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ursullamajor's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a wonderful example of why a mountain of anecdotes is meaningless as proof of a phenomenon. (Of course, my pro-science bias is showing.) I expected more of a folk tale compendium, but this is more about premonition, astral projection, and other parlour science popular at the time. However, many of the stories presented as support for the existence of "another world" follow the patterns of folk tales, so I guess I still got a bit of what I came for.
As a historical text, I found it charming. I love seeing how literary styles have changed over time; nowadays, for example, you wouldn't include the addresses of all correspondents or use the author's own experiences in a body of evidence…like when he was in JAIL for two months for ABDUCTING A CHILD. There were some extenuating circumstances—he didn't sell the kid for sausage meat or anything—but holy snacks is it jarring when he drops that wee bombshell. There's something so quaint and hilarious about the way this and many other stories are told that, even though I ultimately don't agree with the thesis of the book, I enjoyed leafing through it. (Well, swiping through it. I read it as an ebook from Project Gutenberg.)
As a historical text, I found it charming. I love seeing how literary styles have changed over time; nowadays, for example, you wouldn't include the addresses of all correspondents or use the author's own experiences in a body of evidence…like when he was in JAIL for two months for ABDUCTING A CHILD. There were some extenuating circumstances—he didn't sell the kid for sausage meat or anything—but holy snacks is it jarring when he drops that wee bombshell. There's something so quaint and hilarious about the way this and many other stories are told that, even though I ultimately don't agree with the thesis of the book, I enjoyed leafing through it. (Well, swiping through it. I read it as an ebook from Project Gutenberg.)
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