Incredible.
I haven't been here for a while. Partly because I haven't have much good to say. Not that I've been doing poorly, really, just not doing anything interesting. But I have something to put out there for the masses and my closest friends.
I went to Chattanooga this past weekend and raided McKay's bookstore. I got the usual truckload of manga, and a single book. I wasn't even looking for it, but knew I had to have it when I saw it sitting there unloved and homeless. Some of you probably know that one of my all-time favorite movies is What Dreams May Come. It's an incredible love story, and so much more. And I always vaguely knew that it was based on a book, but never really pursued that knowledge. Well, I found it at McKay's, and I've spent the last three days reading it in every spare moment.
I can't really say just yet whether the book or movie is better because they are fairly different. Not totally. But there is a somewhat different message in the movie than the book.
At any rate, if any of you ever have the opportunity, PLEASE read this book. Like the movie it is, on the surface, an incredible and unique love story. But it is so much more than that. It is the story of what happens when you die. And what happens after. It's an explanation that death isn't the end of anything. Just another beginning. If you've seen the movie, you have an idea. It's the story that, even if you aren't religious, and even if you don't really believe, there is an afterlife, and a heaven of your own choosing and your own creation. That there is so much more to life than just living. That there is even the possibility of reincarnation. It's an idea I've always toyed with, not quite believing in God, but having a feeling of certainty that I'd been here and done these things before, that I know things I rationally have no reason to know. Something that piqued my interest from the start was the author's introduction, stating that the large majority of the book is based on research, and there is a whole bibliography in the back. I haven't checked out the sources yet, but it's impressive. I know something about near death experiences, having been struck by lightning as a child and surviving unharmed. My grandmother has had several experiences herself and is written up in a book on the subject. So it's never been a foreign concept to me, that there might be something more than just life. But reading this book, I felt like the author had plucked all the thoughts and feelings right out of my own head, from my own experiences and memories. I sobbed like a baby through most of the book, and even through the epilogue. It was truly one of the most incredible feelings, reading through the book and feeling everything make sense.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I've been up since 4 AM for work, and I'm not quite awake enough anymore to be making sense. And some of you may be completely against this kind of stuff. *shrugs* You don't have to believe in something for it to be real. Just a thought. ^_^
But, yeah. What Dreams May Come, by Richard Matheson. Read it. It's incredible. My official favorite book of all time. For real this time. Blargh! ^_^
PS Even if you aren't into all the metaphysical crap, it's a truly fantastic love story, about soul mates finding each other and the journey made to stay together. Read it even if it's just for the romance.
I went to Chattanooga this past weekend and raided McKay's bookstore. I got the usual truckload of manga, and a single book. I wasn't even looking for it, but knew I had to have it when I saw it sitting there unloved and homeless. Some of you probably know that one of my all-time favorite movies is What Dreams May Come. It's an incredible love story, and so much more. And I always vaguely knew that it was based on a book, but never really pursued that knowledge. Well, I found it at McKay's, and I've spent the last three days reading it in every spare moment.
I can't really say just yet whether the book or movie is better because they are fairly different. Not totally. But there is a somewhat different message in the movie than the book.
At any rate, if any of you ever have the opportunity, PLEASE read this book. Like the movie it is, on the surface, an incredible and unique love story. But it is so much more than that. It is the story of what happens when you die. And what happens after. It's an explanation that death isn't the end of anything. Just another beginning. If you've seen the movie, you have an idea. It's the story that, even if you aren't religious, and even if you don't really believe, there is an afterlife, and a heaven of your own choosing and your own creation. That there is so much more to life than just living. That there is even the possibility of reincarnation. It's an idea I've always toyed with, not quite believing in God, but having a feeling of certainty that I'd been here and done these things before, that I know things I rationally have no reason to know. Something that piqued my interest from the start was the author's introduction, stating that the large majority of the book is based on research, and there is a whole bibliography in the back. I haven't checked out the sources yet, but it's impressive. I know something about near death experiences, having been struck by lightning as a child and surviving unharmed. My grandmother has had several experiences herself and is written up in a book on the subject. So it's never been a foreign concept to me, that there might be something more than just life. But reading this book, I felt like the author had plucked all the thoughts and feelings right out of my own head, from my own experiences and memories. I sobbed like a baby through most of the book, and even through the epilogue. It was truly one of the most incredible feelings, reading through the book and feeling everything make sense.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I've been up since 4 AM for work, and I'm not quite awake enough anymore to be making sense. And some of you may be completely against this kind of stuff. *shrugs* You don't have to believe in something for it to be real. Just a thought. ^_^
But, yeah. What Dreams May Come, by Richard Matheson. Read it. It's incredible. My official favorite book of all time. For real this time. Blargh! ^_^
PS Even if you aren't into all the metaphysical crap, it's a truly fantastic love story, about soul mates finding each other and the journey made to stay together. Read it even if it's just for the romance.