Customer Reviews

Far Memory: The Autobiography of Joan Grant (Joan Grant Autobiography)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joan Grant writes her autobiographical story here of discovering, at a very young age, abilities and realities we usually consider unreal. Her childhood, in early 20th-century England, was decorated with experiences of other places, other times, and other selves, and she describes these myriad colorful episodes in delightful, whimsical, humorous, and thoughtful terms. Her ability to tap into and then write about other lifetimes makes a charming and piquant story. Highly recommended!

Even for the most doubting Thomas, Joan Grant lucidly and intelligently speaks of her personal experience of reincarnation,making the case for it without trying. This is good writing on an interesting and controversial ( at least in the West ) subject. I found myself wanting to read more of her work and now have, including a new book on her by her granddaughter and a student of hers. A must read for anyone interested in the subject, whether convinced of its validity or no.

'Far Memory' is a fascinating, wonderful personal account of how Joan Grant came to understand that she could remember previous lives. This evidence for reincarnation adds depth and meaning to the question as to what is humanity all about.

Two other excellent books by Joan Grant add to this: 'Many Lifetimes' (Joan Grant and Denys Kelsey); 'Speaking from the Heart' (Joan Grant, edited by Nicola Bennett, Jane Lahr and Sophia Rosoff).

Joan Grant's "Far Memory" is a delightful read, and is filled with her best and most colorful personal writing, charming images, and excellent metaphysical and historical insights, couched in this exceptional author''s Life story... you will be very glad you did! A wonderful peek into the flavor of the more (and sometimes less!) genteel early-20th-century metaphysics...

Although I wanted to like this book, I didn't. There is no central narrative here to tie one anticdote to another, and when something interesting does happen, it is usually described in an off-hand way. Things happen, but the characters (although Joan is really the only one) show no growth.

Joan Grant was born into a well-off family and this book describes her childhood and young adulthood mainly in terms of nannies, holidays, parties etc. I didn't feel particularly drawn into the narrative - we rarely get to know the characters she introduces. The discovery of her past lives is of course interesting, so for someone who's already read about them, it's nice to find out who she was. However, as a piece of literature, I don't rate this book very highly (it's nothing like Winged Pharaoh).