Mind Games Richard Thieme 9780938326243 Books
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Mind Games, a collection of nineteen stories of brave new worlds and alternate realities Clint Brooks, former Senior Advisor for Homeland Security and Assistant Deputy Director, NSA, says "Richard Thieme takes us to the edge of cliffs we know are there but rarely visit. He wonderfully weaves life, mystery, and passion through digital and natural worlds with creativity and imagination. Delightful and deeply thought provoking reading." Stories of computer hackers, deception and intelligence, puzzling anomalies, spirituality and mysteries of consciousness, the paranormal, UFOs, alien life forms - in short, everyday life in the 21st century. Play these ""Mind Games" and see why the most common response to Richard Thieme's writing and speaking is "You made me think."
Mind Games Richard Thieme 9780938326243 Books
I've only made it though about half of the short stories contained in this book so far; however, thusfar, I must say that I am enjoying the book and gleaning some interesting information from it. As mentioned in some of the reviews printed on the cover, you do have to know what pieces to separate, but this is good stuff. I would also highly recommend looking up presentations Richard Thieme has given at Defcon and other conferences as well.Product details
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Tags : Mind Games [Richard Thieme] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mind Games, a collection of nineteen stories of brave new worlds and alternate realities Clint Brooks,Richard Thieme,Mind Games,Duncan Long Publications,0938326244,Science fiction,Short stories,Fiction - General,Fiction General,General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
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Mind Games Richard Thieme 9780938326243 Books Reviews
It appears to be a mix of truth and fiction but which is which? Think of Douglas Adams meets Stephen Hawking, but in a scary kind of way (not "boo" scary but "made you think" scary). Not for those whose feet are firmly planted on a single planet.
This extraordinary book of short stories draws the reader into multiple levels of reality and multiple dimensions. The settings are mostly futuristic, as in engineered societies. But the principles of social engineering are laid bare, inducing the reader to reflect on current values, desires, and markers of progress.
The story that resonates most with me is a subtle account of a married couple's evening out with friends, "Incident at Wolf Cave." On return home at night -- by the husband/narrator's account --they are witness to UFOs over a lake. Next day, when the husband remarks on the sighting, the wife denies it. This incident closes the door to the psychic flow between them, and they gradually divorce. A UFO story, yes, but who has not felt this closing of the door when reality changes for one friend but not another?
The form of the book, consonant with the theme, veers into another dimension of literature. The short introduction to each story describes the author's relevant life experiences, quests, or critiques. Rather than demystifying the story, the author thereby locks the reader more securely into the mystery of the story. Artist Duncan Long has also provided a sort of portrait introduction to each story, in which the boundary between line drawing and photograph cannot be discerned -- another play on the junctures of different realities.
Liking and disliking is maybe not the right attitudinal axis for this book. Better Are we game for these uncomfortable mental adventures in consciousness and the nature of reality?
Reviewing Mind Games by Richard Thieme is a somewhat awkward task, in large part because the usual topics of such a review (plot, character development, writing style, narrative structure, etc.) seem to be beside the point. It's not that Thieme is a bad writer. Quite the contrary, he's quite capable, and the book is full of turns of phrase and extremely observant attention to the little details that make a lightly sketched scene turn real in one's mind. No, it's more that as with writers such as Philip K. Dick, the stories Thieme presents are delivery vehicles for ideas that will burrow into your mind and if one is fortunate, set your thoughts on their own "connect the dots" mission to destinations unknown.
The individual stories in this collection stand well on their own, but taken as a whole, they present a sort of fractal message to the reader from the mind of Thieme. Yes, they are stories, but they are also an interwoven reiteration of basic concepts at multiple levels of granularity. As I said, fractal - delve down to detail, the pattern is there. Zoom out to macro level, the pattern repeats. The concepts that Thieme puts forth about how the world works, the interaction between people, the relationship of people to technology, information and control, the nature of spirituality, and all the rest are everywhere one looks, if one chooses to notice.
The question is whether one sees the message, and one's ability to discern the message, whether or not one fully accepts it. And in some ways, just as perfume reacts with the individual body chemistry of the wearer, Thieme's basic message is not of the form of him telling you what to think, but rather of him pulling aside the veil, showing glimpses of the man behind the curtain, and asking "what are the implications for you, dear reader?" He opens the door, and allows you to decide for yourself what lies beyond the door.
This will be a life-changing book for some of those who read it. Not in the sense of the self-help tomes by the doctors, gurus and shamen who assure you that your investment of $29.95 will bring you the answer to finding your bliss. If anything, Thieme assures you just the opposite. If, as in the movie The Matrix, you take Thieme's red pill, you will see his vision of the truth, with all the implications. You can't just take the happy parts, because they are inextricably bound to the uneasy aspects of the reality Thieme channels.
Faced with a vision that disturbs our comfortable assumptions and even our self-image, some will comprehend, and go off on their own way, irrevocably changed. Some will understand, but will find the resulting possibilities unsettling, so they will block out the ideas, and will mentally file the stories under "fiction", never to be troubled by them again. Others will just be puzzled, and wonder what the heck Thieme is talking about. In short, a good segment of those who read this book will soon forget the stories, and go back to their own corner of the generic setting of Wolf Cove where Thieme sets some of his tales.
This loops back to why this book is difficult to review, and why it will be a slow read for some. For those Thieme is attempting to reach, these stories carry cargo of ideas to be savored, and the end of the book may leave on longing for another ride on the merry-go-round.
But attempting to review such a book is kind of like doing a taste comparison of apples, only to find out that one of them is from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil from the story of the Garden of Eden. Take a bite of such an apple, and the taste test is suddenly a moot point. It's not about the taste any more when one's mind has been bent and one's eyes have been opened to a different perspective. There's more going on than the flavor and texture of a mere apple.
But still, it's a nice, crisp, juicy apple. Go ahead. Take a bite!
This book is exactly how I hoped it might be not so much Richard Thieme essays (much as I enjoy those!) in fictional format, but simply excellent stories that happen to concern reality-manipulation, the elusiveness and relativity of truth, etc., each told in a variety of voices that quite convincingly and entertainingly appear to belong, at key moments, to other people.
(That's the trick with fiction, isn't it? Without convincing characters, it's just monologue.)
Having said all that, if you've ever seen Richard speak or have read his essays online, the themes in this book will be familiar to you, as will the wit, credibility, intellectual rigor, and warmth that shine through. But again, I think you'll enjoy these stories for their own narrative sake.
And if you aren't familiar with Richard's work, you're in for a treat. Come for the space-aliens and spies; stay for the cognitive workout!
Human race is an alien experiment, Illuminati-like conspiracy rules the world, and if you dare to call BS, well, you are just another one of the sheeple. Really?
Anyhow, you are looking at 300+ pages of tedious and repetitive stream-of consciousness storytelling. If you possess ample critical thinking skills and plenty of patience for ingesting mediocre fiction, you may enjoy the comedic value. Otherwise, save your money.
I've only made it though about half of the short stories contained in this book so far; however, thusfar, I must say that I am enjoying the book and gleaning some interesting information from it. As mentioned in some of the reviews printed on the cover, you do have to know what pieces to separate, but this is good stuff. I would also highly recommend looking up presentations Richard Thieme has given at Defcon and other conferences as well.
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