Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Active Side of Infinity by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the last, 12th, book by Castaneda, and published posthumously in 1999, Castaneda having died of liver cancer in 1998, aged 72.  I left the 11th book "The Wheel of Time" for last, as it consists of quotations from the first 8th books, with new intro and commentary by Castaneda after each chapter.  This, 11th volume, displays some of the work Castaneda did for his "recapitulation", remembering and analyzing every significant event from his life, started by making a list of all people one has met and then remembering all events considering that person.  It is interesting that recapitulation doesn't include the time one spends by oneself. 

Don Juan nudges Carlos to remember events from his life that really had a strong influence on him and are related to other people, not something that is celebrating his own ego.  Carlos remembers events from his childhood in Peru, his grandfather, his grandfathers nemesis, the raft trip through an underground river, and many more.  Since Castaneda tried very hard to hide his early life (he was Peruvian born), these events throw light on the unknown aspects of his history.

Overall a very interesting book to read, less of the high-brow conceptual stuff from some of the earlier books, and chock-full of interesting events from Castaneda's life, it almost reads like a proper novel.

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