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Review Detail

 
What is Scientology?
Scientology Books
October 13, 2012    
An appalling vanity production. Don't waste your money.
Overall rating 
 
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1.0
Reviewed by Richard Kaminski November 10, 2012
Top 100 Reviewer  -   View all my reviews (1)

What Scientology is not.

An appalling vanity production. Don't waste your money.

Where I stand

I am a...
Independent Scientologist

Pros and Cons (optional)

Pros
Doorstop.
Useful to schools of publishing and advertising studying promotional howlers.
Cons
Image-building at its very worst.

No obvious point to the book. Who would you give it to, in all honesty?
This 'brochure' marked the beginning of 'The Scientology Religion' corporation nonsense.

The book marked the way for unknown others to start gassing on about Scientology in an attempt to position it in a world market of beliefs and practices. The language is both smug and hectoring, the illustrations clichéd, garish and without any apparent editorial cohesion. Too heavy and clumsy to use, not in hardback for easy shelving, far too much information crammed into one publication meaning you had to pick it all up in order to find one thing out, no dissemination value, and no target readership. More of a coffee-table sort of thing. Overall Tone Level -3.5 Controlling Bodies/Effort. Not one scrap of fun, humour, lightness of touch, or pleasure to be found on any page. A really hard slog to get through.

It doesn't address an individual in a comm cycle like virtually every LRH book does, it's talking at you in torrents, flooding you with pictures. The book represents an entity bigger than any one individual in it.


Bottom line...

Recommend it to a friend?
No
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Written by Thoughtful
November 09, 2012
Richard, you just NAILed this book better than anyone has ever done. That is the single best summary in history, completely expressed everything I've felt but wasn't able to say. You are on FIRE!
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Want auditing?

self-analysis

START HERE

Self  Analysis (August 1951):  Possibly the best introduction to the subjects of Dianetics and Scientology. Self Analysis contains both a series of essays on the basic discoveries Ron had made up to this point in his research as well as an extensive auditing section that a person can do by themselves right at home. The book contains a special version of the Hubbard Chart of Human Evaluation and a series of tests one can do to discover where you're really at. Then, by applying the processes from the second half of the book, one is guided through a path of self-discovery. At the end, you will re-do the tests to confirm your improvement. How good can you get? These techniques have been in use for more than six decades and Ron referred to them again and again throughout his research, stating that the processes here were capable of curing any neurosis.

This is the starting point for anyone wanting auditing. You will be audited by L. Ron Hubbard himself through the pages of this book.

Find a copy in used bookstores or at Alibris.com, Amazon.com, eBay. Or you can buy a new copy from these Church of Scientology organizations (but once you give them your address they may continue to send you junk mail) Bridge Publications or New Era Publications.