HarperCollins. New York, NY. (1994)

ISBN: 0-06-016928-1

Like soul itself this book is not easy to outline or place into a genre. The author is brave to explore such a deep and mysterious subject, however it sometimes feels he has bitten off a little more than he can chew. It seems that the main idea in the book is that relationships are best viewed as the means and soul the end – not the converse: “The soul doesn’t distinguish between good and bad as much as between what is nutritious [for itself] and what isn’t” (p. 79). I thought this a powerful reframe, particularly regarding the conflicts couples have and the meaningfulness beneath these. Moore also seems to address the problem of polar attitudes toward desire and emotion, that this is to be attended to, rather than simply either, a) acted on, or b) repressed. Moore often alludes to the soul’s intention behind circumstances which might otherwise seem hopeless and undesirable.

The style of writing could be described as non-linear and informal at best. At it’s not so best, it could be said to be confusing and contradictory. I felt that here the book was quite frustrating and the style a real let-down. It seemed that Moore was making many bold and sweeping statements and then following them up with a sort of qualification to temper the remark. He also seemed to employ the paradoxical and mysterious nature of his subject as a little bit of an excuse for not explaining himself properly! Another disappointment for me was his reluctance to attempt a definition of soul. It took 147 pages before I read anything like one and it was only in passing, “It [soul] is the medium, the mediating element, that holds everything together.” – a bit vague really. Admittedly an impossible task, however it would have helped greatly if he himself had admitted to this at the outset and then at least tried to outline a plan of attack! Reading the book was a little bit like looking at a mosaic… really close up. Sometimes there were very beautiful tiles that really impressed meaning, other times they just seemed really different from the adjacent tile. Moore just doesn’t take a step back from his creation so as to put things in context and so provide a thread – Oh, for a thread!

Despite this there was indeed nutrition to be got within these pages, and to mimic the author’s style, perhaps this is just the mystery of how the soul does its work!