Tag: spirituality

Memoir. History. Travelogue. In this book, Iyer seeks out ways in which paradise exists on earth and in the human imagination. The result is a global journey, one which peels back the multiple images and meanings the word “paradise” evokes.

Divided into three parts, The Half Known Life delves headfirst into the various ways humanity has dreamed of paradise, understood and interpreted it. Part one takes on the Islamic, Iranian version of paradise and its manifestation on earth, the notion of a “promised land” in whatever subjective form that may be. Part two has a spiritual, religious slant; faiths offer the incentive of a paradise, whether earthly or otherworldly. Iyer scatters his ink wide from Damascus to Ethiopia to the Shangri-La of the Himalayas. The Half Known Life explores Judeo-Christian views, Buddhist perspectives, indigenous ideas of what heaven may be or could be or is. Part three takes the conversation to the dark side: the afterlife, the question of time and if paradise is a time or a place.

Musings. Memories. Philosophies. The Half Known Life is a collection of ideas, all aimed toward this notion of paradise, whether geographical or psychological or paranormal. This is a work of philosophical significance and a view into how our world views the places of our desires (a paradise on earth) and our sense of what comes after life ends and where we go (heaven, for lack of a better word).