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Summary: It's a book!
Review: I read about 100 pages worth of book(s) a day, and I consider myself jaded to literature. This book, however, broke through my assumptions of what literature could be. With every fiber of my being, I consider it one of the chronicles of human achievement. Without this book, the world would be a more difficult place in which to live. I don't suggest everyone read it, but if you do, try to throw everything you know about everything away while reading. Relearn how to read.
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Summary: The "Ed Wood" of esoteric literature?
Review: If Gurdjieff's intention was to create the most abysmal and shockingly bad book in the history of writing, he succeeded on a scale that can only be described as gargantuan. The painful sounds that emanate from his ham-fisted attempts could only be endured by those with an absolutely tin ear for language, or those possessing the glazed, all-forgiving brain of the hypnotized zealot. There's a reason for Gurdjieff's endlessly convoluted style -- if he presented the useful information in a concise and lucid form, this massive tome would be a mere pamphlet -- one that could not yield the "fleecing" he required to maintain his lifestyle. If you have had the misfortune of reading this entire book, you shouldn't feel bad about the money you won't get back. However, you should be outraged at the time of which you've been robbed.
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Summary: A book that change many people lifes !
Review: If you are a seeker for truth who has realized that many people leave in a world of imagination, then you have find the right book. This book was the one that started many changes in the spiritual world. Many esoteric groups have received the influence of Gurdjieff's work. Don't pay attention to the reviews that say that the book is nonsense because those are the people that like to continue leaving in a world of imagination like robots, the same way in the movie "The Matrix" the mayority of the world was presented, people that were "sleeping" and others that prefered the ignorance. Gurdjieff considered by many as a Master is once again between us.
Read the book and you will see what we are talking about.
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Summary: Devastating Trash Except...
Review: Maybe the joke is intentional. The anecdotes in the introduction, of the Trans-Caucasian Kurd and his Peppers, and of the Stray Dog Refinery, are wisdom well worth buying a book for, and we should wish everyone now and in the future to read them. The rest of the book is worthless glop. Basically, Gurdjief wanted to write a book and be a cult leader, for kicks. He wasn't too awfully concerned about any kind of intellectual legitimacy.
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Summary: A solar tune of years tuneup
Review: Not for everyone, not a comfortable read, almost an impossible read, yet it can alter your consciousness if you stick with it. Many mechanisms are employed by Gurdjieff to jolt your thinking, and perhaps change it for the better. Good for the inner growth of the spiritual seeker. Vast in scope, unfathomable, irritating, plenty of specialized vocabulary, inconsistent and unclear descriptions. Heptaparaparsimony, gesundheit!! I venture to guess that no one ever has ever read it straight through without long breaks. Its a non bon-ton gem, something to always have around like Finnegans Wake. What kind of a wake do you leave anyway when you walk by? Are you awake? What makes music musical, Rodgers and Hammersteinway?
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Summary: The Magnum Opus
Review: Not for the intellectually lazy. As P.L. Traver's the author of the Mary Poppin's books and a student of Mr. Gurdjieff's teachings described Beelzebub's Tales...as a "flying cathedral." It is a tour-de-force work of objective art. I will give you a hint- approach it when you're ready as a fairy/folk/science fiction tale of the likes of 1,001 Arabian Nights meets Isaac Asimov. The rewards will equal the efforts put into a study of this book.
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Summary: what was he trying to do?
Review: On the one hand, BT is very original for its time, often hilarious and chock full of the insights only Gurdjieff could provide. On the other hand, it is abominably written by a man who, despite his many other talents, was an incoherent thinker. His attempts at metaphor are either crude or exclusive to those who already know his system, his command of language would be atrocious in any language, and the self-absorption he displays over the inflated importance he gave this book is pitiful. If this is the bible of the Gurdjieff cult, it is high time they learned some blasphemy.
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Summary: It is what you put into it
Review: People have mentioned that this is a humorous book - it is not...at least not in the way you would think. It is, perhaps, one of the most serious books ever written, with the humorous happenings put in as a disctraction. What IS humorous is the reviews of those who did not like this book. Gurdjieff (G) would probably chastise me for warning you, but this book was intended to scare off most readers. Similar to the warnings and gliphs carved into ancient tombs and pyramids to ward off potential thieves, G covers his message within a layer of "confusing" and "disjointed" stories. This is due to the old adage - NOTHING WORTH ANYTHING IS EVER EASY.However, for those willing to put in the time and effort (which is usually measured in years, not months or weeks), this book holds some of the gems of our universe. But if you are unwilling to expend the effort, it is probably not worth it. Better to read Uspenski's "Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution" which is straight forward and naked. In either case, remeber: Believe nothing - verify everthing.
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Summary: Even A Blind Pig Sometimes Finds An Acorn
Review: The author of Beelzebub's Tales, George Gurdjuieff, was known for, among other things, his cynical view of human nature, and his continual lampooning of humanity's self-delusion. Ironically, the adulation with which some regard this book is as good an illustration as any of Gurdjieff's view that people -- particularly "seekers" -- are extremely gullible, and also that they will try to console themselves for having made a mistake by convincing others to make the same mistake. Beelzebub's Tales is very poorly written by someone who was doubtless a great teacher, but had little talent for writing. Any practical wisdom it presents is buried in hundreds of pages of tedious verbiage. More important, there is nothing in the book that is worth the tremendous effort of unearthing it. Like the Third Series, which, before it was widely available, was naively assumed to contain The Answer, Beelzebub's Tales discloses nothing that cannot be found more clearly articulated in many other more recent expositions of various spiritual traditions. It is the very inaccessibility of anything of value that seems to cause some to continue to applaud the book and others to plunge into it zealously, assuming that the more apparently worthless it is, the more worthwhile it must be. It's the Emperor's New Clothes. After you read Beelzebub's Tales, you may parade around (if only in your own mind) that you have read one of the great "esoteric" classics, from which you have gleaned some very profound knowledge. If you glean the realization that your time may be much better spent than plowing through fat, badly-written books looking for encoded knowledge, perhaps the time will have been well spent.
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Summary: This book helps establish the momentum for a life change.
Review: The first page of the first chapter is enough to chase off the faint-minded; the series of dependent clauses alone could serve to tutor government and insurance attorneys on the use of detailed language. For those who are willing to take the Friendly Advice which appears a few pages prior, however, and persist, this "weighty tome" will reward them richly. No simple review can cover this work. It has stayed with me for 23 years with no diminution in its power to inspire hope, and cut -mercilessly- through cherished nonsense. When one considers that it is a tale of Universal and Terrestrial events told by a Significant Participant, it becomes easier to understand the long-time hold this book can have on even the widely-read. This book takes up a lot of space. What you take away from working your way through this masterpiece naturally depends on your experience and your ability to let it speak in the author's language. It's difficulty is more like that of listening to someone with a heavy accent; eventually, you can get used to it. You can laugh out loud, and you can gain insights, and you can come away with a certain humility. Some may feel as if they acquired a new friend; others may end up looking like a hunted man. Maybe it depends on how well one remembers. I've been through it twice. So far, Life has not invalidated it. I've never once seen it for sale as a used book.
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