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Title: The Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda by Amy Wallace ISBN: 1-58394-076-6 Publisher: Frog Ltd. Pub. Date: May, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.96 (45 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A fascinating look at cult dynamics
Comment: I'd never heard of Carlos Castaneda until someone recommended this book to me, so I guess I'm an unbiased reviewer (no preconceived opinions to defend). Of course, that also means I'm in no position to judge how accurately it portrays CC and his inner circle. All I can give is my subjective reaction: it rings true. The characters, as bizarre and are, seem real, and it appears that Ms. Wallace has portrayed them in a balanced, evenhanded way -- no black-and-white good guys and bad guys.
The almost unimaginably bizarre goings-on in CC's cult have an unexpected ring of familiarity to them -- because they're the same petty intrigues and politics we experience in everyday normal life, only on steroids. The temptation to point and laugh at the cultist wackos is kept in check by the persistent awareness that you've acted in some of the same ways yourself, on a smaller scale. It makes the story both touching and deeply disturbing.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Jury is Still Out!
Comment: Having read everything Carlos has written and everything else about him I could get my hands on, I think the jury is still out. Throughout the entire book I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that Amy was probably "out of the loop" on what really went on with Castaneda. After getting no sleep the night after I finished this, I came to the above conclusion and also that Don Juan himself might seem to most to have an equally toxic personality. I also wondered if he only interacted with Amy because of the promise he made to her father. On the other hand, it is disappointing to hear a first hand account of his downright nastiness. His teachings certainly would not validate the kind of nastiness he seemed capable of. The Don Juan persona did not project that kind of negativity and destructive personality.
Bottom line, it is sad that he let his ego run rampant to that extent. However, I just do not believe that the experiences and teachings that he wrote about were fiction. I never tried to live the existence that he proposed, but his emphasis on striving to become more "detached" rather than letting your emotions drive you crazy has made me a much happier person.
Rating: 5
Summary: "A SEPERATE REALITY"
Comment: Its more than amazing to read through the reviews and notice the ones from the Castanada devotees. Castanada is still big business, Cleargreen is still giving expensive workshops selling Tai-Chi movements as something original (Tensegrety) please, give me a break. There are many people who are looking to give away their power to some guru...Castanada, Osho, etc. Anyone whom has a fully operative brain would have no trouble seeing through the Castanada mytho..If Castanada was really a shaman and had magical powers...things would have been much different. The reason he was a recluse and unavailable was simply to avoid being scrutinized. This kept him mysterious, and his myth alive and well...Carlos Castanada was a good writer of fiction that a lot of people with no sense of self tried to make the books into non-fiction..like most cults..and some religions. Read the manipulated mind, by Denise Wynn..for a clear picture. Amy Wallace's book is a good account of a person with no seperate identity trying to bond with a con man and getting burned royally. I am sure that the Castanada brainwashees..are having a hard time with this reality that they themsleves are being chumped....good book.
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Title: The Path: A Practical Approach to Sorcery by Esmeralda Arana ISBN: 0595212999 Publisher: Writer's Showcase Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Sorcerers' Crossing (Arkana S.) by Taisha Abelar ISBN: 0140193669 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1993 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: I Was Carlos Castaneda: The Afterlife Dialogues by Martin Goodman, Carlos Castaneda ISBN: 0609807633 Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA) Pub. Date: 24 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Untitled Sequel Sorcerer's Crossing by Taisha Abelar ISBN: 0140193677 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2005 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Being-in-Dreaming : An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World by Florinda Donner ISBN: 0062501925 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 06 November, 1992 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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