The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan

I read two out of the three books. I used to listen to all three audio books in bed before going to sleep. I am somewhat addicted to nonfiction conspiracy theories and Robert Anton Wilson is a great conspiracy theory storyteller. This is a classic fiction book that makes light of the often gloomy world of conspiracy.

This book has aged well. Good characters and a fun read. Hits very different now with today's conspiracies compared to when I first read it late 80s / early 90s.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a pretty weird book, even by postmodern conventions. The narrative jumps back and forth between 3rd person and any given character without warning. There are quite a few plot threads, and the transitions between these threads are practically nonexistent; nothing is really there to signify a change in scene, and sometimes one thread even jumps to another mid-sentence. Oh, and there are tons of characters, many of whom make low-key entrances only to show up again much later in the story. If this all makes Illuminatus! sound similar to Gravity's Rainbow, don't worry, the former is considerably easier to digest. Whereas Pynchon uses his vast wealth of knowledge to go off on tangents and add more historical background to any given event than what might be necessary (don't get me wrong, though, his books are very entertaining in their own way), Shea and Wilson essentially poke fun at all the insane (and not-so-insane) facts they dig up. Of course, half of these "facts" were made up, but that's where Illuminatus! really shines as an example of what postmodern literature can accomplish. It is, to put it one way, the Skeptic's Bible, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, good job for noticing. Illuminatus! is filled with contradictions and outright lies, although unlike certain books that claim to be historically and factually accurate but are really not, the trilogy goes out of its way to make the reader question what he/she is reading. There is, of course, a lot of true information scattered throughout the book, and it becomes obvious that Shea and Wilson put a great amount of research and insight into writing this, but for every true story there are at least two false leads, two red herrings. Truly it doesn't take long to get why—for about 15 years—Illuminatus! was the quintessential work of conspiracy fiction, and the best part is that the book has so much fun with the genre; nowadays we're used to reading conspiracy thrillers that take themselves too seriously, but Illuminatus! satirizes such novels before they even became as famous as they are now. Not only that, but the trilogy takes shots at too many groups, individuals, and ideologies to count, but here are some notable examples: conservatives, communists, socialists, libertarians, feminists, Christians, cops, politicians, hippies, racists, not-racists, Satanists, spies, drug dealers, drug takers, prudes, college professors, the book itself... Illuminatus! is arguably one the greatest philosophical novels ever written; it has a stance, sure, but it pulls the reader in numerous directions by presenting different philosophies. It then has the audacity to ask the reader, "Do you believe that?" Governments and authority figures as a whole get criticized, sometimes vehemently, but Shea and Wilson clearly had a message they felt needed to get out there, and even though the trilogy was first published back in 1975, its anti-authoritarian message still holds up today. In the post-Patriot Act United States, some of what happens in this book is eerily prophetic, and many of the socio-political issues being faced today were going on over 40 years ago. History repeats? I suspect that the more whacked-out portions of the book are Wilson's writing, although the man himself said that it's hard to tell who wrote what for the most part. The fact that this was written by two authors with differing writing styles and backgrounds and yet feels surprisingly cohesive for such a long and unwieldy tome is something to be praised, I think. 800 pages and I still feel like there wasn't quite enough to take in; it felt like we could be stuck in this huge fun-house of a book for a few hundred more pages. Of course, there was much more material written than ultimately published—about 500 pages were cut from the final product—but I kinda wish we eventually get an unabridged edition of the trilogy. Probably never gonna happen, though. Hail Eris!

I love this book so far. I’m about halfway thru and it’s very entertaining. My only complaint is that there are too many characters, and the book switches back and forth between different characters so frequently it’s hard to keep track of who you’re reading for. But it’s still worth 4 stars i feel.

Other reviews address the content, significance, imagination etc. No one else has mentioned this yet, but I am most impressed with just the in-depth quality of the writing craft itself, once you get past some strange quirks, like the sudden jumps among different first- and third-person perspectives. Parts of it might read as if they are just "stream of consciousness", but they were certainly not all just streamed out that way onto the page, without significant work ... when you step back, and look at the assembling/disassembling/re-assembling of so many intricate parts, into a twisted non-Euclidean curved pyramidal whole, the craft and work involved is quite impressive. Also having "been there" a few times, many years ago, I can say that their vivid verbal portrayals, of some extremely emotional psychedelic hallucinogenic schizoid states, are right on. (ignoring the actual content of the specific trip, I mean, just focusing on the verbal portrayal of the emotional state, it reads like something out of my own long-ago experiences, except that they are much better writers than I could hope to be, they actually managed to get it written down in words, in a reasonably effective way!) Plus, so many of the characters etc. are familiar from my youth, it is a huge nostalgia trip for me too, a nice ride through familiar old stomping grounds of my youth. That is, back around then, circa 1972, I was a 12-year old pre-pubescent H.P.Lovecraft freak, Abbie Hoffman freak, science fiction freak, etc., had a crazy mother totally into Atlantis and all that fernando POO, and at the same time also had friends in the neighborhood, who were into Aleister Crowley, Anton LaVey Satanism, etc. Consequently I knew a lot more about the Satanic Bible, for instance, than I ever did about any of the Christian/Jewish mis-translations. So, it's like, the story of my tribe, it's like I could have been a very minor character, in the book. And there are a lot of us wandering around, still dazed & confused out here somewhere at least in the back of our minds .... so I see, this book is for US. This is a book I SHOULD have read, back then when it was new. But that's OK, I lived it instead... and the book is still a great read, even today, over 30 years later.

Illuminatus! is pershaps one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. The combination of occultism, anarchism, and outright wierdness carries the reader through the most bizzare conspiracy theory ever dreamt of. This book will make you laugh, rage, and probably cause you to become a bit paranoid. The story, or stories, hinge around a search for the truth about the Illuminati, a worldwide conspiracy that has apparently existed for centuries. Wilson complied 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. That is, of course, the point. Wilson is out to blow your mind. Professional cynics, who delight in nay-saying the creativity of others without producing anything of their own as an alternative, will find the book sentimental and a bit silly. For those with truly open minds, however, the Illuminatus Trilogy will be a book to read many times over. There is enough subtlety to keep you as busy as a thorough reading of Finnegan's Wake. The hidden messages and allusions seem to multiply each time you read. You may even see the Fnords!

. . . but like every cat knows, a tangled ball of string can be a LOT of fun--especially if it's been spruced up with catnip. For me, "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" came across as a crazy mix of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS meets NEAL STEPHENSON meets PHILIP K DICK, a main topic of conspiracies and a writing style that JAMES JOYCE would approve of. There are lots of characters in this book (35, according to the appendix), but not all of them are major and not all of them are even human! Take for example the squirrel at the beginning of the novel and the well-loved Howard the Dolphin who loves improv poetry. On the human side, my favorite character was Fusion Chips, a character loosely modeled after JAMES BOND. Unfortunately, I found it hard to connect with many of the characters because the storyline bounces all over the place. One paragraph you might be reading about character A in the "present", only to find yourself reading the next about character B 20 years later (and historically speaking, that character should be dead--OR ARE THEY?!). So now the question may be: What drives one to finish an 800 page book that's as scatter-brained as this one? To me, it's because the main topic is conspiracies--and who doesn't like to hear a few of those every now and then? The two authors discuss everything, from who really shot JFK (most hilarious!) to Aleister Crowley to HP Lovecraft to hidden meanings in numbers to dollar-bill symbolism to Atlantis and to secret organizations. If that doesn't whet your appetite, you're probably not going to make it through this book. I felt the novel started off strong, lagged a bit in the middle (except the parts with Howard the Dolphin), but finished strong with a very fitting ending. Even after the book is done, there are pages of appendices with even more thought-provoking information for your mind to try and pick apart as "true" or "false"--if your brain is still intact enough after having read everything else. Definitely not for everyone, but for those that are up to the challenge it can be a fun trip.

Parts of this left me breathless and turning the pages faster and faster. Other parts had me reading the same page more than once because it took me backwards or forwards or stuck me to the same thoughts once again. I have never read an author who writes in this style. Despite occasionally getting confused, I still couldn't put the darn thing down! I just had to find out what happened next! I loved it and plan on reading it again in a few months.

Weird words weird story weird characters. Almost impossible to follow but engaging and gripping at the same time.

O fundamento da cultura conspiratória norte-americana e o principal trabalho discordiano depois do Principia Discordia. Uma verdadeira obra prima.

Lo consiglio a chi è appassionato di fantapolitica, esoterismo e avventura. Un viaggio magistralmente guidato dagli autori, che ho molti anni fa letto nella traduzione italiana sviluppata attraverso 3 volumi e pubblicato nel nostro Paese da Shake e di cui purtroppo mi manca il Leviatano, (prestato e non più ritornato). Quale migliore occasione di riaverlo in lingua originale per gustarne la trama e migliorare il mio inglese? Per me un capolavoro che non può mancare nella libreria di casa.

There is a lot going on in these volumes.

So happy to find the book. I can never find it at the big book stores or used book store. I read it it my early 20s and lent it to a friend. Big mistake, but so happy to have another copy