Tricks of the Mind
by Derren Brown
I first saw Derren Brown on British television. It was 1999 and the programme was called Derren Brown: Mind Control. It featured Brown in and around London performing various feats of mind-reading and mind-manipulation on unsuspecting members of the public.
And I have to say that I was fascinated. For example, he once caused Tube passengers to instantly forget the destinations or purposes of their journeys, and then just as instantly he returned their memories.
For me, what made it so interesting was that he stated up front that while it might appear to be psychic-related, it was in fact something very different. He claimed to have mastered how people think and how to read people. Thus, he was able to render them suggestible to the point that they would do as they were told. It appeared to be more of the realm of hypnosis than paranormal phenomenon.
So when I came across his newly published book entitled Tricks of the Mind I made a beeline for it and found myself seduced by its admittedly tall order of teaching readers how to hypnotise, read minds, improve their memory and passing on other secrets of his so-called craft.
Well, it was a long and extremely tedious slog but I got through it.
It's true that he does describe how he does some of the more mundane tricks as seen on television. But if you can follow Brown's broad-brush descriptions to the point of obtaining even basic proficiency, then please let me hear from you. Like every other magician (or as he calls himself illusionist) he actually reveals very little.
So what else is in the book? Essentially, a lot of Derren Brown. We get his views on religion, science, psychics, mediums and alternative medicine. His main assertion is that people only see what they want to see. And then he proves his own point as he progresses topic by topic with biased, emotive and one-sided considerations.
But the biggest problem with the Tricks of the Mind is its mixture of autobiographical anecdote, polemics, humour and word choice that simply doesn't work. And at too many points it deteriorates into nothing more than a childish rant.
By the time I finished the book I found myself wondering whether this was not his best illusion to date.
You can buy Tricks of the Mind at Amazon.
Alan's Rating:
| Life-changing |
| Can't live without |
| Put the kettle on and settle down |
| Worth a quick flick |
| Leave it on the shelf |
Alan Bridges
Intuitive Consultant
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