Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Communion: A True Story
Book Review: Greatest Let-Down Ever!
Summary: 2 Stars
Wow... I don't think i've ever been so disappointed in a book. Some books you hear so much about, and how they're out there paving the way for a certain topic, revolutionizing they way we think of something. This book does not deserve any of the above titles.
This book is not even the slightest bit believable. At times Strieber himself, admits that he gets confused between what is reality and what is not. At the end of the book he pretty much fails his polygraph test. This book is boring and totally un-credible coming from a fiction writer.
To finish, this book is right out boring. Like others stated on here, I kept reading because I just hoped it might pick up. And at about page 275, I lost all hope and skipped to the end. How a book like this ever got such a prestigious title is a complete mystery to me. Don't waste your time on this book.
Book Review: I've Seen A UFO So I Know
Summary: 4 Stars
In the early 1980s, I was the lone witness to several UFOs hovering over the wheat fields near my house in Tennessee. They resembled inverted maroon lampshades, the kind made with macrame?
As a result of this experience, my life changed a lot. For example, I became addicted to working picture puzzles. I started mall-walking with a group of senior citizens even though I was only in my 30s. My feet got larger until I needed the next shoe up (my spouse said this was due to swelling from the heat). I found it hard to know a 'drape' from a 'curtain,' or tell a soup spoon from a table spoon. My mind was fogged.
Friends have laughed at me for admitting this, but I began constantly craving beet, radish, and turnip juice. So much so that I bought a Kenmore juicer. I craved the juices individually as well as mixed together. And before the UFO sighting, I didn't even like the look of these particular vegetables. I've always been into green and leafy.
The UFO experience filled 99% of my mind-space. I haven't been hypnotized yet, so I don't know if I've had missing time or been probed about the body cavities.
Six days after the UFOs, a man showed up on my doorstep. I wondered if there was a mortician's convention in town. He wore a black suit and hat and dark sunglasses. A navy tie with a fly and tackle print.
Turns out his name was Noel Dollish. He was friendly if listless. Weird thing is, he knew about the UFOs, though I hadn't even told Bruce yet. I thought he was selling maybe bibles. He said he was from the GHI or FGI. He handed me a glossy booklet called 'So You've Seen A UFO...' with a lot of fine print at the bottom. I gave him a cup of International Coffee. He left with a little tap dance. I felt trepidatious.
Two afternoons later Noel was back. This time he explained there were secret hand-and-arm gestures he had to teach me. Like it was official business. Gestures that would 'facilitate future communications.' He extended his arms and hands in different positions and would hold out one or more fingers. Each one meant something different. That I understood. I wrote a bunch down. Some I just pretended to write down.
The messages he "conveyed" were oddball stuff, like "The Void Assumes Meaning Through Man," "My Name Is Casper Hightower," "God Does Not Live In Birds, Birds Live In God," "St. Anthony Abbot The Rabbit," and "If Atoms Are Aware, How Much More A Star?" I finally said I had milk boiling over on the stove. That night I suffered burning flatulence and rectal rot? I tried to put Noel out of my mind.
During the autumn, I would spot Noel out in the corn shucks standing on one leg or the other or both, making hand-and-arm gestures in my direction. I didn't need binoculars. He was always dressed in dark black. I felt violated. This went on until the first snow flakes fell.
So Whitley Strieber's Communion and the sequels have brought me a lot of comfort over the decades. They've become touchstones of my life. His books are well told. When he is first "visited" in the cabin in the woods, I could feel a fine trickle of hot perspiration running down my spine. I related to his fear so much. My spouse wanted me to come to bed, but I stayed up and finished Communion the same night I got it from the drugstore. "Never more the dawn!" was my attitude.
The scene when the "visitors" dress in human street clothes and frolic about his bed--the irony is chilling, and so deep, though it's written so subtly that many readers miss the "message." Readers, go over these passages several times.
Many people suspect their bank accounts are constantly tampered with, if even in small ways, no matter how good their personal bookkeeping is. We know from Mr. Streiber's recent books that the government has had its "fingers" in our very minds--why not our finances?
Get out your tin foil skullcaps, everybody. The future isn't going to be rosy. At least that is what I think the author's message is. 2012 is just around the corner. That may be the year aliens swoop down on us from the heavens like those Swedish chicks in metal bras and helmets.
Many people claim that as a horror-fiction novelist, Communion and the sequels are more of the same, only gussied-up with aliens. Ha-ha, joke on you. There is a big difference between the style of his vampire novels like the lesbian romance The Hunger and Communion. You can tell right away if you have read both that one is a sappy softporn thing and the other like what Joni Mitchell calls "a scraping of the soul." Streiber really scraped when he wrote Communion.
I mean I admire his bravery. First in facing these creatures face-to-face, and then for having the courage to confront agents, publishers, and a reading public that might slop him with gutter water for making such 'claims.' People forget he's a victim. Oh my cow, is he a victim.
I recommend that ANYONE who has seen a UFO buy this book. You'll want to place an order for the sequels too, and keep them together as a set in a cool dry place.
Don't listen to those theories about earthquake lights, magnetic waves, balls lightning, or Dr. Michael Persinger. Go to the source and get your information from the source. This is a book that makes sure your information about the universe really expands. Share it with your book circle or church group. Ask your library to carry copies.
My dream is that one day Oprah will feature it on her show in her club. Its implication for man is too important to ignore.
Another good one is Brad Steiger?
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not saying that I do or don't believe Whitley or in aliens, but I think that all of this is possible. I think he is telling the truth as best as he can. I for one, am tired of all of the fanatics saying that it's demonic. Did you ever stop to think that they could be, if not aliens, something that is good and helpful rather than evil ?
I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in extra-terrestrials or has an open mind.
Book Review: Little Content
Summary: 2 Stars
The book starts out very well. Whitley gives some good perspectives concerning such bizarre phenomenon throughout. Unfortunately, there's not much more here. It's a lot of babble and little content. I kept reading hoping it would get better. It didn't. Much of the book is semi-coherent transcripts of hypnosis sessions. It will surely put you to sleep. 2 ½ stars out of five.Book Review: NOT A KIDS BOOK!
Summary: 4 Stars
About 1990 I watched this movie on television and thought it was terrifying but a very interesting and riveting story. I really got a shock when it noted at the end that this was based on a true story! I was totally freaked out and never forgot the title or the story. When in a conversation about UFO's or ET's I'd always ask "Have you heard about Communion?" because it gave such specific details of Strieber's personal encounters. Then I would proceed to share some of the very scary abductions he spoke of, it always brought out the goose bumps.
20 years after seeing the movie I read the book and it took me almost a month to finish it because I was so frightened but fascinated. I had to finish it, I had to know, I didn't want to `not know' what was going on. Forget about reading it at bedtime or even in the evening for that matter. I always had to put the book with the cover down because looking into the face on the book cover gave me chills. Yes, this book was very compelling, it put a lot of stories I've heard over the years into recognizable scenarios such as the little gray creatures and missing time. I got a little lost at the end because I thought there would be a conclusion, but I guess not even he knows how it will end. I will continue to recommend this book to others that say they want to know more details about alien abductions, but I don't think everyone can handle it, definitely only for adults, way too scary for kids.