The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders

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Review "If ever a work of philosophical ideas arrived at a time when human events make it not only timely but urgently relevant, The American Soul is such a book. TarcherPerigee; Reprint edition June 2, Language: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers.

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Please try again later. I oscillated repeatedly between considering this to be a 3 star or 4 star book.

The American Soul by Jacob Needleman | bahana-line.com

There are grand points that are made, but the way the material is presented makes it hard to find them and celebrate them. And since most reviews are 5 stars, I lowered it to 3 to bring the ranking closer to where I consider it be. I have enormous respect for the author, Jacob Needleman. He's a deep-thinker, a philosopher, and a nice guy. I have another of his books Time and the Soul which I rated higher than this book.

He doesn't hit the reader over the head in a preachy or sermonizing way , nor use negativity, to support his material. It's presented in a kind and grandfatherly way. The book is laid out in a no-nonsensical and uncluttered way. There are no pictures or graphics, so it's a very text-heavy book something I generally prefer and appreciate.

But it is also sort of a rambling flow of talk without any pause and consideration.

Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders

The book would have benefitted from some stop and reflection device a picture, a side note, a side bar, some modern parallel to bring the material into the present, etc. It's almost a bit 'stream-of-consciousness' in approach. There are quotes from prominent American figures, and they are often the most interesting sources of material in the book.

One wonders how much better the book would be if it mostly just focused on quotes, rather than Needleman explaining what the quotes mean. There's a bit too much of hand-holding by him, telling us what the passages meant and what we are to think of them. This got on my nerves after awhile; I'm capable of thinking on my own, and drawing my own conclusions. There is also a building up of concepts, and the author walking us through the themes.

It seemed that more time was spent sculpting his ideas than just presenting material, and letting that prove the point. This would be a much greater book if it were more concise and to the point. Each chapter covered good points, but continued on unnecessarily after the points were made.

He could have covered more topics and themes too, even while slimming down and refining the content.

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At times while reading this book, there were 'deja vu' moments of reading Robert Bly's "Iron John" book. Undoubtedly, the author must have read Bly's material and jump onboard the "mythology" bandwagon. Just as Bly stated that we need to "re-mythologize" masculinity and manhood, Needleman argues that we need to "re-mythologize" American themes. When Americans are to grasp deep and strong ways of thought that truly existed in the developing years of our country, it doesn't help any to encourage people to then resort to mythology and fantasy.

That was the strangest element I came across in the book. It almost trivialized the stronger material in the book. Good themes and a great idea for a book. This aimed high, and deserves merit for its attempt. It's a shame thought that the delivery wasn't as grand as the concepts. Books should be put together in a manner complimentary to their focus and theme. Then we would have a 5-star book. I know that's a mundane word for a book that combines philosophy and spirituality in such an eloquent flow, but, hey, that's been my constant response while reading this book. This is one of those books that, if it were within my power to do so, I would have as required reading for all Americans.

Profoundly moving and deeply edifying, this book speaks to all that I have been pondering recently. If not, if it begins to live only in its first history, only int he outer dimension, it will have lost all that really nourishes the life of a nation or an individual. One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful. Brilliant in scope and detail evocative in re-studying the exceptional characters of Washington, Franklin and Jefferson, heuristic in treatment of Lincoln, and brutally realistic in examining the deep spiritual culture the vanquished native Americans, as well as our blind violence to three million people of color.

Realistic in the survey of what our lost American "Soul" has caused and is causing. This is a "must read" for those who love this country, for those who study American History more later , our military veterans, and for those worried about the directions of our society as well as its influence for good in the world.

Needleman's answer is in part a study of the wisdom literature common to all religions and great philosophy of life. Needleman evidences a great deal of impatience with standard church or synagogue-going. He argues that he himself has found such conventional forms of religion sterile and routine. He finds such wisdom, in various of its phases, in the writings of the American founders. Thus the larger part of the book is a discussion and creative discussion of the American founders and a reading of certain of American texts.

He tries to show how these texts show an America of spiritual values rather than money-making. His aim is, avowedly, to remythologize America and its past. In a broad sense his project is carried through well. Some of his readings of the texts, particularly of Washington's Farewell Address and of the Iroquois myth, seem to me forced. Needleman would have done better to let Washington speak for himself rather than create a Washington with, perhaps, Needleman's own spiritual preoccupations. The readings of Whitman, Douglass, and Lincoln work much better, even on Needleman's own terms.

In trying to get people to think about America -- and to reassess its values in spiritual terms --Needleman has critical things to say about America's treatment of the Indians and about the long legacy of slavery. These themes are valuable and important and Needleman is right to dwell upon them. I have some question about whether the treatment of the Indians is in itself free from a degree of modern stereotyping. Be that as it may, Needleman's point is that we may see America with its flaws and crimes and love it and try to recognize and bring about the ideal in the sometimes shabby nature of the real.

There is a great deal of erudition in this book, both on spiritual texts and on American history. In addition to his treatment of certain standard figures in American history, Needleman has a fascinating discussion of the Ephrata community in Pennsylvania and its founder Conrad Bissel.

This Protestant spiritual community flourished briefly during the period just before the Revolutionary War. Walt Whitman has the last word in this book, as he properly should, with his vision of America and of the American person.

The American Soul

There is a great deal of interest, as best as I can tell, in American history, as evidenced by the many new books on the Founders and the unending interest in Lincoln and the Civil War, and in spirituality, which I myself have found in a study of Buddhism. This book combines these two broad themes in an attempt to help the reader rethink and America and understand it anew. It is a worthy goal and the book carries it out well. While the ideas in the book are interesting, I found the writing almost impossible to get through. It's kind of like diving deep in the ocean: Each has advantages and disadvantages.

Also, the focus of the book is on religion as the defining mode of understanding America and m While the ideas in the book are interesting, I found the writing almost impossible to get through. Also, the focus of the book is on religion as the defining mode of understanding America and mythologizing it, as the author puts it.

THE AMERICAN SOUL

I prefer more secular understanding based on modern stoic philosophies. Aug 29, Jenn rated it liked it. Not sure why I'm not loving this book more. I chose it after hearing Needleman speak on NPR. His voice is so soft and mesmerizing. I think I was also feeling the need to hit the reset button on my vision of America and Americans.

The biographical details are wonderful, but it sort of seems like he's guessing at the underlying character of each of these people. Going to give it another chance. Feb 09, Steve rated it really liked it. The character studies on Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln are explicitly focused on the ideals of the men, as such they do not aim so much to examine their lives as to explore how their ideals are relevant to America today. The most fascinating part of the book looks at American experiences in direct opposition to the stated ideals of the nation, like the dehumanizing of the American Indian, and slavery and racism.

All in all I very much enjoyed this book, it is more spiritual philosophy than history, and is a bit more rooted than philosophy often is. May 23, Taylor rated it liked it Shelves: The idea of the book is that there is in fact an idea to America. He uses the perspectives of very influential Americans Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Douglas, Whitman to show how some American ideals were truly revolutionary.

He gives a great case for believing that what we think of democracy, liberty, individualism are shabby left-overs of the original concepts. Some parts of the book we're absolutely wonderful. There was a story used to illustrate the concept of internal democrac The idea of the book is that there is in fact an idea to America. There was a story used to illustrate the concept of internal democracy, but a beautiful, deep story about forgiveness, about a man, Peter Miller, from the Ephrata Cloister here in Pennsylvania meeting up with Gen.

George Washington to plead for a man's life that was worth reading the entire book to find. At times the author speaks from a very personal perspective, and those times distract from the main goal of the book. He also likes to present his philosophy as very middle-of-the-road by drawing caricatures of the "extremes", a useful technique for politicians. Sections on George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were good. The readings from Fredrick Douglas were very powerful, probably the second highlight of the book. Needleman articulates for all of us what we grew up believing The United States is all about.

This book very simply and eloquently tells who "Americans" are in their deepest hearts. Needleman shows us again who we are, who we are called to be and what we mean to the world. What is most important Needleman articulates for all of us what we grew up believing The United States is all about. What is most important, Needleman helps us to understand the importance of conscience both individual and communal that makes the American experiment and American Soul important to the world. I think this book is a must read, not least because of my inability to adequately describe what a soul-stirrer it is.

Anyone who knows my reading habits knows that non-fiction is a difficult read for me. Although history, philosophy and sociology are sure cures for insomnia, Needleman made me THINK - especially right before the elections. Needleman's style can be offensive - every thing is from his perspective and he often interprets and in his words remythologizes people and events.

Nonethelss he has the ability to force one to evaluate what it m Anyone who knows my reading habits knows that non-fiction is a difficult read for me. Nonethelss he has the ability to force one to evaluate what it meant to be an American and whether we've lost that original intent. Not light reading for sure! Dec 05, Tim rated it it was ok Shelves: This is going on my "partially read" shelf. I have at times been able to get several pages read, but it feels like work the whole time. Sometimes I get interested in what is being said, but most of the time I'm just getting bored with the writing.

Something about the language feels overly complex and flowery for what ought to be basic ideas. I don't mean this to be a criticism of the content or the author, but for me I'm going to set this down and maybe come back to it someday when I have more p This is going on my "partially read" shelf. I don't mean this to be a criticism of the content or the author, but for me I'm going to set this down and maybe come back to it someday when I have more patience. I heard about this book through a podcast and decided it was worth a read. Jacob Needleman has an intricate way of writing and is not for the light reader- at times I found myself forcing to press forward.

Despite the above Mr. Needleman makes very valid and thoughtful points. I found this book applicable to our nations current affairs and agreed that we need to search in ourselves for the real meaning of the American Soul. Jacob Needleman brings the complexity of US history to light and points out how much more we need to recognize and respect the different experiences people have had within our United States.

He further clarified for me, as one who grew up in England, the depth of the difficulties experienced by Native Americans and African American slaves, and how this complicates life today. This book has helped me to more clearly understand the background of American consciousness. Aug 22, Erika Mulvenna rated it really liked it Shelves: This book was an intense read! I had to put it down every chapter or so to ingest what was just read. The author has a way of putting some of the most important events in American History in a new context, and I have come away with a different point of view on many of these events.

A good read for any American. Jun 19, Allison Murray rated it really liked it. I took a philosopy course from Jacob Needleman when I was in college. Since then, I have read many of the books he has written. The American Soul is an interesting attempt to view and understand American history through the eyes of philosophy and spiritual inquiry. It has given me a new way to think about the forefathers of our country. Aug 12, Ron Bruno rated it really liked it.

I found this book very inspiring.

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