Rating: 
Summary: absolutely unforgetable one of the best ever
Review: i first read this in the 1960's when i was reading 4 to 5 books a week...mostly science fiction. Of all the books i've read this one stays in my mind the most. i agree with a previous reviewer...this would make an extraordinary film. let's hope it happens
Rating:
Summary: Like Nothing Else in Literature
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Mind-Stretch
Review: 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.
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Summary: Unique proto-sci-fi psychodrama; brilliant descriptive prose
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: It stays with you.
Review: I've not read this book in thirty years yet it's still fresh in my mind. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: This book is NOT a novel though even Lindsay might disagree.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: This book is NOT a novel though even Lindsay might disagree.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable story
Review: 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.
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Summary: Unforgettable dream that should filmed !
Review: Like a dream, this book will haunt you. As intoxicating a LSD (but much safer), you'll come back to it again and again. A brilliant idea for a film (Lucas meets David Lean, by way of David Lynch), I'd cast Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead, with Michelle Pfeifer as Oceaxe, riding a Ray Harryhausen designed dragon through the skies of Tormance to the music of Jerry Goldsmith. Bob Pepper's cover to the Ballantine paperback was superb, and I'd use those colors in the cinematography. It has been filmed, by students, but this story needs a $200 million budget to pull it off properly. The Titantic of 2010! Any investors?
Rating:
Summary: like a Joseph Campbell hallucination
Review: 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.
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