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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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A curious book, found at a thrift shop and purchased despite the title and cover.
First published in 1901, the author argues that man is in his "Self Conscious" stage of existence, in which he is aware of himself (differentiated from the animals, that have an awareness of others but presumably not themselves. We now know that for certain species this is untrue). But - from time to time, certain men have achieved a sort of illumination, or enlightenment, and he argues that this is a trend forward for humanity in consciousness - that eventually we'll all transcend our self-conscious selves and become at one with the universe as we can perceive it (or, as we don't).
Of Canadian descent (reassuring in that most saviours seem to come from Galilee or Tibet) he describes his childhood in backwoods Canada, his growing up, travels, love of Walt Whitman (who, coincidentally is definitely one of the enlightened ones) before proceeding towards his theories of consciousness. Himself a psychiatrist the author proves very well informed on any number of issues and rather out of date on others (as is to be expected.)
It reminds me vaguely of Hegel's "The Philosophy of History" in that the author argues conscious awakening is, in a way, an inevitable part of being human. A little ray of sunshine to distract one from the news cycle...
But his Thesis is not the point, it's the questions he raises (in my mind, at least - along the way).
First of all, his views on Women and enlightenment and Savage/"Lower Races" on enlightenment - well, .... that isn't cutting it today. Even if he were right, which I strongly suspect he isn't. Culture is far more definitive than race. But he's not working from a place of ignorance or hate, merely a lack of information and through the lens of his time.
Some of his (so far) enlightened persons include Mohammed, Jesus, Buddha, Shakespeare (Francis Bacon), Dante, and so on and so forth. He finds no shortage of exemplary lives and attributed quotes to support his arguments. Of interest were his references to Colour Theory - that man has only recently developed a nuanced colour sense (and there is abundant evidence and other theories to support this, which I have referenced before), and extends this same theory to fragrance and taste (again, these things lacked a vocabulary until relatively modern times), he argues that colour blindness is simply atavism, that insanity is caused by the hyper-attenuation of modern senses, that as we "evolve" those higher up are more prone to mental illness, the foundation not yet secured, and so forth and so on.
Not everything is to be agreed upon, but he does force you to consider things from a different perspective.
Points of disagreement: that self awareness is not present in dreams (it can be, as in lucid dreams), that a effect can never be greater than it's cause (clearly and almost always untrue), that the Aryan Race is the most highly developed/evolved, that women have disproportionally fewer representatives of Cosmic Consciousness (possible - if you consider that women conform more to the mean than men do, and so men are overrepresented in things like mental health struggles - and, by extension, "Peak Experiences" that tear off the veil...)
anyways, a curious read but non-essential. Now probably I should attempt to elevate myself through some meditation, but I think instead it's time for lunch...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Maurice_Bucke
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Consciousness
Link: https://archive.org/details/cosmicconsciousn01buck/page/n7/mode/2up
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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It seems redundant to write "Autobiography of..." and then the name of the Author, but - really, upon reading this I had the distinct feeling that I was cheated of a few hundred pages. In any even, this was written some 20+ years before his death, and before his reason became suspiciously abstracted.
Noting his childhood peculiarities, certain synesthete properties, his OCD, his sense of Childhood Invention and Inquiry frequently discouraged by parents and teachers, his experience of Crows after his repeated murdering of them, his realization that instinct transcends knowledge (but only when a certain remedial level of knowledge is reached, otherwise we arrive a peak Dunning-Kruger), the hyper-acuity of his senses, sight, hearing, body, and other more extra-sensory phenomena.
A curious childhood, but if we all could recall as accurately as he and were as encouraged (I know I previously said discouraged, but he was perhaps less discouraged than most of us) we might all lay claim to some such.
Then comes his genius, his subsequent exploitation by Edison - and, notice, he is careful in this not to slander he former employers or benefactors, upon reading his focus and obsession is always technology.
Noteworthy, he anticipates building a hydro-electric damn at Niagara Falls some 30 years before he was to do so, which recalls other such famous incidents: (the experience of Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn anticipating his singing at the ... Mosque, Nelson from Nelson picturing his perfect house as a child, Henry Sugar, The Secret, An Experiment with Time, too many other's to list...).
His unconscious method of turning from insurmountable problems to allow them to solve themselves "on their own" while he worked on other things, (mine own, although it took me some 20 years to perfect and I'm not sure now that I'm just not avoiding getting anything done) and his remarkably (for the time) democratic views on Race.
And finally, his ability to foresee the future - the interconnectedness of technology, of text, voice, picture, he's was an optimist working for the benefit of mankind, and - I have to wonder, if he could step forward a hundred years, how impressed he'd be with the progress we'd made, and the ends we put it to?
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A curious late Victorian read that for a long time was more popular than Dracula.
Abandoning the forward, which threatened to wring any joy I might get from the book itself with analysis of events I had yet to read. An afterword would be suitable, but these forwards that presume you read the book (!!) and seek to destroy it with their socio-political analysis, spoilers on plot points, etc, etc. Highly annoying.
Anyways, back to the book - a homeless man breaks into a house, and encounters a sinister and quite possibly supernatural force that has made it's way to London for unholy vengeance upon a certain esteemed politician.
A dark secret slowly unfolding, the mystery slowly is teased out through the 5 main narrators, melodramatic, themes of electricity and science driving out the Old Gods of Infinite Terror, of Xenophobia and the fear of the conquered other, of occult and ancient cults that kidnap English Christian Maidens, subject them to orgies of unimaginable cruelty before burning them alive as a sacrifice to ISIS, ...
Well, too much more and you won't want to read it. An interesting and curious read, which if you're at all inclined you can do so here:
LINK: The Beetle - Richard Marsh VIA PROJECT GUTENBERG
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A collection of short stories by Anais Nin, some more intriguing than others.
I have some prejudices against her rather hedonistic lifestyle (as if I'm in a position to throw stones, but I do nonetheless...), but she can write and evoke some curious ideas. I might revisit her diaries some day, as I've now read enough Miller to know her better, and the internet might provide me some context as to their relationship. I recall watching "Henry and June" once upon a time, but was only then familiar with Henry Miller, and slightly.
Perhaps time for a little digging, adventure in the literary world, but not today.
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After Blood Meridian I was curious as to his other writings, and so found this.
I should have been warned off by the "Oprah's Book Club" label.
So, set in an indefinite future after a (presumably Nuclear Holocaust) has completely quieted all life on earth a father and son travel along a road heading westward through a landscape bereft of all life - plant or otherwise.
Only people, and the people are the same as in "Blood Meridian", pederasts, sodomites, cannibals, people at wits end trying to survive the end of days, and the freezing landscape of ash and rain and the invariably violent encounters with raiders and it's "touching" ending...
It got a lot of praise. Heaps of it. Only he paints in one colour, that of his sado-masochistic view of humanity, of the hopelessness of the human condition, of violence and death and worst of all even life.
I was on to him, the second book I've read of his, having read the first I was impressed with the narrative flow and voice, but - the second book, the same tricks repeated ad-nauseum and if he's still alive I'm pretty sure he's out somewhere at a Trump Rally and really, given the state of the world, I've had enough.
"Blood Meridian" was excellent, or I at least enjoyed the prose, characters, situations, but here he was largely exploiting my ignorance of the history of the "Old West"; in this I had little ignorance left to be exploited and so saw through the tricks, despite the consistent praise it's a vile book that offers no hope for the human condition and seemingly in the authors mind he rejoices in the despair he brings to paper.
A little too obvious and monochromatic for my taste, and I hastened to return it to the bookstore today. Not my cup of tea.