<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Is there more?
Review:
I really enjoyed reading about Carlos's learning experiences. Even if he is a bit of a whiner it is still well written. I liked the part he has in there about the cords. I saw an illustration in Energetic Anatomy by Mark Rich and it looks pretty similar to what Don Juan was talking about. Mark talks about some dormant cords which Castaneda never discusses. Sort of makes you wonder what else is out there.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS BOOK IS AWSOME
Review: A separate reality was a great book. Carlos is the greatest Author of all time and I know that isn't what he set out to be but that is what happend. I'm 15 years old and I stumbeld on to Carlos's writing on acident I dont even like reading but when i first started reading The Teachings of Don Juan I couldnt pout it down I try to get as much as i posibly can get out of reading his books just like Carlos I try to learn from Don Juan to. As many of you know Carlos Castaneda past away some time ago so he will never be able to read these reviews. If he was still around there is one question i would like would like to ask him "are these stories fact or fiction?" if anyone out there can help me with this question please E-mail me.
Rating: 
Summary: Further Con
Review: I LOVED this book. Yes, there are some good philosophies "revealed" in the pages, but the fun especially comes from guessing what is real, what is plausible, and what is possible. It is more plausible than the Bible...which is quite funny.Read "Teachings of don Juan" first, than "A Separate Reality", though the latter is more interesting. Read them both, they are light reading, have a few good (but common) philosophies, and are a trip logically to decode.
Rating:
Summary: Indeed a separate reality
Review: I took this book off my shelf because it had been there since I was in college (and doing drugs) and I wanted to see what it was like before I sold it. I knew it'd be the standard drugs=spirituality which sounded so impressive in college and so dumb now. I figured it'd bore me in the first 50 pages. It didn't. Instead it angered me at first. It's Noble Savage arrogance coupled with its 60s "drugs are so cool" aesthetic just bothers me. A prime example would be the narrator going to visit one of don Juan's friends that "knows how to dance like a NATURAL man". Castenada visits the guy's house, finds out that he's working in the field, and then comes back just as the guy has finished working. Castaneda says that the Indian seems tired, blitzed out of his mind, like he was on drugs. Castaneda apparently was too stupid to realize that a person picking grapes under the hot sun for 10 hours straight isn't going to seem very coherant. Castaneda then wonders why the migrant worker won't show him his magical dance steps and shoos him off the front steps. Several other scenes like this abound, such as Castaneda getting sad when he sees begger children, but being told that they are more free. Or Castaneda laughing at the "gentle ironic humor" of his subject telling him that he'd probably use his first book as toilet paper (oh ha ha - poverty is so cute.) But then I realized that Castaneda is telling all these stories second-hand, while don Juan and friends keep pushing peyote and psichlobin mushrooms on him. That's when the book was funny. If you are smart enough to realize that it's the story of a bunch of Indians annoyed with a smug white guy and decided to mess with his head. Sadly it's told from teh white guy's perspective, but it is funny just how clueless he is about the ways in which he's being mocked, ridiculed and played with throughout the book...P>So if you are into the drugs=spirituality kick, read this book because it will open your mind. However, if you have a modicum of intelligence and enough experience and perception to get over the Nobel Savage stereotype, you'll find this to be one of the funniest books ever -- a classic in Indian humor.
Rating:
Summary: Indeed a separate reality
Review: One of Carlos Castenada's best writings. An absolute classic. Reading this book is like participating in Castenada's experiences first hand. His descriptive writing and narration couldn't have been better. If you're looking for a universally philosophical book, this is a must. Castaneda dives in and out of Don Juan's teachings, giving the audience a taste of Yaqui tradition and knowledge. It's a definite eye opener for those who are able to piece Don Juan's "thematic puzzles" together. But, some may have trouble comprehending what may seem like B.S. throughout the story. There may also be some confusion in pieces of the book if you haven't read the prerequisite (Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge). Don't hesitate to check this book out. It's incredibly powerful.
Rating:
Summary: This book profoundly changed my life for the better
Review: The concept of "stopping the world" is worth more than the price of the book. A thousand times over.
I am incredulous at one imbelic negative review in particular. In polite company, a simple "No, thank you" is ample. Believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on...
Was don Juan Mateus real? It's a good story.
Rating:
Summary: The Way of The Warrior
Review: This is a superb book, Carlos Castaneda's journalistic flow captures the imagination with the fantastical and captures the intellect and holds it tight when the reality of a different realm becomes evident... This book is about living like a warrior. Prior to Columbus ever seeing the shores of the Americas, man was at peace with his environment. Taking what he needed, and leaving what he didnt. Apologizing to the earth and the live plants before taking from them. To have it compared to surreal and fantastical drug fantasies like 'Trainspotting'is an insult to what Carlos tried to do with these books, and that was to hip...overly intellectual types to a whole world that exists under your nose that you are totally unaware of... it isnt spirituality, and it isnt 'drug-subculture' it is, in fact - "A Seperate Reality"
Rating: 
Summary: For the message
Review: This review is unimportant as it is no more relevent than everything else. Taken for the message of this book, I have learned what it means to be in line with the way of the warrior. A warrior is one who is not afraid of waiting and knows for what he waits. Patience is the theme of the author's account of the teaching of don Juan. No matter what you believe in (I'm most aligned with atheism), the practices of seeing and sorcery are tests that develop the will so that one finds himself able to embrace the mystery of the world and be in unity with all that is around him.
Rating:
Summary: For the message
Review: This review is unimportant as it is no more relevent than everything else. Taken for the message of this book, I have learned what it means to be in line with the way of the warrior. A warrior is one who is not afraid of waiting and knows for what he waits. Patience is the theme of the author's account of the teaching of don Juan. No matter what you believe in (I'm most aligned with atheism), the practices of seeing and sorcery are tests that develop the will so that one finds himself able to embrace the mystery of the world and be in unity with all that is around him.
<< 1 >>
| 
