ARA Review by Medphyschick of In It Together

[Medphyschick]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, In It Together.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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I thoroughly enjoyed the message in this book. We are all in it together, and life is a struggle, in which we learn many lessons along the way. The optimism in this book was refreshing after several years of extreme divisiveness on almost any topic you can name. The author's words aligned with my personal beliefs that we all have an outer persona we show to the world and that we all have a physical body, an avatar, that we inhabit in this existence. Those two things are impermanent and don't reflect the true "us": the spirit, if you will. By focusing on our true inner self instead of the outer trappings of this existence we can find peace.


This book left me feeling positive and lighter, particularly given some of the recent stories in the news. The opening quote of the book by Ram Das sets the tone beautifully, and the author develops his thesis chapter by chapter as the book progresses. The author comes back to Ram Das with a fabulous quote about being involved in life, yet less attached to it, a quote that stuck with me because it is so perfect in its simplicity and its fundamental truth. In this way, he builds his argument to its conclusion.


I particularly liked the way the author divided his premise up into suggestions. This approach, using recommendations instead of a here's-what-you-must-do format adds to the book's appeal. The author manages to take some of the fundamental premises of many major religions and present them as if they are natural philosophical arguments. He lays them out like stepping-stones to gently lead the reader along the path he is laying.


The author discusses the fundamental struggles of this existence in such a relatable way that it was hard not to come away changed by the experience of reading the book. I opted to read the hard-cover version of this book versus the e-book version because I love the feel of pages in my hand. I'm glad I chose the print version, as it somehow added another layer of authenticity and relatability to the message. This is an uplifting book that will leave you feeling better upon finishing it.


I did find some of the prose in this book a little hard to parse, with some sentences tending to be very long with many phrases. This detracted a bit from the point the author was making because the reader can lose track of the point when navigating these sentences. Overall, this was a minor issue for me. I read a lot of older literature, so longer sentences are actually fun for me. They are like a puzzle to deconstruct. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 due to this issue because of the minor distraction.

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