Looking for a book that I read that dealt with past lives and astral projection

techdog

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This is a book that I read in the 60s or early 70s. I checked it out of the local library. It was science fiction. It was fairly thick - 300 pages plus, as I remember. It had a dark cover. I don't remember the title or the author (I have some vague notion that the author was a woman, but I can't be sure).

The story was about a man who was a prisoner in a prison. I don't remember what he was locked up for. He was beaten regularly, though with no explicit descriptions of the beatings. He is told by another prisoner of a way to "escape" the prison by stopping his heart after being beaten (at least that's what I remember). This frees his mind from his body.

The man does so and in so doing re-lives past lives that he had. The other prisoner says that never happens to him, he just is able to escape the prison and project himself in the current time.

I don't remember if I finished it. I think I was 12 or 13 at the time, which would be about '69 or '70.

I would like to re-read it now. I think it might have been above me at the time.

Thank you for any help you can provide.
 
For some reason this makes me think of The Ka of Gifford Hilary by Dennis Wheatley. He was sent to prison for murder but I don't remember another prisoner telling him about astral projection. I also vaguely recall he used his talent to help with the war effort but I may be getting that mixed up with They Used Dark Forces.
 
Thanks for your suggestion.

I just skimmed through The Jacket (The Star Rover) and the story is similar to the one I am looking for but is not it. The writing style, what I can remember of it, is different than London's. And, the setting is different. There wasn't much dialogue between prisoners or between prisoners and jailkeepers. Most of the writings were the first-person musings by the prisoner.
 
I'm surprised. I was so certain.
It's been a long time since I read The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. Some elements seem to ring a bell.

Meanwhile, there will be many more answers forthcoming, by people who are better at this than I.

I can't wait to find out what it is. Sounds like a good read.
 
I downloaded the London book. Looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I also looked at the "The Ka of Gifford Hilary by Dennis Wheatley ". That was written in 2013. The book I am looking for was written in the 60s or 70s.
 
Didn't notice that. Thanks for the clarification. But, also, the story is very different than the one I described. The main character does not die, there is nothing but the prison for the main character.
 

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