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God Is Not Great  By  cover art

God Is Not Great

By: Christopher Hitchens
Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
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Editorial reviews

Why we think it's Essential: Astute critic and biographer Christopher Hitchens comes out swinging in this—dare I say it—enjoyable discussion of religions worldwide. Believers and nonbelievers alike will find value in listening to this provocative book that comes at a time when people the world over are reeling from news of terrorist acts inspired by religious fundamentalism. Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have trod this road in recent years, but it is Hitchens who achieves the most memorable exploration. – Corey Thrasher

Publisher's summary

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris' recent best-seller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty of the double helix.
©2007 Christopher Hitchens (P)2007 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The best of the recent rash of atheist manifestos." (Publishers Weekly)
"Effortlessly witty and entertaining as well as utterly rational." (Booklist)

What listeners say about God Is Not Great

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book - a great listen

I have to take issue with the many reviews condemning Hitchens for narrating his own book. Hitchens' style is so unique that any other reader would be quite inappropriate. I guess this is mostly a case of U.S. readers having difficulty with anything not familiar to their ears - pity. As a non-US listener I have no problem with most books performed with U.S. accents, but it is nice to have a little variety occasionally! Hitchens is, well, Hitchens and to have him read the book was the icing on the cake, at least for me. The book's message? Wonderfully over the top and worth every minute.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

good content but author is no reader

I liked the content of this book but having the author also read the book was a bad choice. His erudite, inflectionless delivery makes this a difficult book to stick with.

I won't be buying any future books READ by Christopher Hitchens

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

I love this book. It's brilliant, to the point, honest and it's about time somebody pointed out the obvious paradoxes and crimes that derive from religion. Please file the bible under 'fiction'.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

God is not Great

The book is not much more than a tedious rant. While the author's points are reasonably well supported, the same point seems to be made over and over again. Surely it must tickle the ear of the confirmed unbeliever, but to someone honestly looking for an understanding of the atheist point of view -- well, it's just a tedious rant.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

the worst first impression of any book I've heard

I bought this book because it is obvious that religion is destroying the world. I wanted to hear about that phenomenon, in the hopes that a kinder, more hopeful scenario for our future would be suggested. But in the first 60 seconds or so of listening to this book I found it to be an absolute, complete turn off. For one thing, the voice (author) was talking WAY WAY too fast, sluring his words, and dripping heavily with the tone of sarcasm (which is actually all I could make from the rush of words. I was hoping to hear from someone kind and caring, who would make me think, and who might offer hope for mankind. But instead I am given a very bad taste, and left with the impression that the book is written by an anti-God radical. Too bad. I fail to understand why anyone would listen past that unintelligible, sarcastic opening.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Not lightweight, late night intellectual snobbery

I highly recommend this book for persons exploring their faith or the impact of religion on government.

I purchased this was some trepidation- Hitchens persona on the late night shows is amusingly snarky and bon vivant. But his articles in Vanity Fair are thoughtful and readable, suggesting the persona is merely affect. Having just read Garry Wills' series What Jesus Meant and What Paul Meant, I thought to get the other view. I found Hitchens to be highly informed and actually consistent with Wills. I enjoyed this book, both the thought-provoking content and the delivery (not snarky and no cheap shots, but not without wit either), though I disagree with atheism as the "logical" conclusion. I can't imagine anyone but Hitchens narrating and despite his gravely rumblings, well worth turning up the volume in the few places he drifts.

I would love to see Wills and Hitchens in a true conversation. Wills concludes that religion killed Jesus and Paul- and their true meaning. Yet, Wills is a practicing Catholic. Hitchens concludes that religion kills all true spiritual leaders and meaning, thus we should be atheists.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Listeing

I very much enjoyed listening to this book. Never been a big fan of his but in this case I thought he had the goods on this subject. I think people on both sides of this topic should take time to listen or read this book as it provokeed a great deal of thought for me. I agree with him and my life experience brings me to the same conclusion. I recommend it!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Christopher, let someone else read your books...

Could have been an great listen but Hitchens talks much too fast and with too little expression--almost like he's reading to himself. I think it may have been more effective to read the physical book in this case. With another reader I think Hitchen's very intellectual argument would have been more--not necessarily persuasive--but interesting.
Speaking of argument, I think books like his and Dawkins' aren't likely to sway many readers away from their beliefs compared to Sam Harris' The End of Faith which makes a more compelling case for the dangers of religious dogma, but I find them all fascinating.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Unlistenable

Apparently, it was a huge mistake for Christopher Hitchens to read his own book. He reads well enough, but he so dramatically raises and lowers the volume of his voice that it is literally impossible for me to set this audiobook at a comfortable level. If I set it low enough to avoid blowing out my eardrums, I cannot hear the words he mumbles quietly. If I set it high enough to hear what he is mumbling, his louder speaking is so loud as to inflict physical pain upon my eardrums.

There is a reason that writers write, and readers read. Please: have Christopher Hurt or Stefan Rudnicki read this book, and then offer a free replacement of the Hitchens version. Please. I'm begging you. It's that bad.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Hitchens Is Not Great Either

As an atheist I rather looked forward to Hitchens discourse. As someone educated in Physics and a fan of Einstein, I was greatly disappointed by chapter 6 in which Hitchens claimed that a 1913 observation of the bending of light around the sun proved the theory of General Relativity. This is not correct on several levels. While a 1913 observation had been proposed, events in WWI interfered with their being carried out. Had the 1913 observation been made it would have disproved Einstein. This was due to a simple mathematical error in Einstein's calculations - he was off by a factor of 2 - which he corrected a few years later. At least Einstein was humble. The first expedition to attempt an observation of light bending was undertaken in 1919 by Sir Arthur Eddington. Although, historically, this 1919 observation has been taken as the first evidence of Einstein's theory, recently the 1919 observation has been cast into doubt. It seems the portable telescope used to make the 1919 observation was not sufficiently accurate to produce a scientific confirmation. Later observations, though, were able to confirm Einsteins theory. Since, in chapter 1, Hitchens makes a big deal about how well-read he is on the subjects of his discourse, I am taken aback by this easily checkable falsity that survived into the audio edition, one hopes facts are better substantiated in the print edition.

Other than the above I find Hitchen's prose was overly stuffy and his narration has the annoying tendency of trailing off into a mumble at the ends of sentences. I found I had to rewind frequently to get the full pomposity of the verbosity.

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5 people found this helpful