Hello, as announced the Illuminatus! Trilogy continues the coming weeks, courtsy of blogspot letting me schedule. We're getting ever deeper into the thick of it but then we've only just begun.
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The three parts of the trilogy are subdivided into five "books" named after the five seasons of the Discordian calendar (Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, The Aftermath). This book is not designed to be easy to digest. You are not meant to internalize its message thoughtlessly. It's funny, contradictory, and self-aware, and it's hard for people who take themselves seriously to get caught up in a book that, for the most part, doesn't. I could say this book deserves to be more than a cult classic, its cultural influence will continue to seep in with or without grander acclaim.
The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself.
The Illuminatus ! Trilogy was performed by the incomparable Ken Campbell and Chris Fairbank, and broadcast live in London on ResonanceFM in June 2006. In 1976, Ken Campbell adapted Illuminatus! for the stage - a 10 hour epic which went on to open the Royal National Theatre in London under the patronage of Her Majesty Elizabeth II. Chris Fairbank played Simon Moon, among other characters. 30 years and 23 Fernando Poos since Ken and Chris first breathed life into Shea and Wilson's masterpiece and Illuminatus! seems even more startlingly relevant and chock full of laughter than ever before. Enjoy the Trips!
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The trilogy's rambling story begins with an investigation by two New York City detectives (Saul Goodman and Barney Muldoon) into the bombing of Confrontation, a leftist magazine, and the disappearance of its editor, Joe Malik. Discovering the magazine's investigation into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., the two follow a trail of memos that suggest the involvement of powerful secret societies. They slowly become drawn into a web of conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, the magazine's reporter, George Dorn — having been turned loose without support deep in right-wing Mad Dog, Texas — is arrested for drug possession. He is jailed and physically threatened, at one point hallucinating about his own execution. The prison is bombed and he is rescued by the Discordians, led by the enigmatic Hagbard Celine, captain of a golden submarine. Hagbard represents the Discordians in their eternal battle against the Illuminati, the conspiratorial organization that secretly controls the world. He finances his operations by smuggling illicit substances.
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The Eye In The Pyramid, Discord, Chessed 4th Trip (pt 1) (85 min, 19mb)
4-01 Chessed (28:30)
4-02 Mohawk Nation (20:07)
4-03 Deduce A Deduction(36:30)
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thank you.
ReplyDeleteOne of the funniest thin I have ever read.
It's nice to see others enjoyed it too.John