Nothing to get all that excited about, either.

I don't know why I picked up Julian Barnes's Nothing to Be Frightened Of. Oh, wait, yes I do: it's been getting great reviews, has just been named a New York Times Notable book for 2008, and is by an author with whose name I'm vaguely familiar but whose novels I could never find the energy to read. Whenever I see nonfiction by a novelist I feel like I should read but never have, I'll invariably pick it up.

After reading the first line I had high hopes for this book:

"I don't believe in God, but I miss Him. That's what I say when the question is put. I asked my brother, who has taught philosophy at Oxford, Geneva, and the Sorbonne, what he thought of such a statement, without revealing that it was my own. He replied with a single word: 'Soppy.'"

That, as one of J.D. Salinger's characters once said, had the possibility of being an interesting answer, so I read on. Seventy pages later I was annoyed, bored, and I hadn't found another sentence that lived up to that first one, so I stopped. The book jacket here promises that Barnes, "an atheist at twenty, an agnostic at sixty, Barnes looks into the various arguments for and against and with God," but I didn't find much of that. In one other aspect the jacket is entirely correct: he also writes about "the writers--'most of them dead, and quite a few of them French'--who are his daily companions, supplemented by composers and theologians and scientists whose similar explorations are woven into this account." He also offers an account of his own family and their relationship with religion and believing, which I also couldn't get interested in...

...and I just realized I am doing a terrible job of describing this book and why I didn't like it. Although I find religion very interesting, I can't say I've ever been all that fascinated by any atheists' manifestos. The way I see it: Believe what you're going to believe (or not), and that goes for God, the afterlife, and everything. The atheists aren't going to convince me to give up a belief in God, and I know I couldn't convince them. And, frankly, I TOTALLY don't understand being afraid of death if you are a true atheist. I may just be a total downer, but "nothingness" actually sounds kind of relaxing, so why fear it? But most of all, I am tired of old men telling me about their religion or their lack thereof. Why do these guys (Richard Dawkins, Barnes, Christopher Hitchens, etc.) think their personal lack of belief is so fascinating? Does anyone know of any female atheists writing these types of books? It'd be nice to read one of these by a woman, just for a change of pace, if nothing else.

Comments

[lesbrarian]

Possibly Ayn Rand.

[Jessica]

I think atheism is experiencing a vogue lately because there has been a resurgence of membership in organized religions. A while back, when church attendance was down, banging the drum about atheism was somewhat unnecessary. Hitchens particularly seems to have an ironic level of moral fervor about eliminating religious dogma. I think we'll see both these trends increase: more avowed atheists and more church-goers.

[Venta]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems women are writing about their spirituality or their search for it. Anne Lamont comes to mind, but I think there are others. I don't care what people think/believe, but I hope they stop yelling at each other about it. It's getting annoying.

[Citizen Reader]

Lesbrarian,
Oh, Ayn Rand. I used to devour Ayn Rand in college when I was young, healthy, and thought I had brains. Now of course I know better. It's a good suggestion--but I also feel that Ayn did have a religion--it's called capitalism. And that's even harder to believe in these days than traditional religion!

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
That's a good thought. I wonder how these books play in Europe, where I think religious attendance is still way down. Or is it experiencing a resurgence there too? I think you're probably right that we'll see more from both extremes, that seems to be the way the culture is going. I must say, of all these old men atheists, at least Hitchens is so angry he sometimes gives me a laugh. This guy Barnes just seemed like a horribly snobby and quite dull name-dropper (of dead French people's names).

[Citizen Reader]

Venta,
And I would like to say this without irony: AMEN to what you say, sister!

Interesting, also, to bring up Anne Lamott. Who's her male counterpart? I do think more of her writing than male "spirituality" writers like Joel Osteen or Rick Warren. At least Anne Lamott, to me, seems like she's writing more about her own search--sometimes with these guy writers, I can't help it, I get more of a feeling that they're really trying to instruct me.

[Jessica]

I'm laughing because the first name that came to mind as a male counterpart to Anne Lamott was... Nick Hornby!

[Rhonda]

Found your female atheist: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/books/review/Jong-t.html?8bu&emc=bua2

[Citizen Reader]

Rhonda,
You are the best. I am off to read this article now, and hopefully also to request whatever book/author you've found! It should be a nice change from the relentless male atheists, I hope.