Life Is Real Only Then by George Gurdjieff, 0140195858, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Easy read at first sight

One of those books that is read by people and understood totally different by each one of them. You can read this book on different levels depending on your own level of development which makes it possible to read this book over a stretch of years to discover that the book has a totally different meaning than the last time you read it. Interesting to say the least.

Important Note!!!

I've read through a few reviews of Gurdjieff's stuff and most of them omit the key point about them: This is the third book in a trilogy. The first book was 'Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson': then comes 'Meetings with Remarkable Men', and finally this book.
The reason for this, very briefly, is that 'Beelzebub' is intended as a demolition of standard Western ways of thinking and acting (it might be subtitled 'everything you know is wrong'). The second book (which is far far easier to read) is supposed to indicate new ways of thinking, and this third book explains Gurdjieff's own views on the answers to 'Life, the Universe and Everything'. The books make a lot more sense read in this order.

Also worth reading is James Webb's excellent 'The Harmonious Circle', which explains a lot more about the background.

Some autobiographical musings of G. I. Gurdjieff

Scattered amongst Gurdjieff's autobiographical meanderings is some hard, usable information; this book is worth reading for that reason alone. It also provides the reader with some insights into the personality of the man behind the myth. I wouldn't recommend this book as an introduction to those interested in Gurdjieff's teachings, but it does provide interesting, supplementary information.

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