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tricapra's review against another edition
4.0
Regardless of your personal beliefs about aliens, this book is well written, well paced and quite riveting. Spooky.
doritobabe's review against another edition
5.0
I rate this book five stars because:
- Strieber is an amazing writer. His prose is elegant, sophisticated, encapsulating, and intelligent
- He isn't writing to convince readers of anything, rather, he is imploring readers to consider a reality and a presence of Others rather than to completely dismiss it
- the author is also critical of his own experiences. Once again not attempting to prove that his visitations were/are true, but tries to understand them in a larger literal and metaphorical context; alluding to the fact that as humans we are unable to understand the world and life in it's totality (especially true in the example given of the scientific method: needing many other planets and worlds as testable materials which we do not have).
My favorite parts of this book were Strieber's ruminations about his experiences. I like when he discussed historical resources for UFO history in America and, sometimes, within the global context. His section on his discussion of the Triad was definitely the best for mythology buffs like myself.
I think I enjoyed this book the most because starting it late at night, the reader becomes scared and thrown into the world of abduction. Later, one becomes involved in the philosophy of what visitations *mean*. I think the author would feel successful if the reader was left a harmonious believer/skeptic: acknowledging the potential for Others and other life in space but also questioning their own existence and relationship to the greater universe as a whole.
- Strieber is an amazing writer. His prose is elegant, sophisticated, encapsulating, and intelligent
- He isn't writing to convince readers of anything, rather, he is imploring readers to consider a reality and a presence of Others rather than to completely dismiss it
- the author is also critical of his own experiences. Once again not attempting to prove that his visitations were/are true, but tries to understand them in a larger literal and metaphorical context; alluding to the fact that as humans we are unable to understand the world and life in it's totality (especially true in the example given of the scientific method: needing many other planets and worlds as testable materials which we do not have).
My favorite parts of this book were Strieber's ruminations about his experiences. I like when he discussed historical resources for UFO history in America and, sometimes, within the global context. His section on his discussion of the Triad was definitely the best for mythology buffs like myself.
I think I enjoyed this book the most because starting it late at night, the reader becomes scared and thrown into the world of abduction. Later, one becomes involved in the philosophy of what visitations *mean*. I think the author would feel successful if the reader was left a harmonious believer/skeptic: acknowledging the potential for Others and other life in space but also questioning their own existence and relationship to the greater universe as a whole.
theboldbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I liked parts of this book, but a lot of it was rather dry. I was expecting more about Whitley's personal encounters. I thought this book would be terrifying, but I don't think his fear came across that well in his writing.
trid1977's review against another edition
2.0
I remembered it being alot scarier when I 1st read it in the late-1980's. This time it seemed like a lot of rambling. I found the author wondering whether this was just an unknown natural phenomenon hard to follow. A new phenomenon suddenly starts after a few billion years is even harder to believe than alien vistors.
originalhal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Well-written psychological horror/thriller. Strieber’s imagination is vast and he captures the tension of nightmares, past and present, wonderfully.
itssslivv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
jdhacker's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
1.0
Communion is Strieber's autobiographical accounts of his abductions and interactions with aliens. The book describes what he is convinced are real events spread over many years.
This was a disappointing addition to Strieber's body of work. He's an excellent horror author. I tried to imagine this as just another horror story by him with a false framing story for verisimilitude, despite knowing going in that he truly believes in the abductions and alien interactions described therein. I even have some old pictures of my father reading this and tried to think of it as a way of connecting back to his experiences as a reader. I couldn't do it. I couldn't take it seriously. What I'm sure was supposed to feel menacing felt silly, what was supposed to feel hopeful felt ludicrous. The recovered memory tropes don't work as we know in the field of psychology that they're virtually always fictitious. The conspiracy theories and paranoia come across as mentally ill.
I guess, if you consider yourself a survivor of these sorts of abductions you'll probably enjoy this. It just makes me feel sad for Strieber though.
This was a disappointing addition to Strieber's body of work. He's an excellent horror author. I tried to imagine this as just another horror story by him with a false framing story for verisimilitude, despite knowing going in that he truly believes in the abductions and alien interactions described therein. I even have some old pictures of my father reading this and tried to think of it as a way of connecting back to his experiences as a reader. I couldn't do it. I couldn't take it seriously. What I'm sure was supposed to feel menacing felt silly, what was supposed to feel hopeful felt ludicrous. The recovered memory tropes don't work as we know in the field of psychology that they're virtually always fictitious. The conspiracy theories and paranoia come across as mentally ill.
I guess, if you consider yourself a survivor of these sorts of abductions you'll probably enjoy this. It just makes me feel sad for Strieber though.
nicospitsjive's review against another edition
3.0
Self-indulgently written; early edition contains verb tense shifting which reduces immersion; still interesting in places and as an artifact in 80s/90s abduction culture.