M.J. Rose

Welcome to the Reincarnationist Blog’s series of interviews using the infamous Proust Questionnaire. Today’s subject is A.J. Jacobs…

THE QUESTIONS:

Title of your latest book as of Sept 1, 2007

“The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.”

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

Everything’s possible, except for, say, looking dignified while wearing Crocs. And I find the idea of past lives enticing (and, naturally, an awesome premise for a thriller). But I still think it’s highly unlikely. I read in Bill Bryson’s book A Short History of Everything about how we all contain recycled atoms. Some of our atoms were once in Shakespeare and Napoleon and Paul Lynde. Does that count?

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

I read the Encyclopedia Britannica, and the section on reincarnation includes this fact: “In primitive religions, belief in multiple souls is common. The soul is frequently viewed as capable of leaving the body through the mouth or nostrils and of being reborn, for example, as a bird, butterfly, or insect.”

I also love the movie Heaven Can Wait. The idea that Warren Beatty’s girlfriend recognizes the gleam in his eye even when Warren takes on another body – that gets me every time.

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

I looked on the Internet to see who died the day I was born. And I got all excited because I saw that Charlie Chaplin died March 20, 1968. Then I noticed it was Charlie Chaplin Jr. The son. He was a minor actor who had a small role in Sex Kittens Go to College. Crushing.

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

My small role in Sex Kittens Go to College.

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

I don’t think I could have been him, but I wish I had the intellectual breadth and depth of Goethe. The man was the ultimate generalist. And I love generalists. He was a critic, journalist, lawyer, painter, theatre manager, statesman, educationalist, alchemist, soldier, astrologer, novelist, songwriter, philosopher, botanist, biologist, color theorist, mine inspector, and issuer of military uniforms.

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

Aside from MJ Rose, of course, I’d go with Buddha, the Baal Shem Tov, and Mary Roach, who wrote a wonderful book called Spook about life-after-death matters.

What do you think happens when we die?

I’m agnostic on that. I think there’s a good chance the lights go out and that’s it. It’d be nice if that weren’t true, but I don’t know. For my latest book, I lived for a year according to the Bible, and it taught me to appreciate such things as the feeling of connectedness and the beauty of ritual and the idea of sacredness. But I remained agnostic on some other topics, including eternal life.

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

I always liked that quote (falsely) attributed to Woody Allen: That he’d like to come back in his next life as Warren Beatty’s fingertips. But I guess nowadays that might not be as exciting, unless you’re really, really into Annette Bening. Maybe Justin Timberlake’s fingertips.

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.

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.

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.