An End to Suffering – The Buddha in the World

An End to Suffering The Buddha in the World

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Buddha, worldview, and philosophy
Easily the best book I have read on the topic – I just didn't guess correctly what the topic was! I thought it would be about involved Buddhism. It turned out to be part autobiography, part biography of the Buddha, part Buddhist history and teaching, part travelogue, part history of philosophy (although jumping from Greek to modern/contemporary), all in the service of a look at the world. The more you know of Western philosophy and Buddhism, the easier it is to follow, but the travel narrative and self-reflection of the author carry it along well. I learned a bit and enjoyed it a lot.

4 Stars Interesting, intriguing, insightful
This book is a very interesting read for those very interested in the details of the history and life and times of Gautam Buddha. It is part travelogue by Pankaj Mishra, his life, interest in literature, simplicity of life, family background and part historical story telling.

It is an interesting piece of literature who admires Buddha for which he has done extensive research (about seven years) and has gone to the places where Buddha attained enlightenment and other relevant places.

It is definitely a must read.

4 Stars Beautiful but confusing
I don't know what to make of this book. I started reading with the best disposition, and, somewhere along the way, I became distracted. Yes, it is very interesting, and even informative, but, does one have to go through a similar experience to choose Buddhism as one's philosophy. I amy have misunderstood the author's aims, but I finished the book feeling disappointed.

3 Stars A bit of a tedious read
Some parts of this piece are very reflective and enjoyable. Other portions I found a tad heavy going and overtly intense. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you find the subject-matter appealing, or have a special interest in this genre.

3 Stars Editor Needed
Which is a roundabout way of saying that An End to Suffering is a roundabout way of talking about Buddha. Basically, a soft story of Buddhism as a theory of everything, some chapters are perfect (The invention of Buddhism), while some are just there for the looks (Buddhism in the USA). You'll learn about Buddha, India in the 5th century bce, and contemporary India. A straightforward history and explanation would have been shorter, more exciting, and much more effective in getting across Mishra's point, which is the importance of Buddha's message to the age we live in. Instead the book devolves in to a rambling, somewhat confusing personal-quest narrative, in which Mishra neither adopts Buddhism or even finds a contemporary Bhuddhist hero (the hero is M. Ghandi, who was NOT a Buddhist). Repetitious (enough Nietzche already), and stuck in the 19th century (what about the Structuralist and Post-Structuralist critique of religion and self?), An End to Suffering never hits the nail on the head–though it does manage to mash it in, somehow. The point is that the self doesn't ever seem to go away (no matter how or who constructs it) and that as long as there is a self there will be suffering. As long as there is suffering, Buddha will remain a vital philosophical touchstone. Now, was that so hard?

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