4 out of 5 stars
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Gambling With Your Soul by Henry Arnold Davis is a book about the afterlife and what it entails. The author starts from birth, discussing when a person is considered born into the world, whether it’s from conception or until they’ve been given birth to. He talks about many different religious ideologies concerning what happens in the afterlife and whether or not it exists at all. Step by step, he breaks down his thought process on finding answers to the question of what happens after we die. The big question of what the afterlife entails is whether it exists and what it takes to earn a “good” afterlife from the perspective of different beliefs, religions, ideologies, etc. Each chapter details a specific step or method in the author’s journey to finding answers to these questions or coming as close as possible. As the book progresses, he describes the ideologies and beliefs towards the afterlife held by the religions he mentioned in the book.
While reading, you could tell how much research went into writing this book. It’s always a great experience learning about new things you didn't know before. The author sounded so passionate about what he wrote, and that made it even more satisfying to read. Learning about the religions and beliefs of ethnic groups I had never heard about was certainly intriguing; some of these beliefs were completely wild to hear, while I resonated more with some than I had thought. I also loved how the author sequentially organized his thoughts in the early parts of the book. He explained why he considered the variables he considered and properly broke them down in every chapter. The reading experience was top-notch. I found one grammatical error in the book, so I am sure it was professionally edited.
I didn’t particularly like how some chapters felt repetitive. In fact, at some point, some subheadings were precisely the same as the ones that preceded them, and the content was not very different. There were also too many sub-headings in the book; it made it feel less professional as those subheadings seemed to be named almost anything. They made for good breadcrumbs to make sure you follow along, but some content there did not need their own entire sub-chapter. Some of those were not even half a page long.
I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was certainly an intriguing read, but at times, it did feel like I was reading a textbook or encyclopedia despite all the interesting facts the author gave throughout the book. That, coupled with the points in the negative points paragraph of my review, were the reasons I took away one star from this book. The author’s thoughts are straightforward, organized, and therefore admirable, so he did well with sectioning the book. It felt like it couldn’t have been arranged any better. I enjoyed reading it in the order of the author’s thoughts. I found no unnecessary vulgar words while reading, which was a big plus.
I recommend this book to millennials and older people interested in religious conversations and belief systems pertaining to the afterlife. Students of philosophy might find this book helpful too.
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Gambling With Your Soul
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