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A Distillate of Heresy
A document is missing from a chamber hidden deep within the heart of the embassy. We cannot hope to find it, but must seek it all the same. In our search for the unattainable, we come across a book containing 4 stories, keys for which there are no locks, unfathomable oracles beneath the icy stars.
The stories reveal images as perplexing as they are illuminating. A woman gains illicit access to a penthouse in the depth of winter and finds within its hidden recesses the keys to unspeakable mysteries. A ceremonial initiation is brutally interrupted, plunging the initiate into uncharted waters. The subtle alteration of a map affects a shift of boundaries, revealing forbidden permutations in the architecture of the invisible. A relic which resides in an impossible place finds expression in the dreams and memories of an enthusiast.
Our investigations will take us beneath the royal star in the heart of the scorpion, deep into occupied territory, and into the inexplicable topology of an old hotel. The narratives, like drops of poison, will threaten to corrupt the soul. But in corruption is found new life. In putrefaction, we hope to germinate a seed: the concentrated distillate of heresy.
Limited to 85 numbered exemplars only, lithographically printed, hand-sewn binding, illustrated dustjacket, silk bookmark, illustrated endpapers, frontispiece.
The stories reveal images as perplexing as they are illuminating. A woman gains illicit access to a penthouse in the depth of winter and finds within its hidden recesses the keys to unspeakable mysteries. A ceremonial initiation is brutally interrupted, plunging the initiate into uncharted waters. The subtle alteration of a map affects a shift of boundaries, revealing forbidden permutations in the architecture of the invisible. A relic which resides in an impossible place finds expression in the dreams and memories of an enthusiast.
Our investigations will take us beneath the royal star in the heart of the scorpion, deep into occupied territory, and into the inexplicable topology of an old hotel. The narratives, like drops of poison, will threaten to corrupt the soul. But in corruption is found new life. In putrefaction, we hope to germinate a seed: the concentrated distillate of heresy.
Limited to 85 numbered exemplars only, lithographically printed, hand-sewn binding, illustrated dustjacket, silk bookmark, illustrated endpapers, frontispiece.
- GenresOccult
141 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 27, 2015
I'm not convinced a hastily penned GoodReads review can really do this book justice, but it really deserves something more than a clickety click on the five stars, so here's some hasty thoughts on a book that is best to savor slowly...
I've only read one Damian Murphy tale before and that was his story in the excellent multi-author anthology, also by Ex Occidente/Zagava, called Infra Noir: it being one of the highlights of the collection. Well, this collection of four longish short stories (novellas/novelettes?) did not disappoint. As far as I'm aware these two books represent the entirety of Damian Murphy's output to date and apart from these works I know nothing more about him, other than I'm eager to read more.
To cut to the chase, A Distillate of Heresy is as fine a book as I have ever read. The prose is prose-poetry of the finest artistry. Like many of the locales found in these stories the prose is opulent and decadent, beautifully detailed and utterly delicious, ornate but never ostentatious - this book is a pleasure to read. The imagery of its descriptions are hallucinatory, but never inappropriately weird or out of place... Nothing jars the senses – reading Distillate was a totally immersive experience – which is saying something because while reading it reality did it’s best to distract me... I advise reading it slowly, even aloud. As a read I genuinely found it an ecstatic experience.
The tales themselves are of the decadent tradition. The characters are all to a greater or lesser degree Gnostic seekers... searching for a way beneath the veil... Each of them drawn on a metaphysical journey with some supernatural strangeness... Each tale is positively dripping in the occult. Murphy layers his tales with just the right amount of occult references to add a authentic texture of forbidden lore to the proceedings... I lack the expertise to know if these references are all the product of his own private researches and a deep interest in magick or if he knows just enough to fool the uninitiated reader into a state of belief... But he certainly gives the impression of knowing is occult onions.
Like the journey of our heroes (such a better word than protagonists) literature takes me on a similar journey A Distillate of Heresy is a perfect example... It’s symbolism resonates within me echoes of things lying just outside of my conscious awareness... An linear explanation as to why it is so great lies just out of reach and if you asked me what the stories are "about" then I would struggle to say anything less vague than they’re about seeking something beyond this material existence – be it heaven, hell or oblivion... And I’d be content to leave it at that... I don’t seek to explain, just accept. This book evoked in me more of a feeling than a thought... It really reminds me that in this reductive material culture it is only really literature that can flutter the edges of our veil and produce a spiritual ecstasy...At least for me.
Or, more succinctly, as Theodora says in the third tale ‘The Scourge of the Sanctuary’: “The fictions we partake of, as wit the fictions we create, bear consequences for each of us that lie beyond the understanding and control of their authors.” Yes, I partook and the consequences still lie beyond me... Which is as it should be.
This for me is why A Distillate of Heresy is the best book of 2014. An edition of a mere 85 (mine is 42) makes this literary gem a very precious thing indeed. Its scarcity seems somehow appropriate, as it’s unlikely to have the broadest appeal in the world, but for those with a similar predisposition for poetic prose and literary explorations under the veil this is going to be priceless.
I've only read one Damian Murphy tale before and that was his story in the excellent multi-author anthology, also by Ex Occidente/Zagava, called Infra Noir: it being one of the highlights of the collection. Well, this collection of four longish short stories (novellas/novelettes?) did not disappoint. As far as I'm aware these two books represent the entirety of Damian Murphy's output to date and apart from these works I know nothing more about him, other than I'm eager to read more.
To cut to the chase, A Distillate of Heresy is as fine a book as I have ever read. The prose is prose-poetry of the finest artistry. Like many of the locales found in these stories the prose is opulent and decadent, beautifully detailed and utterly delicious, ornate but never ostentatious - this book is a pleasure to read. The imagery of its descriptions are hallucinatory, but never inappropriately weird or out of place... Nothing jars the senses – reading Distillate was a totally immersive experience – which is saying something because while reading it reality did it’s best to distract me... I advise reading it slowly, even aloud. As a read I genuinely found it an ecstatic experience.
The tales themselves are of the decadent tradition. The characters are all to a greater or lesser degree Gnostic seekers... searching for a way beneath the veil... Each of them drawn on a metaphysical journey with some supernatural strangeness... Each tale is positively dripping in the occult. Murphy layers his tales with just the right amount of occult references to add a authentic texture of forbidden lore to the proceedings... I lack the expertise to know if these references are all the product of his own private researches and a deep interest in magick or if he knows just enough to fool the uninitiated reader into a state of belief... But he certainly gives the impression of knowing is occult onions.
Like the journey of our heroes (such a better word than protagonists) literature takes me on a similar journey A Distillate of Heresy is a perfect example... It’s symbolism resonates within me echoes of things lying just outside of my conscious awareness... An linear explanation as to why it is so great lies just out of reach and if you asked me what the stories are "about" then I would struggle to say anything less vague than they’re about seeking something beyond this material existence – be it heaven, hell or oblivion... And I’d be content to leave it at that... I don’t seek to explain, just accept. This book evoked in me more of a feeling than a thought... It really reminds me that in this reductive material culture it is only really literature that can flutter the edges of our veil and produce a spiritual ecstasy...At least for me.
Or, more succinctly, as Theodora says in the third tale ‘The Scourge of the Sanctuary’: “The fictions we partake of, as wit the fictions we create, bear consequences for each of us that lie beyond the understanding and control of their authors.” Yes, I partook and the consequences still lie beyond me... Which is as it should be.
This for me is why A Distillate of Heresy is the best book of 2014. An edition of a mere 85 (mine is 42) makes this literary gem a very precious thing indeed. Its scarcity seems somehow appropriate, as it’s unlikely to have the broadest appeal in the world, but for those with a similar predisposition for poetic prose and literary explorations under the veil this is going to be priceless.
November 15, 2016
This book materializes a famed statement by Julio Cortazar: in a novel, you can win by point decisions; in a short-story, the victory is only possible by knockout.
February 28, 2015
Sublime.
January 21, 2021
I will not itemise the happenings and visions of this last section vis-a-vis the characters, but it is a satisfying ending to this novella and to the whole book, as if, all this time, we have been inescapably negotiating an intriguing role-play at many levels of situation and self, scaling several Houses, Mansions of the Mineral or the Moon, a gnostic game, toward this final Citadel, after combining door codes and matters occult and Occult.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews