Rainer Maria Rilke

"Live a while in these books, learn from them what seems to you worth learning, but above all love them. This love will be repaid you a thousand and a thousand times, and however your life may turn,-it will, I am certain of it, run through the fabric of your growth as one of the most important threads among all the threads of your experiences, disappointments, and joys."--Rainer Maia Rilke


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Sunday, September 9, 2012

Too Much History, Not Enough Mystery

Odyssey of the Gods:  The History of Extraterrestrial Contact in Ancient Greece by Erich von Daniken

Nonfiction

To read Daniken's books, you have to be aware that Daniken not only believes in aliens but propounds that an ancient race of aliens created humans.  According to Daniken, our history is alive with proof if only we can shrug off centuries of teaching and see things in a new light.

I have read many of Daniken's books and have been a fan of his for years, but this is one book I just didn't enjoy.  Much of the book is devoted to very lengthy interpretations of various Greek myths, such as Minotaurs and other fabled creatures and Jason and the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece.   Really lengthy interpretations--pages and pages and pages.  I lost interest after that first 'pages'. 

What's really different about this book is that Daniken just tells in this book without really showing.  His connections were unconvincing and not the careful work of the meticulous researcher he usually is.  It felt more like a rough draft of some thoughts rather than a careful, finished examination of evidence.

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