Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle

I was so fascinated by this book that I read it in one evening. In a narrow sense, the topic is the discussion/debate between Houdini and Conan Doyle about spiritualism that first made them friends and then opponents. In a larger sense, I think that it has a great deal to say about the human mind and deserves a wide audience. It is an excellent example of how hard it is to consider objectively such subjects in which people invest so much emotion. Conan Doyle was so determined to believe that Houdini was a psychic that nothing Houdini said could deter him. I have thought for a long time about the issue of trust and credibility. If I would believe someone if they told me that they just saw the bus go by, why don't I necessarily believe them if they tell me that they spoke to a spirit, or god, etc. As this book illustrates, these are issues which have historically involved some much delusion and deception that it is important to proceed with caution. (Of course, it would help if all prophets said the same thing.) I know that I will be thinking about it and quoting it to people for quite a while. Polidoro is clearly on the side of the skeptics, and makes his affiliations clear up front. He remains, however, sympathetic to Conan Doyle and clearly admires the latter's kindness, intelligence and generally amiable and honorable character. Although he sides intellectually with Houdini, he doesn't attempt to cover his arrogance and boasting. Recommended to everyone, except perhaps, convinced spiritualists, although even they might find it a useful cautionary tale, if not a convincing argument.

Polidoro has compiled an excellent and well-written history of the relationship between two extraordinary individuals. Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle both possessed keen intellects, but found themselves on opposite sides of the spiritualism debate. Relying extensively on the actual correspondence of the two men, Polidoro traces their history and interactions to the unhappy, but perhaps inevitable, conclusion. Although clearly (and appropriately) a skeptic, Polidoro resists the urge many authors cannot to make fun of individuals like Doyle. The sad moral of the story is that intelligence is not enough. A mind capable of creating characters and stories such as those that featured Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger could not see the simple ways in which he was being duped. The methods of the spiritualists are the methods of the magicians, and no training in physics or the other branches of natural science teaches you those tricks. If anything, such training may make you easier to fool, as experimental apparatus does not consciously lie and you are trained to trust what you see. Mercifully, Polidoro does not dwell on such topics as the fairy photographs that fooled Doyle, although they are mentioned.The book held the interest all the way through, and one emerges with a much deeper appreciation of Houdini in particular, who inevitably comes across as the champion of experimental control, and therefore as the subtle winner of the debate.

Polidoro gives an excellent account of the relationship between master stage magician Harry Houdini and the genius behind Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Brought together by their intense interest in Spiritualism, Houdini and Conan Doyle would come to stand at opposite sides of the issue. While Doyle embraced it as a new religion, Houdini undertook a crusade to expose fraudulent mediums by demonstrating their methods.While firmly in the Houdini camp of skepticism, Polidoro manages to treat Doyle with a great deal of deserved respect. The book gives many examples of how the two men tried to assist one another in psychic investigations (at least in the early years); and how Houdini's widow, Beatrice, maintained a relationship with the Doyles that was both touching and cordial. Interesting and educational, Polidoro's dual bio is recommended reading.

Two of the most famous personalities of early in the last century shared a strong interest in spiritualism, the belief that souls live on after death and can be contacted by the living. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the immortal Sherlock Holmes, was unassailably convinced that spiritualism not only worked, but that it was the religion that all of us soon would practice, once its truth were known. Harry Houdini, the brilliant showman and escapologist, was convinced of no such thing, but he was convinced that he never found a conductor of séances who used supernatural rather than fraudulent or erroneous means of getting results. These two domineering personalities became unlikely friends, for a five year period, sharing correspondence, dinners, and holidays. It isn't hard to believe that the friendship foundered over their differences on the keen shared interest, but it is surprising that the friendship ever existed. _Final Séance: The Strange Friendship between Houdini and Conan Doyle_ (Prometheus) by Massimo Polidoro is a good supplement to the current crop of biographies of both men. It gives capsule biographies of both, with an extensive and annotated account of the years when they were an item together, and thus provides an excellent picture of spiritualism, rationality, and the will to believe.In many of these pages, Doyle emerges as the more interesting figure because he was obviously a thoughtful and sometimes brilliant man, and it is a puzzle that he kept the belief in spirituality despite what seems to be overwhelming evidence (some presented by Houdini himself). He abandoned an insistence on proofs of religious ideas, probably in response to grief over the death of his son. He could not accept that mediums used trickery if he himself saw a demonstration he accepted as psychic. Houdini was interested in spiritualism probably because of a desire to contact his mother, but such contact never happened in a way that he thought was genuine. He repeatedly demonstrated evidence that mediums were just magicians to Doyle (who thought even that Houdini was using psychic means for some of his tricks). It would have easily have convinced Sherlock Holmes, but it never convinced his creator. When, after a séance with Lady Doyle who supposedly contacted his mother, Houdini maintained that he had never witnessed any sort of psychic phenomena, Doyle took this as a personal insult, and the friendship was over.Houdini went on to organize against mediums, including lobbying for ill-judged laws to ban spiritualism. He also offered large amounts of money to anyone who could demonstrate "psychic" powers that he could not explain or duplicate. As Polidoro shows in an intelligent critique, this was a flawed argument; Houdini's ability to duplicate an effect would not prove that the effect was not originally performed in a psychic way. However, the offer lead the way for the more comprehensive one by James Randi, who currently offers a mill

Original research based on original correspondence and photos makes for a unique coverage of a strange friendship between Houdini and Conan Doyle in this excellent biography. Polidoro reconstructs the dialogue between a believer and a skeptic, from their unlikely associations to the rift which ended their friendship. Final Seance is an unusual biographical account for fans of either man.