Title: The Rise and Fall of Paradise
Author: I. K. Fleming
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4917-3528-2
Pages: 372
Genre: Non-Fiction Religion & Spirituality
Reviewed by: J.W. Bankston
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Pacific Book Review
Everyone has their own vision of paradise. It’s an idea informed by culture, religion, upbringing and a host of other variables. In our modern, scientific age author I. K. Fleming offers an unusual perspective. He believes Paradise is real. His quest for this place leads him to examine both its history and mythology, which is detailed in his book “The Rise and Fall of Paradise.” As he notes in its introduction, “The tale of how Paradise went from being science to a secret is a subject of this book.”
To the author, “Paradise” is a place –– properly capitalized like Albuquerque or Zambia. Fleming began his quest as a grad student in landscape architecture. Feeling unfulfilled by what he uncovered at the university library, he put his background as an archaeologist to use. Thus to discover more about Paradise as a location and not a mere state of mind, Fleming explores various historical sites. He also discusses how archeologists have misread the sites’ significance and their uses. Fleming compares the excavations to what we understand about their origins. He then reveals their tangential links to Paradise. He often achieves this by connecting the sites to earlier cultures than the ones commonly believed to have constructed them. Throughout the 300 page, lavishly illustrated text, Fleming also explores how various peoples described Paradise.
The story of “The Great Flood,” has been described by cultures across the planet who were far removed from societies depicted in Biblical texts. Similarly, Fleming notes how Paradise fell worldwide –– at different times and in distinct ways. Fleming also lays into what for many readers will be the most familiar depiction of Paradise’s fall and humankind’s ejection from it. Much of what we think we know about Eden is incorrect, the author explains. For many readers this account alone will provide compelling reading. Yet some will also be turned off by Fleming’s insistence that humankind was in harmony with our “Mother Planet” until a new religion arose, as he puts it, in “6,000 BCE… [it was] founded on Man’s divinely endorsed right to exert control over the Earth, its worldview diverged from the earlier belief that held much of the Earth to be sacred.” Some will disagree with this –– believing instead that the Bible exhorts people to be caretakers or stewards of the planet.
Still, the arguments readers may have with Fleming’s conclusions only illustrate the book’s potential to challenge dominant beliefs. The author sees Paradise as being at odds with our notion of “civilization.” He believes the shift to solar from lunar based time keeping and the transition to agrarian societies fueled Paradise’s decline. This argument will appeal to many modern readers who may be concerned about the various ways humankind has negatively impacted the planet. Whether or not they agree with the author’s thesis, they will find a great deal of information and perhaps even a glimmer of hope in this well-researched and accessible book.
