Word: mysticism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fascinating and magisterial book Mystic Chords of Memory (Knopf; 864 pages; $40), Michael Kammen explores the complicated relationship between history and memory that has existed since America began. What Kammen sets out to do is both modern and old-fashioned: through a careful mustering of detail and theory, he explains that throughout American history, facts have been transformed into myths and myths transformed into beliefs. From the time the Pilgrims may or may not have celebrated Thanksgiving to the "grotesque distortions" of Western history in TV shows like Gunsmoke, Kammen shows how America has reconstructed its past to conform with...
...Mystic Chords of Memory suggests that we think of ourselves as a people who honor the past but are not imprisoned by it. Kammen claims that Americans have always believed they knew more about their own history than they actually did. Although we prefer to regard ourselves as a forward-looking people striding into the future, we tend to be happier sitting around the cozy fireplace of nostalgia...
...Mystic Chords of Memory trails off with a sense that America is not moving forward but pensively looking back. Kammen asserts that we have shown an increased interest in the past but a decreased knowledge of it. In the 1930s Lewis Mumford wrote, "Our past still lies ahead of us." The feeling one is left with after reading Kammen's dense and masterly work is that our future lies behind...
According to the rumor, three psychics on the Oprah Winfrey show in late September claimed to have found the predictions in the writings of the medieval mystic Nostradamus...
...Western Front--at 343 Western Ave. in Cambridge. Call 492-7772. On Thursday: reggae with Mystic Jammer. On Friday and Saturday: reggae with Loose Caboose. On Sunday: World Beat with Cosmos Factory. On Tuesday: jazz with Debbie Kochman...