‘. . . or wait and not see’

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 23

‘. . . or wait and not see’

The After Death Experience. By lan WHson. Corgi/Transworid, 1989. 282 pp. $10.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Denis Dutton.) Is death the end of experience for the individual, or the beginning of a new kind of experience? As the title of lan Wilson’s book indicates, he is

ready to take sides. In a sober, donnish style, he marshals reports of so-called near-death experiences: The floating feeling of calm, a sense of numinous presence, the tunnel of light often reported by patients who are brought back from the brink of medical extinction. The common site of these experiences is the operating table, but there is an awkward problem in that other people, including people taking ordinary hallucinogenic drugs, report like effects. As with his previous books supporting the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, Wilson begins by examining and refuting very poor evidence in favour of the view he will ultimately come to support. So he casts a dubious eye on screwball reincarnation fantasies of Shirley MacLaine and the fraudulence of the medium Doris Stokes. He is

particularly effective in exposing how Stokes planted in her audiences dupes who unwittingly helped make her stage shows so impressive. Stokes’ manipulation of the bereaved is an ugly episode, and Wilson deserves full credit for having uncovered it.

Having thus seemed to establish “sceptical” credentials, Wilson proceeds to swallow anecdote after anecdote purporting “to suggest” that the human personality survives the grave. Along the way, Wilson — a devout Catholic — makes many sound and provocative observations about the denial of death in modern society. He also describes many brave people. Still, the general refusal of human beings to face the reality — the finality — of death is older than the Egyptians, and one would have thought that this book is a perfect example of the phenomenon. While readers eager to believe that there is life after life will be inspired by Wilson’s evidence and conjectures, others will be less impressed. As for answering the ultimate question, as the British philosopher C. D. Broad said, for that we’ll simply have to wait and see — or wait and not see.