A Voyage to Arcturus (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) Reviews

• Unique proto-sci-fi psychodrama; brilliant descriptive prose

  
  By A1N0RLVYMYBIZ6 on 1998-02-12
  I was handed this book years ago by a friend at school, who had in turn been given it by another. I read it, passed it on to a friend and later found out that it was then read by several others before being lost without trace. It is an unforgettable book, extraordinarily rich in imaginative and descriptive brilliance, about one man's journey through a far-away world which may in fact be the mirror of his own psyche. While the writing can be at times turgid, it is more often inspired; the author has a great gift for description, and the various tableaux he describes remind one of the best bits of Tolkien, although perhaps even more evocative. But this is no "Lord of the Rings". Rather than enacting a classic tale of epic heroism, Lindsay takes us on a gripping journey through a planet where good and evil are not only locked in struggle, but cloaked in impenetrable disguise. It is the hero Maskull's task to unmask the truth, and thereby attain his own redemption. The real genius of this book lies in its ability to defy prediction. At no stage does the reader have the slightest inkling of where the narrative might be heading, or how the threads might eventually tie up; but one is nevertheless compelled to read on. A definite must-read for all sci-fi and fantasy buffs; would also be enjoyed by visual artists, psychoanalysts, anyone interested in pagan religion, or just anyone who likes great descriptive writing.
  
  

• Worth Searching/Waiting For

  
  By A1IBC9XP2LICQL on 2001-01-08
  David Lindsay's "A Voyage to Arcturus" is difficult to categorize. The book has been labeled "Science Fiction/Fantasy," but it is much more. The novel's hero/Everyman Maskull starts out on a journey to the planet Tormance, but is quickly separated from his two traveling companions. Maskull's journey takes him on an unusual search for the discovery of the truths of the planet and of his own being. He meets several unusual but memorable characters who are so interesting they could each become the subjects of their own novels. The entire book deals with a search for the truth and the struggle between good and evil...and it's not always easy to distinguish which character is on which side.

  This is a vast over-simplification of the story. The novel is rich, bold, and imaginative. The reader has absolutely no idea what is about to happen next as the story moves. I found the unpredictability (especially in light of current novels) very refreshing. Several reviewers are hoping for a film version of the book. Some novels should never reach the screen and this is one of them. First, no studio could produce the special effects necessary to bring the novel to the screen without cheapening the story. Second, I don't want to see George Clooney running around attempting to contemplate the meaning of life while playing a caricature of Maskull. Don't wait for the movie...read the novel and enjoy.
  
  

• The world through sharpened sight

  
  By A2AUJU3XBPJZ6J on 2001-01-07
  David Lindsay is one of the twentieth century's greatest and least appreciated geniuses. This, his first book, is also his best known, although it's debatable whether the science-fiction/Tolkien-fantasy crowd, into whose hands it has generally fallen, quite have the measure of its overarching ambition and audacious vision. Tormance, a planet of the star Arcturus, is a young world where raw particles of life flow and are trapped in the creations of Crystalman, the god of the visible world. Maskull, a human being, comes to Tormance from Earth and embarks upon an epic journey towards Muspel, the source of all genuine life, which is in constant danger from Crystalman's vulgar machinations. Maskull meets a succession of characters whose various philosophies and points of view represent the stages of his own spiritual progress, until finally he sheds his "Maskull" (mask, shell) self and awakes to the truth which Crystalman's world keeps hidden. The fight goes on, a fight in which pain is an ally and "nothing will be done without the bloodiest blows." This summary cannot begin to convey the complexity of this work nor do justice to its vast scope or the astounding variety of its invention. As he travels through the book's epic landscapes Maskull constantly mutates, growing new eyes, new arms and new organs, seeing new colours and encountering a member of a third sex. Almost everyone he meets soon dies, killed either by Maskull himself or by their own inability to evolve as he does - bloodiest blows indeed. Lindsay's prose is pedestrian and often clumsy, but always clear and never verbose; the story moves quickly, its most complex ideas given concrete shape rather than conveyed through abstract discussion. A Voyage to Arcturus is neither science fiction nor fantasy, but a vision in words, as raw, bleak and powerful as a Scottish mountain. The problems it raises are deathly serious and forever immediate.
  
  

• Something infectious about it

  
  By AM4J20OT02THI on 2007-01-07
  There is something infectious about Voyage to Arcturus that kept me reading to the end, even though I did not always understand it 100% or like the writing that much. I think the quality that kept me interested lay in the powerful imagination and other-worldly beauty of its imagery.
  
  I should start by warning the potential reader that Voyage to Arcturus, although nominally grouped with science fiction, is not really a science fiction novel. It's more of a fantasy where the action is imagined to take place on another planet, as in the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels or Star Wars, for that matter. VtA is set on Tormance, a planet of the star Arcturus(archaic name for the North Star), which turns out to represent a binary star system.
  
  Also, the plot is not really akin to anything in the current scifi/fantasy pantheon--at least that I'm aware of. It's a complex, symbolic allegory, in the style of Pilgrim's Progress or the George Macdonald books. In particular, I think Lindsay was directly inspired by the Golden Key, which you should read only after finishing VtA, as I did, because it might actually weaken the experience. However, the allegory of VtA is not restricted to the Judeo-Christian world-view as in its predecessors, but appears to examine multiple world-views, religions, and life philosophies of human history, although not necessarily in the order of human history.
  
  The plot consists of what is actually a journey ON Arcturus, not TO Arcturus. The journey is taken by the central character Maskull, an earthling, who subsequently explores the geography on Tormance, meeting a series of the planet's inhabitants. On Tormance, Maskull finds that he is not restricted by abstract laws of humankind, nor even the physical realities of Earth, at times even sprouting new limbs and sense organs!
  
  As a second cautionary note, I fear the two drab introductory chapters about how Maskull came to Tormance may have lost the book a number of potential readers over the years, as they nearly lost me. The opening begins with a seance and seems to prepare the reader for some sort of ghost story, which greatly belies the flavor of the work. You should definitely at least skim to where Maskull begins his journey on Tormance in the red desert, as this represents the true starting point of the story.
  
  Again, I find that the main strength of VtA is in the fantastic vision and power of its better scenes. The other-worldly images are reminiscent of the great video games of the late 80s, such as Space Harrier, Rygar, and possibly the animation of Aeon Flux. The reader should alow himself to be pulled along through the book by the story and suprising imagery, rather than attempting to decode the allegory like solving a Rubik's Cube. As the powerful scenes and images replay themselves in your imagination, the sense of the work will begin to seep into your subconscious. (I think) Some of my favorite scenes/characters include Oceaxe, Matterplay, and the initial encounter with Sullenbode. But something different will take the fancy of each reader, I am sure.
  
  As a final note on the editions, you should seek out the Ballantine Adult Fantasy edition, for virtue of the superior cover art, which adds to the reading experience.
  
  
  

• Review of "A Voyage to Arcturus" by David Lindsay

  
  By on 1996-12-06
  "A Voyage to Arcturus" was David Lindsay's first and perhaps best novel ("The Haunted Woman" though more a novella than a novel is also very good). By the standards of science fiction "Arcturus" is extremely old. It was first published in the 1920s when Lindsay was late middle aged. Lindsay was a contemporary of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, yet he could write in a very modern (timeless) style. The novel's age makes proper appreciation somewhat problematic. The story starts out slow with the setting in a English gentleman's house with the characters attending a sceance. The wring style for this first part of the book is typical of turn-of-the-century novels and gives no hint of what the reader is about to experience. When the plot moves to Scotland and the characters prepare to leave Earth, the reader gets a hint that something magical is about to happen. However once the plot gets to the planet Tormance the story undergoes metamorphosis from dull shades of gray to brilliant colors. The reader immediately sees that Lindsay had a genius for writing speculative fiction. However this genius is difficult for a modern reader to fully appreciate because Lindsay had no real science ficition tradition to draw from (he was creating all of his SF concepts from scratch). Though the novel is entertaining to read as a simple adventure story, it has incredible depth. The planet Tormance is a world where God and Anti-God (like the Gnostic tradition) are competing for control of the planet. Both beings go by different names and are symbolized by different aspects of the planet. For example, Arcturus is portrayed as being a binary star with a large orange star symbolizing the god Shaping and smaller blue star symbolizing the god Surtur. Each star has three primary colors but share one color. The influence of the two gods is subtly color coded throughout the novel. The principle character is named Maskul (Man/Skull). He was approached by the character Krag at the English gentleman's sceance and given the opportunity to travel to Tormance with the understanding that he could never return to Earth. Krag's relationship between the different gods of Tormance becomes clear as the story progresses. After arriving on Tormance, Maskul begins a journey of discovery as he travels across the planet. The two gods try to influence Maskul through various means. Maskul's journey is not unlike a detective story. He is basicly trying to unravel to truth about Tormance. However this is no easy matter because one of the two gods (the anti-god) is evil incarnate. This god is so wicked that he has made virture appear to be evil, truth to be lies and himself seem the genuine god while the true god is a pretender. All of this is done in a story where almost every object has two or three different forms of symoblism (some true and some false). One can read "Arcturus" as a simple story but the story is so rich that it's better to keep notes because there is so much going on. "A Voyage to Arcturus" is a remarkable story: It's a novel that almost no one has read. However it is almost unique and anyone who does read it will be permanently affected by it. David Lindsay made almost no money on this novel. When first published, "Arcturus" was panned in book reviews and latter remaindered (people in the 1920s were not ready for it). However this book has never been out-of-print and will always have a loyal following. Gary A. Allen, Jr.
  
  
• Brilliant Theodicy
  By A2VB8IF3J2SYP4 on 2002-12-26
  My favorite myths are Midas, Prometheus, and Brave New World. I think Arcturus could enter this pantheon, particularly in our age, when we seem only to be able to think in terms of pastiches of myths. We get several different mythical ideas in the novel, and even at the end it's unclear whether a key epiphany is real or merely a "take" of someone overly influenced by Krag (just as, say, Joiwind's views are a "take" of someone overly influenced by Crystalman).

  The ideas of Crystalman and Krag guide the narrative journey. Although at first it's frustrating to get so many accounts of these "characters," these shifting accounts reflect how little we know of pleasure and pain, how many disparate experiences we group under these concepts. The Crystalman grin at death reminds me of those great Dickinson lines:

  The heart loves pleasure first
  And then release from pain
  And then a little anodyne
  To ease the suffering

  And then-if it should be
  The will of its inquisitor-
  The privilege-
  To die.

  Likewise, Krag/pain sets the whole narrative in motion, just as we would scarcely move on to higher achievements without pain of dissatisfaction at our present state.

  I love the idea of all friction, suffering, and pain being caused by the admixture of spirit and matter. The final triumph of materialism would indeed lead us to treat our bodies and moods entirely like machines and output readings; to manipulate each with any device or drug available (and thus to end the mixing of spirit and matter, and to banish all pain). The idea of the world of will created by partial absorption of spirit stream into Krystalman's matter recalls Virgil's account of metempsychosis in Hades in the sixth book of the Aeneid, where Anchises "explains the cosmos, death, and the afterlife. A divine spirit sustains the universe; mortal souls are its seeds imprisoned and contaminated by the mortal body:"

  Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains;
  But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains.
  The relics of inveterate vice they wear,
  And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear.
  For this are various penances enjoin'd;
  And some are hung to bleach upon the wind,
  Some plung'd in waters, others purg'd in fires,
  ...
  But, when a thousand rolling years are past,
  (So long their punishments and penance last,)
  Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god,
  Compell'd to drink the deep Lethaean flood,
  In large forgetful draughts to steep the cares
  Of their past labors, and their irksome years,
  That, unrememb'ring of its former pain,
  The soul may suffer mortal flesh again."
  VI. 735-751

  The Thomistic synthesis of Aristotelianism and Christianity tries to overcome this dualism....to endorse the mutual interdependence of souls and bodies. But of course, this kind of interdependence sometimes feels like imprisonment. (Our manner of) dancing can only exist in a world with gravity-but gravity must feel like a torment to the dancer. Similarly too death is a precondition for (our manner of) life.

  [I use "our manner" there very cautiously. The very comprehensibility of deathlessness renders relative our implicit assumption of death as a common fate. One of my favorite ideas in Arcturus is the dependence of our ideas and dispositions on our sense organs. Perhaps if we all had mind-reading "sorbs" like Joiwind, we'd be capable of achieving her level of empathy. Similarly, organs like those of Oceaxe's might speed us on our way to the brutality and egotism of Iffdawn.]

  But here's a paradox: what exactly is Krag's mission? Does he "pain" all beings in order to make them realize that they are-or harbor within them--something "higher" than material bodies, and the pleasures they enjoy? I think only a Buddhist or Hindu could wish to become one again with the Muspel stream-a nirvana-like state in which all sense of individual consciousness is lost and one merges with all existence. Christian and Muslim theology endorses an afterlife of embodied souls (but, of course, has not reconciled numerous paradoxes...as even Jesus recognized when asked about the place of second and third spouses in an afterlife that seemed to promise to restore not only individuals, but their happiest relations).

  There's one way in which this book is dated-the persistent identification of woman with matter, and man with spirit. Although the women in the book (Joiwind, Oceaxe, Tydomin, Sullenbode) are strong, they persistently "divert" the hero from his course (recalling Dido/Aeneas, Circe/Odysseus).
  
  

• Great book, terrible edition
  By A3553ZRY4FFN32 on 2002-06-09
  This is an excellent book, one I have read many times. Five stars for the story. Never have I read it in such a garbled edition, though. Zero stars to Bison Books. Chapter one (which was as far as I got) contained ten typos, some actually changing the meaning of what was going on ("turned and confronted the party" becomes "turned and _comforted_ the party".) If you haven't read Arcturus, you'll just be confused by textual errors in what is already a demanding book. Nice cover, though.
  
  
• Magical, mysterious fantasy
  By AUTBHG6070SL4 on 2008-02-07
  Maskull attends a seance. After the usual assurances of genuineness, a spirit does materialize - really. That turns out to be the least of the evening's bizarre events, in which Maskull becomes bound up with someone named Krag and another named Nightspore. Mechanism aside, these beings carry him, willing, to a planet that circles the star Arcturus. The place holds many mysteries, among them the immanence of the world's Creator and creative forces. And, in Manichaean balance, a destructive demiurge also inhabits and shapes this world.
  
  Using a familiar narrative tool, Lindsay marches Maskull through different zones of this world, each one under the influence of some different intangible. Maskull first lands in a region devoted to - love? generosity? Although the mood is clear in narration, I don't think I know any one English word that captures it. The next territory founds its thinking on self-centeredness. Not quite selfishness, a slightly different thing, but a numbness to the feelings of others offset by active awareness of one's own desires. Next comes a land of duty, though not as simple an urge as that word suggests, followed by others. Physical changes accompany Maskull's entry into each sphere of influence. In the loving place, Maskull sprouts organs that perceive the vital principle in living things. The self-centered place replaces those with a sensory organ that detects how important each thing is to Maskull, and so on through change after change.
  
  As he wanders, like Dante traversing the Inferno, Maskull acquires his guiding Beatrice. In fact, he acquires a new one at each border - they often die, often at his hands. But, somehow, his murderous nature in each region arises from the same vicious innocence that a snake displays in crushing a rat, or a cat in tormenting a broken bird.
  
  All this just describes the first half of the book, though. The story maintains its subtlety and casual violence of mood as it approaches the godhead. Although the physical descriptions remain concrete, the spiritual transformations become more conflicted and ethereal.
  
  The book's contradiction and ambiguity, the vagueness and vividness re-emerge in my own responses to the story. I'm not really sure what I feel about it, except that I feel it very strongly. Lindsay's words imprison sensations that I find familiar, even when I have no name for them, and present them for study. This remarkable story defies easy analysis or even analogy. At the same time, it invites enjoyment with tinges of wonder. Open yourself to it.
  
  -- wiredweird
  
  
• This book is NOT a novel though even Lindsay might disagree.
  By on 1996-12-17
  If you understand the one-line summary you've begun to appreciate what A Voyage to Arcturus is all about. It is most assuredly NOT a tale, a speculation, or a fantasy. It is not a product of the author's imagination and it is not an allegorical novel. Rather, it's a direct and clear illustration of the Bardos (cf. The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or better, The American Book of the Dead by E.J. Gold.) If you were able to absorb the contents of this book in a single moment, you would see clearly mapped before you the after-death and between-life stages of the human being. If you are open enough and can maintain your concentration while you read it, the book will take you through these various phases AS YOU ARE READING IT. It is a direct presentation from Higher Intelligence.
  
  
• Stranger and Stranger
  By A5FFOW4NMMDKV on 2006-04-26
  'A Voyage to Weirdness' is a more apt title for Lindsay's classic. There is a lot I didn't like about this book though the ending did redeem it somewhat. However, it took over 200-something pages to get there and I'm still not sure if it was worth my time.
  
  For one thing, it seemed as though Lindsay made his world as weird as possible, not for any special meaning, but simply for the sake of weirdness. That's fine in itself, but it worked to make everything pretty meaningless on the whole. Consequently, it was slow plodding along through paragraphs of description that seemed to go pretty much nowehere and have no relevance to the main story. Parts of the world sounded downright juvenile and made me wonder if I was reading a book adaptation of a sci-fi B-movie.
  
  Another problem I found was that, even though I can bring Lindsay's world to mind down to the minute details, I found myself cold towards the characters themselves. Maskull himself had no redeeming qualities to actually make me feel for his plight and by the end of the novel I found I had forgotten all about him. This may have been intended, but it the whole novel left no impact on me.
  
  Despite all this, however, the ending was unexpected and did make me slightly glad I read through it to the end. Lindsay's was clearly intending a message with this novel, but I don't believe he completely succeeded at it. When taking as a whole, this novel could have been exceptionally better and much more remarkable if Lindsay could have stuck more to the meaning of his story instead of bogging it down with endlessly weird descriptions that went absolutely nowhere.
  
  
• A Wonderful 20th Century Fable
  By A1C1HYVI5CI0Q1 on 2003-07-08
  The only reason that "A Voyage to Arcturus" is classified as a science fiction book is that it takes place on another planet that required a rocket ship for our hero to reach it.

  The fact is Tormance, the planet revolving around the binary star Arcturus, could have easily have been another "realm" or "dimension" that could have been accessed by a looking glass or a pair of ruby slippers.

  This story is basically a philosophical parable is which Lindsay's hero, Maskull, journeys through the world of Tormance in search of the truth. During his travels, he meets several interesting individuals, each of whom represent a different lesson. And as Maskull meets these people, he goes through a series of spiritual transformations that sometimes manifest themselves as physical changes to his body.

  Lindsay skillfully uses the philosophies of Calvinism, Shamanism and Buddhism (and probably some others, too) to set up some interesting questions. And like all good philosophers, he leaves it to us to determine our own answers.

  I found his ideas on gender relationships, truth, nature and good and evil to be very thought-provoking.

  I also had fun trying to read into some of the names he gave his people and places. For instance, a character whose core philosophy is based on self-loathing is called "Hator" ("hater"?). Could "Tormance" refer to a series of "torments" that one must go through to find the truth? Only the author, who passed away many years ago, knows for sure.

  Word of warning: I have to agree with the reviewer who complained about this particular edition's proof-reading. There was at least one typo on every other page. Most of them are easy to spot..."me" is typed as "mc"..."far" comes out as "fat"...etc. But it does make me wonder if any of the errors were subtle enough to change the meaning of the story.

  This is an enjoyable book that tells an imaginative story and encourages you to think. and I highly recommend it...if you like that sort of thing.
  
  

• a sacred text from the 20th century
  By A1FE075JRK5EP2 on 2004-09-14
  A Voyage to Arcturus is science fiction in the same sense that the Bhagavad-gita is a war story. .... Hmmmm, well,... you guys have read the Bhagavad-gita, right? The main character is preparing for war, but ends up being enlightened.... perhaps a bad analogy on my part.
  
  If you buy Voyage to Arcturus, don't pay $50-60 for a paperback. Get the Savoy hard bound edition at $75??, (something like that) its a wonderful ed. with some nice essays, but there are a few typos (can't anyone put out a book without typos??).
  you'll need to go to amazon UK to order it.
  
  
• The Ultimate Mind-Stretch
  By on 1999-10-09
  I found this book in my high school library when I was seventeen, and I read it about every two years to keep the images fresh in my mind. Aside from being one of the greatest SciFi novels ever written, it's also a powerful philosophical work, with a painful objectivity that religious scriptures lack. 'Arcturus takes the age-old dualistic conflict theme of the typical religious epic and turns it on it's side, making the main character the focus of a struggle between not one but two selfish, malevolent and powerful beings. Both "gods" claim to have humanity's best interests at heart, the one brutal and cruel, the other deceptive and devious. The reader is always left wondering whether people would be better-off with no saviors.
  
  
• Very, very special
  By on 2001-05-23
  This book is often classified as science fiction. While this is perhaps appropriate given the fantastical nature of the story, such a categorization is hardly all-encompassing. I have never cared for science fiction at all and this is my all-time favorite book.

  Others have detailed the plot as well as possible so I will not get into that. I only wish to say that the images from this book are very far-reaching and the messages are virtually innumerable. But the thing that is so marvelous about the way it is put together is that these lessons are not put forth in any kind of straightforward or didactic manner. They are given to the reader however he chooses to take them (well, with just a bit of help from the author). It is definitely one of the least manipulative books I have ever read, and it assumes great intelligence of its reader. This is very refreshing and fairly rare, in my opinion.

  Some would say this book is not for everyone. I disagree. I think it is for anyone, provided that the reader just puts in a bit of concentration and a whole lot of imagination. It is not a book that can be read in an evening or digested in a week. It can even be slow going at times, given the reader's mood, and it's true that David Lindsay's writing is far from flawless. Yet even with these faults, there is no question in my mind that it is a five-star book. It is the only book to which I come back year after year, just to keep certain parts of my brain open. David Lindsay was a unique and fearless writer and there is no other book quite like this one. (Good luck finding it, I don't even have my own copy, I just borrow the same sad dog-eared copy from the library every year.)
  
  

• Like Nothing Else in Literature
  By A2G15VWSA8UYZR on 2003-06-18
  I first read VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS at the age of 18, having just been thrust out of my parents' house and without any definite prospects for where or how I was going to live. VOYAGE paralleled on a vastly symbolic, transcendental plane, my personal schism between familiar reality and the complete unknown.

  It took me many years and several readings to partially categorize this tale-- which I now consider an Allegory as allegory is really meant to be, alive on multiple levels of inquiry, and primarily a "Gnostic" variety of story-- like THE MATRIX, THE TRUMAN SHOW, or EXISTENZ-- with the notion that the reality we know is false and that we must escape to our true supernal or authentic nature, which is being held prisoner by a manipulating or evil intelligence for its own ends.

  Lindsay was a man driven almost mute by the force of his vision-- his novels are difficult to read because in addition to having little talent as a novelist, he was attempting to render in words what can barely be grasped, let alone described-- what early ages would call "the Greater Mysteries". VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS succeeds best of them all, probably because only its incredible range of allegorical transformations and completely unearthly settings can begin to encompass such concepts in tangible form. This is the challenge of visionary art or poetry as well.

  Lindsay threw together words and concepts together to create startling impressions and clumsy though many are, they are not as easy to create as they look. Consider also the apparent roots-- the parts that form each word or name are like signals pointing to essential aspects of the allegorical character,often beyond what is actually happening at the time. "Tormance", the planet orbiting Arcturus that the action occurs on: "torture" or "torment" and "romance". " "Gleameil"-- "gleam" and "veil"... "Sullenbode"..."Wombflash Forest".. "Faceny"-- "facet", "fascinate"... "Oceaxe"-- "ocean" and "axe"... "Dreamsinter"-- "dreams" and "inter", with the hint of the macabre appearing, as so frequently, with the juxtaposition. Try also to sound them out-- these names and words have a peculiar music that is wholly unique and is part of the overall weird enchantment of the tale.

  As a visionary artist myself I have long appreciated the special challenge this novel has given me to visualize a metaphorical reality, a meaningful ecosystem of allegories that express both spiritual ideas and driving emotions in such beguiling unfamiliar and vivid shapes. I believe that VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS would indeed make a fine movie-- an ANIMATED one. But it would have to be done at a level of technique that the industry is only starting to develop for such purposes. No live-action movie, even with CGI help, could capture its essence appropriately.

  On the other hand, experimental techniques pushed to the limit, plus a consistent level of artistic intention-- and a complete divorcement from Hollywood could make it happen. Where the backing would come from, who knows? But if done right, this would make a film that would not only become a cult classic for SF and campuses but could perhaps change in some way, filmmaking as we approach it today.
  
  

• Journey to the Center of the Mind
  By A32EN0PCNKOUB on 2004-05-19
  This is among the most amazing books I have ever read. Some professional reviewers have complained about Lindsay's writing style as being too rough. That is like complaining that Michaelangelo did not smooth the rough edges off his sculpture "Men Tearing Themselves Out of Stone". Lindsay's vision is far more important than his style, but I think his style heightens the effect. As one reads the book it becomes apparent that all of this is "going on in his head", and that is the significance of the name Maskull; but is there really anything in a skull. It might as well be said that only what happens is real, and the thoughts of the hero are merely reflections of reality.

  This book is very complex. Many different levels or layers of meaning. Lindsay was indeed a genius of a high order. I have read others of his books, which have been unfavourably compared with this one. They do not quite approach this one, but all of them I have read are good.
  
  

• A Mind Probe Into Un-Reality
  By A3HOLP4VKCV38Q on 2006-03-21
  There are several excellent reviews already on this page, and I can't out-do these excellent reviewers. However, I certainly can say that I concurr and recommend highly that everyone read this book. The author is a kind of alchemist, weaving a tale that is compelling, hypnotic, perplexing and enchanting at the same time. I have come to believe that this story is an allegory - of the soul's innate craving for the pure, untainted vision of truth and reality that seems to forever elude it, while the wrapping of the mind and its manifold deceitful mechanisms lead him on to ever-changing phenomena and illusion. You will not remain untouched by this book, if you read it, as one reviewer has aptly stated. A very sad footnote is that author David Lindsay commited suicide at an early age, and thus the world was robbed of a brilliant writer who could cast a spell over his readers and make one truly consider the very nature of what we call "reality". Don't miss this one!
  
  
• You may not think this is important but
  By A3DJEFM09MOLO0 on 2006-04-14
  ... Contary to what another reviewer says below, Lindsay didn't die young and I'm pretty sure sure he didn't commit suicide (It's many years since I read a very interesting biography, but I think he died from something like a tooth infection that he didn't get seen to properly. I think he was about 69 when he died).
  Anyway, a *****************ing great book. Precursor and big influence to a lot. And certainly not as 'recognised' as it should be....
  
  
• A remarkable story
  By on 1997-04-05
  It is a funny thing about this book. I read it at least 20 years ago and have not thought of it since. In spite of reading voraciously since then, all types of books, when I chanced on this website and started to browse, this was one of the first books I looked up. It is certainly memorable. It has a quality about it that separates it completely from not only any science fiction I've read, but also from other literature. It is a dreamlike quality that makes the story seem very real but just a little "off" our normal consciousness. Even the names are evocative but of what? The other reviewers capture this flavor quite well. This is a definite recommendation.
  
  
• I knew right away I'd gotten my hands on something good, too
  By ARRXTM3HVF8OL on 2001-09-11
  Too good for a youngster likely and a teacher might take it away. Not that it was sexy, or subversive, or addictive or anti anything. But I knew it was seductive, it was taking me someplace forbidden by the status quo had they known. This book chose its readers and not everyone would see the veil let alone walk beyond it. I was excited, flattered, scared but I was going to go no matter how far, the more alien the more it felt like going home. It was sweet like fairy food and with the same effect but that was just fine. It had changed me already and I could never really go back. Well the me that came back was not the sane kid everbody thought they knew. I wanted more. I'd find it and if you were the kind I'd show you the book and say' \, "you want to read this, its really special" And I had given you something and waited to see if you were special too. So all I'll say is You do want to read this.
  
  
• like a Joseph Campbell hallucination
  By A1DMOOFE9R8N5U on 2003-02-21
  Most books are read for instruction or entertainment. Many challenge the wits or beliefs. Few question our very grasp on reality, or confront us with spiritual dilemma. The fact that the author ended his life prior to publication might place him in the rare club of suicidal artists (John Toole, Ian Curtis, Nick Drake) credited as having revealed a tortured emotion too beautiful to bear.
  Like Hesse's Steppenwolf, Lindsay manages to draw out manageable manifestations of Jungian archtypes, but his imagery is far more expressive, discarding rather than merely augmenting day to day experience. His prose is not elegant, his sudden story changes are disorienting, and you finally leave the book with the feeling that, perhaps, the author has revealed great truths just beyond grasp.
  A very fascinating exercise. Very cult worthy.
  
  
• The flag of truth
  By AC7MP9R2FKEAI on 2004-08-18
  A waiter bringing food might say be careful this plate is hot, a reviewer of this book might warn be careful this book may burn you. Unlike most books "A Voyage to Arcturus" defies genre. It reminds of Buddhist and Gnostic themes yet pushes beyond either in this original novel.
  Illusion and reality, pleasure and pain are the main combatants here with pain as a kind of beacon from another world. Alan Moore writes in his introduction to the excellent Savoy edition, " Naturally, the sensate creatures trapped in Crystalman's endlessly multiplying world of shape and dazzle are conditioned by their habitat, their solar system a gigantic Skinner box, its population become thrill addicted rodents, nuzzling repeatedly against the pleasure levers, seeking their reward."
  I think reading this book every now and then acts as a kind of purgative to the reader living in our modern pleasure seeking world.
  A reader of "A Voyage to Arcturus" who was impressed and influenced by Lindsay's masterpiece was C. S. Lewis who later wrote: "Pain plants the flag of truth in the fortress of the rebel heart."
  
  
• Mind Expanding
  By AUTBHVH96NDW8 on 2007-05-27
  This book is categorized as Scifi/Fantasy but it is much more than that. You can argue that this book can be called religious philosophy. It is one of those books that you will never forget and it will have an impact on your life. It truly will expand your thinking and I believe help you grow spiritually. Once you travel with Maskull to Arcturus, when you return you will have a different perspective. I highly recommend this book.
  
  
• Non-intellectual book review
  By on 2001-03-06
  Reading 'scholarly' book reviews is a lot like swallowing razor blades- it's always painful and you really don't learn much from it, except not to make that mistake again. I will try to avoid using words like 'evocative' (ouch), or 'dualism' (double ouch). I read this book several times in my 20's and was struck (not literally) by the intensity of the experience of being drawn in to such an imaginative and desperate journey which to me implied that the author was as lost as I, but was

  much better at expressing his condition (couched {groan} as a novel) than most people could ever hope to. The fact that he later committed suicide means that his desperation finally overcame him. Just be glad we didn't see a series of hackneyed 'knock-offs' of these characters the way we did with our other favorite manic-depressive, Robert E. Howard, after his death.
  
  

• A Visionary Masterpiece
  By A3T46X7M3AUDAB on 2003-09-09
  I first read this astonishing & overwhelming story as a teenager. Of course I was too young, too naive, too undeveloped to understand what it was all about back then ... but the vivid images & the urgency of the storytelling struck me even then. Now, some 30+ years & at least two dozen re-readings later, I can at last begin to fully appreciate the depth & immense power of Lindsay's work.
  
  "Allegory" to be sure, although that word hardly does the work justice, with its intimations of fustiness & neat symbols all in a row. Better to call it "Vision," revealed in an awful & irresistable blaze that burns away the preconceptions & illusions of the Everyday. Maskull's journey is one that few are willing to undertake: the stakes are high & failure is the sugar-coated damnation of living in the world around us.
  
  Previous reviews have already provided enough story details & deserved praise for this important work. Let me just add my own highest recommendation to theirs: read these visionary pages & be changed forever. Most highly recommended!
  
  Devotees of this book might also want to hear Ron Thomas' fine CD "Scenes From A Voyage To Arcturus," available here at Amazon.com, as well as searching out the rare DVD of a student film of the same book from 1970.
  
  
• Remembered, Not Understood
  By A30B8DOR8U4LH on 1999-12-08
  When I read this book I was only 14-15 years old. Although I did not understand this book compeltely I did realize that there was something magical about it, that he was telling some sort of truth in his work. I've read all these reviews on this page and have decided to read it again. Now that I am 21 perhaps I am ready for everything that this book has to offer. So, for any of you who read this book: make sure to read it again as once will definetely not be enough to get its complete essence. For those of you who haven't read the book: Good luck finding it. If you find somewhere to buy it e-mail me. I'd love a copy of my own.
  
  
• Classic of the Fantastic
  By A38XVOBPSW1UJJ on 2004-05-09
  The book is a classic of fantastic literature. In Blakean tradition, with A Voyage to Arcturus, Lindsay has invented his own mythology to express his ideas, revealing a powerful artistic imagination. The story follows Maskull's journey through an alien landscape that reflects the tension between Apollonian and Dionysian forces within humanity. Lindsay's work is a true original. By integrating his own philosophical ideas with those of Nietzsche and Blake, in A Voyage to Arcturus, Lindsay provides a meditation on what he considers the driving forces of the human condition -- pleasure and pain.
  
  
• A Psychedelic Masterpiece
  By A22FQE724KT840 on 2004-10-16
  David Lindsays book is more visionary than science fiction. The book reads like the description of a very powerful acid trip. Lindsays writing style leaves strong impressions of the landscapes he describes.
  
  
• Classic Fantasy Masterpiece
  By AYTWULLX3DPSJ on 2005-08-26
  One of the most original works in all of literature. Ranks with Austin Tappin Wrights "Islandia", W.H. Hodgson's "The Nightland", Lovecraft's "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath". E.R. Eddison's "The Worm Ouronoros, and Peake's "Titus Groan", among the greatest fantasy novels ever written. Read it! But be prepared for the utterly weird.
  
  
• An Abominable Edition of an Intellectual Masterpiece
  By A133KO1QUHLDIH on 2008-02-24
  I own a tattered and yellowing copy of David Lindsay's "Voyage to Arcturus" issued by Ballantine Books in 1963 for 95 cents, and became increasingly distressed at its fragility, especially the wear to the amazing cover by an unattributed talent I imagined was laboring away by dim light in the basement of a publishing house. When I saw a re-issuance I eagerly ordered it.
  
  The 2007 Wilder Publications issue is a travesty.
  
  1. The Cover is irrelevant and has no correspondence to Lindsay's text.
  2. The incredible number of typos and misprintings is disturbing, disruptive and misleading.
  3. The typeface is a catastrophe, with nearly-identical letter and word spacings.
  4. The book begins with an irrelevant publisher's admonition that has no correspondence to Lindsay's text.
  5. The author is named on every facing page as Frank R. Stockton: the Methodist minister who crafted "The Lady and the Tiger" short story. Did Wilder Press publish that too? Is David Lindsay's name on another book?
  
  and more ...
  
  I also bought the DVD to my great disappointment. The 1973 production featured an appallingly bad screenplay (converted to a Haight-Ashbury style), pre-school Claymation-like creatures, infantile lenswork, and crassly misinterpreted over-the-top direction. 1973 was the year that brought us Francois Truffaut's "Day for Night", if you need a reference to the era's film sensibilities and standards. I am fascinated by Lindsay's book, but this odius film will kill any delight you might cherish.
  
  

• The Worm Ouroboros
• The Haunted Woman
• Star Maker
• The King of Elfland's Daughter (Del Rey Impact)
• The Well at the World's End: Volume I (Well at the World's End)