Any book with the mission statement 'a scientist's exploration' in the sub-head should tell you something. Yet I came at this with an open mind... and within a mere ten-pages found myself having to work at enjoying this. But if you can apply yourself, and you have the time to give it, there is much to be gained from On Being.
On the whole, On Being is a great idea: colliding the secular/scientific with the inevitability of answering such a gigantic question about existence in a world possessed of spirituality, to present an entire over-view of what existence surely can be. It's just the right length (perhaps, novella is an apt gauge), and is nicely concise in terms of scope, preferring to include the author's personal preferences instead of provide a one-stop list to the subject of existence thinking.
Yet, for me, On Being fell down because it is just so utterly prosaic. Not so much like a thesis, where scientific jargon renders the work exclusive to the already converted, but more in the line of overly poetic. Don't get me wrong, there's a great deal to commend about this work, and I have absolutely no opinion that the author is anything other than a very smart and crucial thinker. It's just that this book feels a bit too much like a labour of love: The love landing on the author's side, and the labour handed a bit too far over to the reader to affect the required inclusiveness such great thought demands.
Which is a shame, because On Being is a rather brilliant, and somewhat individual take on the idea of romance of great thinking; is free from excess baggage, presenting itself as a kind of anchored, poetic musing when it could so easily have been a chewy thesis. But it does tend to operate like a thesis at times, with the author tending to introduce a question, then immediately spending just a tad too long dissecting the question's base meaning, in order to move on without confusion. Which is all fine and dandy, but does tend to slow the pace right down to a crawl - a motion which could so easily risk losing some readers along the way, as they wonder who exactly this work is intended for.
That said, On Being is a good example of excellent writing: smart, informed and passionate. It's just a little too much at times. A bit like a very rich chocolate mousse, when a bit more basic sustenance is required and no other food is on hand.
