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irisfang 's review for:
Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places
by Colin Dickey
informative
sad
medium-paced
This book was far less light-hearted than I expected. I thought it'd be a guy going around America, interviewing ghost hunters, and talking about different places based on their ghost stories.
...which I guess it WAS, but it was a lot deeper than that; there was so much thoughtful analysis and historical detail included in this book. The chapter in New Orleans stands out as particularly excellent (and horrifying - though granted that applies to everything this book goes into with regards to slavery). Essentially, this book is about what the ghost stories we tell (which are often just factually incorrect) say about how we want to view the past, or the inbuilt biases/prejudices that get baked into our stories and how that reflects our perception of history. It's a really fascinating way to view the history of the US, and at several points I put down the book just to contemplate what I'd read.
Highly recommend this book, with a warning that it can be heavy.
...which I guess it WAS, but it was a lot deeper than that; there was so much thoughtful analysis and historical detail included in this book. The chapter in New Orleans stands out as particularly excellent (and horrifying - though granted that applies to everything this book goes into with regards to slavery). Essentially, this book is about what the ghost stories we tell (which are often just factually incorrect) say about how we want to view the past, or the inbuilt biases/prejudices that get baked into our stories and how that reflects our perception of history. It's a really fascinating way to view the history of the US, and at several points I put down the book just to contemplate what I'd read.
Highly recommend this book, with a warning that it can be heavy.