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Collector's Library of the Unknown
The Edge of the Unknown
A small, solid iron tank was filled with water. A man was placed inside, water completely covering him. Over this an iron lid with three hasps & staples was securely locked. The body was submerged & a clock began ticking off the seconds. In less than a minute & a half, the entombed man was standing calmly outside the tank, still dripping the locks had not been touched, the lid was still secure. Once again, the great Harry Houdini had confounded scientists & his audience by escaping sure death! How was it possible to survive this? His friend, Arthur Conan Doyle, thought the answer might lie in spiritualism. The Edge of the Unknown presents the evidence. Houdini's powers comprised only one area on which Doyle focused attention. Here he details all he uncovered in decades of psychic investigation. Because he was convinced for that psychic occurrences could be explained by natural laws, he began a skeptic. Readers will find, then, his testimony especially persuasive encompassing mediumistic ectoplasm; prophetic dreams; seances with ghosts of Lenin, Oscar Wilde, Dickens etc. But the most conclusive evidence is his personal experience with psychic phenomena he'd challenged. The fact he saw & heard ghostly manifestations is the best recommendation for all who've remaining doubts to read this book.
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First published January 1, 1930
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About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.4k books24.1k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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November 22, 2024I don't feel right 'rating' a book on something I have so little knowledge of but I'll give my thoughts. This book gives me an idea of how frustrating it must be for a non-Christian to hear a Believer talk about their faith. I already know the frustration from the other side. For someone to believe so whole-heartedly in spiritualism like Doyle obviously does, they have to desire to believe. Something clicked when he was introduced to the philosophy that, from his writing, sounds irrevocable. His flowery praise of spiritualists almost sounds like someone writing a letter of adoration to a true love. To read his thoughts on the people, one would have to assume they were nigh unto saints. Which, with any human being, is highly unlikely. The most incongruous aspect of the book, to me, is how often he refers to spiritualism as a 'science' and to the 'laws' of spiritual phenomena. Now, I can't claim I have great scientific knowledge but I find science fascinating and was under the impression that science is about replicating results through testing. Something which, even Doyle admits, spiritualism wasn't very successful at. It feels like his hope that it would become the next great science is just that, a hope. And that if he stated it enough, it would become true. The most alarming aspect of the narrative is that he evinces the hope that, eventually, there would be enough data collected to reveal a single unifying reason for all of the phenomena he describes. As a Christian, I believe there definitely is a single cause for what was experienced by the people in the book. And it's not something that humans should be entertaining.
February 9, 2017
içindekiler;
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyleun yaşam öyküsü,
-sunuş,
-önsöz,
-houdini bilmecesi,
-ekrandaki gölgeler,
-ilginç bir posta torbasından notlar: rüya görenler,
-hendekteki hayalet,
-hayaley yasası,
-ünlü yazarların öteki dünyadan yazıları, o. wilde, j.london, a. c. northcliffe, c. dickens, j. conrad, j. jerome.
-bazı ilginç kişisel deneyimler,
-sınırda yaşayanlar, [periler]
-tuhaf bir peygamber, [thomas lake harris, 1825-1905]
-londrada bir hayalet, [lenin]
-yeni bir keşfe doğru,
-önemli bir insan,
-perdedeki yarık,
-eski cinayetler üzerinde yeni bir ışık,
-bir seansın ilginç kayıtları.
-sözlükçe, s.295
kitaptan ek bilgiler;
-Harry Houdini-Eric Weiss-1874-1926, avusturya macaristan asıllı amerikalı illüzyon sanatçısı. houdini, maddeden maddeye geçebiliyor, ışınlanabiliyor, bu özelliğini sır olarak illüzyonist kimliğinde saklar, sahnede perdede, sandıkta, zincirde, kutuda atomlarına ayrılıp maddeden geçer, sonra da sırrı anlaşılmasın diye millete "bu bir illüzyon gösterisi" der.
-mina stinson crandon, margery, 1889-1941, kanada asıllı amerikalı fiziksel medyum.
-charles fulton oursler, 1839-1952, amerikalı gazeteci, oyun ve roman yazarı.
-davenport kardeşler, ıra davenport, 1839-1877; william henry davenport, 1841-1911, amerikalı fiziksel medyumlar.
-hokum: saçma, zırva, hokuz-pokus deyimi buradan gelirmiş.
-joseph pulitzer, 1847-1911, macar asıllı amerikalı gazete patronu, her yıl, adına pulitzer ödülleri dağıtılmaktadır.
-gilbert aime murray, 1866-1957, avusturalya asıllı amerikalı edebiyat profesörü, grek edebiyatı çevirmeni ve psişik araştırmacı.
-eva C(arriere), asıl adı marthe beroud, 1866-, fransız materyalizasyon medyumu.
-johann k. f. zöllner, 1834-1882, alman gökbilim profesörü. medyum henry slade ile yürüttüğü deneylerden sonra, dördüncü boyuta ilişkin olarak" dördün boşluğu" varsayımını öne sürmüştür.
-henry slade, -1905, amerikalı medyum.
-ernesto bozzano, 1862-1943, italyan öncü metapsişik araştırmacı ve yazar.
-daniel dunglas hume, 1833-1886, iskoç asıllı amerikalı fiziksel medyum. levitasyon-uçma yeteneğinden dolayı medyumların kralı.
-kont alessandro cagliostro-giuseppe balsamo, 1743-1795, italyan okültist. ruhsal şifacı, simyager, kahin.
-oliver joseph lodge, 1851-1940, ingiliz fizik profesörü ve psişik araştırmacı.
-frederick william henry myers, 1843-1901, ingiliz şair, klasik edebiyat araştırmacısı, deneme yazarı, psişik araştırmacı, SPR-psişik araştırmalar derneği başkanı.
-robert dale owen, 1801-1877, iskoç ütopik sosyalist, politikacı, reformcu ve psişik araştırmacı-yazar. ünlü ütopik sosyalist robert owenini oğludur.
-sir algernon edwars aspinall, 1871-1952, ingiliz devlet adamı, batı hint adaları vali yardımcısı ve yazar. west indian tales-batı hint adaları öyküleri, kitapta hayelet öyküleri varmış.
-animal magnetism-hayvansal manyetizma; alman hekim franz anton mesmerin, 1734-1815, insanların birtakım evrensel güçleri birbirlerine aktarabilecekleri ve bu yolla birbirlerini etkileyebilecekleri yaklaşımı üzerine kurduğu kuramu.
[bu kuram üzerinde biraz durayım.
günümüz new age, altın çağ, kova çağı, enigma çağı, bilgi çağı ile birlikte; the secret, sır, kişisel gelişim, koç, yaşam koçu, reiki, meditasyon, içe dönme, kendini bil, bilgilen, bilgini peşinden koş, bilgi güçtür, tekamül et, karma, ne ekersen onu biçersin öğretisi fenomeni bu kuramın üzerine temellenmiş, bu kuram üzerine kurulmuş, ve bu kuram evrensel yasalardan biridir ve çok çok önemlidir.
günümüzde olan şey, işte bu kuramın ne kadar haklı olduğunu kanıtlıyor ve doğruluyor.
evrensel yasalardan birkaçı (inşallah karıştırmıyorum, doğru hatırlıyorumdur, siz yine de ra material-ra bilgileri kitabından kontron edin;
-sevgi yasası,
-bir(in) yasası,
-denge yasası,
-karma yasası,
-tekamül yasası.]
-sir william fletcher barret, 1844-1910, ingiliz fizik profösörü, psişik araştırmacı ve radyestezi uzmanı. psişik araştırma derneği SPR ve amerikan psişik araştırma derneği ASPR kurucularındandır.
-samuel george soal, 1889-1975, ingiliz matematikçi ve parapsikolog.
-hannen swaffer, ingiliz gazeteci, sosyalist ve spritüalist. adını daha çok "silver birch" seanslarıyla duyurmuş, bu seanslar, sonraları hannen swaffer seansları adıyla anılmıştır. (silver birch öğretilerini-kitabını okudum, buna dair yorumlarımı sitede aratıp bulabilirsiniz).
-emanuel swedenborg, 1688-1772, isveçli bilim adamı, tasarımcı, filozof, mistik ve durugörü medyumu, durugörür.
-thomas lake harris, 1825-1905, soluk alma, nefes yöntemleri, egzersiz yöntemleri. bulduğu bu yöntemler bugün çok çok önemlidir. yararlıdır.
-andrew jackson davis, 1826-1910, poughkeepsie kahini. amerikalı mistik, durugörü ve duruişiti medyumu, ruhsal şifacı. amerikadaki spiritüalizmin teorik temelini kuran.
-james harvey hyslop, 1854-1920, amerikalı mantık ve etik profesörü, amerikan psişik araştırma derneği ASPR başkanı. 1900 lerin başında amerikanın önde gelen psişik araştırmacılarından biri. kitabı; life after death:problems of the future life and its nature-ölümden sonra yaşam:gelecek yaşamın sorunları ve doğası, 1919.
-william jackson crawford, 1881-1920, yeni zellanda asıllı ingiliz mühendis ve metapsişik araştırmacı.
-sir william crookes, 1832-1919, ingiliz fizikçi ve kimaycı, metapsişik araştırmacı, SPR başkanı, radyometrinin ve crookes tüpünün mucidi, talyum elementinini kaşifi.üniversite eğitimi görmemiş olmasına rağmen 19. yyınen büyük bilimadamlarından biri.
-hydesville kasabası; new york eyaletinde rochester kentindedir. spiritüalizmin doğuş yeri, fox kardeşler aracılığıyla.
-albert f. von schrenk-notzing, 1862-1929, alman metapsişik araştırmacı, hekim, adli tıp psikiyatrı. ipnoz-hipnoz-hipnotizma-ipnotizma ve telkini tedavilerde ilk uygulayan.
-gustave geley, 1865-1924, fransız hekim, öncü metapsişik araştırmacı ve kuramcı.
-d. d. home, şair robert browning ondan etkilemiş ve ona bu kitabı yazmış: the medium.
23-11-2016
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyleun yaşam öyküsü,
-sunuş,
-önsöz,
-houdini bilmecesi,
-ekrandaki gölgeler,
-ilginç bir posta torbasından notlar: rüya görenler,
-hendekteki hayalet,
-hayaley yasası,
-ünlü yazarların öteki dünyadan yazıları, o. wilde, j.london, a. c. northcliffe, c. dickens, j. conrad, j. jerome.
-bazı ilginç kişisel deneyimler,
-sınırda yaşayanlar, [periler]
-tuhaf bir peygamber, [thomas lake harris, 1825-1905]
-londrada bir hayalet, [lenin]
-yeni bir keşfe doğru,
-önemli bir insan,
-perdedeki yarık,
-eski cinayetler üzerinde yeni bir ışık,
-bir seansın ilginç kayıtları.
-sözlükçe, s.295
kitaptan ek bilgiler;
-Harry Houdini-Eric Weiss-1874-1926, avusturya macaristan asıllı amerikalı illüzyon sanatçısı. houdini, maddeden maddeye geçebiliyor, ışınlanabiliyor, bu özelliğini sır olarak illüzyonist kimliğinde saklar, sahnede perdede, sandıkta, zincirde, kutuda atomlarına ayrılıp maddeden geçer, sonra da sırrı anlaşılmasın diye millete "bu bir illüzyon gösterisi" der.
-mina stinson crandon, margery, 1889-1941, kanada asıllı amerikalı fiziksel medyum.
-charles fulton oursler, 1839-1952, amerikalı gazeteci, oyun ve roman yazarı.
-davenport kardeşler, ıra davenport, 1839-1877; william henry davenport, 1841-1911, amerikalı fiziksel medyumlar.
-hokum: saçma, zırva, hokuz-pokus deyimi buradan gelirmiş.
-joseph pulitzer, 1847-1911, macar asıllı amerikalı gazete patronu, her yıl, adına pulitzer ödülleri dağıtılmaktadır.
-gilbert aime murray, 1866-1957, avusturalya asıllı amerikalı edebiyat profesörü, grek edebiyatı çevirmeni ve psişik araştırmacı.
-eva C(arriere), asıl adı marthe beroud, 1866-, fransız materyalizasyon medyumu.
-johann k. f. zöllner, 1834-1882, alman gökbilim profesörü. medyum henry slade ile yürüttüğü deneylerden sonra, dördüncü boyuta ilişkin olarak" dördün boşluğu" varsayımını öne sürmüştür.
-henry slade, -1905, amerikalı medyum.
-ernesto bozzano, 1862-1943, italyan öncü metapsişik araştırmacı ve yazar.
-daniel dunglas hume, 1833-1886, iskoç asıllı amerikalı fiziksel medyum. levitasyon-uçma yeteneğinden dolayı medyumların kralı.
-kont alessandro cagliostro-giuseppe balsamo, 1743-1795, italyan okültist. ruhsal şifacı, simyager, kahin.
-oliver joseph lodge, 1851-1940, ingiliz fizik profesörü ve psişik araştırmacı.
-frederick william henry myers, 1843-1901, ingiliz şair, klasik edebiyat araştırmacısı, deneme yazarı, psişik araştırmacı, SPR-psişik araştırmalar derneği başkanı.
-robert dale owen, 1801-1877, iskoç ütopik sosyalist, politikacı, reformcu ve psişik araştırmacı-yazar. ünlü ütopik sosyalist robert owenini oğludur.
-sir algernon edwars aspinall, 1871-1952, ingiliz devlet adamı, batı hint adaları vali yardımcısı ve yazar. west indian tales-batı hint adaları öyküleri, kitapta hayelet öyküleri varmış.
-animal magnetism-hayvansal manyetizma; alman hekim franz anton mesmerin, 1734-1815, insanların birtakım evrensel güçleri birbirlerine aktarabilecekleri ve bu yolla birbirlerini etkileyebilecekleri yaklaşımı üzerine kurduğu kuramu.
[bu kuram üzerinde biraz durayım.
günümüz new age, altın çağ, kova çağı, enigma çağı, bilgi çağı ile birlikte; the secret, sır, kişisel gelişim, koç, yaşam koçu, reiki, meditasyon, içe dönme, kendini bil, bilgilen, bilgini peşinden koş, bilgi güçtür, tekamül et, karma, ne ekersen onu biçersin öğretisi fenomeni bu kuramın üzerine temellenmiş, bu kuram üzerine kurulmuş, ve bu kuram evrensel yasalardan biridir ve çok çok önemlidir.
günümüzde olan şey, işte bu kuramın ne kadar haklı olduğunu kanıtlıyor ve doğruluyor.
evrensel yasalardan birkaçı (inşallah karıştırmıyorum, doğru hatırlıyorumdur, siz yine de ra material-ra bilgileri kitabından kontron edin;
-sevgi yasası,
-bir(in) yasası,
-denge yasası,
-karma yasası,
-tekamül yasası.]
-sir william fletcher barret, 1844-1910, ingiliz fizik profösörü, psişik araştırmacı ve radyestezi uzmanı. psişik araştırma derneği SPR ve amerikan psişik araştırma derneği ASPR kurucularındandır.
-samuel george soal, 1889-1975, ingiliz matematikçi ve parapsikolog.
-hannen swaffer, ingiliz gazeteci, sosyalist ve spritüalist. adını daha çok "silver birch" seanslarıyla duyurmuş, bu seanslar, sonraları hannen swaffer seansları adıyla anılmıştır. (silver birch öğretilerini-kitabını okudum, buna dair yorumlarımı sitede aratıp bulabilirsiniz).
-emanuel swedenborg, 1688-1772, isveçli bilim adamı, tasarımcı, filozof, mistik ve durugörü medyumu, durugörür.
-thomas lake harris, 1825-1905, soluk alma, nefes yöntemleri, egzersiz yöntemleri. bulduğu bu yöntemler bugün çok çok önemlidir. yararlıdır.
-andrew jackson davis, 1826-1910, poughkeepsie kahini. amerikalı mistik, durugörü ve duruişiti medyumu, ruhsal şifacı. amerikadaki spiritüalizmin teorik temelini kuran.
-james harvey hyslop, 1854-1920, amerikalı mantık ve etik profesörü, amerikan psişik araştırma derneği ASPR başkanı. 1900 lerin başında amerikanın önde gelen psişik araştırmacılarından biri. kitabı; life after death:problems of the future life and its nature-ölümden sonra yaşam:gelecek yaşamın sorunları ve doğası, 1919.
-william jackson crawford, 1881-1920, yeni zellanda asıllı ingiliz mühendis ve metapsişik araştırmacı.
-sir william crookes, 1832-1919, ingiliz fizikçi ve kimaycı, metapsişik araştırmacı, SPR başkanı, radyometrinin ve crookes tüpünün mucidi, talyum elementinini kaşifi.üniversite eğitimi görmemiş olmasına rağmen 19. yyınen büyük bilimadamlarından biri.
-hydesville kasabası; new york eyaletinde rochester kentindedir. spiritüalizmin doğuş yeri, fox kardeşler aracılığıyla.
-albert f. von schrenk-notzing, 1862-1929, alman metapsişik araştırmacı, hekim, adli tıp psikiyatrı. ipnoz-hipnoz-hipnotizma-ipnotizma ve telkini tedavilerde ilk uygulayan.
-gustave geley, 1865-1924, fransız hekim, öncü metapsişik araştırmacı ve kuramcı.
-d. d. home, şair robert browning ondan etkilemiş ve ona bu kitabı yazmış: the medium.
23-11-2016
January 7, 2020
For many years, I have read, re-read and thoroughly enjoyed Conan Doyle’s stories of Sherlock Holmes. They are well crafted, atmospheric, often puzzling and thoroughly entertaining. I consider many of his mysteries as being the best of that genre ever written.
It’s therefore disappointing to have encountered this book, mostly nonsense, purporting to endorse a whole series of supposed supernatural phenomena, all of which could easily have been faked and probably were. Perhaps the most obvious proof that any of the events he describes could easily have been mere illusions is that he starts the book with an account of Houdini’s stage antics, tricks that, by Houdini’s own admission, did not break any laws that govern the natural world, but were accomplished by his own trickery, secrets he never divulged. Compared to the amazing illusions that Houdini pulled off, the “spiritual manifestations” Doyle describes are child’s play.
It becomes apparent that Conan Doyle was quite sincere in his belief in the spiritualist demonstrations had become so popular in his day. He was without doubt an intelligent man, so I can only conclude that he believed this stuff because of an emotional need to do so. Very unfortunate.
The book is a rambling series of references to the activities of a number of the more prominent mediums he observed in action, individuals who were quite notorious at the time but who have now been justly forgotten. The book deserves a similar fate.
It’s therefore disappointing to have encountered this book, mostly nonsense, purporting to endorse a whole series of supposed supernatural phenomena, all of which could easily have been faked and probably were. Perhaps the most obvious proof that any of the events he describes could easily have been mere illusions is that he starts the book with an account of Houdini’s stage antics, tricks that, by Houdini’s own admission, did not break any laws that govern the natural world, but were accomplished by his own trickery, secrets he never divulged. Compared to the amazing illusions that Houdini pulled off, the “spiritual manifestations” Doyle describes are child’s play.
It becomes apparent that Conan Doyle was quite sincere in his belief in the spiritualist demonstrations had become so popular in his day. He was without doubt an intelligent man, so I can only conclude that he believed this stuff because of an emotional need to do so. Very unfortunate.
The book is a rambling series of references to the activities of a number of the more prominent mediums he observed in action, individuals who were quite notorious at the time but who have now been justly forgotten. The book deserves a similar fate.
January 12, 2016
As much as I love Doyle's Holmes books (and I love them beyond all reason) I could not even get all the way through this spiritualist manifesto.
Doyle is unquestionably intelligent, but this book really is like a textbook explaining confirmation bias and entrenched positioning, rather than building a convincing case. It's like talking to your really smart, well loved uncle about that time he was abducted by aliens even though everyone saw him sleeping in the living room the whole time he was supposedly gone.
I'll admit that I'm not a believer, but I'll also tell you that I was totally ready to be convinced by any piece of evidence that couldn't be explained a different way. Sadly, I am instead convinced to only read Doyle's fiction from now on.
Doyle is unquestionably intelligent, but this book really is like a textbook explaining confirmation bias and entrenched positioning, rather than building a convincing case. It's like talking to your really smart, well loved uncle about that time he was abducted by aliens even though everyone saw him sleeping in the living room the whole time he was supposedly gone.
I'll admit that I'm not a believer, but I'll also tell you that I was totally ready to be convinced by any piece of evidence that couldn't be explained a different way. Sadly, I am instead convinced to only read Doyle's fiction from now on.
October 7, 2021
There are so many hilarious bits in this book. I'd rate this book 5 stars for being hilarious, but I'm giving it 1 because he was dead serious, senile, and mad.
- ACD has some weird love / hate relationship with Houdini. You know that friend that you're friends with, but likes to top the things you do and brag about it? That's Houdini. ACD waited until he died so he could mention him in this book to slag him left and right. He spends pages upon pages saying how much he and Houdini are friends but in the same breath curses him for being rude and uncaring towards ACD's interest in the supernatural. Apparently Houdini was fascinated with the supernatural (mediums, seances) but for the wrong reasons. He liked to call them out for their bullshit and 99% of the time called them bullshit. At one point ( I guess to piss ACD off ) he tells ACD that he has gone to 10,000 seances. ACD made a comment that to do that he would have to go to seances for 30 years every single day. ACD also indicated at one point that he thinks Houdini could channel the great beyond but that he denies the powers he has ...
- ACD mentions that he has sat in on some seances, and also has been in correspondence with people who have channeled various writers and famous people. There was one point where at a seance he was at, the woman channeled Oscar Wilde. He was so transfixed by this that the woman later on coughed up some poem where ACD shit his pants, and shed a tear and proclaimed, 'my god it's Oscar Wilde'. ... Sure. Then, later on, he goes to a seance and talks to Jack London (writer of Call of the Wild) who is all, yeah, fuck being dead get me out of here. Then, he ... good lord ... ends up in one where Charles fucking Dickens of all people is telling him the real culprit from Edwin Drood. ... Later he finds out that Lenin is back from the dead and warning of a London / Russia war. This was the best bit of the chapter because of how honestly and utterly ACD was absorbed in believing these people.
- ACD then decides to become a ghostbuster with his friends. They hear of a house down the street which is known to be haunted. So ACD and his friends head on over there to 'ghostbuster' it. They end up finding out that some guy has been causing mayhem in house and after 'talking to him' and 'telling him to leave', the ghost decides to think about leaving. ...
There are other incidents that ACD talks of, but those right there give you an insight on what you're dealing with in the book. I kept flipping through pages and laughing because he was so damn obsessed and so earnest with his belief of the supernatural that, well, it had to be old age and a morbid fascination. There is a difference between morbid fascination and a 'fad' that people are going through.
- ACD has some weird love / hate relationship with Houdini. You know that friend that you're friends with, but likes to top the things you do and brag about it? That's Houdini. ACD waited until he died so he could mention him in this book to slag him left and right. He spends pages upon pages saying how much he and Houdini are friends but in the same breath curses him for being rude and uncaring towards ACD's interest in the supernatural. Apparently Houdini was fascinated with the supernatural (mediums, seances) but for the wrong reasons. He liked to call them out for their bullshit and 99% of the time called them bullshit. At one point ( I guess to piss ACD off ) he tells ACD that he has gone to 10,000 seances. ACD made a comment that to do that he would have to go to seances for 30 years every single day. ACD also indicated at one point that he thinks Houdini could channel the great beyond but that he denies the powers he has ...
- ACD mentions that he has sat in on some seances, and also has been in correspondence with people who have channeled various writers and famous people. There was one point where at a seance he was at, the woman channeled Oscar Wilde. He was so transfixed by this that the woman later on coughed up some poem where ACD shit his pants, and shed a tear and proclaimed, 'my god it's Oscar Wilde'. ... Sure. Then, later on, he goes to a seance and talks to Jack London (writer of Call of the Wild) who is all, yeah, fuck being dead get me out of here. Then, he ... good lord ... ends up in one where Charles fucking Dickens of all people is telling him the real culprit from Edwin Drood. ... Later he finds out that Lenin is back from the dead and warning of a London / Russia war. This was the best bit of the chapter because of how honestly and utterly ACD was absorbed in believing these people.
- ACD then decides to become a ghostbuster with his friends. They hear of a house down the street which is known to be haunted. So ACD and his friends head on over there to 'ghostbuster' it. They end up finding out that some guy has been causing mayhem in house and after 'talking to him' and 'telling him to leave', the ghost decides to think about leaving. ...
There are other incidents that ACD talks of, but those right there give you an insight on what you're dealing with in the book. I kept flipping through pages and laughing because he was so damn obsessed and so earnest with his belief of the supernatural that, well, it had to be old age and a morbid fascination. There is a difference between morbid fascination and a 'fad' that people are going through.
February 26, 2015
I'd read a collection of Doyle's Holmes mysteries as a kid. Finding the Dover edition of his outstandingly credulous book about fairies when I worked at the Volume II Bookstore during the late seventies and early eighties was cognitively dissonant to the extreme. Here was the creator of the English-speaking world's most famous sleuth being taken in by doctored double-exposures of children sitting upon flowers!
I didn't own the fairy book and thought it too silly to spend money on, but years later I found another of Doyle's exercises in credulity in hardcover for a buck. That I'd spend. Perhaps it would be interesting, if only as an example of the popular spiritualist craze of a century ago. Besides, Doyle was a professional writer. The book would be a quick and pleasant read.
It was quick all right, but not pleasant. You'd never guess the author was a noted writer. You'd certainly not credit him with much acumen. This book is terrible, entirely unconvincing and disenchanting both as regards its topic and its source.
Interestingly, Harry Houdini, billed as Doyle's good friend, was himself a debunker of spiritualist claims.
I didn't own the fairy book and thought it too silly to spend money on, but years later I found another of Doyle's exercises in credulity in hardcover for a buck. That I'd spend. Perhaps it would be interesting, if only as an example of the popular spiritualist craze of a century ago. Besides, Doyle was a professional writer. The book would be a quick and pleasant read.
It was quick all right, but not pleasant. You'd never guess the author was a noted writer. You'd certainly not credit him with much acumen. This book is terrible, entirely unconvincing and disenchanting both as regards its topic and its source.
Interestingly, Harry Houdini, billed as Doyle's good friend, was himself a debunker of spiritualist claims.
July 30, 2012
"There is something there besides our material eyes." (p 190)
April 23, 2016
Alternate title: When Smart People Believe Really Dumb Things
April 26, 2025
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was both a devoted Spiritualist as well as a physician. He applied his analytic faculties as a writer, scientist, and skeptic to investigate, debunk, and identify patterns in encounters with spirits. This book is a set of essays in which Doyle details key aspects of Spiritualist experiences. He describes seances, spirit photography (ectoplasm), accounts of fairies and elves, the works of famous mediums, and a perspective on the talents of escape artist Harry Houdini. What is most interesting about this collection is interpretation of how Spiritualism allowed men (and women) of science during the early 20th century to let go of some of the demands of materialism and intellectually broaden their thinking toward new ways of measuring and perceiving human energies, sensitivities, dreams, hauntings, and other inexplicable experiences. This is still a challenge for scientists, though on another level, as it is nowadays acceptable for scientists to practice a mode of scientific rigor as well as allow for ambiguity in their findings. Reading this book alongside Neil deGrasse Tyson on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life or Jacques Vallee on fairy folk shows how scientists have a habit of seeking the unknown as a means to sharpen definitions of belief and observation.
November 27, 2020
Well, if nothing else, some of the stories of seances are interesting and amusing. Doyle was very much into what was called "spiritualism" in the last part of his life. He was very serious about the subject and this book was written to educate, not to entertain.
Most of the subject of the book is in dealing with the afterlife. He provides examples of what he considered to be proof of contact with the afterlife by mediums manifesting ectoplasm out of their mouths and nostrils, which is rather unpleasant sounding to me! Most of what he covers is still believed by many people. In fact, I wonder whether some contact with those who are dead is possible in certain cases. But I'm not totally convinced either way -- and I don't believe in the manifestation of ectoplasm from a medium.
The one part of the book which seems to be totally fantastical and unrealistic is his discussion of faeries. He apparently believed that such creatures existed and that there were photos and stories which provided documentation. I don't think anyone believes in actual faeries anymore, unless they have some kind of mental disease which causes hallucinations. I could have done without this part of the book!
Most of the subject of the book is in dealing with the afterlife. He provides examples of what he considered to be proof of contact with the afterlife by mediums manifesting ectoplasm out of their mouths and nostrils, which is rather unpleasant sounding to me! Most of what he covers is still believed by many people. In fact, I wonder whether some contact with those who are dead is possible in certain cases. But I'm not totally convinced either way -- and I don't believe in the manifestation of ectoplasm from a medium.
The one part of the book which seems to be totally fantastical and unrealistic is his discussion of faeries. He apparently believed that such creatures existed and that there were photos and stories which provided documentation. I don't think anyone believes in actual faeries anymore, unless they have some kind of mental disease which causes hallucinations. I could have done without this part of the book!
December 15, 2022
I found it interesting. I picked it out because it looked neat. Now after reading it, I can't really say that I know what I read. For those of you who don't know, this is a collection of essays Doyle wrote, and they are all about Spiritualism. Honestly I feel like I could end the review here. The whole time it just felt like Doyle was waving a pocket watch in front of me, trying to convince me that fairies are real.
Now I know what you're thinking: "Well if it sounds like you didn't like it, then why did you give it 4 stars?" And that's just it, I suppose. Because I did like it. I don't really know why. But it was neat. I guess it was just the historical value. It was very interesting to see him talk about Houdini and his tricks. (That section of the book actually was quite coherent) And I want to say that I don't outright think he's lying about any of it. Now you may raise an eyebrow to that statement. "Well then, surely that means you believe in spirits, seances, and fairies?" Well, no. I don't. I don't know if any of that stuff is true or false, and I suppose I never will. But, in the mean time, I'll give it a 4.
Now I know what you're thinking: "Well if it sounds like you didn't like it, then why did you give it 4 stars?" And that's just it, I suppose. Because I did like it. I don't really know why. But it was neat. I guess it was just the historical value. It was very interesting to see him talk about Houdini and his tricks. (That section of the book actually was quite coherent) And I want to say that I don't outright think he's lying about any of it. Now you may raise an eyebrow to that statement. "Well then, surely that means you believe in spirits, seances, and fairies?" Well, no. I don't. I don't know if any of that stuff is true or false, and I suppose I never will. But, in the mean time, I'll give it a 4.
April 28, 2013
Interesting to read about Houdini etc
September 9, 2016
One of the most spiritual books ever written. A solid case for the reality of psychic phenomena.
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