Official Review: Immediacy by Fred Emil Katz

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Shelle
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Official Review: Immediacy by Fred Emil Katz

Post by Shelle »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Immediacy" by Fred Emil Katz.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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When human cruelty rears its ugly head, when genocide is perpetuated or discovered, or when preventable tragedies occur, most people swear they’ll never allow it to happen again or vow had they been privy, it wouldn’t have happened at all. In Immediacy: Our Ways of Coping in Everyday Life author Fred Emil Katz explores the sociology and psychology of humans in the midst of terrifying events and delves into the reasoning behind their actions and choices. I rated this book 3 out of 4 stars. The book was well-researched and well-written, the subject matter and examples were interesting, and the author’s passion was evident. Unfortunately a few typographical errors and sections of repeated information shows an overall lack of professional editing, warranting a-less-than-perfect review.

Immediacy is a series of essays written over the period of several years. The essays deal with transcendence, morality, duality and autonomy, and how these aspects of psychology and sociology influence decision making, and to the extreme, horrific genocide, like the Holocaust of WWII or the genocide of Rwanda. Many of the essays read like a sociology graduate student’s dissertation and are quite weighty in tone and subject matter. The author takes published research studies and analyzes them and explains how the research can be applied and why it’s important.

Author Fred Emil Katz lost many family members in the Holocaust and most of the examples throughout the book are related to that. Nazism and overall patriotism are also explored through his unique lens. I appreciated Katz’s honesty and vulnerability as he discussed these subjects and his perspective make the examples very real and not easily forgotten.

While I liked this book and feel it is very important to read, I must admit it was tough to read. There were times I had to put it down and distract myself with something light-heated and frivolous. Human beings are so powerful and this book was filled with examples of using that power for evil instead of good. At one point the author discusses the moral progress of the human race and wonders if any has truly been made. After reading this book, I was left wondering the same thing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sociology or psychology or ever wondered how entire groups of people can do horrible things. Readers looking for something to make them think over weighty subjects would also like this book. I think for the right book club, Immediacy would inspire some spirited and interesting debate and discussion.

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Post by James Craft »

Typographical errors make me afraid to read this book because it sounds interesting but mistakes could detract quite a bit from the overall value.
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Post by Lincoln »

Very unique and interesting premise to this one, and I am glad the reviewer felt that the book was well-researched. Still, to put so much work into research but not the final project sounds like a misstep.
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Post by gali »

A book exploring evil deeds through research and personal examples should be a good read. It does sound tough to read due to the subject matter. I am sorry to hear that the author lost his family members in the Holocaust. It is good that he wrote about that, so people won't forget. Some try to deny it ever happened, so it is important to keep records of it. Thank you for the review and congratulations to the author for the positive review!
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Post by bookowlie »

Great review! I agree with Gali that this topic is important to write about, so that people don't forget. It's a shame about the errors.
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Post by jemgirl202 »

This does sounds like an interesting read. The errors are concerning but if the overall point of the book is strong and complete then I could definitely read it. These kinds of books definitely spark debate, especially with what is going on in the world today. Great Review!
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Post by Elizabeth Wangui »

I congratulate the author for the series of essay books which describes more on psychology and sociology episodes. I can as well recommend this book to those interested in debates and discussion since it covers alot. Thanks.
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Post by Gravy »

I would have to think over whether or not I would want to tackle the, as you say, "weighty" subject matter, but it sparks my interest.
gali wrote:I am sorry to hear that the author lost his family members in the Holocaust. It is good that he wrote about that, so people won't forget. Some try to deny it ever happened, so it is important to keep records of it.
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Post by Donnavila Marie01 »

In Immediacy: Our Ways of Coping in Everyday Life is the kind of book that I love to read. Unfortunately, I felt sad when the reviewer commented that this book did not undergo professional editing. This book would have been perfect if it has passed through professional editing.
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Post by kandscreeley »

Wow! This sounds like a very deep book. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. It sounds like it covers a lot of good issues though. Thanks for the review.
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Post by Scerakor »

I think that this is an amazing and important topic for a book and it looks like the author did a great job presenting it. Having sampled the first few pages, I definitely see where you are coming from when you say that the content is quite deep. Not only is the book written at a high level intellectually, it hits on some extremely touchy/sensitive subjects. Thank you for the review.
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Post by Kalin Adi »

The truth is that humans can be cruel and savage at times. I'm glad the author took time to research about the topic to present real evidence in history not conjectures he could have created after his lost. However, I like more when books with this kind of topics emphasize the solutions we can find for this type of behavior not on the disastrous results. Nevertheless, this is a very touchy subject.
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Post by joshmanzano »

The topics that this book has sound really interesting. I really like books that make me question and wonder about the state of humanity. Great review!
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Post by Miche Sora »

Thanks for your review! I'm glad the book was well-researched, but it's a shame there are so many errors. I'm not sure I'd be able to read this book; it would give me nightmares for a week. I don't think most humans have made much moral progress over the centuries either. It's amazing how debilitating fear is.
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Post by Nina Butler »

I don't think this is the type of book that I would just read for fun. I don't like delving too deep into the human psyche because you can get lost in there, and you will see things you don't want to see. I appreciate that you reviewed this book and took the time to give it an honest review. Typographical errors can detract from a good book, and I may have a hard time reading this if it hasn't been professionally edited because of the subject matter.
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