Reader Views

Embrace of the Daimon

“Embrace of the Daimon” by Sandra Lee Dennis, PhD, has been revised since it was first published in 2001. A lot has happened in the past decade that made the author’s decision to do this revision. The news is rampant with sex scandals. The media is bringing more violence and sexuality into our day-to-day lives.  This includes what we see in video games, in the news, in books, movies and television. It is everywhere.  If we don’t learn to embrace the darker aspects of ourselves then we miss out on an opportunity to attain a higher level of awareness.  By gaining an acceptance of the aspects of ourselves that frighten us, we can learn to grow and attain a higher level of consciousness.  By repressing and avoiding dealing with the dark archetype we actually give it more power and in doing so we become weaker.  This is when it can seem to transform itself from daimonic to demonic.

Daimons are described as “messengers of the gods” who would connect heaven and earth by exchanging messages between the human and divine realms. When Dr. Dennis started doing work with them through imaginal visitations, she found that they deepened her connection life. Initially, however, she found the images, that she was seeing, to be horrifying. But she also discovered that they revealed information to her from our collective psyche because many of them seemed to be coming from our ancestral or collective history. Delving deeper into Jungian based psychology, she finds that these connections bring sense to what we are experiencing.

Through writing this book, Dr. Dennis shares a tremendous amount of personal information about her self and the dark visions that she was seeing so that we can gain a better understanding of her experiences and the value in applying this information to our own lives. I found her willingness to share these dark visions to be helpful because they made me realize I am not alone in having this experience. If she didn’t go into such depth, I might not have been sure that her visions were as dark as some of mine have been. She also does a great job of analyzing what she has experienced. By bringing these thoughts to light, and analyzing them it reduces the impact of the darkness surrounding them.

While Dr. Dennis discusses the ways in which we can embrace the “Daimon,” I personally would not be comfortable in embarking on this journey without professional help.  Her book has helped me to understand the importance and the path to leading myself to wholeness, yet I also realize that I would not do well in embarking on this adventure on my own.  I think that it is incredibly important that “Embrace of the Daimon,” is read, especially by mental health professionals so that we can learn how to use this aspect of ourselves to heal and grow.

I also found it interesting that the title, “Embrace of the Daimon,” was unsettling to me. If it was a romance novel, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. Yet I think this is the point that the author, Sandra Lee Dennis, PhD, is trying to make.  If I feel it is okay to immerse myself into a darkly erotic novel, I don’t feel disturbed. Yet, to read a non-fiction book that is written about embracing the darker aspects of myself, I feel some discomfort.  It is kind of funny because it is these aspects of myself that I feel draw me into enjoying fiction in which characters have actually embraced their daimons!

Embrace of the Daimon
Sandra Lee Dennis, PhD
LC Enterprises (2013)
ISBN 9781939812032
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (4/13)

Bringing Home the War

Theresa Brandt’s autobiography “Bringing Home the War” begins with the end of her war.

In her second marriage as an ‘Army Wife’ to a Green Beret, John, the casualties of war Brandt describes, both on her home front (as well as the war John fought), are incredulous to say the least. The story opens with Theresa returning to her Missouri roots. This time, however, she is returning with her three sons, Nick, Gabe and Ben. She has left John behind, in the Tennessee home they made together the previous twelve years. As the story builds, Brandt reflects to her beginning and over the next couple-hundred pages, guides the reader as she fills in the details of her tumultuous and abusive life with John.

Over time, Brandt explains and defines the dynamics of her choices in not one but two men who demonstrated deep-seated abuse. Her first husband, Mark, as Brandt describes: ‘…was mad at the world and I was the easiest person to take out his anger on…’ In her second walk down the aisle, this time with John, it doesn’t take the reader long to figure out his tenacious appetite to pepper Brandt with the consistent dysfunctional behavior of emotional and mental incapacitation. Initially, John’s character is defined as a loving, caring and doting man—the kind of man Brandt is worthy of.

Brandt is methodical in the telling of her story as she steps the reader through her meeting John, eventually marrying and beginning to build a family with the imminent birth of their first son, Nick, followed by two more sons over the ensuing years. Through the process, Brandt has assumed the role of military wife as she adapts to military life. The precursor to the perfect military wife is to be sure all needs of their soldier are met and supported. All John ever wanted since he was nine-years-old was to follow in the footsteps of his familial, military heritage. With strong reservations, Brandt eventually acquiesces to John’s desires to become a Green Beret. He serves not one, two, three, but four tours in Iraq. Brandt struggles with John’s long departures and realizes after John’s return from his second tour that life as they had set out together to conquer was trickling a little further away with each return from his mounting tours of active duty. It is understandable why Brandt insists on standing by her man; if for nothing else, but for the sake of their children. However, this logic becomes more distorted the further into the story and the question that becomes more prevalent is: Why does she stay?

I have a lot of admiration and respect for Brandt’s telling of her story - the word ‘courage’ comes to mind. Some of the personal tragedies she shares concerning the continued victory John achieved toward the chipping away of her spirit are nothing less than inhumane and unconscionable. Overall, “Bringing Home the War” is well-organized. If I could want for something more, it would have been for Brandt to play more on the strengths she eventually found within herself once she began her journey toward personal healing. From an editorial standpoint, a keener focus would have been beneficial. Throughout the book, double wording, missed wording and words used in the wrong context are found. This is a difficult biography to read based on content, but I do give Brandt credit for jarring this reader on more than one occasion because of the content.

Bringing Home the War
Theresa Brandt
Outskirts Press (2012)
ISBN 9781478719564
Reviewed by Diane Lunsford for Reader Views (1/13)

Side Effects

“Side Effects” by Timothy G. Sheridan is a mere 102 pages; yet it took me nearly five days to read—not because it was poorly written; rather, its content is riveting.

Sheridan begins his story by describing himself as a troubled, abused kid when he signed up for the Viet Nam war. His explains a lot of his motivation in signing on was to right the death of his brother in the same war that took him away forever. What he didn’t know was that while he entered the situation as an angry kid, he would return a broken and haunted man. Sheridan’s raw and telling accounts of actual experiences while in Viet Nam are touched upon lightly. The story primarily focuses on his journey upon returning home—home being the Psych Ward of a VA (Veteran’s Administration) hospital located in San Francisco, California.

Sheridan leads the reader through wretched stories of people and their aftermaths of the hellish war that lived on in their heads long past Viet Nam. He paints the picture of his egregious drug addiction that began in ‘Nam’ and in the back alleys of Saigon and opium dens; only to be reinforced and replaced with prescribed Lithium, Thorazine and whatever other mind-numbing fix available once deposited in the VA. He welcomed the medications in an effort to erase his memories and certainly in the spirit of killing the demons that had captured his mind. He wanted to remember the young soldier who entered the war at the same time repair the broken man he had become upon his return.
 
What was most engaging, however, is how Sheridan managed to strike a chord of balance as he described accounts and experiences of the many patients (and friends) he met while walking down the road of his own recovery. His periodic and light-hearted infusions of ‘it is what it is’ laissez faire provided the reader some comfort to read on. Yet, on the next page, he would swing his pendulum pen and place strong and direct dialogue about the frenzied mess of the minds (including his own) he encountered. He writes of the schizophrenic torment and delusions of John/Floyd’s multiple personas only to sum up the outcome again, by holding onto the reality that while it may only be in his mind and he is home, the war will always be a part of all of them. It is when Sheridan’s friend Bill imparts a deep-seated and meaningful message to him that the reader gains a sense of strength to continue forward with the final pages of this book— Sheridan’s story.
 
I have great respect for the way Sheridan delivered his story onto paper. There is an unwritten insistence from beginning to end that he is not a victim; rather he is a survivor. Is the writing a Pulitzer contender? I don’t have the answer to this. Is the story compelling? Absolutely… and it is because of this I would recommend “Side Effects.” I believe it is a story that Timothy G. Sheridan not only needed to tell, but share. As a reader (and writer), sometimes this is why a book is destined to be published.


Side Effects
Timothy G. Sheridan
Outskirts Press (2011)
ISBN 9781432767266
Reviewed by Diane Lunsford for Reader Views (10/12)

The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption

Article first published as Book Review: The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption by Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. on Blogcritics.
 
“The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption” by Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., provides the reader with an important balance of literary history, scholarly analysis, and contemporary relevance, with an exploration into man’s fears, anxieties, and hopes. The illustrative detail  become a reflection of the impact of gothic themes, past and present, that have led to today’s fascination with the supernatural, with vampires, werewolves, horror stories and movies.
 
Tyler R. Tichelaar’s interest in Gothic literature was inspired by the early gothic writers of “A Story of Dracula, The Wolfman, and Frankenstein.”  At a young age, his creative imagination encouraged him to turn his dusty bedroom into the illusion of a haunted house, complete with a set of plastic vampire teeth, which he often wore for added effect. Tyler Tichelaar is a true disciple of the gothic.
 
The book is arranged in three parts: The Gothic Wanderer’s Origins, Subversive Gothic Wanderers, and From Transgression to Redemption.  Tichelaar begins with an analysis of the novels of the eighteenth-century and the French Revolution to explore their influence on social issues, political debate, religious influence, and racial bias.
 
Recurring themes found throughout the book include: The preservation of the family as society’s most important unit, the sense of alienation of the Gothic Wanderer, a reflection on women’s rights in a patriarchal society, the religious implications of rebellion, living as a Jew in a Christian land, and implications of being addicted to gambling.

Tichelaar examines well-known gothic novels, including “The Mysteries of Udolpho,” “Frankenstein,” and “Dracula” as well as the less familiar works of Fanny Burney’s “The Wanderer,” Mary Shelley’s “The Last Man,” and Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s “Zanoni.”  He observes the Gothic elements found in Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes,” from Matthew Lewis’ “The Monk” and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” as well as the nineteenth-century gothic novels of “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights.”  His insights into the contemporary twenty-first-century writings of Stephen King, Anne Rice, and the popular vampire books, and films in “The Twilight Series” explain the uninterrupted penchant for man to identify with the Gothic Wanderer.
 
Tichelaar’s writing is insightful, instructive, comprehensive, and illuminating, skillfully melding the horror of the Gothic with the beauty of the intellectual.  I appreciated his impeccable research, his exhaustive documentation of primary works, secondary works, and films, as well as a wide-ranging helpful index.

“The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption” by Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., is an important clarification of the origin and influence of Gothic and Romance literature.


The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption
Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D.
Modern History Press (2012)
ISBN 9781615991389
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (10/12)

But by the Chance of War

When I settled in to begin reading “But by the Chance of War” by Richard C. Lyons, my initial reaction upon turning to page one was a feeling of regret. The layout of this book is poorly done. The formatting is set up as a series of stanzas I am accustomed to seeing in an anthology devoted to prose/poetry. While I have my favorites in the poetry world, I abhor reading it. I much prefer to have it read to me. I felt completely duped when I opened this book as I was not expecting to see page upon page laid out in stanza formatting. Nowhere in the synopsis did I envision this book to be formatted as such. Rather, I selected this work because I was intrigued by the portrayal in the synopsis that this was an historical account.

After five days and still struggling to make it to page 100 (of this nearly 500-page book), I had had enough. I have a fierce love of historical accounts, but this book is beyond a laborious read for me. The layout alone drove me to distraction and I was unable to maintain focus. To compound the poor formatting, prior to multiple stanzas of a dialect quite foreign to anything I’ve ever read, each scene is prefaced with a set up similar to a screen play. The dialogue and banter between characters is choppy and vague to say the least. With the little I was able to retain, I think this book has something to do with the extenuating circumstances that led to the Hun wars.

I will give Mr. Lyons some credit, however, based on the multitude of footnotes. I admire his self-discipline toward researching his topic. He must have spent many hours (perhaps years) in creating this work. That said, this book should be targeted to a specific audience with an extreme passion for the period of time Mr. Lyons endeavored to account. This work is truly beyond my realm given the over-the-top granularity in his style (and the dialect far too foreign for me to grasp).

It was a difficult decision for me to set “But by the Chance of War” by Richard C. Lyons aside before reading it cover-to-cover. I pride myself on a deeply-rooted work ethic and endeavor to finish every project I am tasked to review. I made the decision to walk away in the spirit of being fair, honest and equitable to every author and the work he or she submits for review. In other words, I have far too much integrity to rip off a fellow writer by reviewing a work I had not read in its entirety. I’m hoping there is someone out there who yearns to read this particular work and is capable of delivering a thorough review. Sadly, I am not that person for this body of work.


But by the Chance of War
Richard C. Lyons
Lylea™ Creative Resources (2012)
ISBN 9780615532059
Reviewed by Diane Lunsford for Reader Views (10/12)

Your Vote is Magic!: How a Donkey, an Elephant, and an Illusionist Are Making Voters Appear

Article first published as Book Review: Your Vote is Magic!: How a Donkey, an Elephant, and an Illusionist Are Making Voters Appear by Lyn Dillies on Blogcritics.
 
“Your Vote is Magic!” by Lyn Dillies is a very charming and extremely relevant book as we are nearing the next big election in this country. While the book mostly centers on the illusion Ms. Dillies created before the 2008 Presidential elections, it also provides a very interesting history of voting in the U.S., illustrated with great pictorial elements, and written in a very approachable style.
 
If you are an animal lover, or somebody who enjoys magic, particularly illusions, this is a book you will have to read to fully appreciate the amount of planning and hard work that goes into creating any illusion, and particularly one as impressive as making an elephant and a donkey appear out of thin air. I was spellbound by Ms. Dillies’ account of the amount of painstaking attention to detail along with months of work required to create an illusion that will be over in mere minutes.

I particularly enjoyed the photos and illustrations throughout the book and the message of how just about anything is possible when people are patient, hardworking, and willing to work together. After all, if an elephant and a donkey could simultaneously appear on the stage, what is stopping us humans from cooperating much better than we do?
 
I highly recommend “Your Vote is Magic!” by Lyn Dillies, both for the charming way she described the process of creating an illusion and for the message of how important the right to vote is, and why it should always be exercised.


Your Vote is Magic!: How a Donkey, an Elephant, and an Illusionist Are Making Voters Appear
Lyn Dillies
Lovebug Publishing (2012)
ISBN 9780615665306
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (9/12)

Burning for Freedom

Article first published as Book Review: Burning for Freedom" O Goddess of Freedom, Life is to Die for You, Death is to Live Without You!" by Anurupa Cinar on Blogcritics.

“Burning for Freedom” by Anurupa Cinar tells the life story of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (May 28, 1883-February 26, 1966). Savarkar, a Brahmin Hindu, was a key freedom fighter who helped liberate India from being under British Rule. He is responsible for creating a secret revolutionary society known as Abhinav Bharat whose influence spread throughout India. Savarkar’s efforts caused him to be imprisoned by the British for many years at the brutal Cellular Jail. During his time spent there Savarkar was treated inhumanely, like many of the other political prisoners who were also imprisoned there. Refusing to be beaten down and give up on India gaining her freedom, Savarkar could not be defeated. He felt that while India was under the rule of the British Empire, his people were enslaved because they had no constitution or rights with which they could be protected.

While fighting for the rights of the Hindus Savarkar felt that Gandhi showed more compassion and interest in protecting the rights of the Muslims. Gandhi’s ineffectual efforts in trying to shame the British government into giving the Hindu’s their freedom worked against them. It galled Savarkar that Indians were expected to meekly accept being enslaved by the British. Hindu scriptures say, “Nonviolence is the highest principle, and so is violence in defense of the righteous.” It appears that Gandhi only focused on the first part, and not the second.

After being released from Cellular, Savarkar’s rights were very limited and the government still tried to control him. He managed to have a family and remain in close contact with those who shared his beliefs. After his ill treatment while imprisoned, he never fully was able to regain his health. When Gandhi was assassinated, a physically-weakened Savarkar was implicated and once again imprisoned, only this time under a free India. Released after a period of time due to lack of evidence, he was able to live his life until old age.

 It fascinates me that “Burning for Freedom,” taught me about a man who died one year and one day before my birth. Even though he played a huge role in helping free India from the British Rule, I had never heard of him. I had heard a great deal of Gandhi, yet only in glowing terms. “Burning for Freedom” opened my eyes to the fact that popular history can be created to fool the public and appease governments.

 The author Anurupa Cinar did a very extensive job of researching information on Savarkar’s life. She includes several pages of references to support her evidence. She also wrote this book in an easily readable and compelling format that includes some fictional characters to help round out the story. I really appreciate the opportunity to read “Burning for Freedom,” so that I can see history from another perspective. I highly recommend it to people who enjoy fiction and seeking out the truth.


Burning for Freedom
Anurupa Cinar
Trafford Publishing (2012)
ISBN 9781426974984
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/12)

The Way It Was

Article first published as Book Review: The Way It Was by L. Langford Hodges on Blogcritics.
 
L. Langford Hodges captures the imagination of World War II history buffs, military strategists, and patriotic citizens as he relates the realities of war, the turbulent years of uncertainty and terror, the camaraderie of the young serviceman, and their heroism in his book “The Way it Was.”
 
Hodges draws from his experiences in Corsica during WWII to relate John’s story. John, after graduating from high school, enlists in the Army Air Force in 1943 during World War II. He is trained as a fighter pilot and assigned to duty in Italy.

While on a mission John is shot down, bails out, and is helped by partisans to get back to his base to recover from his injuries and the trauma of his tortuous ordeal. After D-Day and the German surrender John returns home on an extended leave.

John enjoys the time of transition as he reacquaints himself with his friends and family by enjoying the hunting and fishing opportunities afforded in the Georgia area near his home.  A few months later he is discharged from the Air Force.  He goes on to graduate from Georgia Tech with a degree in Engineering.
 Many readers distracted by Hodges’ lack of conformance to standard grammar rules and elements of writing will miss the great storyline, unforgettable characters, and amazing surprise ending of his story.
 
Hodges writing style is inconsistent; I had difficulty as to the true identity of the protagonist. I felt unclear as to whether the book was a biography of an acquaintance (John) or Hodges’ own personal autobiographical memoirs.

In “The Way it Was,” author L. Langford Hodges’ writing is as informal as a conversation among two or three veterans spinning yarns, while reminiscing, in small town America. Hodges is from an almost forgotten generation of heroes.


The Way It Was
L. Langford Hodges
AuthorHouse (2012)
ISBN 9781477208496
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (7/12)

The Profits of Doom: Milking the Apocalyptic Cash Cow for All It’s Worth

Article first published as The Profits of Doom: Milking the Apocalyptic Cash Cow for All It's Worth by Robert Stricklin on Blogcritics.
 
Traumatic movies, riveting books, captivating talking heads, in both the visual and audio media, as well as conspiracy campaigners, on the left and on the right, predicting the end of time, or the cataclysmic demise of the world as we know it makes the news, sells books, draws the crowds, but also spawns an almost nihilistic gloom. Robert Stricklin, in his most recent paperback, “The Profits of Doom: Milking the Apocalyptic Cash Cow for All It’s Worth,” takes on, and dresses down, the prognosticators of panic in 135 pages. This little work is filled with a mixture of wit, humor, sniping sarcasm, rank disbelief, thoughtfulness, bias, and the fruit of lots of research.
 
The flow of “Profits of Doom” follows a chronological format, beginning way back in 999 A.D. and ends at 2012. Stricklin tackles Malachy, Nostradamus, Cayce, Dixon, Hal Lindsey, LaHaye, Y2K, the Mayans and several others. He shows how conjecturing the concluding days of humanity, earth, time, civilization, has been a failed adventure for 1,000 years, though it has been profitable business for the marketers of such mayhem.

It’s here that the value of “Profits of Doom” is found. Most people suffer from social and cultural amnesia and quickly forget how many failed forecasts and fumbling forecasters have pandered their wares, been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. This loss of memory causes many to become susceptible to the next round of apocalyptic paroxysms. Stricklin’s rehearsal of these botched predictions helps the reader to get some sense and sobriety in the face of an otherwise intoxicating atmosphere.
 
One of the weakness of “The Profits of Doom” is found in the authors own bigoted view against organized religion, for “organized religion and end times profiteering seem to go hand in hand” (85). Stricklin’s strongest invectives are stored up for Christianity. His sophomoric skepticism stains most of his chapters, with many an unfounded assertion, to the point of distraction. To validate his disgust, he parades before the reader some of the more unsavory specimens, and then says or implies that all of Christianity holds that particular view. The author writes as if he alone has seen the wacky parasites hanging on the borders of the Christian tree, and either ignores or discounts how the larger, 2000 year, Christian consensus has regularly dealt with, and marginalized, most of these doomsday dealers.
 
“The Profits of Doom” by Robert Stricklin is a short treatise on the odd love affair humankind has with predicting its end, and how that love affair has failed for at least 1,000 years. The book is short, readable and nicely put together, if not at times frustrating. And the author is obviously a skilled writer who is fairly enjoyable to read. If you can overlook the tainting bias, then you might find the book useful.


The Profits of Doom: Milking the Apocalyptic Cash Cow for All It’s Worth
Robert Stricklin
Outskirts Press (2012)
ISBN 9781432789312
Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Michael Philliber for Reader Views (6/12)

Show Trials: How Property Gets More Legal Protection than People in Our Failed Immigration System

Article first published as Book Review: Show Trials by Peter Afrasiabi on Blogcritics.
 
Immigration is certainly one of the hottest topics out there, and a truly divisive one most of the time. It seems that everybody has an opinion on it, but very few of us could truthfully say that we really understand it completely, or even that we are familiar with all of the necessary facets of it. “Show Trials” by Peter Afrasiabi definitely brings a lot of clarity to the legal side of this issue, as well as many needed insights into the human and emotional side of it.
 
The author begins with an introduction identifying the problems of the failed immigration system, and continues with a slew of examples of legal proceedings against immigrants, explaining the inner workings of the system and pointing out where its major weaknesses or oversights actually are to be found. The reader is brought face to face with real cases dealing with real people, and it soon becomes evident that immigration is truly an immensely complex issue, and that no matter how much one might have thought of it and the possible consequences of some of the legal proceedings against the illegal immigrants, one could not have ever envisioned all of the complicated issues properly. What those cases demonstrated very clearly to me was the fact that the people are not as protected in this country as one would have thought, and the author’s comparisons of with the cases involving intellectual property were absolutely astonishing - even more astonishing were the hard numbers quoted. Let me focus on just two of the statistics, one about the lack of attorneys for immigrants and the other on how much the cost is of detaining those immigrants. According to Mr. Afrasiabi, there are over 350,000 immigration cases each year, and around 60% of the immigrants in those cases do not have an attorney. Can you imagine dealing with the judicial system without an attorney? What if one does not speak the language very well, and comes from a very different cultural environment? The challenges there should be quite evident to everybody. Even more shocking is the fact that, as of 2010, our government has been spending $1.77 billion annually on jailing immigrants, which makes this the largest and the most expensive detention program in the U.S.

The heartbreaking stories and the shocking stats in the book were very well balanced by Mr. Afrasiabi’s possible solutions for many of the problems plaguing the system. I found his proposals very common sense and practical, and quite doable. It was very clear to me that Mr. Afrasiabi was both compassionate and extremely well versed on this topic, and I was very impressed with the way he managed to write about this matter in a way that is completely accessible to any reader, even those of us who have absolutely no previous knowledge of the legal system. I am truly glad that I took the time to read “Show Trials” and I feel I understand this issue much better now. This is a book that should truly be read by anybody who would like to get a more comprehensive and better balanced picture of the immigration issues in the U.S. today.


Show Trials: How Property Gets More Legal Protection than People in Our Failed Immigration System
Peter Afrasiabi
Envelope Books (2012)
ISBN 9780984791521
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (3/12)