Customer Reviews

The Soul of Anna Klane

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first bought this book off a dimestore clearance rack at age 10 in the late '70's. I have read it many , many times and I believe that it helped to open up the path for a lifelong awareness of my soul. While I have never attempted the complete separation of body and spirit that young Anna has achieved, I have grown into a person who believes that all things have a purpose and that there is something more after physical death. That outlook has given me great comfort when I have grieved the loss of another person and/or contemplated my own inevitable demise.

The Soul of Anna Klane is technically a SF novel, but for those of you not tending to that genre, don't let that stop you from this gem of a read. The cover alone is probably going to scare anyone away from taking the book seriously. But do--it is thought provoking and quite philosophical. Does the soul exist? If so then how could we prove its existence?
With a plot that make one eager to turn the pages and with more than enough surprises along the way, the author winds his way along what might be termed anti-religious ground. Except it is also surprisingly anti-science. Skepticism abounds.
The author must have done his research well: the book, published in 1977, is quite up-to-date technologically speaking. The courtroom scenes ring true and the characters are all quite believable, with a minor quibble on the main character, the father Klane, who some might consider a tad too super-heroish, yet without that grand personality the plot would have a major problem.
Still thinking this book through and I'll have to re-read it thoroughly.
Buy it; you won't be sorry.

Very intelligently written, subject matter. Restored my hope that not all kids are mindless TV addicts. Sustained my belief that the courts should stay out of our private lives.

You'll be lucky if you can find this out-of-print book, unless there has been a reprint. I got it through one of the Amazon-associated independent sellers.

Two excerpts in Douglas Hofstadter's and Daniel Dennett's *The Mind's I* impelled me (strongly) to search it out. Wow, am I glad I did! It was written in the early 1970s, and the author seems to have fallen off the radar screen since then.

Miedaner's story weaves into a philosophical thriller a number of edgy (at that time, anyway) ideas about machine and animal consciousness, communication with the dead, and the locus of the soul. Whatever one may think about these things, the book is a wild ride.

Anatol Klane is a medical inventor and psychic adept (which I don't believe in, but it sure works here). His wife dies in childbirth from a doctor's oversight, leaving Klane to raise his daughter Anna, who at ten is also an accomplished meditator and ingenious deviser of toy puzzles. Anna develops a brain tumor. She thinks she can become aware of it and make it go away, which makes sense in the story. A prominent neurosurgeon, abetted by some dopey social workers, insists on an operation, court-enforced.

Something goes wrong. Anna emerges and soon can speak articulately and relate well to her caretakers. But her earlier spark is gone; she is even mystified by some her own previous creations. Not to spoil the narrative, I will cease following the plot, except to say that it leads to the best courtroom dramatics I have ever seen, or even imagined.

Some of the well-drawn characters who figure in these developments include Anatol Klane (who invented the machine used in the operation), the neurosurgeon (who admits to the tragic mistake), a stewardess whom Klane once rescued froma hijacking, a Protestant theologian, a crusty engineer/physicist, a patient resembling Phineas Gage, an ape trained in sign language (and more), a robot, and a journalist who covers all this.

There are poignant and moving scenes throughout. I write this about four years after reading it. (The invitation just popped up on Amazon.) Besides deciding how much to say without giving away too much, I have a little problem with teardrops on my keyboard.

It's that good.

When I read this as a senior in high school, I thought it was profound and compelling. When I read it again as an adult, having worked for several years as a professional editor, I realized that it was trite and ham-fisted, an obvious vehicle for the author's personal beliefs-not just his philosophical thoughts but his objectivist-libertarian politics as well. If you've ever read B.F. Skinner's "Walden Two" and been put off by its heavy-handedness, "The Soul of Anna Klane" will elicit the same reaction, only more so. This book does have a few good bits; two of them are excerpted in "The Mind's I," edited by Daniel Dennett and Douglas Hofstadter, which explores a whole range of epistemological topics and is far more suitable for thoughtful readers. At best, this novel qualifies as beach reading for intellectuals. It's too self-important for a sophisticated reader to take seriously.

It may be hard for you to find a print of this book, but if you do buy it. It is very good. I read in Portuguese some years ago and wanted to read in English (original). It is a pity that is out of market.

Fatima

I found the subject matter worked on many different levels scientific, empathic, humanistic, also on a para-normal level. There is very strong characterisation in this book, after reading it I began looking for more titles by the author...i'm still looking, this book pulled me out of my reading block.

Out of print but definatly worth looking for

A subject worth hours of debate. The existance of the soul, the preservation of the spirit after physical death, or the value of physical life that lacks a soul. The author offers us a compelling story of a loving father who believes his daughter has lost her soul, therefor, her purpose to be alive. The dialoge of the story promotes many provoking 'soul searching' thoughts that will stay with you long after you've finished reading Annas story.

THIS BOOK TO ME WAS VERY CAPTIVATING. IT STARTED OUT SLOW BUT AS I LEARNED IT WAS TO EXPLAIN EVERYONES ROLE AND CHARACTERS. AFTER YOU MADE IT THROUGH IT WAS HARD TO PUT DOWN. THE BOOK TOOK YOU BEYOND REALITY BUT YET BELIEVABLE. THE LOVE OF ONES CHILD DIFINETLY SHOWS IN THIS BOOK. THE ABILITY TO SHOW THE EXISTANCE OF A SOUL HAS BEEN PUT TO QUESTION FOR MANY YEARS AND THIS MADE ME BELIEVE.