A review of "Arthur C Clarke´s Mysterious World"
I skimmed a Swedish 1980 translation of this book.
Arthur C Clarke, the famous science fiction writer and pop cultural
personality, has lent his name, his reputation and (perhaps) his wits to this
book, really written by two ghostwriters (pun intended), Simon Welfare and John
Fairley. Clarke has written an introduction and a few comments on a
chapter-by-chapter basis.
The book, while hardly skeptical, is written in a relatively evenhanded and objective style. It concentrates on Forteana, archeological mysteries and crypto-zoology. Yes, our old friends Bigfoot, the Yeti and the Loch Ness monster are all included! So are UFOs (including the famous or infamous debate on UFOs in the British House of Lords in 1979), the Tunguska explosion, the Mesoamerican crystal skulls, Stonehenge, ley lines, the Nazca lines and various more or less entertaining pieces of Forteana. The inevitable frogs raining from the sky are there, but also a few anomalies I haven't heard of before (and I hear a lot, trust me!).
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, a lot of Chinese seals were found buried in Ireland, including in God-forsaken places such as Ballyhack, Killyleagh and Knocknamoriff (the latter place doesn't show up in a web search). From the top of my head, I'm not entirely sure whether this is a mystery, though – the authors point out that no Chinese students (who used the kind of seals found) were enrolled at Irish institutions of higher learning, but what about Irish sailors staying in Middle Kingdom ports, trading ale for mementos? Or a lot of Shanghaied Hibernians…
Some of the mysteries rehashed by Clarke and his associates have been solved (or “debunked”, to use a stronger word), such as the crystal skulls. They were, unfortunately, modern forgeries (although beautifully made). Other anomalies are still with us, such as Bigfoot (no, Blavatsky's baboon aint roaming the Alaskan Panhandle in a borrowed outfit), UFOs, ley lines and, I suppose, frogs raining from the sky.
Worth a look despite being somewhat dated, if you want a readable and relatively reasonable introduction to Arthur C Clarke's (and ours) mysterious world…
The book, while hardly skeptical, is written in a relatively evenhanded and objective style. It concentrates on Forteana, archeological mysteries and crypto-zoology. Yes, our old friends Bigfoot, the Yeti and the Loch Ness monster are all included! So are UFOs (including the famous or infamous debate on UFOs in the British House of Lords in 1979), the Tunguska explosion, the Mesoamerican crystal skulls, Stonehenge, ley lines, the Nazca lines and various more or less entertaining pieces of Forteana. The inevitable frogs raining from the sky are there, but also a few anomalies I haven't heard of before (and I hear a lot, trust me!).
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, a lot of Chinese seals were found buried in Ireland, including in God-forsaken places such as Ballyhack, Killyleagh and Knocknamoriff (the latter place doesn't show up in a web search). From the top of my head, I'm not entirely sure whether this is a mystery, though – the authors point out that no Chinese students (who used the kind of seals found) were enrolled at Irish institutions of higher learning, but what about Irish sailors staying in Middle Kingdom ports, trading ale for mementos? Or a lot of Shanghaied Hibernians…
Some of the mysteries rehashed by Clarke and his associates have been solved (or “debunked”, to use a stronger word), such as the crystal skulls. They were, unfortunately, modern forgeries (although beautifully made). Other anomalies are still with us, such as Bigfoot (no, Blavatsky's baboon aint roaming the Alaskan Panhandle in a borrowed outfit), UFOs, ley lines and, I suppose, frogs raining from the sky.
Worth a look despite being somewhat dated, if you want a readable and relatively reasonable introduction to Arthur C Clarke's (and ours) mysterious world…
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