The Voice of the World

Mikhail Naimy

A collection of essays, lectures, and radio broadcasts, mostly from the 1940s, right after World War II. Naimy, who experienced war firsthand as a conscript in the American army on the front in France during World War I, never forgot the ordeal of humanity in general, and particularly the ordeal of modern civilized man, since then. On one hand, immense material power and astonishing scientific discoveries led him to transform himself and his entire planet into a mere stepping stone from which to leap into outer space. On the other hand, abject spiritual poverty, as evidenced by his crises and wars, plunges him from his cosmic aspirations to a level below that of beasts. These pieces, whose themes are drawn from ordinary daily human issues, are skillfully guided by Naimy’s fluid pen and captivating rhetorical style, ultimately converging on a single point: present-day civilized man, if he wishes not to destroy himself, must escape his terrible duality. This is what "The Voice of the World" calls for, if we only listen carefully.