnostics to Philip K. Dick), The Soul of the
Marionette is a stimulating and engaging meditation on everything from
cybernetics to the fairground marionettes of the title.

http://us.macmillan.com/thesoulofthemarionette/john-gray

The Soul of the Marionette by John Gray review – bleak, bracing and
highly entertaining

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/25/the-soul-of-marionette-enquiry-human-freedom-john-gray-review

Are We ‘Exceptionally Rapacious Primates’?

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/nov/05/are-we-exceptionally-rapacious-primates/

The Gnostic Pynchon

http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=20179
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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l