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Book Details:
Book Title: Hope...And The Hedgehog by Tom Vaughan
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 100 pages
Genre: Philosophy/Spirituality/New-Age
Publisher: Choir Press
Release date: May 2022
Content Rating: G. It has no swearwords or sex scenes.
Hope…. And The Hedgehog is a ‘pocketbook philosophy for the present age’, a digestible exploration of the meaning of life which aims to unpick the big questions most of us spend our lives avoiding: how did life begin, how does it end, and what happens to us after we die?
Is there life after death? Is there a higher power? Or, is life one big cosmic accident; a clash of particles and atoms and one big bang? Tom looks instead at the power of faith and spirituality which he separates from religion. While he does not attempt to present any definitive argument, he looks at all sides, gathering thoughts from history’s most influential philosophers and scientists.
He makes the proposition that, between only two possible explanations for the existence of life, there is a greater likelihood of the one over the other. He believes in the importance of opening up our minds and finding more of a sense of purpose and direction in life - a view that, as we look towards a post-lockdown future, will resonate with many people.
"I chose the book’s title Hope ... and the Hedgehog because hope is one of the principal drivers we resort to as human beings when confronted with a challenge to which there is no obvious solution. In the case of this book, that challenge is a very prickly issue: how we came into existence. It is an issue that we are all drawn to, but at the same time we do not want to handle or investigate too closely. Like the proverbial elephant in the room, we know that little hedgehog is there, we just prefer to leave it be – even if, in the end, there is no avoiding it." - Tom Vaughan, May 2022.
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I loved the idea behind the title of this faith-based philosophical book, the eponymous hedgehog being a metaphor for the disconcerting idea of death - a prickly, albeit it more discreet version of the elephant in the room. Despite not being a professional philosopher, I thought Tom Vaughan did a good job here of not only marshalling his thoughts into a coherent narrative, but also in clearly portraying his ideas and theories to his audience. I have found, in reading more scholarly philosophy books, that I expend so much concentration in just trying to understand what the author in on about, that I have little left to actually mull over their points.
In Hope ... And The Hedgehog, that was absolutely not the case so, although this is not thematically an easy book - Vaughan grapples with the big questions of life, death and whatever is next - I was always confident that that I understood the concepts presented to me. Which isn't to say that I wholeheartedly agreed with everything Vaughan posits, but then that is what is so great about Hope ... And The Hedgehog. Vaughan obviously has his faith, but he does give everything a fairly rounded presentation, often allowing alternative theories as least as much consideration as his favoured point of view and encouraging readers to decide for themselves where their own faith lies.
I felt this book was about leading each of us to safely encounter our own hedgehog metaphor and giving people the confidence to face what can be very difficult subjects to think about. The inclusion of such a wide selection of quotes was also a nice touch. It showed how a variety of people before us have grappled with similar questions and how they chose to resolve their beliefs. Overall, Hope ... And The Hedgehog is a very positive, thoughtful read that I can see appealing to those of us who don't really appreciate organised religion, but who still want to consolidate their own ideas around spirituality and personal faith.
Tom’s life has come full circle from his first career as co-founder of the successful chain of Juliana’s discotheques, which he started in the 60’s and grew to be the world’s largest entertainment group of its type at the time, with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sidney. With no scientific, philosophical or theological training and few school qualifications but armed with heaps of life experience as an entrepreneur, Tom switches gear with his latest work Hope...And The Hedgehog to take on the role of ‘everyman philosopher’, creating a new book that makes people stop and think.
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