The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid/The Golden Apple/Leviathan

by Robert Joseph Shea, Robert Anton Wilson

book data

2,034 ratings, 4.06 average rating, 259 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		42%
4		32%
3		17%
2		6%
1		2%

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published

November 1st 1988 (first published 1975) by Dell

binding

Paperback, 805 pages

url

http://bobshea.net/

isbn

0440539811 (isbn13: 9780440539810)

description

It was a deadly mistake. Joseph Malik, a radical magazine editor, had snooped into rumors about a still alive & kicking ancient secret society. Now h...more

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04/18/07

Seth rated it:

(review of isbn 1854875744)

bookshelves: books-that-built-me, humor, masterpieces, modernfantasy, spirituality-and-woo-woo

Read in January, 1988

recommends it for: Teenagers, fuddy-duddy geeks, SF fans

I gave this book 5 stars.
- As science fiction it would get 2
- As philosophy it would get 1 (the world-view it argues for is much better discussed in other books--some of them even by RAW)
- As humor it would get 3. Maybe 4 on a good day
- As conspiracy theory it would get 4
- As research it doesn't even rate 1
- As a good guide to things to research for yourself, it's a solid 4 (great game: open to a random page and pick 5 things to look up in a library)
...more I gave this book 5 stars.
- As science fiction it would get 2
- As philosophy it would get 1 (the world-view it argues for is much better discussed in other books--some of them even by RAW)
- As humor it would get 3. Maybe 4 on a good day
- As conspiracy theory it would get 4
- As research it doesn't even rate 1
- As a good guide to things to research for yourself, it's a solid 4 (great game: open to a random page and pick 5 things to look up in a library)

But it crosses the line on two things:
* Cultural references that make points and explain things in the SF/geek/outcase/introvert subcultures. The Roberts nailed the experience of believing you're different and believing that what you want or experience is different and wanting to share it with the world. The terms and phrases that come out of this (fnord, illuminati, AUM, "You'll like it inside the apple," All Hail Discordia, Law of Fives, Aneristic Illusion, Paratheoanametamystichood, etc.) may not all be original, but they have built a part of a culture. Much like it's worth seeing Monty Python even if you don't "get" the humor to understand the "code."

It inspired two (excellent) card games and a wide variety of "bits" of other games, books, comics, and so forth.

* This book is one of the best tools for an adolescent or young adult (not YA--young adult) colonostickectomy. A young person hiding their creativity and trying to be "serious" so they can make it through life will get a huge amount of value from this book. You have to forgive them for believing the viewpoint for a few years and then you have to forgive them for rejecting it for a few. In the end, they'll probably come to a happy medium, but they'll always be gratefull for getting that damned uncomfortable thing out of their butt.

Oh yeah... the first 100 pages suck. Really. They're bad. But they're never referenced again (well, until the last 100 pages, which you really just skim looking for jokes), so skim them or skip them. You really don't need to start reading until the words "Egyptian Mouth-Breeder" appear on the page.

Actually, that might be the simplest and best review of all:
You really don't need to start reading until the words "Egyptian Mouth-Breeder" appear on the page.
(less)

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4 comments

03/29/08

tadpole rated it:

bookshelves: 2008

Read in January, 2008

I like this book because it takes every conspiracy theory that existed prior to 1975 and weaves them into a grand narrative of the 'haves' pulling a fast one on the 'have nots' since before the beginning of recorded human history. Also, similar to William S. Burroughs, I think you have to examine RAW's work in the context of him being such a defining force in the American underground culture. Having said this, I do have one major complaint about this work. This is one of those books that has too...more

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07/12/07

Gar rated it:

Honestly, the bury-the-needle rating on this is primarly from nostalgia and gratitude. The thing is, the book saved my soul. I say this because I read the Illuminatus! trilogy the very first thing after stumbling into reading Ayn Rand's Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in high school, as a fairly bright and moderately-creative geek, which qualities looked even more exaggerated by relative comparison to a very small class size. That's like getting injected with concentrated live-culture viruses...more

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1 comment

07/24/07

Geoff Gerrietts rated it:

Read in July, 1988

recommends it for: all my friends

I have given this book away so many times now. It's the only way I can repay the favor Jayson did me when he initially loaned it to me. This book literally changed my life, and I can only believe for the better.

Countless bizarre ideas and ideologies are brought together in a raucous, chaotic storyline spun through three volumes. Discordianism, Kabbalah, the Church of the Sub-Genius, elaborate retellings of conspiracy theory and countless other bizarre and interesting ideological land...more

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01/25/08

Ryan rated it:

Read in December, 2008

I'm re-reading this now, and felt I should clarify my position on this book, as I often list it as one of my favorites.
High Literature this is not. It is campy sci-fi, saturated with gratuitous sex scenes, psychedelia, conspiracy theories, counterculture etc. When I recommend this book, it's usually with the caveat that the authors are sort of bumbling about and finding their feet for the first 80 or so pages.

When it finally does start moving along, the reader finds his- or her...more

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12/01/07

Danny rated it:

Read in July, 2007

If James Joyce was a one-man literary IRA, then Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea are the literary Al Qaeda. As these groups can be viewed as either terrorists or freedom fighters, depending on your point of view, so it is with this book.

As is probably not ironic for a book considered to be the holy grail of conspiracy theory, it's definitely not difficult to perceive the Illuminatus Trilogy as an act of intellectual terrorism. This is not an easy book to read. Time, location, per...more

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10/23/07

Donald rated it:

Read in January, 1976

recommends it for: Free Thinkers Everywhere

The "Illuminatus" trilogy is marvelous, compelling and often hilarious. Authors Shea and Wilson weave a complex, meandering tale around the Illuminati, a group that even establishment historians acknowledge existed. The difference here is that, like many conspiracy theorists, the authors propose that the Illuminati never disbanded and continue to run the world behind the scenes.

Reading author Robert Anton Wilson's susequent works, some inspired by his friendship with LSD gu...more

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1 comment

09/25/07

rachelm rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Read in October, 2007

As I'm having trouble summarizing this book myself, I've decided to quote the meta-review of their book which the authors wrote into the novel:

"'It's a dreadfully long monster of a book,' Wildeblood says pettishly, 'and I certainly won't have time to read it, but I'm giving it a thorough skimming. The authors are utterly incompetent--no sense of style or structure at all. It starts out as a detective story, switches to science-fiction, then goes off into the supernatural, and is...more

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07/17/07

Aaron rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2006

recommends it for: someone who relishes in confusion

Couldn't finish it. Didn't even finish the first book in the trilogy. Interesting. Ever-shifting in perspective like Ulysses, but Ulysses unlocalized. Instead of focusing on one person on one day in a very distinct place, it looks at a number of disparate people all over the world in places both real and imaginary, with no regard for chronology. Some fine writing in there, but the hyper-leaps from the JFK assassination to underwater battles over Atlantis to graphically-described sex rituals (s...more

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03/11/09

Bruno-Ken rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Finally finished off this Leviathan.

Was much more impressive when I first started reading it some time around 2000 or so. Perhaps my memory of its excellence had inflated in the intervening years. Or perhaps I have gotten much more fluent in conspiracy literature since then, making the originally mind-blowing "revelations" (fictive or not) less so now. And even back then I found the writing pretty bad.

Still, it remains impressive, first, because it manages to...more Finally finished off this Leviathan.

Was much more impressive when I first started reading it some time around 2000 or so. Perhaps my memory of its excellence had inflated in the intervening years. Or perhaps I have gotten much more fluent in conspiracy literature since then, making the originally mind-blowing "revelations" (fictive or not) less so now. And even back then I found the writing pretty bad.

Still, it remains impressive, first, because it manages to keep all its crazy threads going until the end, if they disappear for long stretches, and even manages to more or less resolve all of them (even if in one of the appendices); related to this, the book stays true to its pseudo-Joycean form (which they freely admit to emulating, in their cheeky way), and anticipate Gravity's Rainbow by a few years (though I have not read Pynchon's earlier works, and if those are similar they quite possibly may have had some influence on Wilson and Shea.) Second, the scholarship and research behind the book is undeniable. Also, while playing with and even mocking a lot of ideas that no doubt had become clichés to the authors' generation by the time they wrote the book, they are able to come up with some creative and unexpected twists to them, even if you can sense them pushing and pulling and working at it. I never did LSD, and pot never worked for me, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of their better ideas came to them while they were stoned on those and/or something else.

One serious problem with the book is that it is misognystic. All the female characters are around twenty years old with the bodies and sex appeal of Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, the brains of PhDs, and the hearts of your sweet sister or devoted wife. The exceptions are a 15-year old Sicilian girl, two Las Vegas prostitutes, a 30-year old tarot card reader who makes herself to look middle-aged, a matronly conservative activist who prostitutes herself to obtain a donation for her organization, an aging secretary who appears in only one throw-away scene, and a ambitious, manipulative sex pot charlatan. There is one woman who undergoes some level of character development, a sort of rebellion, in fact, which is quite sharp and striking, and stands out from the rest of the book. Perhaps the sexual caricaturization -- and consequent demeaning -- of all the women who count in the book was intentional on the part of the authors, and that one rebellious woman's rejection was meant to put this into relief. I am not sure. But even if true, it would not redeem this book from its narrow and superficial treatment of women, whom the authors clearly -- and sincerely, I believe -- want to elevate, in fact, to put it mildly.

But this gripe aside, the authors' philosophical project is well taken and appreciated for its optimistic and even philanthropic message.

Last minor note: The appendix is actually a lot funnier and feels much more spontaneous and successful in its humor than the book itself. Maybe Shea and Wilson thought of the book as a labor they had to "get right", but the appendix was a "freebie" that had far less import, so they could relax and have more fun with it, with the result that in some ways its superior to the book.(less)

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01/05/09

JT rated it:

I WANT TO BELIEVE--more importantly, I just wish I could understand.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a brilliant work--it really is. The writing, references, connections, intentionally loose treatment of history, stream of conscious craziness is genius. But I think I'm just too stupid.

I am familiar with all the conspiracy theories within, and I found the author's humorous treatment of obscure, famous, and plain goofy (c'mon The Discordians riding around in a golden submarine...more

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02/05/08

Josh rated it:

This book was so unbelievably aggravating to read it's hard to fully explain. There are no chapters, three gazillion characters and plots, and most of them are on acid the whole time, so it's nearly impossible to keep track of what's happening. But, there's so much information in it that everyone should know about the rich history of conspiracy theories and mythology that it's hard not to recommend it. Basically, this is a book that you want to have read, but not to actively read.

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06/10/07

Sarah rated it:

recommends it for: 8th grade alterna-nerds

way before dan brown brought historical conspiracy theory to the masses, this was a way for cool nerds (a distinct subphylum of 'nerd') to indulge in inside jokes and intellectual hijinks - with a nice side dish of smut. Also a great introduction to drug humor. Ideal for suburban misfits in junior high who are too young to do anything interesting, yet need a horizon-broadening experience.

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07/24/08

Danny Salinger rated it:

Read in July, 2008

This book is something of a mindfuck. There isn't anything particularly bizarre in it, but it's so convoluted and paranoid that it gets to be a little much. It's a neat, if surreal, cross-section of the counter-culture and political activism of the 60s and early 70s too, and some of the philosophical speeches by Simon Moon are pretty damn smart, and not things commonly heard.

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02/09/09

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: anarchism, science-fiction

Read in January, 1986

For me, this book was a moment of Awakening, and the changes I wrought in myself after first reading continue to reverberate today. I had been brought to it through playing the card game it inspired. A desire to Seek the Mysteries caused me to follow up on the "Bibliography" included with that game, and I picked up this book expecting a sort of "In Like Flint"-style spy thriller/parody that exploited theories of vast conspiratorial networks. What I found was an exploration of...more

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03/18/09

Alleyprowler rated it:

Read in January, 2009

When I first read this book in the 90s, I would have given it five stars. It was transgressive, subversive, heretical, anti-establishment, and all that stuff you think is cool when you are young.

Now, I think it's gimmicky, cliched, dated, and rather embarrassing. It does, however, have one redeeming value: It has no good guys or bad guys. Or, rather, the good guys might be the bad guys or the bad guys might be the good guys. There are still no shades of grey (subtlety seems to be bey...more

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06/09/09

erik graff rated it:

(review of isbn 1854875744)

bookshelves: literature

Read in January, 1984

recommended to erik by: James Koehnline
recommends it for: light-hearted conspiracy theorists

This trilogy was loaned me by my roommate along with a bunch of other distinctly odd materials. Unlike the others, however, this story is not serious, but plays off long-standing conspiracy theory traditions, primarily those concerning the Illuminati, a short-lived group of Bavarian liberals who attempted to start a progressive movement under the cover of their Bavarian lodges in the eighteenth century.

The story is pretty silly, the writing mediocre, but if you've been into this stu...more

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11/27/08

Leonardo rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction, humour, mystery-and-horror, occultism, politics, pop-culture, spirituality---religion

Read in January, 2009

recommends it for: Erisians and non-Erisians

Disturbing and deep in a extreme tongue-in-cheek way, the grand-daddy of Foucault's Pendulum, a book that you'll either discard as unreadable or a turning point in your life. I should say I'm probably quite biased in my review of this book... I've wanted to get hold of it for so long, that I probably had programmed myself to like it no matter what. Actually, I supposed I could have been severely dissapointed to... but the truth is I simply could not let it down and was my main reading for the pa...more

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09/10/08

Daniel Sheehy rated it:

Read in June, 2008

For me, for a book to get 5 stars it has to deeply affect me in either an emotional way, or it has to alter or change my perspective on things, 'Illuminate' me, if you will.

This book most certainly achieved the latter, though it was also a exciting and often humorous read. Do not expect something like the Da Vinci code (or anything else written by the likes of Dan Brown), this book doesn't dare take itself so seriously. It utilizes every ridiculous conspiracy theory you've ever heard...more

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03/23/09

Joeylabartunek rated it:

This book changed my life. No, I didn't become a paranoid raving conspiracy nut (ok, maybe for a couple months after), but Robert Anton Wilson and Bob Shea's ability to intermingle facts with insanity and blur the line between them seamlessly taught me to question everything. It was incredibly funny, with stabs at everything, and it really works your brain out; punching, dodging, and weaving all while teaching some crazy crazy shit. That is if you are willing to believe. Heh.

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"Organization. If you want big words to talk to intellectuals with, that's a fine big word, son, just as many syllables as imagination, and it has a lot more realism in it." More quotes...