LiveJournal 2002-04-03a

2002-04-03 22:41:00 ET 2002-04-03 19:45:47 PT

Pope Joshua Slone Dip Dop Duppy XIV of the Western Panhead Cabal

There has been a bit of inquiry about The Illuminatus! Trilogy. So I say a few things about it. But why not let the Roberts speak for themselves first. A couple times thus far a character has talked about the review he's writing, which is obviously self-referential. I'll transcribe the more recent: "I really tear these two smart-asses apart." Wildeblood was enthusiastic. "Listen to this: 'a pair of nursery Nietzsches dreaming of a psychedelic Superman.' And this: 'a plot that is only a put-on, characters who are cardboard, and a pretense of scholarship that amounts to sheer bluff.' But this is the crusher; listen: 'a constant use of obscene language for shock effect until the reader begins to feel as depressed as an unwilling spectator at a quarrel between a fishwife and a lobster-pot pirate.' Don't you think that will get quoted at all the best cocktail parties this season?" "I suppose so. The book's a real stinker, eh?" "Heavens, I wouldn't know for sure. I told you yesterday, it's absurdly long. Three volumes, in fact. Boring as hell. I only had time to skim it. But listen to this, dear boy: 'If The Lord of the Rings is a fairy tale for adults, sophisticated readers will quickly recognize this monumental miscarriage as a fairy tale for paranoids.' That refers to the ridiculous conspiracy theory that the plot, if there is one, seems to revolve around. Nicely worded, wouldn't you say?" I'd include the earlier one as well, but skimming ~400 pages for a paragraph I have deemed too much of a time-spender for such an operation. The book is put together like nothing I've read before. Catch-22's abrupt time frame switches are barely training wheels for keeping up with this book, going from person to person and year to year even mid-paragraph. I do indeed get many things mixed up; but hey. I find my exploding brain a positive. Several years ago I read the follow-up trilogy by one of the Roberts (Anton Wilson), Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy. I read some other Wilson stuff, too, like Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 and parts of Coincidance. Readings that truly make you think bizarre things. I credit these readings and PaRappa the Rapper with changing my worldview, no gag; from these things my mellow, "Why not?", and all-doubting bars went to 11. It also got me interested in a religion of sorts, Discordianism, complete with its own holy book, <a>The Principia Discordia: Or, How I Found the Goddess, and What I Did To Her When I Found Her</a>. Discordianism has been described as a religion disguised as a joke disguised as a religion. It makes my brain explode. <nowiki><pre>''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''_</pre></nowiki> Current Mood: Exploding Brains Current Music: Brains Exploding - The Musical <a>Original</a>