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by: John Ralston Saul
List Price: $18.95Amazon.com's Price: $12.89 You Save: $6.06 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.09821
EAN: 9780679748199
ISBN: 0679748199
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 656
Publication Date: November 30, 1993
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: November 30, 1993
Sales Rank: 294888
Studio: Vintage
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Irrational Rationalism
This is a fascinating book that follows in the footsteps of Allan Bloom's Closing Of The American Mind. For an update see Susan Jacoby's Age Of American Unreason (Pantheon, 2008).
Rating: - AN INTELLECTUAL TOUR DE FORCE
John Saul makes the argument that when the world swung away from the faith-based beliefs of the Middle Ages to the rational thinking of the Age of Reason, it over-reacted in equating rational thinking with truth. In other words, rational arguments may lead to false conclusions.
He then argues that the modern world has become so committed to rational thinking that the entire structure of Western culture is predicated on the belief that rational solutions are always best and that ... Read More
Rating: - Juicy
I bought this book in 1997, 10 years ago, and it was already 5 years old. It was enjoyable but a slog to get through and not all was retained in my head at the end of the read. I was left tired and I moved on. The true value of the book, however, became apparent as the years passed - every re-read of portions gave pleasure through forgotten information freshly revealed, or insights put forth in the book that have finally sunk in, or new color/nuance to previously remembered arguments. I also bought ... Read More
Rating: - Not quite as dense as some might insist...
Few books that are truly worth reading make for an easy read, and this is certainly the case with Voltaire's Bastards. Other reviewers have complained of Saul's density and have even accused him of dull, poor writing. Don't be fooled by such baseless nonsense. Saul is actually an excellent writer. He beautifully elucidates the finer, invariably ignored philosophical points of our modern political culture (which seeps through into every stratum of our lives) with grace and ease. The "density" arises ... Read More
Rating:  - Mixed feelings
Much has been said amongst the other reviews about the seemingly incoherent, diatribal and drawn-out nature of Saul's book. And I agree. It's far from being a masterpiece in the larger sense of the world. What's brilliant about this book is not how right the author is but how wrong (often infuratingly so!) he is. Because I found that I've learnt more from this book, including the wrong parts than I have from many books that were more coherent or right. Unfortunately this does not seem to be Saul's aim.
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