I just finished Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, a non-fiction account of William James and his colleagues as they searched for verifiable evidence of various psychic phenomenon at the close of the 19th century and dawn of the 20th. The book shares a wealth of information, and I like Blum's direct approach. Many books on the subject of psychical research are either 1) silly or 2) condescending (like some of the opinions Williams and crew faced). Funny how some of the same questions are being argued about today...or not, according to hard-core skeptics who simply won't join the conversation on neutral terms. (Not much has changed in 100+ years, folks.)Head over to Beyond Fiction for my review/insight into one of my favorite films of all time, Ghostbusters.
And hey, The Borrowed Saints might have a ghost or two...read this week's installment.
6 comments:
My mom read that book and loved it. I keep meaning to pick it up. I'll definitely put it on my read list for Halloween.
William James -- brother of writer Henry James? If so, I had no idea he was into "fringe science". If not, I guess I'm ignorant either way... TGIF!
The book sounds interesting. We have a fledgling Paranormal Society here that is trying to get their name out there these days.
K.C. - A solid book, especially for Halloween.
Milo - Yes, the very same Henry James. William was a well known Harvard psychologist back in the day...the "fringe" was a side job.
Alan - Are you a member? (You should be)
I wonder if that's where Henry's inspiration came for Turn of the Screw -- or if gothic stories were just a popular genre at the time.
Have you read "Spook" by Mary Roach? Same sort of book but in a zany educational sort of way. Highly recommended!
Post a Comment