Victor Hugo's Conversations with the Spirit World by Kohn Chambers
© 1998, 2008 Destiny Books ISBN 1-59477-182-0 372 Pages
Paperback $18.95 (U.S.) $24.95 (Canada)
Every once in a while I get an urge to read a book on a topic which
relates
to a topic I have long laid aside, just to see how I react to it. This is
one of those books. Many years ago I had a passing interest in
Spiritualism, stimulate by accounts by both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and
Harry
Houdini. I haven't given the matter much though over the past 20 years,
so
when I saw this book I thought, "Why Not?"
I'm sure that, at one time or another, many of us have "played" with a
Ouija
T board. And we may have gotten "messages from beyond." Most of us, I am
sure, tired quickly of it, or had serious doubts about the information
coming through the board.
Well, Victor Hugo lived before the Ouija T board was created. He did,
however, live during the time when Spiritualism was in its heyday. The
use
of small, lightweight, three-legged tables to tap out messages was
commonplace in parlors across Europe. The uncommon aspects of M Hugo's
attempts were quite extraordinary, however. They included the people
involved (writers, philosophers, and military men) as well as the
"sources"
of this information (living individuals [Napoleon III], concepts
[Civilization], as well as the more common discarnate individuals).
The book, which is an expansion of a previous work by the same author,
consists PRIMARILY of transcripts of table-tapping sessions held by Victor
Hugo and a circle of family and acquaintances during his stay on the isle
of
Jersey from September 1853 to October of 1855. The results of these
séances
were remarkable for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the
sheer diversity of the "spiritual" contacts. Add to that the quantity and
quality of information conveyed to the great French author and the effect
they may have had on his later writings and their im****tance is hard to
overlook.
Whether or not you believe the thoughts communicated to M Hugo by the
tapping tables; whether or not HE believed them, is not the point. Such
thoughts us, and him, to examine what is believed to be true. Such
examinations lead to revelations of (at the very least) personal truths.
And these truths may, and often do, lead to revolutions in thought and
attitude.
The writings of Victor Hugo pre-séance experience are not the writings
post-séances. He had already given the world much poetry and The
Hunchback
of Notre Dame before he was exiled to Jersey. He gave the world Les
Miserables after his exile ended. Is the latter better than the former?
That is for each individual to determine for themselves, but it was
certainly different.
When the author strays away from the story of M Hugo's experiences and
into
a related story involving James Merill and his experiences, it tends to
become a bit more moralizing and "New Agey" and that does (in my opinion)
detract from its value slightly.
This is a book which will have, as do many from this publisher, a limited
appeal to the general public. It is not likely to fly off the shelves and
become a best seller. But for those individuals who have an interest in
either the works of Hugo or the Spiritualism movement this will become a
valued addition to their library. It is eminently readable and very
informative.
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