Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Paranormal by Raymond Moody, M. D.

Paranormal is subtitled "My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife," so that should have been a pretty big clue that I was about to read a memoir, rather than a lot of stories about what the author actually experienced, I suppose. But, I must admit I was a little surprised. I didn't realize it was going to be a memoir that went way back to his childhood and the reasons he got into researching life after death, among other things.

I almost gave up on Paranormal around page 25, but decided 25 pages was not enough of a chance, so I kept on reading and I must admit I got totally sucked in. Plus, Paranormal is well-written enough to make it a fairly breezy read; in the end, I read it in a single afternoon so finding that it was a little different than what I expected did not dissuade me from finishing the book.

Paranormal begins all the way at the beginning of Raymond Moody's life. The opening line:

I was born on June 30, 1944, the very day my father shipped out for World War II.

From there, we learn that the father Moody came to know was a changed man from the one who left in 1944. Of course, the author never knew the "before" version of his father, only the "after" -- the angry, uncommunicative man who made young Raymond a misery. His grandparents were the people he looked up to and it was a grandparent's death that made him wonder about death and whether it was really the end.

Unfortunately, you have to wade through a lot of annoying garbage about young Raymond's brilliance before you get to how he began to do his research, by whom he was mentored, the way he did his research and what he believes (the belief part is very vague, actually). All of which is very high in self-praise and peppered throughout with incidents caused by the medical condition he still is battling.

The book covers his research in life after death -- the subject for which he became famous, after the publication of his book Life After Life -- along with past-life regression (which he believes can be useful in healing people of illnesses, both mental and physical) and contact with the deceased.

What I liked about Paranormal:

I'm going to confess that I found the book fascinating but I am still a skeptic and I'm going to quote the author's use of the word "skeptic:

The truth was that I was a skeptic in the ancient Greek sense of that word ("one who goes on inquiring"). A skeptic in that fascinating ancient culture was not someone who was a naysayer -- as we think of skeptics today -- but rather a seeker who had decided not to reach a conclusion.

~p. 119, Paranormal

That works for me. I did like the way he described going about his research in a way that stopped "well short of declaring that I had discovered proof positive of life after death" and the fact that he refused to attempt to simulate a near-death experience, as in the movie Flatliners, in order to further his research.

I also liked the writing style -- easy reading. Fascinating as it was, I was rather glad that it was a quick read.

What I disliked about Paranormal:

I hate saying this because sometimes I have found that an author who sounds totally overblown is really quite a nice, down-to-earth person, but it's true that Raymond Moody comes off as very high on himself in Paranormal, at least during the first half of the book. I also found that, while it's important to the telling of his story in memoir form, the fact that he stated up front that he attempted suicide because of his medical condition and basically said, "but don't let that put you off what I have to say about my paranormal experiences" (my wording) . . . well . . . it put me off. It shouldn't, but it did.

However, that's small potatoes when compared to the way the book seemed to degenerate. Investigation of life after death without drawing a reasonable conclusion was one thing, but then he went on to past-life regression and I couldn't help thinking, "Any of those things he believes he experienced in past lives could have come from watching TV or movies, dreams he had, bits of conversation." The mind does some very strange things.

By the point that he began describing "crystal gazing" and the Oracle of Delphi, then told how he recreated the Greek caves and reflective surfaces that allowed one to chat with the deceased (by darkening a house and putting people in a closet with a mirror), he'd lost me. I thought he was nuts. I was doubly convinced when Moody described a trip to Greece to see the actual caves, where he spoke to Socrates. I had to flip back through the book to remind myself that there are also descriptions of "shared death experiences" toward the end. I think, by that point, I was just hurrying to get it over with, interesting as they were.

I think it's relevant to note that Raymond Moody's mentor was George Ritchie, the one person who claims to have had a near-death experience that I absolutely did not and cannot buy into. I read Ritchie's book around the time of my own mother's death (which was not completely devoid of the kind of experiences hospice workers warned us about -- she kept saying she wasn't ready to "go down that road") and it was a head-shaker.

So, perhaps I went into the reading of this book a bit over-the-top on the skepticism. I have, however, read quite a few books by people who claim to have had near-death experiences. And, I like to believe them. Some I can swallow, some I cannot. I am completely undecided; I am a skeptic in the Greek sense. Reading Paranormal, then, really did not change much. Except, you will not find me sitting in a dark closet with a mirror, trying to talk to a dead loved one. I'm convinced of that.

Recommended only to memoir lovers or those who are curious about Moody's research into near-death experiences, past-life regression, crystal-gazing and shared death experiences. Be aware that the book is primarily a memoir and most of the stories of experience are his own. Stories about the experiences of his subjects are brief. This book was not a favorite and I recommend it with hesitation, but I do think some people will enjoy it.

Cover thoughts: I don't get it. But, the cover is kind of cool. I am, however, outspoken about the use of nothing but black and white in covers. I think they tend to end up in the remainders. I cannot even begin to tell you how many black-and-white books we received when I worked at a store that carried almost entirely remaindered inventory.

In other news: My DVD copy of Downton Abbey, Season 2 arrived, yesterday! Very exciting, as it took me two weeks to figure out when Downton Abbey is aired, locally, and then we missed an episode because we couldn't get a signal (we don't have cable or satellite and the new-fangled digital signal is weather-dependent). Boy, they really dropped Lavinia and Sir Richard on us without much preamble, didn't they?

My only convincing ghost experience occurred in Farnham, England. I don't have any digital photos of Farnham, so you get a random photo from our last trip to the UK, which I turned black and white to fit today's unintentional theme (it's all the book cover artist's fault):

Makes you long for the good old days, doesn't it?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

21 comments:

  1. Oh,no, this books sounds totally bizarre, and I doubt that I would much enjoy it. I don't have a problem in reading about the afterlife, or near death experiences, but I do have trouble digesting the bits about past life regression and crystal gazing and so forth. It sounds like the author might be a little unbalanced, and while this book rates highly in the curiosity factor, I am afraid I would not be able to take it seriously at all. This was an excellent and very balanced review, by the way. I really found it interesting to read.

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    1. Zibilee, I did think it was bizarre, although at times his research seems perfectly logical and the way he went about it was very admirably scientific. It just seemed to get crazier, the farther I got into it. Near-death experiences and past-life regression -- in some ways I don't think they even go together, if that makes sense. If you're reincarnated, then you're not going to a heaven, right? I may be wrong, but I see the two as opposing concepts. But, I still enjoyed reading the book, strangely enough.

      Thanks! I was worried that my review was going to come off as completely negative. I'm relieved that you found it fair and balanced. Whew! :)

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  2. I never would have thought specifically that black and white covers wouldn't sell - very interesting. I wouldn't have thought that was the direction this book was going to take either just from the cover. His experiences do sound very off the wall. I was more intrigued by your teaser about a ghost experience to be honest. :)

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    1. The fact that black and white covers don't sell was a bit of a surprise to me, too, Alyce. Admittedly, this one is more of a grabber than most, but still . . . a little color, like the red shoe in Cinder will go a long way toward grabbing attention and a good or bad cover image can really make a difference to sales.

      Oh, LOL, I'm glad you liked that. I don't know if I've written about my "ghost experience" on the blog, but I wrote about it when I was a paid columnist. It was pretty funny. If I can find my column, I'll post a link.

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  3. I read Life After Life decades ago (published in 1975) and thought it was great. It does, however, give stories of other people.

    I think it's funny that I, too, posted a cover today with an upside-down person on the cover: http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/library-loot-february-8-14.html

    I agree with you that near-death experiences and past-life regression don't really seem to go together. I was surprised to see them together in this review, actually. There's none of that in Life After Life, at least nothing that I remember after 30-odd years.

    I'd like to read about your own "ghost experience," so I hope you do post a link -- or rewrite it for us. I thought I had already shared my experience about my grandfather's dying, but I can't seem to find it on my blog right now. I did find this "Discussion about Death" on my Words from a Wordsmith blog, and one who shared her ideas about death was Dewey:
    http://wordsfromawordsmith.blogspot.com/2007/08/discussion-about-death.html

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    1. Bonnie,

      I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have read Life After Life, eons ago, but my memory is going.

      Haven't looked for the column, yet, but I will post a link if I can find it. I don't have a copy of it on this computer. It was quite some time ago and I've got print-outs but Lord knows where. There's a notebook . . . but I have a LOT of notebooks full of stories and books and columns and writing class printouts and on and on.

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    2. Oh, wow. I just read your post and the comments. Dewey's comment along with the knowledge of her death . . . that just took my breath away.

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    3. Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Dewey died 15 months after writing that comment about death. I was struck by this line which tells me more now than it did then: "... those of us who have experienced long-term serious pain and/or illness ..." I knew her doctor told her to take time off from teaching, but I didn't really know how sick she was -- I didn't know her pain.

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    4. I think she kept that deliberately quiet, so that was a pretty unusual comment for Dewey.

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  4. I'm glad that you continued after page 25. It sounds like there was a lot to interest you in this book in spite of the flaws you pointed out.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

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    1. Heather,

      Oh, yes indeed. While I can't say I necessarily bought into everything and the author's tone did put me off a bit, I wouldn't have finished it if I didn't find it interesting. I've gotten pretty serious about that. I only finish books that I like or love, now. Thanks for letting me join in!

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  5. Well, I'm glad you didn't give up because it sounds like you at least enjoyed thinking about everything you were reading.

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    1. Jenny,

      You just hit the nail on the head. If there hadn't been something interesting to ponder, I might have given up. But, I find the concepts fascinating and the book is very readable, very nicely written (apart from that touch of what came off as arrogance, but that actually lessens as you get into the book).

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  6. Hahaha! You are SO right!! Books with black and white covers do so often end up in the remainder section…now we just need more GOOD books with black and white covers so that we can get some really good deals :p Don't you just love it when an author is in total love with his/her self :/ I say that sarcastically…that can totally put me off on a book…having said that, this does still sound really interesting! How've you been my dear? I think I owe you an email! I miss you!!

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    1. So true. Crank out the boring covers if they're good quality inside. We're fine with that. LOL

      I wrote a big old essay on memoirs and how thin the line can be between the appearance of arrogance or humility, not long ago (after reading yet another book in which the author came off as so high on herself that I could not finish) but opted not to bother publishing it. Since I once stopped reading a book because I thought the author was high-handed and then finished it at his urging and found that --shock!-- he was totally down-to-earth and just felt obligated to delineate his qualifications up front because that's what you must do in professional journals, I find that I must tippy-toe around the subject a bit. You just never know. Then again, a fine dose of editing should fix such a thing, don't you think?

      I am marvelous, Chris. How are you? I've missed you, too. You never call, you never write. By the time I meet you in person, I will be a size 6 at this rate. That would be . . . um, 2018? We should try harder.

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    2. Haha! Hopefully I'll be a size 6 too by then :p I'll write you soon I promise!! We really do need to try harder to meet :( We need to make it a goal to do it this year! I'm trying to move to the northshore this year which should put me about an hour closer to you!! I'm getting closer at least :p

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    3. I know! We need to get serious. It's crazy that I've met up with friends from California, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts but somehow we can't manage to get together. That will be very exciting if you move an hour closer!!!!

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  7. I love the quote about what the Greek's meant by skeptic. The book sounds interesting, even if one is skeptical of the events recounted. Food for thought, perhaps. That's often a good thing and makes for spirited converstation.

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    1. Yes, the quote about skepticism was my favorite and I knew I had to include it, somehow. :) It's an interesting book. I would not try to talk anyone out of reading it, even though I don't highly recommend it. There's plenty to think and talk about, definitely. Husband and I had a fun conversation or two, as I was reading.

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  8. I would give this one a go, but thanks for the heads up about his descent into crackpotism as I like to call it. lol

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    1. Andiloo,

      That phrase, "descent into crackpotism" may be a hint as to why I like you so much. You're welcome. It's a fun read, but I did feel like I was on a bus to Crazyville for about the last third or so.

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