Customer Reviews

Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation: Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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Well,well, well...no stars are enough for this book. It seems the word belief does not exist in Dr Stevenson's dictionary , and with clinical detachment, he has investigated each and every of the 20 cases. He has avoided philosophy and religion talk etc and does not have his own agenda which he his trying to promote. There are many books on reincarnation written by those who want to make a quick buck, or those promoting a particular religious thought or simply to become popular and appear on talk shows and then charge people (gullible) on an hourly basis. Dr Stevenson is not driven by any such factor. Reading his methodolgy, he has actually gone about the research as any skeptic would. He has not believed the case story and then looked for evidence that would support such a case story, he has looked for the evidence any skeptic would. The presentation of evidence gathered is fantastic showing the corroboration of each evidence. The best thing I liked about his research was that he actually attempts to rule out any fraud in each case story. Unbiased and honest. The use of the word "suggestive" speaks for his style used in the book throughout. He does not attempt to force any philosophical, religious thought down the reader's throat. You are free to make your own conclusions....and yes, it is DARN RIGHT CONVINCING !

"Suggestive" is putting it mildly (but is typical of Dr. Stevenson's cautious approach). "Pretty darn convincing" is more like it. This is one of Stevenson's original works from many years ago (the 1960s), but it has stood the test of time. If you read it and his more recent "Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect," you'll have a fairly good idea of how convincing the evidence for reincarnation can be. Stevenson's research is very thorough, and this is a dense volume that can be a little dry to read. Each of the 20 cases is presented in sufficient detail to be compelling. It's not something you'll polish off in a couple of evenings, but you'll know you're in the presence of an honest-to-god researcher. Stevenson, who has been affiliated with the University of Virginia for decades, is almost single-handedly responsible for reincarnation being taken seriously in this country, and this book is a classic that should be one of the very first you buy on this topic. You'll be handing it out to skeptical friends and saying "Oh, yeah? Read THIS."

I read this book several years ago-- long after I had kept hearing from my parents about one of the cases cited therein. A young girl from Chhattarpur (MP) India whom they had known, and who recalled her past three lives. She sang songs in a language from a distant province in India and even recognized her "families" from those times when "re-united" with them. As a scientist, my approach to the notion of re-birth had been on more logical grounds. However, now I am more convinced than ever that something that gives us an identity-- beyond the name and face as we know in this life-time-- lives on. Perhaps forever....

Before I read this book, I was not convinced about reincarnation, though it did seem to offer many advantages over the Heaven/Hell hypothesis. The two intellectually satisfying points were (a) there is no infinite punishment or reward for a finite crime or good deed and (b) it would explain the inequities we observe in this life (some are born blind, others born perfect, etc.). However, I was quite skeptical of any explanations other than mere biological existence and random chance.

The level of detail presented in the cases discussed in this book made me believe that there is something going on that we don't understand. For anyone who wishes to examine the scientific study of this phenomenon, this is perhaps the best place to begin. Given the level of detail, it is highly unlikely that the cases are hoaxes (plus neither party gains anything from these cases).

Great analytical style used in the writing of this book. The author carefully documents all the facts, and is quite careful not to embellish or dramatize the cases he investigated. Moreover, the author is actually quite conservative in his analyses. This is a great book for someone who is very objectively seeking truth, and is not interested in opinion or fabrications, but hardcore facts.

The author is sincere and knowledged to report the detail of the case studies.
Although it's too detailed and a little boring to me, I found it informative.
I have learned something from it.

I was very excited when I got my book that is to give proof of reincarnation. The only problem after reading the first few pages of this book is that it is put in very technical terms, very clinical, with almost no story lines in each of the cases. It was worth reading to investigate the possibility of reincarnation and some of the most valid cases, but I have read books with more of a conversational style that tends to keep you interested and on the edge of wanting to know more. This book lacks that unfortunately.

I found thias book way to technical for me. I found his method of writing hard to stick with. I'm sure a doctor would find it interesting but for us regular folks it is hard reading. I had to stop reading about a third of the way through.

There is compelling evidence of life after death, either in spirit in some other realm, or reincarnated here on Earth. (I tried to interview but he refused; I wasn't establishment enough!). Stevenson has always been careful to say his work is only "suggestive of reincarnation" but he clearly leans that way. His evidence is compelling that something strange is happening - especially when children remember past lives, call out for relatives (in there past life) by name, have unexplained bruises and recognize their old past-life neighborhoods. Yes, strange and wonderful indeed. But not, by any means, determinative of reincarnation. My feeling is that this can be explained by something simpler, and not as exciting: each life leaves an imprint - emotions and thoughts are like waves in a pond. Some extraordinarily sensitive people can pick up on those emotions and thoughts, like a sensitive radio receiving a signal from far away due to atmospheric skip. Children are open-minded - not dead-to-the-world like most boring adults. When they pick up on these messages, they speak them as their own, and even feel the memory is theirs. But, the "memory" is really a leftover, it is not real. The deceased person is as dead as a doornail, and has not come back to life. He/she can never know his thoughts and emotions were left behind and picked up by a sensitive child in India (a lot of this happens in India). Yes, it's a bummer. You don't live. But your thoughts do. Then again, this theory has a strong ethical component: leave behind good thoughts - you never know who will pick up on them when you are gone!