One Hundred Cases for Survival after Death was a sometimes interesting, mostly dry book. Admittedly going into it, I thought it would be more entertaining but Baird proved to be very committed to presenting the facts so that the reader would make up their own minds. Which, as a book making the case for survival after death, is really the way the book should be written.
Despite its dryness I did finish it and I did learn several things. The SPR was serious about their paranormal research. They did extensive work with mediums in particular. In fact, three quarters of the book was taken up with mediums. Speaking of mediums and researchers, I will note that there is a bit of controversy surrounding one member of the SPR that Baird strongly believed in. Harry Price was a member of the SPR in the 1920s who debunked several mediums. He tested one medium, Rudi Schneider, who claimed he could do levitation and found he was a fraud. However, fellow members in the SPR tested Rudi behind Price's back and claimed that Rudi was authentic. After his death the SPR claimed that Price's work with the Borley Rectory, actually used in Baird's book as proof of a haunting with suggestions to read Price's report of the paranormal events there, was faked and that Price was a fraud himself. Since only a few people backed up Price after his death I suspect Baird was a friend or a friend of a friend.
Something else I learned was that there was a lot of nonsense tests that the SPR put mediums through. For example, there used to be, I don't know if anyone still does it, something called Cross Correspondence where two mediums supposedly channel a spirit and when their automatic writing is compared it makes sense. Except that it really doesn't and in the few cases Baird used to prove the process the meaning between the two messages often had to be inferred. It rarely ever made actual sense when placed side by side. Most of the cross correspondence and automatic writing was a little too far for me to believe.
What's funny is that I actually do believe in survival after death, although perhaps not in the form that Baird thought it had. And some of his cases were very convincing, a couple made me shiver because of how convincing they were. For example, there was this one book test where a woman was told to look for a book in her house. She was told two passages because the medium's guide was a little confused as to the number of the page but both were very similar when she went home and found them.
I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone who does not have a strong interest in the paranormal. Many, many times I fell asleep reading because of how dryly the cases were presented. That said it was a good read. I don't know if my Great Grandfather read this book or if perhaps one of his parents had been interested in the subject. It's awesome that someone in my family line had an interest in this subject too. I only hope this book didn't bore them to sleep.
My next book will be Valley of the Dolls so until next time fellow readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment