M.J. Rose

Welcome to the Reincarnationist Blog’s series of interviews using the infamous Proust Questionnaire. Today’s subject is Diana Gabaldon..

THE QUESTIONS:

Title of your latest book as of Sept 1, 2007 – LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE (Random House)

 

Do you believe — even a little bit that reincarnation is possible?

 

Well, I’m a Roman Catholic, and we don’t _officially_ believe in reincarnation <g> On the other hand, we do believe that “anything is possible with God,” and I for one would certainly not be telling Him that this or that can’t ever happen.

 

On the strictly biological side–you’d have to say that all of us are reincarnated to some degree; our DNA is the _same_ DNA that our ancestors had, which combines itself with other strands and then patiently reassembles the necessary proteins to construct another human being to carry it onward.

 

Have you ever read anything books the subject that made an impression on you?

 

Well, to be honest, most novels I’ve read that have used reincarnation as a plot device are Just Awful (generally because they use it _only_ as a plot device), but there is the occasional exception–Anya Seton’s GREEN DARKNESS, for instance. Much more interesting are the occasional investigations–you’d have to call them “non-fiction,” though with the proviso that this is not necessarily the same thing as “fact”–into reincarnation phenomena.

 

What is your most marked characteristic that you believe could be a hold over from a past life?

 

I’m not sure how you would distinguish between a characteristic from a past life, and a characteristic derived from your own genetic past. I’ve had the experience of finding an old family photograph of my great-great-grandmother (aged 85), and seeing my own face looking back at me. (At least I know what I’ll look like as an old lady, if I’m lucky enough to make it to 85! <g>). And there all kinds of small gestures, personality quirks, and so on that I see pop up repeatedly in family members–those older than I am, and in my own children.

 

I really don’t have any characteristics that I could think came from a past life–but I do have a memory. I’ve had this since I was quite small–it may be a dream, but it doesn’t feel like that; it’s a very vivid memory of lying in the snow on a mountaintop. The sky is a pale, bright blue and there’s a lichen-covered rock near my face. I realize that I’m freezing to death, but I’m not afraid; everything is very peaceful. So–_did_ I freeze to death in a previous life? No idea–but that memory is there.

 

What is your principle defect that you believe might be inherited from a previous incarnation?

 

Clumsiness. Might as well blame it on _somebody_! (<cough> er…I b’lieve that’s spelled “principal”. Don’t mind me, I went to a parochial school…)

 

Which of your favorite heroes do you think you actually could have been and why?

 

If you ask me, the chief drawback to reasonable discussion of reincarnation is that most of the people who profess to believe in it think they were Cleopatra or Genghis Khan. Nobody thinks they’re the reincarnation of a 4th-century Babylonian prostitute or a Spartan latrine-digger, whereas the odds are obviously in favor of that.

 

What three people from history would you like to have over to dinner for a discussion about reincarnation?

 

How far back is “history”? I’d certainly include Edgar Cayce, who’s dead, but not all that historical <g>. Benjamin Franklin, for another–there was a guy with a lively interest in natural phenomena. And Bridie Murphey, I suppose. <g>

 

What do you think happens when we die?

 

Like I said, I’m a Roman Catholic–we officially believe in ghosts <g> (i.e., the presence of saints). Personally, I’m sure that we continue, but I don’t know in what form. I have _met_ a couple of ghosts, though.

 

When you come back next time, who would you like to be?

 

A writer.

We would love to hear your responses to these questions. Please feel free to copy and paste the Questionnaire with your answers into a Comment for this post.

Share

Welcome to the Reincarnationist Blog’s series of interviews using the infamous Proust Questionnaire. Today’s subject is Douglas Preston…

THE QUESTIONS:

 

Title of your latest book as of Sept 1, 2007

 

The Wheel of Darkness

 

Do you believe — even a little bit that reincarnation is possible?

 

Yes.

 

Have you ever read anything books the subject that made an impression on you?

 

When I was thirteen or fourteen, I read a book called “The Boy Who Saw True.” That bowled me over and converted me to the idea of reincarnation and karma. I had previously thought the idea of heaven and hell was ridiculous and I wondered how a benevolent God could allow innocents to suffer. Reincarnation and karma provided neat solutions to both those problems. I devoured the books of Edgar Cayce, The Aquarian Gospel, as well as the Diamond Light of Tibetan Buddhism. Recently, I fear, I have become a skeptic.

 

What is your most marked characteristic that you believe could be a hold over from a past life?

 

Kindness.

 

What is your principle defect that you believe might be inherited from a previous incarnation?

 

A propensity to yell.

 

Which of your favorite heroes do you think you actually could have been and why?

 

None. I feel sure that if reincarnation is true, my previous lives were lived in blessed anonymity. Not only do the laws of probability suggest it, but I don’t feel I’ve ever been a famous or powerful person. I have a strong aversion to the acquisition and exercise of power.

 

What three people from history would you like to have over to dinner for a discussion about reincarnation?

 

Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama, and Siddartha Guatama.

 

What do you think happens when we die?

 

I have complicated ideas about that, which I expound in my upcoming novel, BLASPHEMY.

 

When you come back next time, who would you like to be?

 

Just an ordinary, anonymous human being trying to make sense of his life.

 

We would love to hear your responses to these questions. Please feel free to copy and paste the Questionnaire with your answers into a Comment for this post.

Share

Welcome to the Reincarnationist Blog’s series of interviews using the infamous Proust Questionnaire. Today’s subject is Joshua Henkin…

THE QUESTIONS:

Title of your latest book as of Sept 1, 2007: Matrimony (pub date:

October 2, 2007)

Do you believe — even a little bit that reincarnation is possible?

I kind of believe anything is possible (just about) and as someone

who was raised in an observant Jewish home (I attended Jewish day

school from kindergarten through 12th grade and went to an Orthodox

synagogue and a Conservative summer camp), I’m certainly suggestible

when it comes to the supernatural. That said, in a list of my own

supernatural beliefs, reincarnation isn’t at the top.

Have you ever read anything books the subject that made an impression

on you?

Most of my reading about reincarnation came when I was nine or ten at

the supermarket checkout line, where the tabloids promised that there

was irrefutable evidence to support reincarnation. I have to say, I

was terrified. I was convinced that I would end up as a cow or a

cockroach. Worse, I believed this would mean I would be separated

from my family, who I understood would not also be cows or

cockroaches, and at that point in my life the idea of separation from

my family, though probably subconsciously very appealing, was,

consciously, terrifying.

What is your most marked characteristic that you believe could be a

hold over from a past life?

The kind word for it would be perseverance. Those less kindly

inclined would call it stubbornness or pigheadedness. I can’t imagine

not having been this way for lifetimes.

What is your principle defect that you believe might be inherited

from a previous incarnation?

See above question.

Which of your favorite heroes do you think you actually could have

been and why?

I don’t know if they’re heroes, but whoever was a previous era’s

version of Oprah, that would have been me. A novelist has to be

interested in people, which is just an elevated way of saying that

we’re all big gossips. I can listen endlessly to strangers talk to

each other. I’ll miss my subway stop sometimes, and it’s not even

that the conversation is so interesting–I just can’t help myself.

I’ve been known to flip through strangers’ yearbooks. Most people

don’t want to look at their *own* yearbooks, but not me…

What three people from history would you like to have over to dinner

for a discussion about reincarnation?

If it’s going to be about reincarnation, why not the biggies? I’ll

have Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad over for dinner. Potluck.

What do you think happens when we die?

I have no idea, but a combination of childhood teachings and hope die

hard. In short, I hope when I die I go somewhere, and I hope it’s

somewhere good.

When you come back next time, who would you like to be?

Probably my three-year-old daughter. I’d like to know what it’s like

to be her–to hear all this befuddling talk from the adults around

her. I wonder what she makes of it.

We would love to hear your responses to these questions. Please feel free to copy and paste the Questionnaire with your answers into a Comment for this post.

Share