[James Willis]

Hi Andrew,

The short answer is no. We are all at different stages and read at different rates. When I first joined – almost two years ago – I did so hoping to find fellow travellers sharing the experience of reading The Matter With Things, but it never happened. I found a lot of people here took aspects of the book which linked with their own work, and then went off in lots of different directions, and almost never employed the clarity of thought and language that so distinguishes McGilchrist’s material.

What you rightly call the big one took me at least two months to read, making extensive notes as I went. The first book covers much pf the same ground as TMAHE, but in greater detail, and I found it a useful recap. From then on we were into new territory, working towards the final chapter, almost book-length in itself, which I found astonishingly new and important.

As for whether I recommend membership of this group – I am a member, so that says something. There is a huge wealth of material here and the online events are good. Personally I have found the discussion forum element extremely disappointing. But that may be my own fault.

These are not particularly powerful thoughts in reply to your questions, and I hope others will add much more useful things.

Best wishes, and welcome aboard, James