Product Overview
A sweeping exploration of humanity’s enduring fascination with life after death, tracing beliefs about immortality, resurrection, and the afterlife in Western literature, from the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh to Dante's Divine Comedy, through Greek and Roman classics, Jewish and Christian scriptures, all the way to modern scientific investigations of "near-death experiences".
Blending engaging storytelling with scholarly insight, Pinault invites readers on a journey across civilizations and centuries, revealing how our deepest longings for meaning, transcendence, and connection have shaped—and continue to shape—our understanding of what lies beyond this life. Based on a course the author taught for over 20 years at Santa Clara University, Longings for Immortality presents an engrossing and readable introduction to Western literature’s greatest spiritual and philosophical works.
Editorial Reviews
“One of the most universal and persistent features of human nature is our refusal to believe that death has the final word. In this finely written and remarkably wide-ranging study, Jody Pinault traces that longing through the great books of our civilization, showing how reflection on immortality can illuminate both our destiny and the meaning of our present lives. Learned, accessible, and often moving.”
—Michael Augros, Ph.D., Author, Who Designed the Designer? and The Immortal in You
“What a treat! A wide-ranging, intelligent look at ancient and modern approaches to the afterlife, presented in an engaging and approachable manner. Analyzing sources from ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Greece and Rome, Christianity, and modernity, Pinault provides a fascinating resource for students, scholars, and the general public.”
—Susan Scheinberg Kristol, Classical Scholar
“To those captivated by the latest technological ‘hack’ to indefinitely prolong our finite lives, this tour-de-force literary study of mankind’s grappling with death offers a welcome, captivating riposte. Pinault reminds us of a truth discovered by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians: to reflect on death is not morbid escapism, but an essential means to understand our lives, grow in virtue and help us identify how, through Christ, we might truly conquer death.”
—Casey Chalk, Author, Wisdom from the Cross: How Jesus’ Seven Last Words Teach Us How to Live (and Die) Well
