Sunday Afternoon Reader -- Part 6

Well unfortunately it has been a few months since Part 5 – but such is the way things go sometimes. Here’s what I’ve been reading since we last checked in.  

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

C.G. Jung

Publisher: Vintage (Random House)

Year: 1963

I am a great admirer of Carl Jung, but most of this stems from his wider influence on pop culture, rather than having read much of his stuff directly. Man & His Symbols – which is probably his best-known work to the general public – is great, but I was thrilled to discover that he actually had an autobiography of sorts available. 

With that said, Memories, Dreams, Reflections is far more concerned with his inner life than with the usual etcetera of dates and events that you might expect from a more conventional autobiography. The closest analogue (particularly in the early chapters) that I could draw is C.S. Lewis’ “spiritual autobiography” Surprised by Joy, though they differ quite a bit in terms of content.

It’s not always an easy read and I didn’t come away from it agreeing with all his thoughts – but nonetheless, it what has been something of a turbulent year, reading it was both psychologically and spiritually helpful – and for the most part only served to increase my admiration of him.   

VHS: Absurd, Odd and Ridiculous Relics from the Videotape Era

Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher

Publisher: Running Press

Year: 2011

VHS, hey? Such a relic of my childhood, yet not one I remember all that fondly. It was an inconvenient format dictated by the technological limitations of the time – and as soon as DVDs came in, I never really looked back.

That said, there are so many oddities that never made the transition to DVD (particularly horror) and now that we’ve entered the era of blu-ray and digital download, there’s even more that have been lost again. This book compiles some of the most bizarre VHS covers known to man, spanning the predictable (80s workout videos) through the truly unnecessary (How to Spot Counterfeit Beanie Babies). As with any book like this, things are predictably hit-and-miss in terms of the level of amusement provided, but it’s good to flick through for a chuckle.

Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons

Michael Witwer

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Year: 2015

Dungeons & Dragons has been a big part of my life for a very long time, but I wasn’t terribly familiar with much of the life of Gary Gygax, one of the key figures in its creation. I knew the broad strokes, but I didn’t actually know there was anything comprehensive out there – so this was a must-have for $6.    

The book began life as Witwer’s thesis, and reading this not long after the exhaustive (and exhausting) Charles Schulz bio, it seems quite light on details. It’s worth a read for fans, but there are some valid criticisms to be levelled – Dave Arneson’s role in the creation of the game is downplayed, for one – but I think it serves reasonably well as an insight into the man and his methods. As the book itself states, Dungeons & Dragons is far bigger than Gary Gygax himself. And the cover is a heartfelt (if not entirely successful) tribute to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons supplement books from the 1980s.    

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