A Voyage to Arcturus is
a 1920 fantasy novel by David Lindsay. Here, the adventuresome Maskull travels
to another planet, where he undertakes a journey of psychological and spiritual
exploration.
A Voyage to Arcturus
doesn’t have a plot in the manner a typical novel does; it proceeds much more
along the lines of something like Bunyan’s The
Pilgrim’s Progress. Maskull travels methodically from one character to the
next, giving each a chance to present and discuss his or her worldview. This focus
on ideas is how the book is intended to be read, and if done otherwise, Maskull
becomes a horrific serial killer of people rather than of philosophies.
Yet this is still a novel, and the philosophical focus
(which boils down to a peculiar sort of mystic Calvinist Gnosticism) becomes overbearing.
Pillars of storytelling (such as character development) are generally neglected,
and pacing is excluded in favor of the many lengthy conversations, which are
profound only to the characters. The reader may well feel that there’s little real
substance to the work.
If A Voyage to
Arcturus is worth reading, it’s because of Lindsay’s wonderfully imaginative
descriptions (most people familiar with this book already know the influence it
had on C. S. Lewis’s science fiction trilogy). Linday’s depiction of all things
sensory is masterful, and includes such feats as the compelling presentation of
new colors. It’s extremely impressive, if not sufficient to carry the book
along.
So then, while it is not particularly interesting either as
a story or a work of philosophy, A Voyage
to Arcturus not without substantial merit. But it’s certainly not for
everyone.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
