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I enjoyed this book about the author's NDE (Near Death Experience). When people experience the phenomenon known as NDE they have either been revived from a cardiac arrest, or in the case of this author they had been in a coma. The author is a neurosurgeon so he is quite familiar with what goes on in the human brain. The Author Dr. Alexander before his experience was an diehard atheist, as are many scientists and doctors, so his story is not like most of the other NDE stories that preach and praise Jesus though out the book. After his experience his views on what happens to us after "death" changed drastically. I don't think he considers himself a "Christian" or "religious" but he has grown "spiritually".
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The author writes with depth of scientific and medical knowledge, which for many people is a bit above their understanding. I'm in the medical profession so I understood most (but not all) of it, but I see how it was important for him to be clinical so people would understand that his experience was being viewed both from the human side as well as from a purely scientific side. I sensed his struggle with trying to describe his experience, which was apparently otherworldly and magnificent beyond mere human words. How would you explain to an amoeba the intricate beauty of, say, Beethoven's music and have the amoeba understand? It would be as difficult as Dr. Alexander's attempt at describing things he saw while in his coma (and having us actually understand and envision it). The human language simply couldn't do it justice, and basically he tells us we are not capable of truly understanding what's "out there", except to say The Creator is there and He loves us.Read full review
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I was comforted by the NDE described by the author. It was consistent with another book I read, Embraced by the light that narrowed down that our existence here and there is all about LOVE if you have to come up with one word. That this was the main takeaway from both stories, years apart gives credence to an afterlife and what we are doing here while we wait to go back. That was another common thread, that we have existed before life on earth and will exist again.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I saw the author interviewed on The 700 Club, decided I wanted to read it because it's written by a healthcare professional. It wasn't easy to read, the author clearly has no writing experience. I enjoyed it mostly, but he had problems with describing his experience so he used "odd" words for areas/things that he experienced. I probably wouldn't recommend it. I like "Ninety minutes in heaven" much better (for personally written afterlife experiences).
When I was in college an RA got sick with viral meningitis. On Friday he had a headache and by Sunday was dead. If you don't have personal experience with just how nasty meningitis is you may not appreciate the struggle Eben Alexander went through and how unusual his recovery was. The book is a tough read. Eben is telling 2 stories at the same time, what was happening out of body and what was happening with his family and in the hospital. You need to read this book in page order and pay attention when he mentions what he saw out of body, because he uses names and phrases to try and describe things that he had no experience with on earth. His amazement at seeing there is more to life than the physical is understandable considering his scientific background. The refusal to consider or admit that there is more to life than meets the eye is Western society's and "science" most obvious and condemning flaw. Doctors see death all the time but they don't see it for what it really is, a passage into the next life. Alexander's near-death-experience was not textbook and he admits it. He didn't see himself out-of-body, didn't travel a tunnel and didn't meet anyone he knew (except a pre-deceased sister that he didn't recognize as her until back in his body again). He didn't meet Jesus or God, but with his "Christmas and Easter" shallow Christianity he may not have been ready. Eben also comes from a long line of world-class neurosurgeons, but he was adopted as an infant. He seems to miss how unusual that should be. He could not have inherited his gift for medicine. Those who have read the Bible, however, would not be suprised by God chosing an outsider (and the first-born of an unwed mother) to receive a gift like that. There is only one other account in NDE literature of someone who was clinically brain dead and returned to tell a story like Eben's so his book matters a lot to those who study NDE's. His conclusion that we are loved by God is what he needed to hear as an adopted child and what the world needs to hear if we are to avoid destroying the world and ourselves with it.Read full review
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