Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508090004
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MARIE S. BEAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Daniel Quinn is the author of ``Ishmael,'' winner of the Ted Turner Tomorrow Fellowship for visionary fiction.
``Providence'' is an exposition of the ideas he introduced in ``Ishmael.'' The form he chooses to take is that of a rambling dialogue with an unnamed visitor who wakes him in the middle of the night and asks him to explain ``Ishmael.''
``Ishmael,'' it will be recalled, through a series of philosophical conversations between a man and a full-grown gorilla (Ishmael), explores evolution, the history of human civilization and man's role in the world. In conclusion, the question is raised: What is man's destiny?
In ``Providence,'' Quinn claims that it is ``man's destiny to live in the hands of the gods. For the lifetime of the planet ...'' And who are the ``gods?''
When Quinn was a postulant at the Trappist monastery Gethsemani, he walked out the door one afternoon and saw the world ablaze. ``And,'' he writes, ``the gods spoke.'' The incident became a defining moment in his life. As the years passed, he decided that what happened was sufficient to account for animism as a world religion. His definition of animism differs from the classical one which holds that natural phenomena and things animate and inanimate possess an innate soul.
In Quinn's view, ``the world is ablaze with divine life, and that's the center of the animist religion. Not that the tree has a spirit in it, but that the tree is ablaze with divine life.'' Furthermore, ``the life of every place is god ... in every place unique, as the life of every place is unique.''
Quinn writes with the zeal of the prophet who alone strives for the truth. He tends to make global claims for his ideas that discount or eliminate others' contributions to the discussion at hand. The only thing that can save the planet is his brand of animism.
``Providence'' is flawed in several respects, not the least of which is its logic. At the beginning of the book, Quinn describes a dream he had as a small child in which he had a conversation with a beetle who told him he was ``badly needed.'' Quinn concludes ``Providence'' by saying to the reader, ``Feel needed.''
However, in his system ``the gods'' never favor one life form (animal or vegetable) over another. Evil does not exist, of what may be ``evil'' for one is ``good'' for another. It's pretty much each for itself, as when the dog rids itself of fleas. Question: In that theology, where is there a place for an ethic of concern for another's needs?
Quinn's vision is naive and lacking in clarity, compassion and hope.
Marie S. Bean is a retired college chaplain.
by CNB