Musings at the End of Modernity by Conor O'Brian Barnes Counterbalance Books
book review by E. Martin
"Life is hope for eternity, then death."
So begins Barnes' paradoxical collection of aphorisms, which travels the history of man's existence through thought and being. The collection starts with the yin and yang of eastern and western thinking, or Occident vs. Orient, and the historical development of our comparative approaches toward man and the universe. As Barnes points out, the concept of God has regularly shifted from a great internalization of spirit to a detached deity, as well as the concept of good and evil from an accepted duality to compartmentalized, battling forces. The truth perhaps best revealed in this collection is that there is very little difference between these apparently vast schisms, only their earthly byproducts, but even they become leveled over the cycles of time.
In periods of both crisis and closure—many claim there is no difference between the two—thinkers reach for meaning in order to put our current state and occasionally our entire history into context. Like many others, perhaps Barnes senses the downward turn in western civilization's current ascension and desires perspective. He applies a wide-angle lens by assimilating a fair amount of the social, religious, and philosophical vanguard into a point-by-point, progressive discussion. Are we collectively and individually on a pursuit of eternity that may only be achieved through ultimate selflessness?
What the author believes or follows as a guidepost is difficult to say. At times, Musings reads like Eric Hoffer's daybook, Working and Thinking on the Waterfront. Well stated, concisely written, and likely hinged upon years of study, the pages offer a collection of developing thoughts, affirmed by western self-perception and knowledge extracted from the east. It will be interesting to see how the young Barnes continues to distill his insights along his journey through eternity.