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A Voyage to Arcturus

by David Lindsay

3.73 · rating details · 410 ratings · 77 reviews

David Lindsay (1874-1945) was a successful British businessman who turned to writing after the first World War. Unfortunately, his most famous work, A Voyage to Arcturus, proved to be a commercial disaster at the time of its release, and he spent the rest of his writing career struggling to achieve commercial success, with little result. A Voyage to Arcturus is a remarkabl...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published September 28th 2003 by Wildside Press (first published 1920)

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Aug 06, 2011

Erik Graff rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: any willing to be challenged in their core beliefs

Recommended to Erik by: high school friend

Shelves: literature

This is one of the most incredibly eccentric, surprising and challenging philosophical fantasy novels ever written!

The Scottish writer David Lindsay died in 1945. He is usually regarded as a fantasy writer. While he wrote a great deal, most of his works have been hard to find, out-of-print, neglected. Voyage to Arcturus is the exception, having become a bit of a cult classic and reprinted again and again in paperback editions.

The title suggests science fiction. It is ...more

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Dec 10, 2008

Manny rated it

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Shelves: science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, transcendent-experiences

Apparently David Lindsay said once that he would never be famous, but that as long as our civilisation endured, at least one person a year would read him. I think he was probably right. This is not a well-written book, and there is very little character development - but it is full of amazing, larger-than-life ideas, and some of it will stick in your mind for ever. At least it has in mine, and looking at the other reviews I think a fair number of other people felt similarly. When I read Philip Pullman ...more
Apparently David Lindsay said once that he would never be famous, but that as long as our civilisation endured, at least one person a year would read him. I think he was probably right. This is not a well-written book, and there is very little character development - but it is full of amazing, larger-than-life ideas, and some of it will stick in your mind for ever. At least it has in mine, and looking at the other reviews I think a fair number of other people felt similarly. When I read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials earlier this year, I had a feeling that it reminded me of Voyage... and after poking about on Google for a bit, I was interested to find an interview where Pullman said Lindsay was indeed one of the people who had influenced him most. So if you like Pullman, that might be a reason to check this out.

Like Pullman, Lindsay is interested in the really Big Ideas. Who are we, what is the point of life, is there a god, does he care about us? That sort of thing. He presents his very unusual take on it in the form of an allegory, a sort of Pilgrim's Progress on acid. Here's how it starts. The hero arrives on a planet which I think is supposed to be orbiting the star Arcturus, but this is where any pretense at mainstream science-fiction is abandoned. He finds he's grown a tentacle-like thing, which sprouts out of his chest, and is capable of spreading warm, fuzzy feelings towards anyone it touches. If I remember right, it's called a magn (like "magnanimous", I suppose). But if you now think that Lindsay's message is all sweetness and light, you are about as wrong as it's possible to be. Next thing we know, his magn has become a tough third arm, which can reach out towards other people and suck the life from their bodies. And the book's barely got warmed up yet.

It's uneven, and some bits make more sense than others, but no one else has written anything quite like it. And even if you don't agree at all with the ending, it's extremely memorable. Is that what life's really about? Damned if I know. But Lindsay's answer makes at least as much sense as most of the mainstream ones, and it's refreshingly simple.
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Sep 12, 2011

Juushika rated it

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Shelves: owned

Swept from Victorian England to a distant planet, everyman Maskull begins an epic journey of discovery through that alien environment towards its metamorphic gods. A third of the way into his journey, Maskull encounters a violently sexual woman, murders her husband, demands her obedience, and then has her sing a song while they travel. Its "words were pure nonsense—or else their significance was too deep for him" (113). The same can well be said of this entire book. A Voyage to Arcturu...moreSwept from Victorian England to a distant planet, everyman Maskull begins an epic journey of discovery through that alien environment towards its metamorphic gods. A third of the way into his journey, Maskull encounters a violently sexual woman, murders her husband, demands her obedience, and then has her sing a song while they travel. Its "words were pure nonsense—or else their significance was too deep for him" (113). The same can well be said of this entire book. A Voyage to Arcturus is a fever dream of exploration, metaphor, and metaphysics, but its dry voice is often its undoing, removing the reader too far from its universal aspirations. Lindsay's voice is so distant and dry that not even his vibrant landscape can enliven it—but that landscape is vibrant, alien, and thought-provokingly strange, with a sprinkling of images that linger in the imagination. His protagonist is alternately brutal and blank, with a changing character that reflects all but encapsulates none—he's a figure, not a person, and offers little for the reader to grasp on to. These aspects create an unexpectedly sterile story, one that's too easy to put down and to find distance from, although it's otherwise remarkably easy to read despite its density. It also enables Lindsay to reach an uneasy balance between exploring his concepts and leaving that exploration to the reader: not one that encourages reader involvement and internalization, but one that often remains at a cool distance and leaves the reader unmoved.

Yet Voyage is in its way a success. It reads almost like poetry, and can be approached in the same way: by skating over it, bamboozled but affected and intrigued, or by digging into and dissecting it in the attempt to make sense of its madness. Clute's strong introduction to this imprint is an aid towards the latter goal, but even taken on its own the novel's final pages are sufficiently strong to cap off the story with something solid, if not simple. There's nothing simple to be found here, but there is plenty in the way of rich food for thought—sometimes too rich, sometimes as stale as the book is dated, sometimes made unsatisfying by the book's determination to deny its own conclusions, but an promising cornucopia nonetheless. I found A Voyage to Arcturus to be a long, slow, strange journey, but on the whole it's one I'm glad to have taken: cerebral to the point of dry, but still intriguing and wholly original, this may not be pleasure reading but it is worth picking up. I recommend this particular edition (Bison Frontiers of Imagination from the University of Nebraska Press) with certain caveats, however: the introduction is strong, but I counted 20 typos and even from a small press, that's unacceptable.
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May 28, 2011

Nick Tramdack rated it

· review of another edition

Sort of wearying, but the final payoff is worth the effort. Pseudo-gnostic secrets make for a planetary romance that's hard to outguess in this classic of Scottish SF in the dark tradition of James Hogg.

-107: "The storm gathered. The green snow drove against them, as they stood talking, and it grew intensely cold. None noticed it."
-110: "They hate pleasure, and thus hatred is the greatest pleasure to them." [about Sant - is this Krag's doctrine? I forget...moreSort of wearying, but the final payoff is worth the effort. Pseudo-gnostic secrets make for a planetary romance that's hard to outguess in this classic of Scottish SF in the dark tradition of James Hogg.

-107: "The storm gathered. The green snow drove against them, as they stood talking, and it grew intensely cold. None noticed it."
-110: "They hate pleasure, and thus hatred is the greatest pleasure to them." [about Sant - is this Krag's doctrine? I forget...]
-134: cool use of the word "apercu", an insight, experienced during Maskull's epiphanies
-165: in a book full of unexamined, Platonic assumptions, this line is welcome relief: "With his racial prejudices, Maskull found little beauty in it, yet beauty there was, though neither of a masculine or feminine type..." [about Leehallfae, who by the way uses a 3rd-gender pronoun, ae.]
-182: "a hitherto unperceived bend" in a path opens up, cool way to move the action quickly
-183: "Maskull felt the fresh, mysterious thrill of mingled pain and rapture of one who awakes from a deep sleep in midwinter and sees the gleaming, dark, delicate colors of the half-dawn." Rare moments like this, where the language returns to earth, seem to display David Lindsay's talent even more than the worldbuilding.
-193: could be a proverb, "Give luck a slack rein."
-195: "Maskull then obtained his first near view of the mysterious light, which, by counteracting the forces of Nature, acted indirectly not only as elevator but as motive force." I love these scientific explanations that don't really explain things.
-220: I detect in this scene with dying Sullenbode, with the near-encounter with a mystic power in a wasteland full of pillars, and then the sudden death of a woman, an influence on the ending of Wolfe's Claw of the Conciliator...
"He flew toward her, and bent over her body.... His worst fears were realized. Life had departed.
Beneath its coating of mud, her face bore the vulgar, ghastly Crystalman grin, but Maskull saw nothing of it. She had never appeared so beautiful to him as at that moment."
-242: I was about to throw the book away but Lindsay managed to turn it around somehow. Unfuckingbelievable...
"He comprehended at last how the whole world of will was doomed to eternal anguish in order that one Being might feel joy."(less)

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Dec 20, 2010

Mark rated it

· review of another edition

The first time I read this book might have been thirty years ago. I've been picking up a lot of books from my shelves lately, realizing that I read them ages ago and don't recall all that much from the experience. I do remember finding the style of this to be somewhat stilted at times, but I think I assumed then that it was more contemporary and American than a book written by a Scottish author in the 1920s. I enjoyed the book thoroughly on the second read and would recommend it to the adventuro...more

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Aug 02, 2011

Jeff Miller rated it

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I have often seen SF author and Catholic convert John C. Wright reference the book "A Voyage to Arcturus" by Scottish writer David Lindsay on his blog. He is a fan of the book, but not the Gnostic philosophical undertones that underlie this novel. So I gave it a shot and found it quite interesting in its combination of SF, Fantasy on a philosophical landscape. Most of the novel takes place on a planet with two suns and as the main character explores the planet he encounters differen...more

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Mar 04, 2011

Graham Worthington rated it

· review of another edition

Little known by other than connoisseurs of the strange and mysterious, this odyssey of the questing human spirit is well worth the patience it takes to cope with the opening chapters, which lumber considerably as the author prepares us for the meat of the story. But once our characters reach Tormance - a planet circling the star Arcturus - the adventure begins in earnest, in a world where the spiritual takes physical form, and our hero Maskull battles a zoo of tempters and diverse philosophies a...more

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May 25, 2009

Charlie Fan rated it

· review of another edition

Of the stranger books I've come across, this has to be strangest, and while the title and initial chapters suggest that this may be a work of dismissive Science Fiction / Fantasy, it is decidedly not.

Published in 1920, the book hails from a strong lineage of allegorical-journey stories. Think of the travails of Candide or better yet, of Gulliver's Travels. While the aforementioned books were of a political nature, A Voyage to Arcturus speaks about something more primal: how does on...moreOf the stranger books I've come across, this has to be strangest, and while the title and initial chapters suggest that this may be a work of dismissive Science Fiction / Fantasy, it is decidedly not.

Published in 1920, the book hails from a strong lineage of allegorical-journey stories. Think of the travails of Candide or better yet, of Gulliver's Travels. While the aforementioned books were of a political nature, A Voyage to Arcturus speaks about something more primal: how does one define meaning in the universe? What is the relation of what we feel to what actually is?

Ostensibly, we have a curious protagonist offered a chance to visit a strange planet orbiting a distant binary star system. He eagerly takes up on the voyage and is transported to the other realm; what ensues is a fantastic philosophical debate on the nature of good and evil, the role of existence, and the true nature of man.

In all honesty, I cannot pretend to understand even a fraction of what transpires. My attempts to relate it to known texts, biblical or classical, fall short. But that could only be because I lack the memory or intelligence to recall my past associations with those literature.

When our hero wakes on the planet, he is alone and has inexplicably gained the function of several new appendages. As he progresses through the various continents and countries, he meets characters, seemingly more knowledgeable than the last, each directing him forward, compelling him closer to what he seeks (which is the creator of the planet or what he has associated as God on Earth but in truth neither is or isn't). His appendages either gain new functions or fall off completely. And invariably, many of his hosts perish through his actions.

I venture my meager understanding of the conclusion that the author may have wished to impart: that the thoughts of humankind is resplendent in emotions, but only pain truly defines them. The first land that the protagonist comes to, he feels great affection for his hosts, but that feeling is amorphous. In the final land, he falls in love with a singular being and by then he is already so close to the truth, this emotion is sharp and distinct, made real by his proximity to pain.

It is important to mention that "love" is perhaps only one aspect of the novel, maybe of primary importance. I do not believe it is love as in "romantic love" but love as in the good within. If you are curious about this book, there are many resellers on Amazon offering it for cheap. The best thing this book does is rid oneself of preconceived notions. It will make you think.

Upon finishing this book, I came to see myself as a void of malleable putty. Each significant event has attempted to mold me, but I return to the same darkness, to the same formlessness. I believe that is akin to the journey of the protagonist. Though he is shaped and changed much, he returns inevitably to the same mold because the truth was within the whole time.

In any case, it is a mind fuck.(less)

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Jun 10, 2010

David rated it

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Shelves: speculative-fiction

Just about the one good thing I'd say about the book is it's a non-stereotypical kind of speculative fiction. Although it might be best categorized as "fantasy", there are no wizards, magic spells, swords, dragons or elves. It doesn't fall into any "formula" or such.

On the other hand, the writing style is somewhat old and Lindsay probably had below average for professional writing skill even in his own day. The main character has scattered talks to other charac...more

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Jan 04, 2012

Andrew Walter rated it

· review of another edition

This is a weird one. Very hard to place or describe, and not analogous to anything I’ve read before. I don’t know if it would have seemed more or less out-there in 1920.

In a sentence; after some preliminaries, an Earthman named Maskull wanders through the bizarre landscapes of a planet called Tormance, encountering unfamiliar belief systems and their non-human (?) adherents, and budding or losing new limbs and sense organs to reflect this, or to assist with these new ways of thinki...moreThis is a weird one. Very hard to place or describe, and not analogous to anything I’ve read before. I don’t know if it would have seemed more or less out-there in 1920.

In a sentence; after some preliminaries, an Earthman named Maskull wanders through the bizarre landscapes of a planet called Tormance, encountering unfamiliar belief systems and their non-human (?) adherents, and budding or losing new limbs and sense organs to reflect this, or to assist with these new ways of thinking.

I know almost nothing about Gnosticism, which apparently informs a lot of the (heavy) symbolism in this book. The way it was handled reminded me a lot of watching a Jodorowsky film; everything is very intense and people act in violent, often unpredictable ways, but it never feels random enough to be written off as pretentious. The themes seem to be love, death, morality, and ethics. You won’t have to be religious to understand that there are deliberate questions being posed here, simply open-minded.

I first read this because of the references to Lindsay’s imaginary colours (Jale, Ulfire and Dolm) in the audacious CARCOSA supplement for Original Dungeons & Dragons (McKinney 2008), and this lead to expectations that meant I didn’t really get into it at first. I was expecting early science fiction or fantasy adventure. Despite the amazingly weird settings the protagonist walks through, this isn’t really SF. There is almost no “action”, and the feel is contemplative, not escapist.

There’s a lot of talk about why this isn’t a more appreciated book (especially among sci-fi/fantasy enthusiasts) but now I’ve read it, I think it’s clear why. It doesn’t really resolve things for the reader, and lastly the writing is undeniably crappy. I’ve got a lot of time for bad writing if the author has strong ideas or unique visuals to share-and this is definitely the case here-but this is poor even by genre fiction standards. The pacing isn’t very good, and you’re presented with all the ideas all at once in each of the sprawling, allegorical debates.

Arguably this makes the dreamlike, fairytale narrative more otherworldly, but it’s going to put people off. Stick with this if you want to be challenged and read a book that will mean different things to everyone. I feel like I missed a lot, and it’s only around 280 pages. Very fitting cover on the Gollancz edition.
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Aug 05, 2009

blake rated it

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Shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror

This book is far from perfect. The writing is clumsy, the character development is implausible and often non-existent (leading to confusion over their motives and occasional disinterest), and the character and place names are ridiculous to the point of distraction. That said, the story is so utterly inventive and unique (especially considering that it was written post-WWI), and the ending so powerful that it will remain with me for a long time. Lindsay crafted what on first glance appears to ...more

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Jan 24, 2012

Justin Wiggins rated it

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This book ultimately deals with David Lindsay's view of metaphysics. According to the foreword, he believed in a very real spiritual reality whereas the reality of "beauty" we as humans experience is false; and he believed that everyone has a "spark" of some sort of god in which one can experience an awakening in which pain is inevitable. The main character of the book, Maskull,goes through many adventures and encounters many beings which represent many ideas(and he certain...more

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Aug 20, 2010

David Soares rated it

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Grande viagem de fantasia científica/misticismo/esoterismo e tudo. "A Voyage to Arcturus" nunca poderia ter sido escrito nos dias de hoje, mas antecipa muitas ideias e noções que, na minha opinião, estão a ser pugnadas neste momento pela física moderna. O crítico literário Harold Bloom escreveu uma sequela intitulada "The Flight to Lucifer: Gnostic Fantasy" que eu ainda não li. Um dos meus livros preferidos que, às vezes, é cruel, mas sempre belo. (Nota: Convém ter algumas no...more

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Oct 17, 2009

Oscar rated it

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Recommended to Oscar by: Richard M.

Shelves: fiction, philosophy, visionary

'A Voyage to Arcturus' is a peculiar book, not really science fiction nor any thing else in the traditional sense of the word. The protagonist of the book - if we may call Maskull that - travels to a planet orbiting the star Arcturus, where he is transformed to the varying likenesses of its local inhabitants, growing new organs subtly different from ours and losing some again over the course of the novel.

It is quickly clear that the novel is first and foremost about ideas, and the ap...more

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Jul 02, 2009

Scott rated it

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Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction

This is one of the stranger books I've ever read. It came highly recommended by Jim Woodring and it did not disappoint. The protagonist, Maskull, travels to an alien planet and in each land he traverses, the landscape and people are different than the last. He encounters things like green snow and people with third arms growing out of their chests. Indeed, Maskull often wakes up with the same type of new sense organs as the natives he meets. The differences in each place even extend to the ...more

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Jul 30, 2011

Nick rated it

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Shelves: ecstatic-visions, lost-in-wonder, oddly-delightful

Some essays by CS Lewis on science fiction mentioned this book as a "classic" of the genre, so I picked up a copy at a recent binge at Eighth Day Books down in Wichita, and it happened to be the first one I felt ready to crack. It was to be a prelude to a re-reading of Lewis' Space Trilogy, so I was ready for some similarities. Here's what I found: whatever imaginative vision Lindsay was given managed to be at the expense of his ability to tell a good story, develop characters, and wri...moreSome essays by CS Lewis on science fiction mentioned this book as a "classic" of the genre, so I picked up a copy at a recent binge at Eighth Day Books down in Wichita, and it happened to be the first one I felt ready to crack. It was to be a prelude to a re-reading of Lewis' Space Trilogy, so I was ready for some similarities. Here's what I found: whatever imaginative vision Lindsay was given managed to be at the expense of his ability to tell a good story, develop characters, and write dialogue. A third of the way through, I had basically formulated my final opinion of the book, and what crossed my lips was probably the very idea that got Lewis to write his Space Trilogy in the first place: "Even *I* could do better than this." That Lewis was far more justified in saying it is beside the point.

In Lindsay's favor, I did stick with it to the end--though, on the other hand, I don't know that I would have if I was not curious about how it might have exerted some inspirational influence on Lewis' own work that would follow it a few decades later. Lindsay seems to lack the kind of totality that lends credibility to a story and promotes the suspension of disbelief; the whole thing seems like a poorly concealed vehicle for philosophical speculation. Quite honestly, I've had similar reactions to another of Lewis' favorites, George MacDonald, whose books Lillith and Phantastes managed to lose me after a few chapters. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and ascribe my lack of appreciation to an impoverished imagination, but there it is.

One of the most frustrating elements of the book is the author's complete lack of ear for names. Obviously, his intention was to create the impression of a wild and interstellar reality, but his formulaic attepmts at doing so just sound ridiculous, as if simply juxtaposing some discordant Anglo-Saxon or Welsh words is enough to startle the reader into extraterrestrial fantasy. Nightspore? Tormance? Spadevil? Wombflash? Corpang? You've got--GOT--to be kidding me! Combined with the fact that the main character (Maskull. Seriously.) only has a sequence of encounters with wandering individuals far from any kind of society makes the whole story feel far, far too contrived.

That being said, there are some good moments of imaginative creativity that felt something like insight, and even a couple of scenes in which the bizarre landscape can take your breath away (I'm thinking of the underground world experienced alongside Corpang). Having chewed through Lewis' Space Trilogy once again, I suppose I'm grateful to Lindsay for having written this book and influenced what came later, but I've no reluctance to throw away the rind in favor of the fruit!(less)

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Jan 27, 2011

Harry Robinson rated it

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A philosophical odyssey rather than a work of science fiction, "A Voyage to Arcturus" belongs in a separate genre, perhaps grouped with C.S. Lewis' "Perelandra" trilogy. David Lindsay's work explores ideas of good and evil, pain and pleasure, gender, and love. It is a very strange, rather poorly written work that raises many questions but answers few. I did not find it a satisfying book, and would certainly not consider reading it again in the future. I did appreciate its...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Cera marked it as grazed · review of another edition

This just got weirder and weirder, and more and more... hmn.

So this is not a review, because I didn't finish the book; it isn't an informed opinion. It's just how I felt & why I quit reading it.

There are some books which seem to be trying to make the reader unhappy about being alive. I don't mean that they're depressing -- maybe the term I'm looking for is nihilistic. Books like that I run from in terror, because they are bad for me.

I was really enjoyin...more

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Aug 04, 2009

Steve rated it

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I read this book in high school or college, but don't remember much about that reading. I didn't care for it much this time. The structure is unsatisfying, but that's part of the nature of the beast for a 'philosophical novel.' But I found the philosophy repetitive, silly, and full of non-sequiturs. Further, the atmosphere of the book, both in the style of writing and also in the atmosphere of the planet Lindsay is describing, was oppressive and constricting.

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Jan 20, 2010

Max rated it

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'the visible universe is like a gigantic stomach, and the real outside of the world we shall never see'

a pessimistic enigma of a book, muddled and awkwardly formed, with a protagonist who is unlikable and remorseless. it is full of explorative ideas and hypotheses, is both Nietzschean and righteously zealous in tone, with Pain designated as the only honesty.

i admire its singular vision. for example, many times an image or event of seeming purity and elegance is constructe...more

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Aug 11, 2009

Lori rated it

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I remember reading this in my early 20s and just loving it. Then again, I read Ayn Rand around that time, and loved her too! So I don't know how I'd rate this now. Still, I'm going to give this 4 stars - I don't remember much of the book itself, but I do remember it made a great impression on me at the time, so much so that when I seriously got into astronomy and star-gazing about 10 years ago, one of the first stars I looked for was Arcturus

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Apr 29, 2010

Paddy rated it

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A Voyage To Arcturus or Nightspore on Tormance as Lindsay originally intended is the voyage of the mind to transcendent self-knowledge. Knowledge of the self to the point that the idea of self becomes inadequate.
It is mind blowing.
Lindsay does not write for the lazy reader, if you are not prepared to work at it you will not get anything from his books other than a sense of otherworldliness.
It's worth the effort.

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Jun 03, 2009

Andreas rated it

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Recommends it for: who likes fantasy with a philosophical touch

Recommended to Andreas by: John C. Wright

Shelves: fantasy

This book explores in a very interesting way the meaning of life, love, existence, emotions and the differences between men and women. All this takes place on the fast-changing planet Tormence where people can grow additional organs that help to understand their surrounding.

I like the way how the author plays with different philosophies, how he combines words and how he invents new colors and even a new sex. In the middle of the book I felt a little disoriented and it took me some t...more

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Jan 19, 2011

Gabe Dybing added it · review of another edition

No rating. This is my second time reading it, because I'm teaching portions of it in my Scifi class. I must say, I enjoyed it more this time, now that I'm no longer a Christian who feels impelled to tow the Tolkien/Lewis line in evaluation of this one (without, I now realize, quite understanding what their problem with Lindsay's "worldview" is/was).

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Jul 15, 2008

Jabenami rated it

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Recommended to Jabenami by: C.S. Lewis

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I have always been interested in the rather old school sci-fi, like Lewis's Space Trilogy and such. Back when there was very little character development and the protagonist existed as a vehicle for imagining a world vastly different than our own. Lindsay's book is very much in that vein; an exploration of what it means to be human using aliens. He has the bright idea of creating humanoids with extra sensory organs that mutate throughout the story and are used to explicitly display that which...more

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Dec 11, 2011

Jane Routley rated it

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Shelves: fantasy

As a narrative its not much but what an atmopshere, what an evocative vision, what a trip. Rich and strange. Its been ten years since I read this and I still remember the floating tree. Given to me by a friend who said all fantasy writers should read it.

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Jan 26, 2010

Sophia rated it

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Recommends it for: sci-fi fans

Recommended to Sophia by: my father, my aunt

Shelves: fantasy, spec-fic, sci-fi

A fantastic (I mean this in all senses) early-as-all-get-out sci-fi adventure, so weird and bizarre it easily has a foot in the fantasy genre, too. Definitely shows its age in places (though I think it's safe to say it significantly outpaces its peers) but totally worth it from a historical point of view. A complete joy to read, I looked forward to every page.

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Dec 04, 2008

Sol Smith rated it

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A strange and wonderful book. It's a grim allegorical voyage into what it means to be human. The ambiguity of good and evil is explored deeply. I'm just happy to see that it's back in print.

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Dec 31, 2008

Paul rated it

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An odd book, to be sure, but a fun read. Lindsay uses an odd/poor hook to get the reader to the location of the story, but once there the story gets to be quite engaging.

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Apr 05, 2008

Alene rated it

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Shelves: fiction, sciencefictionfantasy

I read this because of the suggestion that the book might have some similarities or revelations about the TV show LOST. Some of it was interesting, but overall I felt totally confused and the payoff at the end wasn't big enough to justify the read. For a science fiction novel to have so many characters over such a short span, and so many places with no map, it was easy to feel confused. Plus the whole idea is that you never know what is right, what is wrong, who is good, who is bad, etc. and ...more

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About David Lindsay

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Lindsay (1876-1945) was a Scottish author now most famous for the philosophical science fiction novel A Voyage to Arcturus.
Lindsay was born into a middle-class Scottish Calvinist family who had moved to London, tho growing up he spent much time in...moreLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Lindsay (1876-1945) was a Scottish author now most famous for the philosophical science fiction novel A Voyage to Arcturus.
Lindsay was born into a middle-class Scottish Calvinist family who had moved to London, tho growing up he spent much time in Jedburgh, where his family was from. Altho awarded a university scholarship, he was forced by poverty to enter business, becoming a Lloyd's of London insurance clerk. He was very successful but, after serving in WWI, at age forty, he moved to Cornwall with his young wife, Jacqueline Silver, to become a full-time writer. He published A Voyage to Arcturus in 1920. It sold 596 copies before being remaindered. This extremely strange work was not obviously influenced by anyone, but further reading shows links with other Scottish fantasists (e.g., Geo. MacDonald). It was in its turn a central influence on C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet.
Lindsay attempted to write more commercially with his next work The Haunted Woman (1922), but this was barely more successful than Voyage. He continued writing novels, including the humorous potboiler The Adventures of Monsieur de Mailly, but after Devil's Tor in 1932 he found publication increasingly difficult & spent much time on his last work The Witch, published posthumously.
He & his wife opened a Brighton boarding house. They did not prosper & their marriage underwent considerable strain. The house was damaged by the first bomb to fall on Brighton in WWII. In his bath at the time, Lindsay never recovered from the shock. His death from infection caused by a tooth abscess was unrelated to the bomb.
A Voyage to Arcturus has been described as the major underground novel of the 20th century. The secret of Lindsay's apparent strangeness lies in his metaphysical assumptions. A gnostic, he viewed the "real" world as an illusion which must be rejected in order to perceive genuine truth. In The Haunted Woman, the two main characters discover a room which exists only some of the time. Together there they see more clearly & express themselves honestly. In The Violet Apple, the fruit is that eaten by Adam & Eve. The description of its effects is a startling, lyrical episode in a novel otherwise concerned with ordinary matters.
Lindsay's austere vision of reality may have been influenced by Scandinavian mythology. After being out of print for decades, his work has become increasingly available. He is now seen as being a major Scottish fantasist of the 20th century, the missing link between George Macdonald, & modern writers such as Alasdair Gray who have also used surrealism & magic realism. Arcturus was produced as a 35mm feature film by William J. Holloway in 1971. It was the first film funded by a National Endowment for the Arts & has recently been re-released. Harold Bloom has also been interested, even obsessed, with Lindsay's life & career, going as far as to publish The Flight to Lucifer, which he thought of as a Bloomian misprision, an homage & deep revision of Arcturus. Bloom admits his late-comer imitation is overwhelmed by Lindsay's great original.

Bibliography:
A Voyage to Arcturus, 1920
The Haunted Woman, 1922
Sphinx, 1923
The Adventures of Monsieur de Mailly, 1926
Devil's Tor, 1932
The Violet Apple & The Witch, 1976
A Christmas Play, 2003

Further reading:
The Strange Genius of David Lindsay: An Appreciation by J. B. Pick, E. H. Visiak & Colin Wilson, 1970
The Life & Works of David Lindsay by Bernard Sellin, 1983
David Lindsay's Vision by David Power, 2005(less)

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