‘The Vertical Self’ was an insightful read. Sayers dissection of past and present culture was fascinating. He points out that in our current culture, our self-image is often derived from many influences around us (creating the ‘horizontal self’). This is in opposition to the Christian ideal of deriving our worth, value and self-image from God (the ‘vertical self’).
For me the highlight of the book was the 2 chapters about ‘sexy’ and ‘cool’. Sayers presents the history and development of these 2 [false] images.
The final 3 chapters (out of 11) are where Sayers adds more depth to the idea of finding your ‘horizontal self’. As I was reading through these chapters, I enjoyed Sayers’ reflections immensely. He writes well, and there was so much to think through about what he has written. I enjoyed his ideas on ‘life as a movie script’ and the bar code mentality. I am sure, though, that I will have to read this book again because I found myself struggling to grasp the big picture of what Sayers was saying. Maybe this was because chapter ten was too long? Fifty odd pages felt really long when all the other chapters are between 3 and 24 pages long.
One thing I had difficulty with in this book is the language and terminology used. In chapter 1, Sayers questions current phrases we hear like ‘find himself’, ‘grounded, and ‘centred’. Sayers points out how baffling this can be, but I found his last 3 chapters, with phrases like ‘find your true self’, at times to be just as baffling. Maybe this is a sign that I’m a whole lot older than the intended audience.
I would recommend ‘The Vertical Self’ to any Christian interested in the interaction between culture and faith. Four out of 5 stars from me.
I must disclose that Thomas Nelson provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
