There are too many books in the house. Here is the first set of books that I am retiring. Mostly they belong to my father. He had many interests. I shared some and am retaining books relating to those. I do not share others any more. Hence this list..
Velikovsky had this interesting theory about disasters on earth that could have had extraterrestrial origins: meteoric collisions, proximity of other heavenly bodies and the like. He combined astronomical data and a close (and selective) reading of myths recorded in texts from different religions and regions to support his thesis. This was not completely outlandish as some accounts, eg of a devastating flood, are remarkably similar in renderings across the globe. Also, the fossil records do show mass extinction of species at regular intervals with a periodicity unmatched by any periodic physical phenomenon on earth or our solar system. An article in Nature some years back speculated on the possibility of a large comet with a highly elliptical orbit that might be passing close to earth at those kind of intervals. Respected astrophysicists like Hoyle and Wickramsinghe have speculated on the seeding of life on earth via comets …However Velikovsky’s work does not generate interest any more, except amongst some die-hard fans on the Net. He may have had smart ideas but astronomical data does not support his claims.
Carlos Castaneda spent time with Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian shaman, trying to understand the spirit world. He went on to write several books on his encounters via Don Juan, with healing, with other spirits, with other shamans (who sometimes took the form of vicious animals) and even with death itself (which came in as a crow). Since many of these experiences were preceded by extensive preparation including physical regimes and the consumption of Native Indian hallucinogenic drugs, Castaneda’s interesting experiences have been often discounted. Of course there is a tradition in every region, which parallels this. In India we have our own Aghoris, and Tantrics in general, whose canon is very similar. The fact that the disposals list includes two copies of “The Eagle’s Gift” shows my own deep, though, brief, interest in Castaneda. (I had to have my own copy. My father’s copy was heavily underlined to reflect his interests and that was a distraction for me because my reading of the same text was different…)
Charles Berlitz created a whole genre of writing that saw the imprint of current and past alien visits everywhere and was also obsessed by tales of the mythical continent of Atlantis that was supposedly host to a technologically advanced civilization that vanished when this landmass sank in the sea in some strange cataclysmic event. This group of writers also credited governments with strange research and cover-ups. The Roswell Incident involves a captured alien and wrecked UFO. The Philadelphia Experiment refers to a battleship that was briefly rendered invisible with permanent mental disability to the crew. The Bermuda Triangle has become too famous to need any description. And so on. Fascinating reading if one is prepared to suspend all judgment and ask no questions. Accounts of strange geometric properties and near-magical powers of the pyramid form in general, and the Egyptian pyramids in particular, are integral to this genre. The most outlandish of these is probably Ruth Montegomery, whose hardcover book is shown (spine side up) in the picture. She believes a lot in on-going alien encounters and abductions, and the presence of aliens amongst us in the form of both humans and animals. Scary.
Edgar Cayce is a fascinating case, of an ordinary average Joe who at one point of time started going into long trances. He seems to have spent most of his adult life in that state. While in trance, he would describe great technologically advanced civilizations of the past and the events that led to their demise. He would also describe events in the future (a bit like Nostradamus) and offer guidelines from on high for conducting life on earth. His utterances were recorded, transcribed and published as a series of books. They spawned a whole bunch of other books that sought to interpret Cayce’s words, summarize them and in rare cases, debunk them.
Erich Von Daniken looked at the shape of ancient religious structures like temples and saw spaceships. He looked at representations of gods with halos and saw spacesuits. He read the ancient texts describing the arrival and departure of gods (in noisy storms of dust) and saw flying machines. He read about the battles of gods and saw modern armaments including missiles. He visited Nazca and saw landing grounds for flying machines of a superior race of humanoids from another planet -that sought refuge on earth and also continued their battles on earth. Fascinating reading again, with compelling illustrations and photographs! Sadly there are alternate explanations for all this, which do not involve extraterrestrials. (Update: It was interesting for me to discover that Ridley Scott has acknowledged Daniken for some ideas used in Prometheus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Däniken )
“The Wit of Prince Philip” is an interesting exception. I picked it up dirt cheap, from a pile on the street, because while the cover says what it does the book inside is actually “The Burnt-out Case “ by Graham Greene. (I had a lot of time those days and did not judge a book by its cover). Later I bought a proper copy of that book but kept this one for laughs and as a conversation starter. Neither reason is valid anymore.
There were originally many more books of the kind that I am disposing today. Over the years I got rid of them and kept a few representative ones. Why I did that, and why I am making this list only now when my father is dead, are questions that I cannot answer. Maybe I kept them on the off chance that he would recover from his disability and want to read his favorites again. They had long ceased being of interest to me.
Velikovsky had this interesting theory about disasters on earth that could have had extraterrestrial origins: meteoric collisions, proximity of other heavenly bodies and the like. He combined astronomical data and a close (and selective) reading of myths recorded in texts from different religions and regions to support his thesis. This was not completely outlandish as some accounts, eg of a devastating flood, are remarkably similar in renderings across the globe. Also, the fossil records do show mass extinction of species at regular intervals with a periodicity unmatched by any periodic physical phenomenon on earth or our solar system. An article in Nature some years back speculated on the possibility of a large comet with a highly elliptical orbit that might be passing close to earth at those kind of intervals. Respected astrophysicists like Hoyle and Wickramsinghe have speculated on the seeding of life on earth via comets …However Velikovsky’s work does not generate interest any more, except amongst some die-hard fans on the Net. He may have had smart ideas but astronomical data does not support his claims.
Carlos Castaneda spent time with Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian shaman, trying to understand the spirit world. He went on to write several books on his encounters via Don Juan, with healing, with other spirits, with other shamans (who sometimes took the form of vicious animals) and even with death itself (which came in as a crow). Since many of these experiences were preceded by extensive preparation including physical regimes and the consumption of Native Indian hallucinogenic drugs, Castaneda’s interesting experiences have been often discounted. Of course there is a tradition in every region, which parallels this. In India we have our own Aghoris, and Tantrics in general, whose canon is very similar. The fact that the disposals list includes two copies of “The Eagle’s Gift” shows my own deep, though, brief, interest in Castaneda. (I had to have my own copy. My father’s copy was heavily underlined to reflect his interests and that was a distraction for me because my reading of the same text was different…)
Charles Berlitz created a whole genre of writing that saw the imprint of current and past alien visits everywhere and was also obsessed by tales of the mythical continent of Atlantis that was supposedly host to a technologically advanced civilization that vanished when this landmass sank in the sea in some strange cataclysmic event. This group of writers also credited governments with strange research and cover-ups. The Roswell Incident involves a captured alien and wrecked UFO. The Philadelphia Experiment refers to a battleship that was briefly rendered invisible with permanent mental disability to the crew. The Bermuda Triangle has become too famous to need any description. And so on. Fascinating reading if one is prepared to suspend all judgment and ask no questions. Accounts of strange geometric properties and near-magical powers of the pyramid form in general, and the Egyptian pyramids in particular, are integral to this genre. The most outlandish of these is probably Ruth Montegomery, whose hardcover book is shown (spine side up) in the picture. She believes a lot in on-going alien encounters and abductions, and the presence of aliens amongst us in the form of both humans and animals. Scary.
Edgar Cayce is a fascinating case, of an ordinary average Joe who at one point of time started going into long trances. He seems to have spent most of his adult life in that state. While in trance, he would describe great technologically advanced civilizations of the past and the events that led to their demise. He would also describe events in the future (a bit like Nostradamus) and offer guidelines from on high for conducting life on earth. His utterances were recorded, transcribed and published as a series of books. They spawned a whole bunch of other books that sought to interpret Cayce’s words, summarize them and in rare cases, debunk them.
Erich Von Daniken looked at the shape of ancient religious structures like temples and saw spaceships. He looked at representations of gods with halos and saw spacesuits. He read the ancient texts describing the arrival and departure of gods (in noisy storms of dust) and saw flying machines. He read about the battles of gods and saw modern armaments including missiles. He visited Nazca and saw landing grounds for flying machines of a superior race of humanoids from another planet -that sought refuge on earth and also continued their battles on earth. Fascinating reading again, with compelling illustrations and photographs! Sadly there are alternate explanations for all this, which do not involve extraterrestrials. (Update: It was interesting for me to discover that Ridley Scott has acknowledged Daniken for some ideas used in Prometheus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Däniken )
“The Wit of Prince Philip” is an interesting exception. I picked it up dirt cheap, from a pile on the street, because while the cover says what it does the book inside is actually “The Burnt-out Case “ by Graham Greene. (I had a lot of time those days and did not judge a book by its cover). Later I bought a proper copy of that book but kept this one for laughs and as a conversation starter. Neither reason is valid anymore.
There were originally many more books of the kind that I am disposing today. Over the years I got rid of them and kept a few representative ones. Why I did that, and why I am making this list only now when my father is dead, are questions that I cannot answer. Maybe I kept them on the off chance that he would recover from his disability and want to read his favorites again. They had long ceased being of interest to me.
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