The Illuminatus! Trilogy

[Martin]

Couldn't find this book in the Library-section, so I thought I'd put my review here for the time being. Please comment, if you are so inclined, and if not ..well .. I'll live. Here's my review:

*** *** *** ***

I've read this behemoth of a book twice now, and it still amazes me just how complex and epic it is; Robert Wilson and Robert Shea have, for our reading pleasure, built themselves an alternate reality so recognisable and believable that you'll find yourself buying into their version of historical events more often than not. Imagine a world in which all the conspiracy theories are true, and you get the very bizarre alternate universe of the Illuminatus! Trilogy.

The blurb:

Filled with sex and violence--in and out of time and space--the three books of The Illuminatus are only partly works of the imagination. They tackle all the coverups of our time--from who really shot the Kennedys to why there's a pyramid on a one-dollar bill.

I won't even try to summarise this one.

So, what are we talking about here? Is this trilogy a fantasy, a treatise, a cosmic romp, or the stream of consciousness meanderings of two madmen? The only logical answer to all these questions is 'yes'. Wilson and Shea, in their only collaboration, clearly have a great time grabbing conspiracies, numerology, science, pseudoscience, and practically everything else they can get their minds around and throw it into one huge meltingpot. The writing is lively, outrageous, and funny, but the details and cross references of ideas means that one should take the time to read these books when there are few distractions.

I assume this trilogy was published as three seperate books at first, but I strongly advise you to read it all in one go. The full reading of this epic novel forces the reader to assimilate such a complex amalgamation of diverse and conflicting, subtly interacting currents of thought and action that it would seem that no imaginable position is left unsatirised; because underneath the thick layer of postmodernism and gimmicky narratives it is the satire that stand out in the end.

The story, or stories, hinge around a search for the truth about the Illuminati, a worldwide conspiracy that has apparently existed for centuries (or have they?). Wilson compiled a great deal of information, as well as tid bits from letters sent to him by crazies, when he was working as the letters editor at Playboy magazine. The result is a book that leaves you wondering where fact ends and satire begins, and that is, of course, the point. Wilson is out to blow your mind.

Whether you love it or hate it, your intellectual and humourous juices will flow. Wilson and Shea never set out to answer anything, only to question everything. The subversion questions "upright morality" but spins around to question itself before long. The book contradicts itself gloriously, and gives a near-perfect mixture of high thought, low camp, and pure optically-absorbed LSD.

The whole point is summed up in the line from the painting on Hagbard's wall in the yellow (well, golden) submarine: "Think for yourself, schmuck!"

An excellent read.

*** *** *** ***

Cheers

 

[Sell Sword]

Hey...I actually read The Earth Will Shake by Robert Anton Wilson (The Historical Illiuminatus Chronicles -- Book 1). Never could find any further novels in the series. It was pretty good and a much-needed departure from my normal genre of reading at the time. I'm not sure if this is the same series or just related to it.

 

[Martin]

He has writen many books on the Illuminati (of which I've only read this trilogy); go to amazon and type in his name - the most hits you'll find will have something or other to do with the Illuminati.

Turns out there's even a sequel to The Illuminati! Trilogy, which carries the utterly fascinating title of The Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy. As of this afternoon that one's added to my to-buy-list!

Cheers

 

[Øystein]

I have the Schroedinger's Cat trilogy omnibus, and while I've not read it yet, there's absolutely nothing about it that suggests it's connected with the Illuminatus! trilogy except similar artwork. It's got a pretty funny opening though.

I read the Illuminatus! omnibus last summer, and I too found it to be a ton of fun. Many people tend to cast it aside as something that's great when you're thirteen, but not worth wasting your time on when you've grown up, but I found it to be a great romp. Sure, I didn't really get much out of it beyond pure entertainment, but I had a great time with it nevertheless. I tend to hate conspiracy theories and found the way the novels kept adding more and more layers of them, showing how utterly ridiculous they are, to be very pleasing. Of course, it's hamfisted, but that's sort of the point anyways, though on reading interviews with Robert Anton Wilson I can't help but wonder if he really does believe in some of those things or not. I did sort of feel the third book peetered out a bit once it got to the big music festival and nazi army. It's like they clamped the story together so it could reach some sort of conclusion despite all the haphazard lines being thrown out all over the place. I might admittedly be partly biased, because I was expecting to have eighty pages left when the book suddenly ended on me and the appendices started. Pissed me right off.

Between my music collection and liking books like this, I really ought to be a woozy druggie.
You might want to listen to Nardwuar's interview with Robert Anton Wilson at http://nardwuar.com/vs/robert_anton_wilson/

 

[Martin]

Thanks for the link!

On Schrodinger - I never knew it was connected either, until I read a customer's review on Amazon today, which claimed that it was its sequel. And we all know how reliable those customer's reviews are!

On Illuminatus! - Yeah, the 80 pages worth of appendices kind of annoyed me too, but I did enjoy the book, though, even the last one. Great, great fun, and really a massive headtrip, too.

Cheers

 

[direstraits]

Thanks Martin, for the review. Seems like an interesting book.

The only logical question to all these questions is 'yes'.

Uhm... just wanted to point out that it's supposed to be "The only logical answer to all these questions is 'yes'."

Hey, it's supposed to be review, isn't it?

ds

 

[Martin]

Edited.

Cheers

 

[pertolote23]

have read the Illuminatus! just recently. found a love for Robert Anton Wilson while at University... sitting on the steps of the liberal arts building. go figure.
my favorite of his is Cosmic Trigger. this book, i think, dispells and affirms many of the concepts and philosophies presented in Illuminatus! without so much clutter strung about the plot.
to this day one of my favorite books. any Illuminatus! fan should definitely give it a go!
a

 

[Chixulub]

have read the Illuminatus! just recently. found a love for Robert Anton Wilson while at University... sitting on the steps of the liberal arts building. go figure.
my favorite of his is Cosmic Trigger. this book, i think, dispells and affirms many of the concepts and philosophies presented in Illuminatus! without so much clutter strung about the plot.
to this day one of my favorite books. any Illuminatus! fan should definitely give it a go!
a

I'll have to look for that, I keep meaning to follow up and read more of both Shea and Wilson's output.

'Illuminatus!,' to me is the ultimate book of the 1960s (I know, it was published in the 1970s). It's turgid and convoluted, and maybe the time of life when I read it colors my judgment too much, but I love it.

I read it in the early 1990s while working on the staff of a hard-right underground newspaper. When you publish a libertarian/conservative tabloid you draw the freaks out big time. John Birchers, survivalists of various stripes, neo-Trotskyites, white supremacists, Black Muslims, etc.

Basically while I was reading that book I was encountering people who believed in at least two or three of the weirder conspiracy theories contained therein. And who maybe had one or two to add to the list, though I think the 'Illuminatus!' takes in all of the ones that were circulating by 1970 or so.

The biggest shock to a guy who grew up in sheltered suburban liberal surrounds was how many right-wing maniacs were 60's guys who fell out of love with the state and started looking for a market-based Utopia. And the fact that there were still people who believed flouridation of the water supply was at the root of several evils.

 

[pertolote23]

I think Illuminatus! struck me in much the same way... being from a right-wing, clerical, military family. Shea and Wilson rocked my little world, never to be the same again. Much gratitude. Wilson also has a very nice website. rawilson.com

anyway... here's a conspiracy for you. the builderbergers. its all their fault.
a

 

[KyleHause]

I've tried on two different ocassions to get through that. I find it very dificult. However, I love Robert Anton Wilson. I also found that Shroedinger's Cat was a lot easier to understand than the Illuminatus! Trillogy. I had forgotten about it since last summer. But, I think after reading your praise that I'll have to try once more.

 

[Chixulub]

I've tried on two different ocassions to get through that. I find it very dificult. However, I love Robert Anton Wilson. I also found that Shroedinger's Cat was a lot easier to understand than the Illuminatus! Trillogy. I had forgotten about it since last summer. But, I think after reading your praise that I'll have to try once more.

The 'Illuminatus! Trilogy' is definitely not light fare. The first hundred pages were hard for me to stick with, and nowadays I won't stick it out that long for a payback. I don't care if a book won a Pulitzer or National Book Award, if I'm not enchanted, intrigued, or at least entertained by the first twenty to thirty pages, I'm gone. The 'to read' stack is just too tall.

That said, the next seven hundred pages (or whatever it was, I sent my copy to the soldiers in Iraq and need to replace it, it could have been more like 1000 pages, but I think it was about an 800 page trade pb) were awesome int he literal since of that word. A great combination of mind-blowing deconstructions of urban myths, wives tales, and conspiracy theories, coupled with incredible wit and riotous humor. It's the exception where the joke is worth the long setup.

I've been procrastinating on 'Gravity's Rainbow' a while now, though from what I hear, it's a similarly rewarding book. To find other books I'd rank with 'Illuminatus!' I find myself heading to the Pynchon section, really. 'Mason & Dixon,' 'V.,' and DeLillo's 'Underworld' are books I'd say scratch the same itch, albeit with some big differences in approach. Oh, and SG Jones' 'Fast Red Road.' If you liked 'FRR,' I'd aver you'd like 'Illuminatus!.'