A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay (the false prince series .TXT) ๐
Description
On hearing the title A Voyage to Arcturus, one might picture an astronaut strapping themselves into a rocket and flying into space for a swashbuckling adventure. Nothing could be further from what this book actually is.
Voyage is in fact a fascinating, bizarre, bewildering, and thought-provoking sort of acid-fueled Pilgrimโs Progress: a philosophical allegory told through the frame of a psychedelic gender-bending journey to an alien planet.
After a terrifying sรฉance, the protagonist, Maskull, is offered the chance of an adventure on a different world. He agrees, and the reader follows him on his blood-soaked path through lands representing different philosophies and ways of life as he searches for the worldโs godhead, Surtur. Or is it Crystalman?
Voyage features fiction wildly ahead of its time, and is hardly classifiable as either science fiction or fantasy; one might even say that the book is better approached as a philosophical work than a straightforward narrative. Itโs not a book for a reader seeking simple fiction, but rather for a reader seeking a thoughtful, imaginative, and totally unexpected exploration of philosophy and of life.
Decades ahead of its time, Voyage was praised by contemporaries like C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and by modern authors like Clive Barker and Alan Moore. Many modern reviewers consider it a masterpiece of 20th century fiction and the work of an underappreciated genius. A century later it boasts a significant cult following, having inspired movies, plays, albums, and even operas, as well as a modern sequel by famous literary critic Harold Bloomโthe only work of fiction he ever wrote.
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- Author: David Lindsay
Read book online ยซA Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay (the false prince series .TXT) ๐ยป. Author - David Lindsay
โAs we canโt get any further,โ said Maskull, โI presume this is your Gap of Sorgie?โ
โYes,โ answered his friend, first dropping on his knees and then lying at full length, face downward. He drew his head and shoulders over the edge and began to stare straight down at the water.
โWhat is there interesting down there, Nightspore?โ
Receiving no reply, however, he followed his friendโs example, and the next minute was looking for himself. Nothing was to be seen; the gloom had deepened, and the sea was nearly invisible. But, while he was ineffectually gazing, he heard what sounded like the beating of a drum on the narrow strip of shore below. It was very faint, but quite distinct. The beats were in four-four time, with the third beat slightly accented. He now continued to hear the noise all the time he was lying there. The beats were in no way drowned by the far louder sound of the surf, but seemed somehow to belong to a different world.โ โโ โฆ
When they were on their feet again, he questioned Nightspore. โWe came here solely to hear that?โ
Nightspore cast one of his odd looks at him. โItโs called locally โThe Drum Taps of Sorgie.โ You will not hear that name again, but perhaps you will hear the sound again.โ
โAnd if I do, what will it imply?โ demanded Maskull in amazement.
โIt bears its own message. Only try always to hear it more and more distinctly.โ โโ โฆ Now itโs growing dark, and we must get back.โ
Maskull pulled out his watch automatically, and looked at the time. It was past six.โ โโ โฆ But he was thinking of Nightsporeโs words, and not of the time.
Night had already fallen by the time they regained the tower. The black sky was glorious with liquid stars. Arcturus was a little way above the sea, directly opposite them, in the east. As they were passing the base of the tower, Maskull observed with a sudden shock that the gate was open. He caught hold of Nightsporeโs arm violently. โLook! Krag is back.โ
โYes, we must make haste to the house.โ
โAnd why not the tower? Heโs probably in there, since the gate is open. Iโm going up to look.โ
Nightspore grunted, but made no opposition.
All was pitch-black inside the gate. Maskull struck a match, and the flickering light disclosed the lower end of a circular flight of stone steps. โAre you coming up?โ he asked.
โNo, Iโll wait here.โ
Maskull immediately began the ascent. Hardly had he mounted half a dozen steps, however, before he was compelled to pause, to gain breath. He seemed to be carrying upstairs not one Maskull, but three. As he proceeded, the sensation of crushing weight, so far from diminishing, grew worse and worse. It was nearly physically impossible to go on; his lungs could not take in enough oxygen, while his heart thumped like a shipโs engine. Sweat coursed down his face. At the twentieth step he completed the first revolution of the tower and came face to face with the first window, which was set in a high embrasure.
Realising that he could go no higher, he struck another match, and climbed into the embrasure, in order that he might at all events see something from the tower. The flame died, and he stared through the window at the stars. Then, to his astonishment, he discovered that it was not a window at all but a lens.โ โโ โฆ The sky was not a wide expanse of space containing a multitude of stars, but a blurred darkness, focused only in one part, where two very bright stars, like small moons in size, appeared in close conjunction; and near them a more minute planetary object, as brilliant as Venus and with an observable disk. One of the suns shone with a glaring white light; the other was a weird and awful blue. Their light, though almost solar in intensity, did not illuminate the interior of the tower.
Maskull knew at once that the system of spheres at which he was gazing was what is known to astronomy as the star Arcturus.โ โโ โฆ He had seen the sight before, through Kragโs glass, but then the scale had been smaller, the colours of the twin suns had not appeared in their naked reality.โ โโ โฆ These colours seemed to him most marvellous, as if, in seeing them through Earth eyes, he was not seeing them correctly.โ โโ โฆ But it was at Tormance that he stared the longest and the most earnestly. On that mysterious and terrible Earth, countless millions of miles distant, it had been promised him that he would set foot, even though he might leave his bones there. The strange creatures that he was to behold and touch were already living, at this very moment.
A low, sighing whisper sounded in his ear, from not more than a yard away. โDonโt you understand, Maskull, that you are only an instrument, to be used and then broken? Nightspore is asleep now, but when he wakes you must die. You will go, but he will return.โ
Maskull hastily struck another match, with trembling fingers. No one was in sight, and all was quiet as the tomb.
The voice did not sound again. After waiting a few minutes, he redescended to the foot of the tower. On gaining the open air, his sensation of weight was instantly removed, but he continued panting and palpitating, like a man who has lifted a far too heavy load.
Nightsporeโs dark form came forward. โWas Krag there?โ
โIf he was. I didnโt see him. But I heard someone speak.โ
โWas it Krag?โ
โIt was not Kragโ โbut a voice warned me against you.โ
โYes, you will hear these voices too,โ said Nightspore enigmatically.
V The Night of DepartureWhen they returned to the house, the windows were all in darkness and the door was ajar, just as they had left it; Krag presumably was not there. Maskull went
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