Ok, I've finally given the BIP a proper read now, and now here are my thoughts again.
IF the idea was something that could possibly replace the PD, then, yeah, this is a long way off, it's not the pd, which is fine, because I don't think it's meant to be the PD.
I feel the style of writing is very "Kick in the balls and feel the pain, do you understand enough now that you'll want to hit back?", if you get what I mean.
Anyway, to answer your second question, the things I found useful in PD.
I found that PD did not try to really explain, moreso point.
It did so in an absurd and at first glance, a "not to be taken seriously" way, which for alot of people, is where they'll conclude it is, not to be taken seriously.
I for one though, read the PD, had a laugh, put it down, forgot about it, pursude other theological interests (Born Catholic, messed around in "paranormal magick"(which at that point made me a major skeptic of all things "mystic"), buddhist, zen, Discordia, CoS, Hindu (Hare Krshna to be specific), Tao, Scientology... in about that sort of order, but I know it's probably chronologically out of whack because I sorta investigated each like "samplers" of religion, and went back and forth between a few, and by the end of it, I came back, picked up the PD, read it again, and like *bam* instantly everything no longer was absurd dada "hey lets make fun of religion by writing a book about a imaginary god" nonsense, I could read *between* the lines now, I could see the *truth* that through Nonsense, you can find your salvation, you can understand.
Then, as soon as I cast off my shackles of what I "believed" in... weird, weird shit has been happening to me. And I know it's because of the PD that allowed this to happen.
Basically, what I got from the PD in the end, was, life is fucking absurd, take a good look and laugh, don't get comfortable in what you think reality *is*, it's only "ideas about reality" that actually exist, that no matter what you do, there will be people that think you are an arsehole, and there will be people that want to eat gum off your shoe, and that the only thing you should worry about is keeping yourself amused untill it's time to go and join in another show.
Everything else that was explained in PD was filler, IMHO, but very good, true in its own way but meaningless in other ways.
I could probably go on for ages about what I think was great about PD, but really, now that I know what I know fro BIP, it's a good book, I'll say, but it's soo fucking serious, almost depressingly so, where as PD showed me that life isn't meant to be taken seriously.
In my mind, PD is yang, BIP is yin. Both good in some ways. Both bad in some ways. Both true. Both lies.
BIP is more direct, to the point, "If you don't get this now you never will" approach, PD waits for those who are ready to understand it.
Do you believe that?
