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I keep getting what appears to be synchronicity suggestions regarding the books of Jed McKenna. So I did some research and it seems that Jed McKenna is possible a fictional person (well, a pen name, anyway; I can live with that), and there are some very negative reviews of his books.
Has anyone here read them? Apparently there's a trilogy on the topic of enlightenment? What can you tell me about the books of the probably pseudononymous Jed McKenna?
The negative reviews are one reason I haven't gotten the books yet. I'm still planning on getting them eventually, but they're not super high on my list.
I think Tom's read all three of the books in the trilogy, so I'm sure he'll have some input on this.
Doing a search of these forums now, but I'm still interested in this discussion, which should prove to be more direct. Most of the references I'm finding are sort of woven into other conversations.
Yes, Jed McKenna is probably a completely fictional character in the same sense for example that Captain Kirk is a fictional character and William Shatner writes Star Trek novels featuring him. In this case we don't get to see the William Shatner behind the Jed McKenna. There are a lot of people who have strong negative reactions to him. There are even people who have strong positive initial reactions to him. I had a negative reaction at first. Jed's first book pissed me off and scared the hell out of me. Then I realized I loved the book and I read it again to try to get the same feelings back. I felt like I had approached a bottomless pit and backed away and I wanted to go there again to just jump, but it didn't work that way. The second book was a lot lighter, and it cleared up a few things I didn't understand. The third book was again challenging, and in a way that I hadn't anticipated. It was supposed to bring the trilogy "full circle". I found it truly did complete the trilogy, though, and I also read it more than once. I'd say that I've had two main teachers above all others in my life. One was Jed and the other I know "in person".
Wow, that sounds good. :)
I'm not fussed by someone using a pseudonym. There are plenty of reasons to use a pen name, it's not a big deal. Some people do seem to take exception to it for some reason, though (I know if I ever wrote books, I'd certainly use a pen name!).
As far as I understand it is not just a pen name, but also the main character is fictional? (Sorry, that's what I got out of the "William Shatner/Captain Kirk" thing...)
Oliver
It appears to be fiction, but it's hard to say for sure. There's apparently a lot of speculation as to who "Jed McKenna" really is (he says it doesn't matter who he is, because he doesn't exist, anyway, which makes sense to me).
I think it's that the author, whomever it might be, wanted to tell stories with deeper meaning. I'm quite intrigued by the concept, actually. I found this:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jed_McKenna
Interesting reading.
Well, that made me not like him.
What did? The articles? Or that he's probably fictional?
The attitude of the author.