Requiem of the Human Soul - by Jeremy R Lent.
Eusebio Franklin, a school teacher from a small community, is faced with the most terrifying dilemma imaginable: should he carry out an act of mass terrorism in order to save the human race?
Eusebio has been chosen to defend our human race in a special session of the United Nations. It's the late 22nd century, and most people are genetically enhanced; Eusebio is among the minority that remain unimproved, known as Primals, consisting mostly of the impoverished global underclass. The UN is on the verge of implementing a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio's been picked to represent his race in a last ditch legal effort to save the Primals from extinction.
It's a hearing like no other. Our human race is on trial. Our own sordid history––the devastation we've caused to indigenous cultures around the world, the destruction of our environment and of other species––becomes evidence in the case against our continued existence.
But as the hearing progresses, Eusebio is faced with a terrible decision. He's secretly visited by Yusef who represents the Rejectionists––a renegade group of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus refusing to accept the d-humans' genetic optimization because it prevents them from knowing God. Yusef urges Eusebio to take the only meaningful action to save the human race from extinction: detonate a nuclear bomb hidden in the UN building in New York where the session is taking place.
As the story develops to its dramatic climax, Eusebio finds himself increasingly alienated from the d-human world, while Yusef's plot places him in an agonizing moral dilemma: whether to engage in an act of nuclear terrorism to preserve the human race.
In this novel, the reader faces challenging questions about spirituality, history and global politics: Could our race "evolve" itself to a higher plane? At what cost and benefit? If we lost what is now the "human race" as a result, would that be so bad, given our sordid and shameful history? On the other hand, is there something special, our soul, worth keeping at any price? Ultimately, the novel forces the reader to grapple with the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human?
-----------
Editorial Reviews
Review
Five Stars (out of Five)
It is one of the great travesties of the human experience that violence is often perpetrated by those claiming to follow Jesus, Mohammed, and other spiritual leaders who advocated peace. Therefore, the premise of this novel, a genetic manipulation that deselects the twin capacities for spiritual belief and fanatical intolerance (aggression) in new humans, might seem like a wonderful idea. Except that in the process, these designer Humans may be losing their souls.
In the d-Human world of genetic pre-selection, the wealthy also have the most happiness, good looks, height, compassion, or whatever characteristic their parents paid for.
Eusebio Franklin, a history teacher in remote Tucker's Corners who specializes in Native Americana, is forced to make an impassioned defense for the importance of spiritual belief and the future of the remaining three billion of "his" race–a definition that includes any non-genetically altered human. In actual human history, Eusebius was a historian and chronicler of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ was allegedly buried.
Counsel Naomi Aramovich tells Eusebio that the unaltered "Primals," "are the global underclass...who could never come close to affording even the most basic genetic enhancement. For the most part, they're illiterate, starving, and diseased."
As a member of a tech-avoidant, traditional Humanist community, Eusebio would seem to oppose everything the d-Humans stand for. But should he? What if every d-Human you saw seemed happy, healthy, engaged and purposeful? What if the d-Humans showed you that the vast majority of your fellow "Primals" lived in dire conditions?
Author Jeremy Lent holds a master's degree in English literature from Emmanuel College in Cambridge, England. His first novel flows quickly but smoothly, pulling the reader into Eusebio's ethical struggles and his arguments about our direct ancestors' destruction of cultures, indigenous animals, and entire environments.
While Eusebio grapples with questions about the motives of the lawyers trying his case at the United Nations hearing and the trustworthiness of the mysterious Yusef, who claims to be a freedom fighter for the unaltered minority, readers will pause to consider an even larger question: How responsible are we for the actions of our ancestors? For Eusebio, the ultimate question is: Does humanity deserve another chance?
Requiem for the Human Soul is a gripping read that will keep readers up at night, slurping up the last few pages like a specialty juice from the future world's neighborhood Betelbar.--Holly Chase Williams, ForeWord Clarion Reviews
The fate of mankind depends on a mere schoolteacher who must argue for his race's survival despite opposition from genetically "superior" humans.
150 years from now, Eusebio Franklin, a genetically unmodified "Primitive," faces the unfamiliar world of genetically modified "d-humans." The d-humans wish to consign Primitives to reserves and eventual extinction, but they pick Eusebio to speak on behalf of the primitives to justify their existence. A believer in religion, romance, wonder and other impulses that the d-humans lack, Eusebio eagerly seizes the chance to plead the case. He struggles to make the d-humans understand the ineffable mysteries of the human soul, but this is something that genetic engineering has, in a neat explanation of pseudo-science just detailed enough to be believable, legislated out of existence. Though ostensibly an exemplar of the glorious, emotional, wonderful messiness that humanity has to offer, Eusebio's moral indignation and sensitively outraged heart make him a flat protagonist, especially against the equally cardboard d-humans, who are superficially perfect but morally bankrupt villains. There's yet another layer in this tale of apocalyptic philosophy. During a break in the hearing, Eusebio is tempted by an anti-d-human freedom fighter, Yusef. He begins to take Yusef's proposal–to resist extinction by setting off a bomb in New York City as an act of defiance–seriously. At the same time, Eusebio's innately human faith and love, exemplified in his soul mate-like relationship with his tragically dead wife, makes him think that perhaps he could turn the tables on the d-humans and save humans without violence. Because Eusebio embodies a rather simple belief in human goodness and progressivism, all narrative indicators suggest that he will triumph over the evil d-humans. But Lent is too cynical for that. Note that the title refers to an inherently funereal requiem. Despite some character flaws, Lent writes engagingly, moving the story along with the dramatic swiftness and clarity of a movie script.
A philosophical suspense story that exhibits quick pacing, moral nuances and unexpected twists.--Kirkus Discoveries
In this ambitious and thought-provoking novel, Jeremy Lent's meticulously imagined future society is used as a means to take us to the very heart of the human condition. Intercut with gripping asides about how his imagined future world came to be, Lent's story focuses on Eusebio, his humane, everyman narrator, who is faced with a terrible decision.
There are very few science fiction works out there which speak to both the head and the heart, but Lent has produced one, a book which stimulates both intellectually and emotionally. This is a genuinely great read, and a profound one, written with intense and audacious ambition, but without ever losing the human element. Read it – you'll be glad you did.--Ed Lark, author of Grief (nominated for the British Science Fiction Association Book of the Year, 2005)
From the Author
Requiem of the Human Soul is my first novel. I wanted to write about where I saw our world going, and what it means for our human soul. Not the Judaeo-Christian immortal soul, but the kind we mean when we say: "That's got soul, man." I wanted to explore how genetic engineering may put the final nail in the coffin that Western civilization's been building around our soul for the past 500 years.
I tried to make the story believable - not some angst-ridden dystopia, but a realistic view of what the future may hold for our species.
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File Size: 1667 KB
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Publisher: Jeremy Lent; 1 edition (December 15, 2016)
Publication Date: December 15, 2016
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More info at: www.jeremylent.com
Jeremy Lent is an author whose writings investigate the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability. He is founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview, both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful, that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth.
Born in London, England, Lent received a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He pursued a career in business, eventually founding an internet startup and taking it public.
Beginning around 2005, Lent began an inquiry into the various constructions of meaning formed by cultures around the world and throughout history. His award-winning novel, Requiem of the Human Soul, was published in 2009. His most recent work, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, traces the deep historical foundations of our modern worldview.
Lent is currently working on his next book provisionally entitled The Web of Meaning: An Integration of Modern Science with Traditional Wisdom, which combines findings in cognitive science, systems theory, and traditional Chinese and Buddhist thought, offering a framework that integrates both science and meaning in a coherent whole.
He holds regular community workshops to explore these topics through contemplative and embodied practices in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Michael B
5.0 out of 5 starsWrite more!March 7, 2010
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Many of my recent ventures into unknown literary territory have ended in disappointment, so it was with a bit of skepticism that I purchased Requiem for the Human Soul. By the time I had read through the first chapter of the novel, that skepticism had completely evaporated. Lent's writing is clear, thorough, concise, and thought-provoking. He is not at all afraid to tackle weighty philosophical issues such as the nature of the soul, the definition of humanity, the emergence of consciousness as a neural phenomenon, and whether it is morally justifiable to kill innocent people to save others. Lent uses the debate as an opportunity to weave a few of his own original ideas in as well - it is clear that he has given ideas such as the tyranny of the prefrontal cortex and the "CONDUCTER" more than a little thought - and yet this is so well executed that it becomes a credible part of the backstory.
Yet this is not some abstract philosophical descant. It is as emotionally involving as it is intellectual. The moral dilemma of the protagonist becomes our own: what would *we* do in his shoes? And just as we think we've found the answer, the end of the novel takes a surprise turn.
If you haven't read this novel, you don't know what you're missing. I'm eagerly looking forward to more by Jeremy Lent.
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James E. Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsAugust 30, 2016
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Great science fiction and based in the genetic science as we know it with today's research.
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heartwing
5.0 out of 5 starsbrilliant!July 29, 2011
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you know a novel has captured you when you finish it, and immediately turn back to the first page, to begin reading again....jeremy's novel is well-written, with a fast-paced, suspenseful story, and engaging characters. if you enjoy fantasy or science fiction, and are interested in the human condition, and our planet's future, READ REQUIEM!
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Pipistrel
3.0 out of 5 starsA Platonic FantasyJuly 24, 2017
Format: Paperback
The year is in the 2180s, and the scene is New York, in which the Atlantic laps around the bases of the skyscrapers. A genetically unmodified human or 'primal' (in contemptuous slang, a 'chimp'), Eusebio Franklin is summoned to represent his species to a UN commission considering PEPS - the Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species. The 7 billion GM humans, or d-humans, are considering the gradual elimination of the 3 billion Primals by administration of 'isotope 909' to limit women to a single pregnancy. Eusebio is a history teacher, member of the Humanist movement, founded by Julius Schumacher, a 21st century neurologist who detected the human soul as 'smudges' on brain-scans of humans and other animal species, but not in d-humans. Eusebio is interrogated by the loathsome Counsel Harry Shields, Counsel for PEPS, and defended by the sympathetic d-human, Counsel Naomi Aramovich, who is a Primal Rights activist.
Eusebio is visited in his hotel room by a holographic projection of Yusef, a Middle Eastern representative of the Rejectionists - those who refuse GALT, the Glogal Aggression Limitation Treaty. Yusef explains that they hide out in the 'Believers Belt', the Muslim world, where they have access to Middle Eastern wealth. He tells of a secret plan to exterminate Believers with isotope 919 which sterilizes women He urges Eusebio not to take part further in the PEPS enquiry. Next morning Eusebio lies about this visit but is caught out by the thought-reader. The next night Yusef teaches him a technique to avoid detection, which works.
There is a great deal of fictitious technology, including thought-reading head-sets, virtual reality visits to actual places on the other side of the world, and projection of holographic images over similar distances. Much of this strains credulity, and 'isotopes 909 and 919' suggest lack of scientific culture. At the same time there seems to be a great deal of intercontinental travel, suggesting no shortage of material resources.
Succeeding PEPS sessions take Eusebio on virtual reality visits to sites in an Amerindian reserve, in Bengal and in Pakistan and to his daughter in Wales. These persuade him of the inhumanity of the d-humans and prepare him to agree to Yusef's plan to blow up New York in the name of jihad with a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb, for which the trigger is smuggled to him. He sets out to execute this plan, but his fingers refuse to obey him, proving his true humanity. This ends the PEPS sessions. Naomi Aronovich explains that PEPS will happen anyway; the real object was to record Eusebio's soul. She explains that there are two kinds of soul, the Earthly and the Infinite. Humans have both, but d-humans have only the latter.
Eusebio is permitted to retire in New York. A few months later he receives a request for the recordings of his PEPS sessions to be sold as a virtual reality recording. He agrees for the sake of the huge royalties, which he donates to the support of Primal reserves. His soul is immortalised and will survive the inevitable extinction of the Primal species. This is a strangely Platonic ending for a work by the author of The Patterning Instinct. It helps to explain why the hero is named after Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, historian of the Church, suspected of Arianism, leading participant in the First Council of Nicaea. It also gives a disagreeable taste to the portrayal of Muslims as the last to relinquish war.
The novel is well written, but the narrative is slowed down by chapters representing articles covering events and people between the present and the 2180s. My main problem is with the philosophical confusion and the scientific naivety.
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April M. Hanson
5.0 out of 5 starsWill Make You ThinkMarch 21, 2010
Format: Paperback
Requiem: a musical composition in honor of the dead.
It's late in the 22nd century and humans, as we know them today, have been slowly replaced by genetically enhanced d-humans. Those who never had any enhancements are called Primals and are considered inferior to the d-humans. They live in reservation like communities all over the world and are virtually cut off from the technological advancements enjoyed by the enhanced species. The UN has introduced a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio Franklin has been enlisted to testify on behalf of all Primals in a last ditch effort to prevent the humane genocide. Soon Eusebio is approached by the leader of the Rejectionists, a group that isn't afraid to take violent action to protect the Primal species. He is presented with a choice, detonate a nuclear device that will kill millions, including him, or do nothing and watch the beginning of the end for his Primal brethren.
"Requiem Of The Human Soul" by Jeremy Lent is a book that will make you think. It will also make you feel such emotions as anger, frustration, and despair. Honestly, there is very little that is happy about this book and that is okay as the message is an important one. Where are we going as a society and what happens when we get there? Have we really learned anything from the past? Mr. Lent addresses these questions and so much more but, in the end, doesn't leave us with much hope. There is no happy ending here and I finished the book feeling let down. Despite this, it is a well-written and very profound story that should be looked at as a cautionary tale; a look at a future that I hope will never come about.
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Requiem for the Human Soul
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Jeremy Lent (Goodreads Author)
3.9 · Rating details · 21 Ratings · 6 Reviews
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Jun 30, 2010Lisa rated it it was amazing
This book started a little on the slow side, but got going & just ran straight up to the end.
Essentially, we have been tinkering with our genetic make-up to make us "better" so long that we have created a new race of humans (d-humans)and they are the majority on the planted now & we (Primals & not genetically enhanced) are slated for a "humane" extinction. But, before the d-humans go forth with the plan, they are holding hearings on the subject to discuss & justify their decision. To help with the "case", they pick a learned primal history teacher, Eusebio, to be the "voice" of the Primal humans. Through sides & flashbacks, we get his story. He is basically put on trial for all the atrocities that humans have made throughout history, extinction of species, destroying of the planet, etc, etc. Eusebio is also being pulled by the Rejectionists to their side in the fight against the extinction to help them continue their fight against the d-humans.
Many twists & turns are taken on the way to the conclusion of the story, with an ending that is very unexpected. When one watches the current news after reading this book, you can see the whole concept becoming clearer as we rush to become scientifically able to manipulate our genetic codes & get the desired outcomes of "perfection".
Aug 09, 2010Kelly Harmon rated it it was amazing
Shelves: highly-recommended
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Mar 21, 2010April rated it really liked it
Requiem: a musical composition in honor of the dead.
It's late in the 22nd century and humans, as we know them today, have been slowly replaced by genetically enhanced d-humans. Those who never had any enhancements are called Primals and are considered inferior to the d-humans. They live in reservation like communities all over the world and are virtually cut off from the technological advancements enjoyed by the enhanced species. The UN has introduced a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio Franklin has been enlisted to testify on behalf of all Primals in a last ditch effort to prevent the humane genocide. Soon Eusebio is approached by the leader of the Rejectionists, a group that isn't afraid to take violent action to protect the Primal species. He is presented with a choice, detonate a nuclear device that will kill millions, including him, or do nothing and watch the beginning of the end for his Primal brethren.
"Requiem Of The Human Soul" by Jeremy Lent is a book that will make you think. It will also make you feel such emotions as anger, frustration, and despair. Honestly, there is very little that is happy about this book and that is okay as the message is an important one. Where are we going as a society and what happens when we get there? Have we really learned anything from the past? Mr. Lent addresses these questions and so much more but, in the end, doesn't leave us with much hope. There is no happy ending here and I finished the book feeling let down. Despite this, it is a well-written and very profound story that should be looked at as a cautionary tale; a look at a future that I hope will never come about. (less)
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Oct 18, 2013Karen Kobie rated it it was amazing
Requiem for the Human Soul is an excellent, thought-provoking read. Lent immediately engages the reader into a fictional framework which is as brilliantly plotted as the most addictive thriller. He asks hard questions concerning the implications for a near future when we will be able to create designer humans. Truth is it's impossible to read this novel without asking those hard questions of ourselves. What makes us think we are wise enough to create designer humans? How can we know that our creations will not have insurmountable flaws, even if of a slightly different hue from our own? Is it ever permissible to commit a great wrong if doing so will prevent an even greater wrong?
If you do decide to read it, I hope you'll find it to be as interesting and compulsively engaging as I did. (less)
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Dec 09, 2009Brittany rated it it was amazing
Simply amazing. Well-written, well-conceived and well-developed.
Lent shows the reader a frightening dystopic future that seems all too real. What would "genetic optimization" do to us? Could it possibly create a new line of hominids? Can past human atrocities truly be put on trial and justify mass genocide?
Fantastic novel!
FYI: This book was hard to get a hold of! Since no libraries in the area had a copy, I purchased it through Amazon. It certainly is a novel worth having in your personal collection. (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Eusebio Franklin, a school teacher from a small community, is faced with the most terrifying dilemma imaginable: should he carry out an act of mass terrorism in order to save the human race?
Eusebio has been chosen to defend our human race in a special session of the United Nations. It's the late 22nd century, and most people are genetically enhanced; Eusebio is among the minority that remain unimproved, known as Primals, consisting mostly of the impoverished global underclass. The UN is on the verge of implementing a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio's been picked to represent his race in a last ditch legal effort to save the Primals from extinction.
It's a hearing like no other. Our human race is on trial. Our own sordid history––the devastation we've caused to indigenous cultures around the world, the destruction of our environment and of other species––becomes evidence in the case against our continued existence.
But as the hearing progresses, Eusebio is faced with a terrible decision. He's secretly visited by Yusef who represents the Rejectionists––a renegade group of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus refusing to accept the d-humans' genetic optimization because it prevents them from knowing God. Yusef urges Eusebio to take the only meaningful action to save the human race from extinction: detonate a nuclear bomb hidden in the UN building in New York where the session is taking place.
As the story develops to its dramatic climax, Eusebio finds himself increasingly alienated from the d-human world, while Yusef's plot places him in an agonizing moral dilemma: whether to engage in an act of nuclear terrorism to preserve the human race.
In this novel, the reader faces challenging questions about spirituality, history and global politics: Could our race "evolve" itself to a higher plane? At what cost and benefit? If we lost what is now the "human race" as a result, would that be so bad, given our sordid and shameful history? On the other hand, is there something special, our soul, worth keeping at any price? Ultimately, the novel forces the reader to grapple with the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human?
-----------
Editorial Reviews
Review
Five Stars (out of Five)
It is one of the great travesties of the human experience that violence is often perpetrated by those claiming to follow Jesus, Mohammed, and other spiritual leaders who advocated peace. Therefore, the premise of this novel, a genetic manipulation that deselects the twin capacities for spiritual belief and fanatical intolerance (aggression) in new humans, might seem like a wonderful idea. Except that in the process, these designer Humans may be losing their souls.
In the d-Human world of genetic pre-selection, the wealthy also have the most happiness, good looks, height, compassion, or whatever characteristic their parents paid for.
Eusebio Franklin, a history teacher in remote Tucker's Corners who specializes in Native Americana, is forced to make an impassioned defense for the importance of spiritual belief and the future of the remaining three billion of "his" race–a definition that includes any non-genetically altered human. In actual human history, Eusebius was a historian and chronicler of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ was allegedly buried.
Counsel Naomi Aramovich tells Eusebio that the unaltered "Primals," "are the global underclass...who could never come close to affording even the most basic genetic enhancement. For the most part, they're illiterate, starving, and diseased."
As a member of a tech-avoidant, traditional Humanist community, Eusebio would seem to oppose everything the d-Humans stand for. But should he? What if every d-Human you saw seemed happy, healthy, engaged and purposeful? What if the d-Humans showed you that the vast majority of your fellow "Primals" lived in dire conditions?
Author Jeremy Lent holds a master's degree in English literature from Emmanuel College in Cambridge, England. His first novel flows quickly but smoothly, pulling the reader into Eusebio's ethical struggles and his arguments about our direct ancestors' destruction of cultures, indigenous animals, and entire environments.
While Eusebio grapples with questions about the motives of the lawyers trying his case at the United Nations hearing and the trustworthiness of the mysterious Yusef, who claims to be a freedom fighter for the unaltered minority, readers will pause to consider an even larger question: How responsible are we for the actions of our ancestors? For Eusebio, the ultimate question is: Does humanity deserve another chance?
Requiem for the Human Soul is a gripping read that will keep readers up at night, slurping up the last few pages like a specialty juice from the future world's neighborhood Betelbar.--Holly Chase Williams, ForeWord Clarion Reviews
The fate of mankind depends on a mere schoolteacher who must argue for his race's survival despite opposition from genetically "superior" humans.
150 years from now, Eusebio Franklin, a genetically unmodified "Primitive," faces the unfamiliar world of genetically modified "d-humans." The d-humans wish to consign Primitives to reserves and eventual extinction, but they pick Eusebio to speak on behalf of the primitives to justify their existence. A believer in religion, romance, wonder and other impulses that the d-humans lack, Eusebio eagerly seizes the chance to plead the case. He struggles to make the d-humans understand the ineffable mysteries of the human soul, but this is something that genetic engineering has, in a neat explanation of pseudo-science just detailed enough to be believable, legislated out of existence. Though ostensibly an exemplar of the glorious, emotional, wonderful messiness that humanity has to offer, Eusebio's moral indignation and sensitively outraged heart make him a flat protagonist, especially against the equally cardboard d-humans, who are superficially perfect but morally bankrupt villains. There's yet another layer in this tale of apocalyptic philosophy. During a break in the hearing, Eusebio is tempted by an anti-d-human freedom fighter, Yusef. He begins to take Yusef's proposal–to resist extinction by setting off a bomb in New York City as an act of defiance–seriously. At the same time, Eusebio's innately human faith and love, exemplified in his soul mate-like relationship with his tragically dead wife, makes him think that perhaps he could turn the tables on the d-humans and save humans without violence. Because Eusebio embodies a rather simple belief in human goodness and progressivism, all narrative indicators suggest that he will triumph over the evil d-humans. But Lent is too cynical for that. Note that the title refers to an inherently funereal requiem. Despite some character flaws, Lent writes engagingly, moving the story along with the dramatic swiftness and clarity of a movie script.
A philosophical suspense story that exhibits quick pacing, moral nuances and unexpected twists.--Kirkus Discoveries
In this ambitious and thought-provoking novel, Jeremy Lent's meticulously imagined future society is used as a means to take us to the very heart of the human condition. Intercut with gripping asides about how his imagined future world came to be, Lent's story focuses on Eusebio, his humane, everyman narrator, who is faced with a terrible decision.
There are very few science fiction works out there which speak to both the head and the heart, but Lent has produced one, a book which stimulates both intellectually and emotionally. This is a genuinely great read, and a profound one, written with intense and audacious ambition, but without ever losing the human element. Read it – you'll be glad you did.--Ed Lark, author of Grief (nominated for the British Science Fiction Association Book of the Year, 2005)
From the Author
Requiem of the Human Soul is my first novel. I wanted to write about where I saw our world going, and what it means for our human soul. Not the Judaeo-Christian immortal soul, but the kind we mean when we say: "That's got soul, man." I wanted to explore how genetic engineering may put the final nail in the coffin that Western civilization's been building around our soul for the past 500 years.
I tried to make the story believable - not some angst-ridden dystopia, but a realistic view of what the future may hold for our species.
See all Editorial Reviews
--------------
5 customer reviews
See all 4 formats and editions
Kindle
$4.45Read with Our Free App
Paperback
$15.5711 Used from $5.9513 New from $14.91Next page
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Product details
File Size: 1667 KB
Print Length: 354 pages
Publisher: Jeremy Lent; 1 edition (December 15, 2016)
Publication Date: December 15, 2016
More about the author
› Visit Amazon's Jeremy Lent Page
Follow
Follow on Amazon
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations and more coming soon.
Learn More
Biography
More info at: www.jeremylent.com
Jeremy Lent is an author whose writings investigate the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability. He is founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview, both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful, that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth.
Born in London, England, Lent received a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He pursued a career in business, eventually founding an internet startup and taking it public.
Beginning around 2005, Lent began an inquiry into the various constructions of meaning formed by cultures around the world and throughout history. His award-winning novel, Requiem of the Human Soul, was published in 2009. His most recent work, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, traces the deep historical foundations of our modern worldview.
Lent is currently working on his next book provisionally entitled The Web of Meaning: An Integration of Modern Science with Traditional Wisdom, which combines findings in cognitive science, systems theory, and traditional Chinese and Buddhist thought, offering a framework that integrates both science and meaning in a coherent whole.
He holds regular community workshops to explore these topics through contemplative and embodied practices in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Michael B
5.0 out of 5 starsWrite more!March 7, 2010
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Many of my recent ventures into unknown literary territory have ended in disappointment, so it was with a bit of skepticism that I purchased Requiem for the Human Soul. By the time I had read through the first chapter of the novel, that skepticism had completely evaporated. Lent's writing is clear, thorough, concise, and thought-provoking. He is not at all afraid to tackle weighty philosophical issues such as the nature of the soul, the definition of humanity, the emergence of consciousness as a neural phenomenon, and whether it is morally justifiable to kill innocent people to save others. Lent uses the debate as an opportunity to weave a few of his own original ideas in as well - it is clear that he has given ideas such as the tyranny of the prefrontal cortex and the "CONDUCTER" more than a little thought - and yet this is so well executed that it becomes a credible part of the backstory.
Yet this is not some abstract philosophical descant. It is as emotionally involving as it is intellectual. The moral dilemma of the protagonist becomes our own: what would *we* do in his shoes? And just as we think we've found the answer, the end of the novel takes a surprise turn.
If you haven't read this novel, you don't know what you're missing. I'm eagerly looking forward to more by Jeremy Lent.
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James E. Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsAugust 30, 2016
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Great science fiction and based in the genetic science as we know it with today's research.
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heartwing
5.0 out of 5 starsbrilliant!July 29, 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
you know a novel has captured you when you finish it, and immediately turn back to the first page, to begin reading again....jeremy's novel is well-written, with a fast-paced, suspenseful story, and engaging characters. if you enjoy fantasy or science fiction, and are interested in the human condition, and our planet's future, READ REQUIEM!
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Pipistrel
3.0 out of 5 starsA Platonic FantasyJuly 24, 2017
Format: Paperback
The year is in the 2180s, and the scene is New York, in which the Atlantic laps around the bases of the skyscrapers. A genetically unmodified human or 'primal' (in contemptuous slang, a 'chimp'), Eusebio Franklin is summoned to represent his species to a UN commission considering PEPS - the Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species. The 7 billion GM humans, or d-humans, are considering the gradual elimination of the 3 billion Primals by administration of 'isotope 909' to limit women to a single pregnancy. Eusebio is a history teacher, member of the Humanist movement, founded by Julius Schumacher, a 21st century neurologist who detected the human soul as 'smudges' on brain-scans of humans and other animal species, but not in d-humans. Eusebio is interrogated by the loathsome Counsel Harry Shields, Counsel for PEPS, and defended by the sympathetic d-human, Counsel Naomi Aramovich, who is a Primal Rights activist.
Eusebio is visited in his hotel room by a holographic projection of Yusef, a Middle Eastern representative of the Rejectionists - those who refuse GALT, the Glogal Aggression Limitation Treaty. Yusef explains that they hide out in the 'Believers Belt', the Muslim world, where they have access to Middle Eastern wealth. He tells of a secret plan to exterminate Believers with isotope 919 which sterilizes women He urges Eusebio not to take part further in the PEPS enquiry. Next morning Eusebio lies about this visit but is caught out by the thought-reader. The next night Yusef teaches him a technique to avoid detection, which works.
There is a great deal of fictitious technology, including thought-reading head-sets, virtual reality visits to actual places on the other side of the world, and projection of holographic images over similar distances. Much of this strains credulity, and 'isotopes 909 and 919' suggest lack of scientific culture. At the same time there seems to be a great deal of intercontinental travel, suggesting no shortage of material resources.
Succeeding PEPS sessions take Eusebio on virtual reality visits to sites in an Amerindian reserve, in Bengal and in Pakistan and to his daughter in Wales. These persuade him of the inhumanity of the d-humans and prepare him to agree to Yusef's plan to blow up New York in the name of jihad with a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb, for which the trigger is smuggled to him. He sets out to execute this plan, but his fingers refuse to obey him, proving his true humanity. This ends the PEPS sessions. Naomi Aronovich explains that PEPS will happen anyway; the real object was to record Eusebio's soul. She explains that there are two kinds of soul, the Earthly and the Infinite. Humans have both, but d-humans have only the latter.
Eusebio is permitted to retire in New York. A few months later he receives a request for the recordings of his PEPS sessions to be sold as a virtual reality recording. He agrees for the sake of the huge royalties, which he donates to the support of Primal reserves. His soul is immortalised and will survive the inevitable extinction of the Primal species. This is a strangely Platonic ending for a work by the author of The Patterning Instinct. It helps to explain why the hero is named after Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, historian of the Church, suspected of Arianism, leading participant in the First Council of Nicaea. It also gives a disagreeable taste to the portrayal of Muslims as the last to relinquish war.
The novel is well written, but the narrative is slowed down by chapters representing articles covering events and people between the present and the 2180s. My main problem is with the philosophical confusion and the scientific naivety.
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April M. Hanson
5.0 out of 5 starsWill Make You ThinkMarch 21, 2010
Format: Paperback
Requiem: a musical composition in honor of the dead.
It's late in the 22nd century and humans, as we know them today, have been slowly replaced by genetically enhanced d-humans. Those who never had any enhancements are called Primals and are considered inferior to the d-humans. They live in reservation like communities all over the world and are virtually cut off from the technological advancements enjoyed by the enhanced species. The UN has introduced a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio Franklin has been enlisted to testify on behalf of all Primals in a last ditch effort to prevent the humane genocide. Soon Eusebio is approached by the leader of the Rejectionists, a group that isn't afraid to take violent action to protect the Primal species. He is presented with a choice, detonate a nuclear device that will kill millions, including him, or do nothing and watch the beginning of the end for his Primal brethren.
"Requiem Of The Human Soul" by Jeremy Lent is a book that will make you think. It will also make you feel such emotions as anger, frustration, and despair. Honestly, there is very little that is happy about this book and that is okay as the message is an important one. Where are we going as a society and what happens when we get there? Have we really learned anything from the past? Mr. Lent addresses these questions and so much more but, in the end, doesn't leave us with much hope. There is no happy ending here and I finished the book feeling let down. Despite this, it is a well-written and very profound story that should be looked at as a cautionary tale; a look at a future that I hope will never come about.
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Requiem for the Human Soul
by
Jeremy Lent (Goodreads Author)
3.9 · Rating details · 21 Ratings · 6 Reviews
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Jun 30, 2010Lisa rated it it was amazing
This book started a little on the slow side, but got going & just ran straight up to the end.
Essentially, we have been tinkering with our genetic make-up to make us "better" so long that we have created a new race of humans (d-humans)and they are the majority on the planted now & we (Primals & not genetically enhanced) are slated for a "humane" extinction. But, before the d-humans go forth with the plan, they are holding hearings on the subject to discuss & justify their decision. To help with the "case", they pick a learned primal history teacher, Eusebio, to be the "voice" of the Primal humans. Through sides & flashbacks, we get his story. He is basically put on trial for all the atrocities that humans have made throughout history, extinction of species, destroying of the planet, etc, etc. Eusebio is also being pulled by the Rejectionists to their side in the fight against the extinction to help them continue their fight against the d-humans.
Many twists & turns are taken on the way to the conclusion of the story, with an ending that is very unexpected. When one watches the current news after reading this book, you can see the whole concept becoming clearer as we rush to become scientifically able to manipulate our genetic codes & get the desired outcomes of "perfection".
Aug 09, 2010Kelly Harmon rated it it was amazing
Shelves: highly-recommended
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Mar 21, 2010April rated it really liked it
Requiem: a musical composition in honor of the dead.
It's late in the 22nd century and humans, as we know them today, have been slowly replaced by genetically enhanced d-humans. Those who never had any enhancements are called Primals and are considered inferior to the d-humans. They live in reservation like communities all over the world and are virtually cut off from the technological advancements enjoyed by the enhanced species. The UN has introduced a "Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species" and Eusebio Franklin has been enlisted to testify on behalf of all Primals in a last ditch effort to prevent the humane genocide. Soon Eusebio is approached by the leader of the Rejectionists, a group that isn't afraid to take violent action to protect the Primal species. He is presented with a choice, detonate a nuclear device that will kill millions, including him, or do nothing and watch the beginning of the end for his Primal brethren.
"Requiem Of The Human Soul" by Jeremy Lent is a book that will make you think. It will also make you feel such emotions as anger, frustration, and despair. Honestly, there is very little that is happy about this book and that is okay as the message is an important one. Where are we going as a society and what happens when we get there? Have we really learned anything from the past? Mr. Lent addresses these questions and so much more but, in the end, doesn't leave us with much hope. There is no happy ending here and I finished the book feeling let down. Despite this, it is a well-written and very profound story that should be looked at as a cautionary tale; a look at a future that I hope will never come about. (less)
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Oct 18, 2013Karen Kobie rated it it was amazing
Requiem for the Human Soul is an excellent, thought-provoking read. Lent immediately engages the reader into a fictional framework which is as brilliantly plotted as the most addictive thriller. He asks hard questions concerning the implications for a near future when we will be able to create designer humans. Truth is it's impossible to read this novel without asking those hard questions of ourselves. What makes us think we are wise enough to create designer humans? How can we know that our creations will not have insurmountable flaws, even if of a slightly different hue from our own? Is it ever permissible to commit a great wrong if doing so will prevent an even greater wrong?
If you do decide to read it, I hope you'll find it to be as interesting and compulsively engaging as I did. (less)
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Dec 09, 2009Brittany rated it it was amazing
Simply amazing. Well-written, well-conceived and well-developed.
Lent shows the reader a frightening dystopic future that seems all too real. What would "genetic optimization" do to us? Could it possibly create a new line of hominids? Can past human atrocities truly be put on trial and justify mass genocide?
Fantastic novel!
FYI: This book was hard to get a hold of! Since no libraries in the area had a copy, I purchased it through Amazon. It certainly is a novel worth having in your personal collection. (less)
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