Friday, February 10, 2012

Mutant Message Down Under, Marlo Morgan

In this "true" story, Marlo Morgan, who was living in Australia, is summoned for a three month long journey with an Aboriginal Tribe. At first she thinks that she's receiving an award for her medicinal accomplishments, but then they burn all her stuff and take on a long walk through the desert. Now, I say "true" in quotation marks because I don't know if the whole books was strictly true, in the sense that it actually happened. It all seemed a bit contrived to me. Marlo Morgan acts like the Aborigines have magic. I've no doubt that they have a rich and luscious culture, and are not "savages", as some Westerners used to believe, but there's no magic involved. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't exist, however much we may try to delude ourselves. It would be nice, but no. You can't heal someone's broken leg by rubbing your hand over it, which was something that happened in the book. I like the idea of the Aboriginal culture, and there's certainly something to be learned from it, but I don't believe all that Morgan writes is true. It's a nice idea, this Oneness, where everyone is all part of the grand scheme, but I don't believe in it.I guess the solution to reading this book would be to read it as a semi-fictional account of what happened to Morgan.Otherwise, you'll just get exasperated. I mean, seriously. Get real. However, I liked the attitude of the Aborigines, and, as long as you treat as not strictly being true, you should enjoy the book. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is a good story, and the overall concept of the tribe is good, but I don't believe in the magic part. 187 pages, 1 star.

1 comment:

  1. Note: I think this book is extremely racist. If you really want to read it, be forewarned.

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