Rating: 
Summary: Unintentionally hilarious
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: Thanks for sharing this with us...!
Review: It is a relly fantastic book. It gives you the oppotunity to see the world around you in a different poin of view, and I'm glad that he wanted to share his experience no matter what anybody said to him about his unusual apprenticeship. It is very rare that an ordinary person could met such a man with fine experiences of life and be able to have him within forever no matter of death or destinity, and therefore I admire him, and all of us who didn't had the opportunity as he did will learn and enjoy by all of his books. Sincerly, Yamithliz Rivas San Juan, P.R.
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: Jolt Your Perception
Review: One of the first books that made me really want to read. Other worldly and cathartic. One I'd never leave behind. Negative reviews on this book are the sign of literal belief systems which serve to control rather than heal. This book is awesome.
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: fascinating
Review: This is a unique look into a drug subculture, not unlike Naked Lunch or the movie Trainspotting. Casteneda is a superb writer, one whose words flow into one another. However I find it laughable that not one other review mentioned the drugs. The visions are brought about by ingesting peyote, mescaline, and mushrooms. I doubt the spiritual part of it, but it is a fascinating read nonetheless.
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.
Rating:
Summary: well-written
Review: This, and all the Catenada books, are well-written, but as far as being spiritually helpful, I think people tend to look up from the books and think, "Oh, wow!" But the books actually add very little to one's spiritual advancement, which is what is suggested these books will do. I read the first book, and this book, and like them both as READING experiences, but I think a lot of them are perhaps garbage, and even if they are true, are not going to broaden your soul as much as you might think or have been led to believe. Read them as you would a Joseph Conrad novel...gripping, dark, and a good read. Nothing more.
| 
