Customer Reviews

The Loch Ness mystery solved

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ronald Binn's "The Loch Ness Mystery Solved" is well worth the effort of looking for an out-of-print book. It is a balanced look into a mystery that should have died years ago. And although many "So Called" Crypto-zoologists claim to be open minded, they so often knock down the plausible and rational explanations for many of the monster sightings. This book presents a middle of the road look at the evidence, or lack there of. It is ashame that other books on the subject are not written with the same fairness as this one. I recommend this book to all those who are willing to look at the real evidence and not the hysteria that is so often presented to the public at large. To say that this book is "close-minded" or "mean-spirited" is far from the truth. Binn's gives credit to many of the explorers that have spent years looking for the creature, and he presents their words to counter his own arguments. If you want a really good presentation of the history of Loch Ness and the Mystery surrounding the elusive monster then find a copy of this book. A book for sane people!

Admittedly, by the time I bought this fascinating book, I had very little, if any, faith in the reality of the monster. However, the thoroughness of Mr. Binns' research should dispel any beliefs held by open minded readers of a mysterious lake-dwelling creature.

In a sense, the author's task was easy: tell the other side of the story- the one the monster proponents conveniently omit or ignore. Mr. Binns' presentation of little-known facts behind the popular myths left me with the feeling that his analysis has hit the nail on the head.

I was a little disappointed that the author talked about some famous monster photos but did not present them in his book. For instance, he talks about the fact that the famous Surgeon's photo had been presented to the public cropped to focus on the monster and did not show the original which had more revealing details. This original was never presented in the book, only the popular photo. This however does not detract from the author's case.

To summarize, unless you're a die hard believer, The Loch Ness Mystery Solved should be the final answer to the legend of Nessie.

Ronald Binns has clearly made a thorough search of the volumes of evidence relating to the Loch Ness enigma, as this detailed study covers and reveals many new thoeries and ideas promoted by lesser known 'authorities'. A book which I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject.

Of the books I have read about the Loch Ness enigma, this one is my favorite. It is wonderful in that it goes back to original sources (obscure 1930s newspaper stories that started it all) and quotes them much more fully than other authors have done. Oftentimes, the info that was left OUT of the other books proves very illuminating.

Although I guess this book would fall under the category of "debunking", I found its story of how the popular Loch Ness legend came about to be an absolutely fascinating study of human nature. The only drawback to the writing style are very occasional (and unnecessary) insertions of dry, sarcastic humor, that tended to lessen for me the otherwise unbiased appearance of the research. This is a small quibble about a fascinating and emminently readable book.

This one has a place on my library shelf right next to two similar studies of popular legends: The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved (wonderfully written), and The Amityville Horror Conspiracy (fascinating info, but also tends toward a little unnecessary sarcasm in stating its case).

Sherlock Holmes said,"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever else remains must be the truth." So simple, it's brilliant. The reality is there IS SIMPLY NO PLAUSIBLE EVIDENCE for the existence of a monster or monsters in Loch Ness. Mr. Binn's does a commendable job of logically explaining all of the so-called evidence. When we eliminate the outright fraud, natural occurances, and blurry, indistinct photos, we're left with nothing! The fact is most of the sightings can be readily explained without having to resort to cryptozoology. He cogently explains standing waves and other curious natural happenings on the largest body of freshwater in Great Britian. If you read one book on the entire Loch Ness phenomanon, make it this one. Then move on to the book, "Why People Believe Weird Things", by Michael Shermer. These two books will shed more light on the enigma of Loch Ness than all the long range, blurry photographs ever will.

Note that this book is out of print, but Amazon.com delivered it to my door, much to my pleasure. Where else could I get such service?

It is so sad this book has gone out of print while works of sloppy scholarship keep going on and on. Not only does this book provide the last word on the Loch Ness Monster mystery, it does so in a very readable way, and is often wildly funny! If you are interested in Nessie, or other such mysteries, do a search for this fabulous little gem of a book.

Ronald Binn's "The Loch Ness Mystery Solved" is well worth the effort of looking for an out-of-print book. It is a balanced look into a mystery that should have died years ago. And although many "So Called" Crypto-zoologists claim to be open minded, they so often knock down the plausible and rational explanations for many of the monster sightings. This book presents a middle of the road look at the evidence, or lack there of. It is ashame that other books on the subject are not written with the same fairness as this one. I recommend this book to all those who are willing to look at the real evidence and not the hysteria that is so often presented to the public at large. To say that this book is "close-minded" or "mean-spirited" is far from the truth. Binn's gives credit to many of the explorers that have spent years looking for the creature, and he presents their words to counter his own arguments. If you want a really good presentation of the history of Loch Ness and the Mystery surrounding the elusive monster then find a copy of this book. A book for sane people!

Ronald Binn's "The Loch Ness Mystery Solved" is well worth the effort of looking for an out-of-print book. It is a balanced look into a mystery that should have died years ago. And although many "So Called" Crypto-zoologists claim to be open minded, they so often knock down the plausible and rational explanations for many of the monster sightings. This book presents a middle of the road look at the evidence, or lack there of. It is ashame that other books on the subject are not written with the same fairness as this one. I recommend this book to all those who are willing to look at the real evidence and not the hysteria that is so often presented to the public at large. To say that this book is "close-minded" or "mean-spirited" is far from the truth. Binn's gives credit to many of the explorers that have spent years looking for the creature, and he presents their words to counter his own arguments. If you want a really good presentation of the history of Loch Ness and the Mystery surrounding the elusive monster then find a copy of this book. A book for sane people!

The Loch Ness Mystery Solved? I doubt it somehow. I am neither a firm believer or a sceptic, am open-minded about whether the monster does or doesn't exist. Unfortunately 'open-minded' is evidently not in Binns dictionary.

Incidentally, does this book have one author or two? Ronald Binns is the only author according to the cover, spine and blurb, but inside it says the book is by 'Ronald Binns with R.J.Bell. In the acknowledgements section it says 'WE would particularly like to thank...'. Is that the royal 'we'? R.J.Bell is in the acknowledgements section as being the owner of Plates 15(f), 17 and 18. 'Al other photographs by the author'. Hmm.

The book itself is the biggest collection of hot air I've ever come across. Facts are deliberately ommited, there is much that is speculative and often downright dishonest, there are obnoxious remarks made about certain people and the views on dinosaurs were out-dated when this book was originally published.

It states that Ronald Binns himself was once a monster hunter. Presumably he wasn't successful and adopted the arrogant 'if I can't find it then it can't be there' attitude. This book certainly reeks of sour grapes.

If you want a sceptical look at the Loch Ness Monster then read Steuart Campbell's book. Despite being closed-minded it Campbell at least gets his facts right and talks sense. Binns' so-called analysis isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

The Loch Ness debate rightly has its detractors; even if you're a believer a degree of scepticism is required. Well researched scepticism is a valuable counter-balance to the 'pro-monster' books and leads to intelligent debate. This book is not well researched, (there are many factual mistakes), in fact it doesn't do anything well. This is a true hatchet job. This does for Loch Ness what Goldman did for Elvis and Lennon. It is poorly written, vindictive, and has no sense of objectivity. It is malicious at a personal level to many people who have given a lot of time and effort in trying to solve this mystery. This is a truly horrible book, my advice is not to buy it. Better still, don't even borrow it.