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| Another included concept is that of ''immanentizing the ]'', a catch-phrase meaning "bring about the end of the world" or "create heaven on earth" derived from a quotation in the works of ]. In the book it is taken to symbolize a plot for mass ] to release "life-energy" enough to bring eternal life to, among others, ]. | Another included concept is that of ''immanentizing the ]'', a catch-phrase meaning "bring about the end of the world" or "create heaven on earth" derived from a quotation in the works of ]. In the book it is taken to symbolize a plot for mass ] to release "life-energy" enough to bring eternal life to, among others, ]. | ||
| All views of reality ever mentionned in the book is self-derided in some way, and then the opposite view is derided too, and the fact that the two derided ideas oppose so much as to hide other things from the view of reality. This forces the reader to think about ever-opposing points of view (such as two ever-opposed political parties) to be a meaningless comedy destined to narrow the mind into thinking that there is nothing one can do but vote for the lesser evil(this is to some extent true, and to some extent false). But the alternatives in the book to the two dominant views on any subject are delirant, extremely self-mocking, and entirely unrealistic to a non-hippie. This allows the reader to '''think about''' non-dominant views that are realistic and better than current society but certainly not the ones in the book which are clearly a joke! This avoids the reader ] in the form of unconfortable "hippie" ideas like his daily consumerism and law-abiding as support for a mind-shrinking corporate-manufactured political world. | All views of reality ever mentionned in the book is self-derided in some way, and then the opposite view is derided too, and the fact that the two derided ideas oppose so much as to hide other things from the view of reality. This forces the reader to think about ever-opposing points of view (such as two ever-opposed political parties) to be a meaningless comedy destined to narrow the mind into thinking that there is nothing one can do but vote for the lesser evil(this is to some extent true, and to some extent false). But the alternatives in the book to the two dominant views on any subject are delirant, extremely self-mocking, and entirely unrealistic to a non-hippie. This allows the reader to '''think about''' non-dominant views that are realistic and better than current society but certainly not the ones in the book which are clearly a joke! This avoids the reader ] in the form of unconfortable "hippie" ideas like his daily consumerism and quiet law-abiding as support for a mind-shrinking corporate-manufactured political world. | ||
| The book has many levels to everything, and it is up to you to decide how to be confortable in reading it by choosing which part of the book you think is a joke! | The book has many levels to everything, and it is up to you to decide how to be confortable in reading it by choosing which part of the book you think is a joke! | ||
Revision as of 15:02, 27 June 2004
The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
The books are unashamed hippie paranoia, or perhaps a satire of such paranoia, including many references to Discordianism, the Illuminati, the ∴.∴., and various world domination plans, conspiracy theories and pieces of gnostic knowledge. Many of the odder conspiracies in the book are taken from unpublished letters to Playboy magazine, where the authors were working as associate editors while they wrote the novels.
The three books that make up the trilogy are:
- The Eye in the Pyramid
- The Golden Apple
- Leviathan
The trilogy was later republished in a single volume, minus the "what has gone before" introduction to The Golden Apple; some of the material in that foreword — such as the self-destruct mynah birds — occurs nowhere else in the trilogy, likely a result of the 500 pages cut by the publisher to reduce printing costs on what was seen as a risky venture. These 500 pages were subsequently lost in the mail between Mexico and Los Angeles, although Wilson states that most of the ideas contained therein made it into his later works. Stating that the top secrets of the illuminati the book was meant to expose were cut from the books because the printer decided to trim the number of pages is a joke typical of the trilogy.
The trilogy won the 1986 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
The trilogy's rambling plot begins with the investigation by two New York City detectives (Saul Goodman and Barney Muldoon) of the bombing of a leftist magazine and the disappearance of its editor. Discovering the magazine's investigation into the Kennedy and King assassinations, the two become drawn into a web of conspiracy theories. At the same time, the magazine's reporter George Dorn, turned loose without support in deep right-wing Texas after the bombing, finds himself dragged bodily into the hands of the same conspiratorial organizations. (...)
One of the most well-known conceits in the book is the fnord, a word that the majority of the population had been trained since early childhood to ignore (and of course trained to forget the training, and the fact that they are ignoring it) but also to associate with a vague sense of unease. Fnords are scattered liberally in the text of newpapers and magazines, causing fear and anxiety in those following current events. However, there are no fnords in the advertisements, encouraging a consumerist society.
Another included concept is that of immanentizing the eschaton, a catch-phrase meaning "bring about the end of the world" or "create heaven on earth" derived from a quotation in the works of Eric Voegelin. In the book it is taken to symbolize a plot for mass human sacrifice to release "life-energy" enough to bring eternal life to, among others, Adolf Hitler.
All views of reality ever mentionned in the book is self-derided in some way, and then the opposite view is derided too, and the fact that the two derided ideas oppose so much as to hide other things from the view of reality. This forces the reader to think about ever-opposing points of view (such as two ever-opposed political parties) to be a meaningless comedy destined to narrow the mind into thinking that there is nothing one can do but vote for the lesser evil(this is to some extent true, and to some extent false). But the alternatives in the book to the two dominant views on any subject are delirant, extremely self-mocking, and entirely unrealistic to a non-hippie. This allows the reader to think about non-dominant views that are realistic and better than current society but certainly not the ones in the book which are clearly a joke! This avoids the reader cognitive dissonance in the form of unconfortable "hippie" ideas like his daily consumerism and quiet law-abiding as support for a mind-shrinking corporate-manufactured political world.
The book has many levels to everything, and it is up to you to decide how to be confortable in reading it by choosing which part of the book you think is a joke!
This and other types of HaHaOnlySerious humor as described in the hacker dictionnary fill the Illuminatus series to a level rarely known before(i.e. the only one I can find is Ivanovitch Gurdjieff who wanted his disciples to disagree about his teachings as his main goal to teach disrespect for belief systems where the possible opinions are a very narrow number. Gurdjieff teaches nothing else really important or funny). Taking this kind of humor either completely seriously or completely as a joke(or labeling as a joke the same part of the book as other fans) is generally impossible to the cult following of either Gurdjieff or the Illuminatus! books.
This book may cause an accidental-looking refreshing of your opinions on many topics, but this isn't the goal. The goal seems to be to make the reader think that his new opinion shouldn't be taken too seriously or it would narrow his mind as much as the old one. Fans think this is a masterpiece crafted for this goal or total nonsense as explicitely advertized. Scrap that, fans think this is a masterpiece AND nonsense as advertized. (-;