Aegypt (Bantam Spectra Book)
by John Crowley
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 193)
Read in April, 2008
There is more than one history of the world - or so John Crowley says repeatedly in Aegypt (original titled The Solitudes, apparently), the first in a four-book series.
I have to admit, I almost didn't make it through. The first 1/3 of the book is sloooow and pretentious. I hate leaving books unfinished, though, so I plowed ahead. Once Crowley finishes laying out his thesis and starts moving along, it gets better. Still so very pretentious, but better.
It skips back and forth and up and ...more
I have to admit, I almost didn't make it through. The first 1/3 of the book is sloooow and pretentious. I hate leaving books unfinished, though, so I plowed ahead. Once Crowley finishes laying out his thesis and starts moving along, it gets better. Still so very pretentious, but better.
It skips back and forth and up and ...more
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Read in December, 2007
I eagerly approached this book on the recommendation of a couple of friends. However, Aegypt wasn't all that I hoped it would be. The main character, Pierce Moffett, is a history professor who discovers the symbolic and mythological underpinnings of the history that he has studied for so long. He becomes fascinated by Hermetics and the works of Dee and Bruno. The portions of the book dedicated to Moffett's exploration of these subjects are excellen...more
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Read in November, 2007
I came across the last book in this series and it sounded really interesting, so I dug up the first book, this book, and looked forward to it. All I can say is that it is a major letdown. Neat idea, or captivating at least, but poor execution. It felt like it took three-hundred pages just to get the story to start and that was at the end. The historical fiction parts were boring. It all fits together, and I think the reader is supposed to have this moment when they realize that the book the...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
Everyone
Possibly the most formative book I've ever read. The main character, Pierce Moffat, feels so familiar to me that it was easy for Crowley's brilliant prose to influence how I saw the world.
Often compared to Robertson Davies in his use of history and sense of detail, Crowley actually leaves the old master behind with the sheer world-cracking scope of the piece.
Intellectually demanding, but rewarding beyond belief.
This is the beginning of a four book series which was completed this year and ...more
Often compared to Robertson Davies in his use of history and sense of detail, Crowley actually leaves the old master behind with the sheer world-cracking scope of the piece.
Intellectually demanding, but rewarding beyond belief.
This is the beginning of a four book series which was completed this year and ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I had to send it back due to inter-library loan, and I don't know when I'll ever find another copy. : (
Having now finished this book, I no longer want to read the rest of the series. Parts of it I really enjoyed, but unfortunately Crowley utilized the technique in which an author attempts to weave multiple story lines simultaneously with meh results.
I give this a pass. And yes, I gave it three starts for the bits I liked and the joy of interlibrary loans.
Having now finished this book, I no longer want to read the rest of the series. Parts of it I really enjoyed, but unfortunately Crowley utilized the technique in which an author attempts to weave multiple story lines simultaneously with meh results.
I give this a pass. And yes, I gave it three starts for the bits I liked and the joy of interlibrary loans.
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This is strange, lovely and creeps up on you.Everything in this text is hypersaturated with magic and like Little, Big it all unfolds slowly and beautifully.
I might be silly (or intertextual) to use a Simpsons quote in a review like this, but John Crowley's book "makes me think of a song I can't quite remember in a place I may never have been."
I think that sums it up--I'm homesick for the Faraway Hills and I've never been there. Or maybe I have.
I might be silly (or intertextual) to use a Simpsons quote in a review like this, but John Crowley's book "makes me think of a song I can't quite remember in a place I may never have been."
I think that sums it up--I'm homesick for the Faraway Hills and I've never been there. Or maybe I have.
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I believe this book is now called Solitudes and the series, of which this is the first, is called Aegypt. (The other three are Love and Sleep, Daemonamania, and Endless Things.) A very interesting take on history and the importance of the past on the present. Hard to explain in a short review, but absolutely worth the read. And now you won't have to wait the 20 years it has taken for him to write all four!
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Hardcore Crowley Fans
Wow. This book was long. And the characters slightly less likable than I had hoped. Nevertheless I don't mind the slow burn if there is some kind of payoff... which there wasn't... because come to find out this is book 1 of a multi book set. And the others are not availble on Audible. Also: suffers from being read by the author; love his writing, not so much his cadence.
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Read in August, 2007
This book will blow your noodle with its investigation into the notion that the world was once totally different than it now is, and that it was possible, during a time, to actually make lead into gold and build a perpetual motion machine. Alas, that knowledge is now lost for good and can never be recovered. Crazy shit.
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Read in March, 2008
It was way too much work to get into the story. I was several chapters in and had very little idea what was being layed out, to the point that I lost interest. Few books do that to me. His over-worked prose-ish vocabulary and phrasing didn't help. I guess I need my literary entertainment to hit me a little more directly.
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Read in May, 2006
This series is like a best friend. I forget how much I love it and how much of myself I wrapped around it until I go back and open my eyes to its familiarity. I will write a real review someday (perhaps when I finish the series) but for now I don't really have words just warm feelings! Amazing…
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Read in July, 2008
This was a maddening book, But I reserve the right to change my mind five years or so in the future when I re-read it. The experience reminds me of watching a yacht pass through the locks. So close, but might as well be light years away. There's very little "showing" here, lots of "telling".
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Though the idea of this book and the reviews were intriguing I quit listening to the audio book after a couple of hours. I had a very hard time getting into the story and didn't care to read about the character's many drug induced experiences.
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Aegypt is the first book in Crowley's quartet, about history, or more accurately, histories,intuition, memory, insights and delusions, story of human life, connection between history and individual lives...
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Read in December, 2007
I. Love. John Crowley. Hard to get into, but by the end I coupldn't put it down. J.C. is super hyponotic and weird and obsession starting. Am rushing out to by the second book in the cycle.
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Read in April, 2008
It seems as if he is a brit trying to write as an american. I have heard so much about this series and I am just trying to hold on... to get to something I am curious about...
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Read in September, 2007
Re-reading the first 3, Aegypt (author wanted its title to be Solitudes), Love and Sleep, and Daemonomania as the 4th and last book, Endless Things, has been released.
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Read in November, 2001
Starts very slowly, but gets more and more intriguing. Totally unconventional fantasy. There are no dragons or enchanted swords in this one.
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Read in March, 2008
I said goddamn, this book starts out really, really slow. I am about two slow chapters away from returning it to the library.
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