A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, along with Herland – my note on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/herland-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman.html within the following lines, there will be more links to the same blog, maybe there will be more than the 7 clicks it gets daily - 9 out of 10

 

A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, along with Herland – my note on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/herland-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman.html within the following lines, there will be more links to the same blog, maybe there will be more than the 7 clicks it gets daily

 

9 out of 10

 

Apparently, this is not just one of those books everyone must read, but the "greatest novel of the twentieth century”, it was a central influence on C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, and through him on J. R. R. Tolkien, who said he read the book "with avidity"…Clive Barker called it "a masterpiece", so what else is there?

 

In many ways, it feels as if there would be nothing to add to the above, I mean if a few say this is nec plus ultra, crème de la crème, magnum opus, who am I to deny, or ponder these pronouncements, well, I am the one who writes these lines and Protagoras comes to mind ‘man is the measure of all things, of those that are, that they are, and of those who are not, that they are not’, which is sage and quite pompous at the same time

This is taking a light, jocular tone, in case it is not obvious, or funny, so let me just say that CS Lewis is one of my favorite, most respected luminaries https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/surprised-by-joy-shape-of-my-early-life.html in my book, and if he vouches for Voyage to Arcturus, then I am bound to listen

 

On the other hand, I was thinking this morning, in the…garage, which has been turned into a sort of gym, and hot house, storage, and place where I misplace things (if you listen to the spouse https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-people-play-by-eric-berne.html which you should not) about reading

There are some conditions which have to be met, and earlier it was the image of trying to find a radio station, and at times, the frequency is right, I hear the music or information, but somehow, it is missing on some days, or we could barely hear – this was happening very often, or about all the time, in the communist days

 

My father was tuning in to listen to Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, then I did this on my own, and with that influence, I would later take part in the Revolution of 1989, the link is down there, access to the copy of the Newsweek page which mentions my name, and what I told the correspondent met during those memorable days

The introduction to Voyage to Arcturus is captivating, we have this gathering, a medium, and then ‘Maskull, longing for adventures, accepts an invitation from Krag, an acquaintance of his friend Nightspore, to travel to Tormance after a séance’

 

Thus, we are invited to a different world, with strange habits, intriguing characters, I was thinking that writing Science Fiction affords so many advantages, the author is not constrained by the limits of earthly stories, for instance, at one stage Joiwind and her husband, Panawe, drink water, they do not even eat plants

Maskull lands on Tormance, which is orbiting Arcturus, and meets Joiwind, one of the most endearing figures of this narrative, and we could add any story indeed, she is there to save the man, and literally gives him her blood, it is a sort of transfusion, not constrained by what we would need on earth, needles, compatibility

 

It is a question of life and death, for without it, the alien Maskull would not make it, he hears a very interesting story from Panawe, the spouse, who was something of a transsexual, if we try to put his experience in a matrix that would be more palatable, another advantage of the science fiction tale is that it challenges our minds

On a side note, let me just mention The Long Goodbye https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-long-goodbye-by-raymond-chandler.html the most recent example of an acclaimed work (on that 1000 list) that has been mesmerizing, and I could keep the frequency, even when running at the gym, at 6 in the morning

 

Yes, there were some times when, for a couple of minutes or so, the sound was lost, as in I did not pay enough attention, but overall, that was a magic success, in what concerns me, because it often happens – it might also be a worry with age, Insha’ Allah not a condition – that I tune out, just like with Voyage to Arcturus

Most of it is entrancing, when meeting with Joiwind, she explains she worships Surtur, and that right there, makes me see that there is that old problem, people in various parts of the earth see one and another figure as the Maker, Great Sculptor and Colorist https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/11/my-enemys-enemy-by-magister-ludi.html

 

We then get to encounter a woman, Oceaxe, who wants Maskull as a lover, though she is married to Crimtyphon, the latter is evil, tries to make one man into a tree, and ergo our hero – is he the role model, or not, he is no anti-hero, I think, but I have qualms about his status, which is as it should be, in a great novel –

Kills this outer planet Orange Jesus – I see this future leader of the free world as the epitome of the monster – and then he has to witness quite a few more deaths, first of all, Oceaxe, who is dispatched by another wife of the late foe, Tydomin is using her will, which reminds me of ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, and the psychology classic Man’s Search for Meaning https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/mans-search-for-meaning-by-victor-frankl.html by Victor Frankl - Voyage to Arcturus is great, however much I have been absent from the picture, missing quite a few twists

 

 Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”