In The Soul of the Marionette, John Gray draws together the religious, philosoph
ic and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We f
latter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces
- biological, physical, metaphysical - constrain our every action. Many writers
and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our cond
ition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scient
ists dreaming of a 'human dominion' almost comically at odds with our true state
.
