ARA Review by Kirsten Schuder of In It Together

[Kirsten Schuder]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, In It Together.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes quotes from Nietzsche within the first five pages: "To live is to suffer." Hughes then spends the rest of the book trying to use reason to alleviate our suffering.

First, the author takes us through a journey of sorts, what we do to disconnect ourselves from other people's suffering by rationalizing it away with illogical rationalizations. And, Hughes rightly points out that people who are now considered visionaries are ones who connected to human suffering, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and were persecuted for their efforts.

As one reads the book, the journey the author shares with the readers is logical. It is apparent that Hughes thought deeply. He must have meditated every day for months to be able to make the connections he creates between human suffering and human beings' inaction to help those suffering the most.

However, instead of condemning us, he treats the reader with love and kindness. He acknowledges that we are complex creatures, and we must take into account a variety of factors to understand ourselves, our connection to spirituality, what drives our behaviors, and our connection to each other.

Everything about this book is beautiful: beautiful intentions, beautiful hardcover book, beautiful ideas. The book was well-edited. I did not find any errors. The chapters were united with titles that made sense, and the reading was easy to follow. The author gently brings us along to examine ourselves and to question our own actions, but in an objective, loving, understanding way. There is no pontification or lecturing. Rather, the author takes us on his imaginings, which keeps things entertaining, such as imagining aliens looking at our state of affairs. For all these reasons, I give this book five out of five stars.

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