When Bad Things Happen to Good People
by Harold S. Kushner
List Price:
Our Price: $5.22
You Save: $5.73 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.77 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Harold S. KushnerEdition: Paperback
Published: 2004-08-24
ISBN: 1400034728
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Book Review: A very ecumenical view...
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though I am Methodist, I basically agree with Rabbi Kushner's philosophy. He takes a very ecumenical view. The book gives you a lot to think about, and is well written; although it may help if one has at least a little bit of Biblical literacy. Kushner references Genesis and the story of King David. He uses the book of Job as the central Bible lesson that connects to the theme of the book.
Over all, though, I would say that it is fairlt easy reading (much easier than theological complexities by someone like Albert Schweitzer, who holds a similar view).
The book gives one an explanation to a most profound and perplexing question. I appreciate that the author shares his personal experience and his heart with the reader. I too, have experienced the loss of a child and have also seen some things that were quite terrible working in the fields of nursing and inner-city high school teacher.
I only wonder about something the author writes towards the end of the book:
"'[W]hat good is God? Who needs religion, if these [bad things] happen to good people and bad people alike?'...I would say that God may not prevent the calamity, but he gives us the strength and perseverance to overcome it."
My issue is that many people do not overcome calamity. Millions who died in wars, famines, genocides, natural disasters. They did not overcome anything-they just died and in many cases, the whole family died with them. Other people who experience calamity just go nuts; they face finacial ruin; they lose their jobs and families; they become so depressed that they are forever dead inside. Some people commit suicide, or eat, drink and smoke themselves to death.
to an extent, I overcame calamities but I'm not the same person I was. I am more forgiving, more tolerant, and more philosophical; but I am also more melancholy and less idealistic.
While I can be thankful to still have enough mental health to maintain work and family life; I know a whole of other people who lost their mental health, work and family life. What about them? Why didn't God give them the strength to overcome? Am I to believe that some people are favored by God by being blessed with a higher constitution?
No, I think, rather, that some people overcome because they are LUCKY. Rabbi Kushner and I are indeed the lucky ones who can now talk rationally and philosophically about the deaths of our sons. I believe that God wants us lucky ones to turn around and help the others who weren't so lucky in any way we can. Obviously, that's why Kushner wrote the book.
Still, a great book, though.
Summary of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Rarely does a book come along that tackles a perennially difficult human issue with such clarity and intelligence. Harold Kushner, a Jewish rabbi facing his own child's fatal illness, deftly guides us through the inadequacies of the traditional answers to the problem of evil, then provides a uniquely practical and compassionate answer that has appealed to millions of readers across all religious creeds. Remarkable for its intensely relevant real-life examples and its fluid prose, this book cannot go unread by anyone who has ever been troubled by the question, "Why me?"When Harold Kushner’s three-year-old son was diagnosed with a degenerative disease and that he would only live until his early teens, he was faced with one of life’s most difficult questions: Why, God? Years later, Rabbi Kushner wrote this straightforward, elegant contemplation of the doubts and fears that arise when tragedy strikes. Kushner shares his wisdom as a rabbi, a parent, a reader, and a human being. Often imitated but never superseded, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a classic that offers clear thinking and consolation in times of sorrow.
Since its original publication in 1981, When Bad Things Happen to Good People has brought solace and hope to millions of readers and its author has become a nationally known spiritual leader.
Grief & Bereavement Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Jewcy's New Jew Canon: The Ultimate Guide to the Books Every Jew Needs
When Bad Things Happen to Good Peopleby Harold S. Kushner
Anchor; Published: 2004-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.22
Price in other shops:
The Truth About Camp David: The Untold Story About the Collapse of the Middle East Peace Process (Nation Books)by Clayton E. Swisher, Clayton Swisher
Nation Books; Published: 2004-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
A Tale of Love and Darknessby Amos Oz
Harvest Books; Published: 2005-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.27
Price in other shops:
Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor E. Frankl
Beacon Press; Published: 2006-06-14; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.26
Price in other shops:
Shadows on the Hudson: A Novel (FSG Classics)by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
The Manor and the Estate (Library Of World Fiction)by Isaac Bashevis Singer
University of Wisconsin Press; Published: 2004-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
The Family Moskat: A Novel (FSG Classics)by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2007-04-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double-Consciousnessby Paul Gilroy
Harvard University Press; Published: 1993-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Meeting the Living Godby William J. O'Malley
Paulist Press; Published: 1998-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
Why Bad Things Happen to Good People (The Christian's Promised Land)by Mark, D Bristow
Xulon Press; Published: 2004-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.71
Price in other shops:
Where Is God When It Hurts?by Philip Yancey
Zondervan; Published: 2002-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.31
Price in other shops:
I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye (Updated Edition): Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved Oneby Pamela Blair, Brook Noel
Sourcebooks, Inc.; Published: 2008-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Who Needs Godby Harold Kushner
Fireside; Published: 2002-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.51
Price in other shops:
The Lord Is My Shepherd : Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalmby Harold S. Kushner
Published: 2003-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search for a Life That Mattersby Harold Kushner
Fireside; Published: 2002-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
How Good Do We Have to Be? A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgivenessby Harold S. Kushner
Back Bay Books; Published: 1997-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.70
Price in other shops:
Living a Life that Mattersby Harold S. Kushner
Anchor; Published: 2002-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Overcoming Life's Disappointmentsby Harold S. Kushner
Anchor; Published: 2007-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: