Official Review: The Secret of the Stone by T. John Allenby

[jcheiser]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Secret of the Stone" by T. John Allenby.]

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The Secret of the Stone by T. John Allenby is a non-fiction piece about Allenby’s experiences after he “became unwittingly initiated into the terrifying world of sorcery.” It starts with Allenby having a strange experience that sticks with him, and then through his research for trying to understand this experience, he has more experiences and asks more questions. He makes observations and relates them to his knowledge or stores them away to be used later. He picks up clues throughout this whole length of time that help him to unlock the secret of ‘The Philosopher’s Cornerstone,’ and much more. The entire story takes place over twenty-some years, and Allenby gives the reader exactly the right amount of information to keep the pace steady despite the lengthy span of time the story encompasses. This book is beautifully written. I was hooked by the time I reached the bottom of the first page. Allenby has a way with words and knows how to keep a reader turning pages.

I once took a class that was a study of creative non-fiction writing, and that class was all about using language and organizing non-fiction works in such a way that a reader would not find it dry or get bored with it. This book should be on that syllabus because it is a perfect example of how to write really good non-fiction. The language is beautiful; it is not overly simple, and not overly complicated (or showing signs of too many trips to the thesaurus). I also really appreciated how everything connected throughout the story, right down to the cover art and the title.

Throughout the book, I noticed a handful of small technical errors; a type here, a misplaced comma there, but nothing that was distracting to the story and nothing that hinted of a poor understanding of the technical part of the writing process. These are just minor errors that really do not detract from the work overall.

I think that this book would be interesting to all populations, not just people who are interested in ‘sorcery’ or topics directly discussed within this book. Near the beginning, Allenby talks about a technique called ‘Inner Silence’ in which one empties the mind of all thought and meditates upon the resulting silence. This, and a few other things Allenby mentions, reminds me a lot of yoga and yogic practices, so I think that anyone interested in yoga or Eastern philosophies might be interested in reading Allenby’s experiences, as well.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is incredibly well-written, I think the subject will appeal to many, and, quite frankly, I couldn’t put it down. I sincerely hope to read more by T. John Allenby.

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[HiremeNow]

That's a good book not what I'm use to but it's still readable.

[Lyn_R]

I'm hooked. I think I will give this book a go based on your assessment.

[LivreAmour217]

When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought it had been accidentally placed in the wrong forum It sounds very interesting, though.

Also, thanks for mentioning the class you took on writing non-fiction. I have an idea for a non-fiction work, but I'm terribly afraid that it will be boring. I live near a major university, so perhaps I can find a similar class.

[Amheiser]

This sounds like an interesting book that I will definitely add to my reading list. Non-fiction can be dry at times but this book sounds like it will be a good read because of how well it is written. I'm excited to read about the interesting experiences that have happened to the author.