Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling, 23 May 2004
I first read Illuminatus at age 18 in 1988. I bought it after reading an interview with KLF in a music magazine & did not know what to expect. At first I found it fairly heavy going - at that age I had never read a novel which 'jumped' aruond so much. I eventually got used to the style and started to enjoy the complex, intriguing & entertaining plot. Many of the references were unfamilier to me & I think much of it went over my head. I got to the end,entertained, if slightly confused.
I put it out of my mind then stumbled upon my copy again when I was around 25. I decided to give it another go - remembering my experience from my first reading & only slightly recalling the plot.
Another 7 years of life between first & second reading ensured
the text revealed more to me than on first reading. Just as entertaining as first read, but this time around more "oh yeah..I know what they're talking about... I think".
I read for the third time around 2 years ago - and got more out of the book on the third reading.
I will probably go back to it in another three or 4 years.
This is a huge(ish), dense, compelling & entertaining novel. As a result of this, it is one of the few books I have read that reveals more of itself each time you go back to it..........a highly recommended mind trip.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE seminal philosophy of the century, disguised as a novel, 28 May 1998
By A Customer
Illuminatus! is more than a novel; it's a head trip, a philosophy course, a mirror, a funhouse; a work that should be read at least five times, because every journey through is a different trip. Equal parts mock conspiracy story, detective novel, science fiction epic and hidden treatise, what you get out of it tells you more about yourself than about the authors. On top of all that, it's just plain old damn funny. Keep your eyes open for the parodies of James Joyce, Ayn Rand and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and avoid the fnords at all costs.Whether you're nostalgic for the 60s or lost in the compassless haze of the 90s, you need to read this book, and get to know the philosophies of its authors. There's more education between these covers than between the start and finish of any university, but it's all achieved painlessly and, by the end, you'll look at the world and yourself in a different way. Finally, this is one of those rare books that has become less satire and more prediction in the twenty-three years since its publication. What was once cynical wit is now sad documentary, and authors Wilson and Shea have nailed it. Approach with an open mind, abandon all preconceptions ye who enter here -- and then read it again and be surprised all over as you realize it's a different book the second time around. And the third. And the fourth. And the... well, you know...
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delight, 25 Mar 2007
I first read this book in 2003 and was blown away by its brilliance. Then I read it again later on in the same year. Then I read it again in 2005. And now I'm on my fourth trip... and it's just a pure delight all over again. As much as I love William Burroughs and Charles Bukowski, this book established itself after the first reading as my most favourite book by a very long way.
Every page amazes and delights and amuses and makes you think. Some very, very profound things are said - amid the laughs and the dazzling invention - about societies, human nature, power relationships, human possibilities and much more. It's a constant source of amazement to me how incredibly well-written it is... 800 pages flow by with ease and you just don't want it to stop. And it just so happens to have the best [...] scenes ever written in a novel.
My gratitude to Shea and Wilson for writing this profound masterpiece is boundless.
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