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Malcolm Watts

Goodreads Author

Born

in Toronto Ontario, Canada

Website

http://www.authorsden.com/malcolmwatts

Genre

Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction, Poetry

Influences

John Lennon, Timothy Leary, Saul Alinsky, Grace Paley, Margaret Lauren ...more

Member Since

January 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/malcolm1952

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Reflections from Shadow is an engaging work will keep the reader enthralled until the very end. A Must Read!!
Delores Thornton BlackRefer.com

INTERVIEW BY DELORES THORNTON:

DT: How long did it take to write Reflections from Shadow?

MW: The book took me around 6 years to write. Partly this was because I worked at it in my spare time, and partly because I wrote the story without an outline. I rewrote it umpteen times. My need to write it arose from my own troubled childhood, Evangelical upbringing, as well as 20 years clinical practice with troubled children, families, adolescents and adults. I wanted the world to hear the voice of a child trying to understand the adult world.

DT: Why did you write this story?
MW: Part of the reason I wrote the Reflections from Shadow is an engaging work will keep the reader enthralled until the very end. A Must Read!!
Delores Thornton BlackRefer.com

INTERVIEW BY DELORES THORNTON:

DT: How long did it take to write Reflections from Shadow?

MW: The book took me around 6 years to write. Partly this was because I worked at it in my spare time, and partly because I wrote the story without an outline. I rewrote it umpteen times. My need to write it arose from my own troubled childhood, Evangelical upbringing, as well as 20 years clinical practice with troubled children, families, adolescents and adults. I wanted the world to hear the voice of a child trying to understand the adult world.

DT: Why did you write this story?
MW: Part of the reason I wrote the book was to give voice to children, and adults, traumatized by the western Judaeo Christian concept of a punitive masculine God. The growth of evangelical fundamentalism in North America (as well as Islamic fundamentalism in other parts of the world) is alarming to me. God is not man or woman, Christian or Hindu and faiths that promote themselves as having an ultimate truth that people must believe, or else, at the risk of eternal damnation, are wrong and destructive. Promoting these beliefs to innocent children, instead of generic values of humanity and inclusiveness, is emotional child abuse and socially destructive.

Mankind’s survival now depends upon our appreciation of difference in beliefs and acceptance of what people want to do and believe as long as those beliefs do not infringe on the rights of others by maintaining they constitute the ONLY truth there is and seek to impose themselves on others.
Despite what theological scholars will insist, most ordinary people understand intuitively that there are basic truths that underlay most religions and ethical contructs, i.e., the Golden rule. These universal ideas are what we need to pay attention to and understand that other aspects/structures of religion and belief systems are the result of political/cultural and sociological factors that range back hundreds and thousands of years. As the pinball wizard in my book says, They are all true, and yet none of it is completely true. Each faith contains an aspect of truth -- facets in the gem of understanding.

DT: Was Jared based on someone you know? Or was his character straight from your imagination?
MW: Jared is an amalgam of many kids I knew growing up, including myself, as well as children I have worked with in my clinical practice. We care for Jared, I think, because he has a way of questioning his world yet lacks the maturity to reconcile his questions. He also represents that child extant in all adults that continue to feel bewildered by certain questions of life, death, meaning and belief.

DT: Why did Jared not seek out his birth parents?
MW: Remember that in the past it was very difficult, nearly impossible for people to search for their birth parents. Also, such actions were generally viewed negatively by adoptive parents in that era. Children felt compelled to repress such desires and could not even speak of them for fear of “hurting” ones' adoptive parents. Many writers in the professional literature on the subject of adoption refer to this as the child playing out the role of “Good” adoptee vs “bad” adoptee. Strictly in terms of the story, I never really thought about having Jared pursue this. Generally, in those days, if someone was to search for birth parents it would not be until they were older than Jared was at the end of the book.

DT: Have you visited locales mentioned in the book?
MW: Yes, I have traveled extensively. I met my wife while traveling in Europe in 1974. I spent time in Amsterdam and Germany, and many other places, and yes I visited Dachau camp museum. I studied history in University and am particularly interested in world war II. I wanted to describe Amsterdam as it was in those days, and is to some ...more

Combine Editions
Malcolm Watts’s books

Average rating: 4.11 · 38 ratings · 5 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	What Is a Reformed Church? 4.09 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reflections from Shadow: A Novel 4.17 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Malcolm is Currently Reading

Malcolm is currently reading

The Buddhist way of life

by Christmas Humphreys

bookshelves: currently-reading

read in October 2010

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Malcolm said: " Wonderfully readable book explaining Buddhism and related issues in clear, succinct langauge. I recommend this book as a good overview for anyone seeking a primer on this fascinating philosphy. He maintains that Buddhism is not a religion in the trad ...more "

Oct 01, 2010 07:56AM · see review

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Essential Tibetan Buddhism

by Robert A.F. Thurman (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, reading-slowly

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Malcolm said: " Interesting but rather heavy going in places. Sadly No index but contains a wealth of information about this subject. "

Sep 13, 2010 10:09PM · see review

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Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions

by Lisa Randall

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Malcolm said: " Readable, interesting, informative. Looking forward to a terrific scientific read for the layperson "

Feb 25, 2010 08:17PM · see review

Quotes by Malcolm Watts (?)

“I can't wait for the human race to be over and they give out the trophies.”
― Malcolm Watts

3 likes

“As has been said, the truth will set you free - but first it will make you miserable.”
― Malcolm Watts

2 likes

“Life is a carnivore. Eat it before it eats you.”
― Malcolm Watts

2 likes

See all Malcolm Watts's quotes »

Malcolm’s Quotes

“If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”
― W.C. Fields

tags: humor, success

7439 likes

“And, in the end
The love you take
is equal to the love you make.”
― Paul McCartney, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics

tags: beatles, inspirational, live, love, music

6019 likes

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”
― Edward Abbey

tags: adventure, advice, living

1198 likes

“No one here gets out alive.”
― Jim Morrison

tags: death, life, verse

796 likes

“..and the only law,
that there need be
you shall not take away the free
from any man
though different he.”
― Malcolm Watts

1 likes

More of Malcolm’s quotes…