Scottish novelist David Lindsay (1876-1945) was born to a middle-class Calvinist family, forced by poverty to work as an insurance clerk instead of attending university, and at the age of forty took up the cause and worked his way to Corporal of the Royal Army Pay Corps in World War I. After the war he moved to Cornwall with his wife and began writing full-time, publishing his first novel, "A Voyage to Arcturus", in 1920. Although the science fiction novel initially sold less than six hundred copies, it has come to be known as a major "underground" novel of the 20th century, and heavily influenced C.S. Lewis's "Out of the Silent Planet". The story is set at Tormance, an imaginary planet orbiting Arcturus, where an adventurous Scot named Muskall has travelled and where he encounters myriad characters and lands that reflect Lindsay's critique of various philosophical systems.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS by David Lindsay
23 Mar 2013
By thepaxdomini
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
A Voyage to Arcturus is a 1920 fantasy novel by David Lindsay. Here, the adventuresome Maskull travels to another planet, where he undertakes a journey of psychological and spiritual exploration.
A Voyage to Arcturus doesn't have a plot in the manner a typical novel does; it proceeds much more along the lines of something like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Maskull travels methodically from one character to the next, giving each a chance to present and discuss his or her worldview. This focus on ideas is how the book is intended to be read, and if done otherwise, Maskull becomes a horrific serial killer of people rather than of philosophies.
Yet this is still a novel, and the philosophical focus (which boils down to a peculiar sort of mystic Calvinist Gnosticism) becomes overbearing. Pillars of storytelling (such as character development) are generally neglected, and pacing is excluded in favor of the many lengthy conversations, which are profound only to the characters. The reader may well feel that there's little real substance to the work.
If A Voyage to Arcturus is worth reading, it's because of Lindsay's wonderfully imaginative descriptions (most people familiar with this book already know the influence it had on C. S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy). Linday's depiction of all things sensory is masterful, and includes such feats as the compelling presentation of new colors. It's extremely impressive, if not sufficient to carry the book along.
So then, while it is not particularly interesting either as a story or a work of philosophy, A Voyage to Arcturus not without substantial merit. But it's certainly not for everyone.
A Voyage to Arcturus doesn't have a plot in the manner a typical novel does; it proceeds much more along the lines of something like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Maskull travels methodically from one character to the next, giving each a chance to present and discuss his or her worldview. This focus on ideas is how the book is intended to be read, and if done otherwise, Maskull becomes a horrific serial killer of people rather than of philosophies.
Yet this is still a novel, and the philosophical focus (which boils down to a peculiar sort of mystic Calvinist Gnosticism) becomes overbearing. Pillars of storytelling (such as character development) are generally neglected, and pacing is excluded in favor of the many lengthy conversations, which are profound only to the characters. The reader may well feel that there's little real substance to the work.
If A Voyage to Arcturus is worth reading, it's because of Lindsay's wonderfully imaginative descriptions (most people familiar with this book already know the influence it had on C. S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy). Linday's depiction of all things sensory is masterful, and includes such feats as the compelling presentation of new colors. It's extremely impressive, if not sufficient to carry the book along.
So then, while it is not particularly interesting either as a story or a work of philosophy, A Voyage to Arcturus not without substantial merit. But it's certainly not for everyone.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS by David Lindsay
23 Mar 2013
By thepaxdomini
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
A Voyage to Arcturus is a 1920 fantasy novel by David Lindsay. Here, the adventuresome Maskull travels to another planet, where he undertakes a journey of psychological and spiritual exploration.
A Voyage to Arcturus doesn't have a plot in the manner a typical novel does; it proceeds much more along the lines of something like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Maskull travels methodically from one character to the next, giving each a chance to present and discuss his or her worldview. This focus on ideas is how the book is intended to be read, and if done otherwise, Maskull becomes a horrific serial killer of people rather than of philosophies.
Yet this is still a novel, and the philosophical focus (which boils down to a peculiar sort of mystic Calvinist Gnosticism) becomes overbearing. Pillars of storytelling (such as character development) are generally neglected, and pacing is excluded in favor of the many lengthy conversations, which are profound only to the characters. The reader may well feel that there's little real substance to the work.
If A Voyage to Arcturus is worth reading, it's because of Lindsay's wonderfully imaginative descriptions (most people familiar with this book already know the influence it had on C. S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy). Linday's depiction of all things sensory is masterful, and includes such feats as the compelling presentation of new colors. It's extremely impressive, if not sufficient to carry the book along.
So then, while it is not particularly interesting either as a story or a work of philosophy, A Voyage to Arcturus not without substantial merit. But it's certainly not for everyone.
A Voyage to Arcturus doesn't have a plot in the manner a typical novel does; it proceeds much more along the lines of something like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Maskull travels methodically from one character to the next, giving each a chance to present and discuss his or her worldview. This focus on ideas is how the book is intended to be read, and if done otherwise, Maskull becomes a horrific serial killer of people rather than of philosophies.
Yet this is still a novel, and the philosophical focus (which boils down to a peculiar sort of mystic Calvinist Gnosticism) becomes overbearing. Pillars of storytelling (such as character development) are generally neglected, and pacing is excluded in favor of the many lengthy conversations, which are profound only to the characters. The reader may well feel that there's little real substance to the work.
If A Voyage to Arcturus is worth reading, it's because of Lindsay's wonderfully imaginative descriptions (most people familiar with this book already know the influence it had on C. S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy). Linday's depiction of all things sensory is masterful, and includes such feats as the compelling presentation of new colors. It's extremely impressive, if not sufficient to carry the book along.
So then, while it is not particularly interesting either as a story or a work of philosophy, A Voyage to Arcturus not without substantial merit. But it's certainly not for everyone.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal, but disappointing
11 Mar 2013
By Damaris
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Knowing this book inspired CS Lewis to write "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra," I tried it. But as I read on, I realized that Lindsay inspired Lewis only narrowly, by using space travel to expand the range of personality and motivation beyond the human.
"A Voyage to Arcturus" has no clear message, no interesting characters, and no coherent plot. Most encounters in "Voyage" end with one character killing another. But the narrative is so slight that we don't know whether the killings are justified in any Darwinian or Machiavellian sense, whether the process is leading anywhere, or why one lives and the other dies. We aren't given reason to care about any of the characters -- not even Maskull -- and we certainly don't like any of them except Joiwind and Panawe. Some readers will be put off by the diabolical and brutish story. But few readers of any sort will be satisfied by the plot, which is not a coherent story but only, in Homer Simpson's words, "a bunch of stuff that happened."
"A Voyage to Arcturus" has no clear message, no interesting characters, and no coherent plot. Most encounters in "Voyage" end with one character killing another. But the narrative is so slight that we don't know whether the killings are justified in any Darwinian or Machiavellian sense, whether the process is leading anywhere, or why one lives and the other dies. We aren't given reason to care about any of the characters -- not even Maskull -- and we certainly don't like any of them except Joiwind and Panawe. Some readers will be put off by the diabolical and brutish story. But few readers of any sort will be satisfied by the plot, which is not a coherent story but only, in Homer Simpson's words, "a bunch of stuff that happened."
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