Can't wait to get to the other sideJuly 12, 2006 21 out of 22 found this review helpful
i bought this book for myself and couldn't put it down. Found myself crying with the absolute joy of what we can expect. then i proceeded to buy 3 more copies for family members. no one will be sorry about buying this book. I lost a beloved niece by suicide in 1986 and often wondered what would happen to her after death. This book makes me believe that she's waiting for me, along with my beloved dog Charlie.
Reasoned approachMarch 15, 2006 29 out of 31 found this review helpful
This book is one of the few on the subject that actually takes a reasoned and scientifically valid approach. There is none of the gee whiz factor here---just many years of study.
Visits from the other sideJanuary 30, 2006 52 out of 56 found this review helpful
Paranormal phenomena, such as survival of bodily death, can be difficult to swallow without personal experience. The very mention of such personal experiences in polite conversation is often met with suspicion. While doing hospice work, the author worked with many people who received visits from newly departed loved ones. Though most found these experiences comforting, some were taken aback by their seeming unreality. The book was written to validate such experiences so that people can focus on the comfort rather than the excoriating self-doubt and fear of going crazy. The backbone of the book is her study, which categorizes different kinds of apparitions, the circumstances in which they occur, and personality profiles of people experiencing them. Her wealth of anecdotal examples weaves through and animates the entire book. Ms. Arcangel takes special care to rule out more mundane poo-pooing tossed out by "skeptics" to trivialize and poo-poo these phenomena. What makes these visits even more believable to me is their extreme specificity and personal nature, though my skepticism is softened by my own personal experience with such visits. She describes different kinds of mediums and documents her own conversations with some of them. Her writing is clear and easy to read, and backed by solid scholarship. My only complaint is the vaguely written subject heads in the table of contents, which necessitates reading it from front to back rather than nibbling away at it, as I am so wont to. Interested above all in her analysis, I found myself skipping some of the examples. This book is useful both for parapsychology novices and for people well versed in this field.
Comforting and ChallengingOctober 28, 2005 80 out of 81 found this review helpful
Perhaps the best evidence of after death communication is that ordinary people have been experiencing them since the beginning of recorded history. In this book, Dianne Arcangel reveals the results of her five-year international survival study by using real stories from real people as she catagorizes the data. Both the stories and the data are rather amazing. If that was all the book was about, it would be well worth reading, but it isn't. Also fascinating to read about is her participation in the Afterlife Watching experiments involving mediumship research. Another captivating section of the book is her private discernment(reading) with well known medium George Anderson. Even if you are a sceptic, read this book. It may or may not change your opinion, but you will be better informed.
Extraordinary Book!October 17, 2005 44 out of 45 found this review helpful
For some folks, this book is about scientific data... for others, it's about healing. For everyone... it's a great combination of the two...
