Aleksa's Book Review: The Girard Reader

Presented as a collection of Girard's essays, this is a comprehensive if somewhat basic work explaining the thinking of Girard. Particularly interesting are the pieces on Freudism, Nietzsche's representation of Dionisius and the thoughts of the ancient stoics.

There isn't really that much depth to be extracted from Girard's concept per se, but the insights that are generated by applying the mimetic theory (or sacrifice, or the sacred) to concepts and events sheds light where before there was chaos and confusion.

Combined with my reading list on memetics, Girard presents a completely novel way of thinking about human action in non-economic and non-psychological terms, but also side-stepping the "selfish gene" way of thinking. He opts instead for a "tribe-as-organism" way of explaining the actions thereof.

Although my level of understanding Girard's thought has climbed due to my reading of his work, it's a steep comprehension curve that plateaus quickly and leaves one equipped with a herring faced against the sequoias.
5/10