Scan barcode
jhrnr99's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.25
The main story was very interesting and well-told. My main complaint is the VERY dense and kind of rambling tangents that Huxley goes on about the history of different sects of Christianity and similar. Those were a slog to get through, but the rest is great. Also a lot of quotes in French with no translation. Why?
tyrfishy's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
This was soooo hard to get through. The history could have been so much more engaging and captivating in different hands, I think. I skimmed large chunks just to get through them.
thiswasatriumph's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Main takeaways: 1) Humans are programmed to seek transcendence of self, 2) They will distort reality for this, 3) Deviant psychology can account for supernatural appearances. Huxley is limited by the psychology available in his era, which coincides with belief in hysteria, PK/ESP, and the like.
kateofmind's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
cheesewiz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
A new favorite! Huxley's prose is dense tot his is a book that necessitates rumination especially because Huxley's narrative is interrupted with long treatises on spiritual enlightenment, historical belief in possession, and the psychologies of the supposedly possessed nuns and their exorcists.
By turns very funny and quick, yet also horrifying, this is a book that will improve upon rereading.
By turns very funny and quick, yet also horrifying, this is a book that will improve upon rereading.
norynor's review against another edition
4.0
In 17th century France, a group of nuns became possessed by devils. What preceded these events and the hysteria that followed was recorded in incredible detail through many different sources at the time, and Huxley wove these stories together into one fantastic account. If you love history or psychology this is a must read (although I recommend skipping the epilogue, it was a chore to read and didn’t add anything).