The Eye in the Pyramid - The Golden Apple

Can you believe? This product of the Discordian Society is taken as the gospel truth by the afar right wingnuts. This is a parody of stupidity and it works on many levels - Political, Religious, Fraternal, and superstitious. Not for the faint at heart - you will laugh off 25 pounds!

Unlike some reviewers who gave this one star, I did find *some* redeemable qualities in this trilogy...but only one star's worth. I found several scenes, lines, and in-jokes/cultural allusions pretty funny and clever, and I wasn't bothered by the graphic sex and violence scattered throughout this tome (some people are way too sensitive). The problem is that this book is very frustrating to read, it felt like work, and it wasn't rewarding in the end. These are my reasons:

1. I could not become invested in any of the characters. Not a single one. The story shifts from one scene to another in consecutive paragraphs, or after only a few paragraphs at a time, so often that you hardly get to know any of the characters or care about what they are doing and why. Frequently, a character was brought up all of a sudden, either for the first time or even for the second or third or fourth time, and I had no idea who they were, where the scene was taking place, what the character was doing, or why I should care about any of that. In the end, I realized I didn't. The only two characters who came close to producing an ounce of interest in me were Goodman and Muldoon, when they were investigating the bombing at the beginning of the book and reading through the "Illuminati Project" notes, but they appear so infrequently and do so little that I couldn't maintain my interest in them.

2. I did not find the plot clever or interesting. It is also so scattered, disjointed, and rambling, with so much unnecessary stream-of-consciousness-type information, that the few redeeming qualities of the plot are lost, or at least dampened, amid the irrelevant sea of crap. I expected that a worldwide, millennia-old conspiracy to control the world (or do something, anything), involving the participation of famous heroes and villains throughout history, would be interesting and subversive, but it's just annoying, mundane, and kind of a little obnoxious. I haven't read any Dan Brown books or seen the movies based on them (because I refuse to reward that d-bag by giving him my money), but the conspiracy-laden plots of his books do sound kind of interesting, clever, and intricate. I guess I expected the Illuminatus! trilogy to live up to those expectations, but it didn't. It's hard to even pinpoint why, but one good example (no spoilers) is the revelation of the identity of the fifth Illuminatus Primi. The Illuminati's conspiracy is so ridiculous, so outlandish, so uninteresting, and so contrived, and I had waded through so many hundreds of pages of fruitless confusion, that I just didn't care at that point. I didn't care who it was or why they had joined the Illuminati. This ties into my point #1 above: I didn't care who the fifth Primi was, and I didn't care about the consequences of that revelation to the story that I had just read or to the future of this fictional world.

3. The writing/storytelling style is not effective. Yes, I get what the Roberts were going for. Yes, I understand they had a purpose in structuring it that way. It still wasn't effective for me.

4. The story and its world did not feel *real* to me. I mainly read science fiction and fantasy, and the most important thing a sci-fi/fantasy author can do is immerse the reader in the world (or worlds, or universe, or universes) of the story, making you feel like that world is real, and the characters are real, and that everything in the story not only *could* happen but *has* happened or *will* happen, and that what happens is important because it has consequences for real people and places. I felt the exact opposite reading this book. I wanted the Illuminati to achieve whatever plan they had been scheming just so *something* would happen and have an actual effect on people. I didn't believe any of the conspiracies or schemes or fake histories or fake biographies because it was written so unsympathetically and haphazardly that none of it felt real, or even realistic. I wanted most of the characters to die or at least go away forever after reading a few scenes about them, especially Simon Moon and Joe Malik.

5. This book did not make me "think", expand my mind, open my mind up to new possibilities, encourage me to question anything, or change the way I think about anything. I already am as skeptical as I can be and already do question all forms of authority and power that exist in this world. (That's another reason I was drawn to this book initially: its supposed socio-political ideas that meshed with mine fairly well.) If you need a rambling, disjointed acid trip of a conspiracy novel to make you do those things, then you need to read more. A LOT more.

I had a lot of hope for this book. It had so much potential, due to its reputation as a subversive, funny, wild, fun book with contrarian political messages and a semi-realistic portrayal (and integration) of every conspiracy theory known to man, that I plodded all the way to the end, hoping it would get better or pay off. It just didn't. Not for me, anyway. It was a waste of my time. The writing style doesn't change, the characters don't become interesting, and the "conspiracy" never meanders its way to anything interesting or clever. Only weird. If it were a short book that took only a weekend to read, then it would be equally awful but not nearly as big a waste of time. Its pointlessness combined with its length make it one of my least favorite books. I should have followed my instincts and stopped reading after a couple hundred pages.

If you haven't read the Illuminatus! trilogy and you only read one part of my review, I hope it's this: Read as much of this book as you can in the bookstore, the library, or a friend's copy before you buy it. Fifty or sixty pages ought to be plenty. If you like the writing/storytelling style and are engaged at that point, then you might like it. If you don't like how it's written and aren't invested in any of the characters, then you won't like the rest of the book because it doesn't get any better.

This book was a disappointment because of the wonderful potential it wastes. Conspiracies within conspiracies, numerology, the ancient origins of man, immanentizing the eschaton, horrifying creatures from Lovecraft's imagination, a golden submarine, an evil rock band, and a sea monster nearly as old as time itself--all of these are fantastic fodder for what I expected to be the ultimate conspiracy book. Unfortunately, Wilson and Shea went out of their way to make the book as unengaging as possible, thereby squandering many of the great ideas they began with.

*Illuminatus* is weighed down by a small army of characters that, save for five or six of them, are either feckless, uninteresting, unlikeable or completely irrelevant. For every fascinating character like Hagbard Celene, we have guys like Markoff Cheney, who has an interesting background but adds little to the overall story. Same with Otto Waterhouse. And Atlanta Hope. And Jim Cartwright. The list goes on. The book's second-most intriguing character, Robert Putney Drake, gets several scenes and a terrific back story. The authors reward us for investing in Drake by having him brood about his purpose in life and little else. There are too many people to keep track of, especially frustrating considering several of them could've been combined (George Dorn/Joe Malik) or deleted altogether (Muldoon, Pricefixer).

A worse sin, however, was the writing itself. Plot lines and points of view will change mid-paragraph with no warning whatsoever. The prose is poorly constructed, loaded with passive sentences.

This book's defenders will say its free form style is done on purpose to create an acid trip-like reading experience, or pull out excuses like, "it makes you think," or "you just don't get it." The authors--and a few reviewers, apparently--cannot tell the difference between a "mindf**k" and "confusion for confusion's sake." Being irritating on purpose is still irritating.

Hey, some books are more challenging than others. I don't mind walking uphill to get into a novel. I do mind when the authors expect me to walk uphill while a gorilla throws barrels at me.

This book is not a complete wash. I loved the 23 enigma, the law of fives, the American Medical Association, and many other aspects of this book. The good parts are as fascinating as any book I've read. But you often have to wade through fifty-plus pages of rambling philosophy to get to them.

This trilogy could have--and should have--been shortened by at least 300 pages. The authors' inability to self-edit explains why this book had difficulty getting published originally. That they were able to get this self-indulgent mess into print at all is testament to just how good their good ideas are.

This 'classic' from the 70s is long, complicated and boring. I bought it on a whim .. and rediscovered, after decades, that this is still one of the best cures for late night insomnia out there. It plays on subterfuge and conspiracy like the Da Vinci Code but with no sense of dramatic direction. I got as far as the second chapter of Leviathan before my wheels bogged down completely and I reverted to Peter Wimsey...

This is the original "mash-up" novel, only instead of mashing up different colors, fonts, and media, RAW "mashes up" your perceptional, ideological, and heuristic biases, and for the thinking, self-critical reader, makes you question the validity of everything you think you might "know" or believe, including the nature of knowledge and belief in general. Besides being great fun to read, this is an epistemology text, and a primer on primate psychology and power dynamics. I've read everything else RAW has written, much of which is repetitive once you get his basic worldview (as "schtick" sounds demeaning), and this trilogy remains the best exposition of his point. You might also learn a lil sumfin' sumfin' about history, some of which may even be true; conspiracy theories (both their appeal & ridiculousness); the history of religion; the history of (attempts at) magic, including the "magic" of money; and if you're not careful, maybe even a lil about yourself ;)

Maybe there's a story buried in this mess. Maybe it's even a great story. A lot of people seem to think so, but I found the method of narration so irritating that I quit reading this abomination as soon as I found that the second volume would carry on using it.

I gave this book 5 stars.
- As science fiction it would get 2
- As philosophy it would get 1 (the world-view it argues for is much better discussed in other books--some of them even by RAW)
- As humor it would get 3. Maybe 4 on a good day
- As conspiracy theory it would get 4
- As research it doesn't even rate 1
- As a good guide to things to research for yourself, it's a solid 4 (great game: open to a random page and pick 5 things to look up in a library)

But it crosses the line on two things:
* Cultural references that make points and explain things in the SF/geek/outcase/introvert subcultures. The Roberts nailed the experience of believing you're different and believing that what you want or experience is different and wanting to share it with the world. The terms and phrases that come out of this (fnord, illuminati, AUM, "You'll like it inside the apple," All Hail Discordia, Law of Fives, Aneristic Illusion, Paratheoanametamystichood, etc.) may not all be original, but they have built a part of a culture. Much like it's worth seeing Monty Python even if you don't "get" the humor to understand the "code."

It inspired two (excellent) card games and a wide variety of "bits" of other games, books, comics, and so forth.

* This book is one of the best tools for an adolescent or young adult (not YA--young adult) colonostickectomy. A young person hiding their creativity and trying to be "serious" so they can make it through life will get a huge amount of value from this book. You have to forgive them for believing the viewpoint for a few years and then you have to forgive them for rejecting it for a few. In the end, they'll probably come to a happy medium, but they'll always be gratefull for getting that damned uncomfortable thing out of their butt.

Oh yeah... the first 100 pages suck. Really. They're bad. But they're never referenced again (well, until the last 100 pages, which you really just skim looking for jokes), so skim them or skip them. You really don't need to start reading until the words "Egyptian Mouth-Breeder" appear on the page.

Actually, that might be the simplest and best review of all:
You really don't need to start reading until the words "Egyptian Mouth-Breeder" appear on the page.

'The Illuminatus Trilogy' by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, is a cult classic of speculative fiction. 'Trilogy' implies three books and in fact the novel was originally published as three volumes to save on printing costs (cf. The Lord of the Rings) but is really one continuous story. The three parts are:'The Eye in the Pyramid', The Golden Apple' and 'Leviathan'. The novel, published in 1975 is a satire of modern conspiracy theories.
It is a difficult read as Wilson and Shea shift characters, scenes and time frames continuously, often in the same paragraph. Added to that are a multitude of characters and references to events and people that have passed out of popular consciousness over the last 25 years since the book was published (Wikipedia is your friend here). The novel is very much of its time with a definite early 70's 'counterculture' vibe. My advice is to just go with the flow and not worry too much if you can't follow the plot or remember who a specific character was, since that is not the aim of the authors. Instead the novel is a vehicle for Shea and Wilson to satirize the paranoia and conspiracy theories prevalent in the late 60's and early 70's, as well as to espouse their political and social ideas. When I chose to read ' The Illuminatus Trilogy' I was expecting a classic conspiracy thriller like 'The Da Vinci Code'. In fact this novel has been described as the grandfather of conspiracy fiction. However it becomes clear quickly that the authors don't take the Illuminatus conspiracy very seriously and in fact are pushing conspiracy theory to absurd lengths in order to make their points about modern society. Many of their ideas are interesting and the book definitely has had a deep (albeit narrow) influence on popular culture

Shea and Wilson's "Illuminatus" trilogy is full of wildly inventive, sharp political satire. Taking numerous "conspiracy theories" and weaving them into a surrealistic whole, the authors manage to involve celebrated historical figures like H.P. Lovecraft, FDR and John Dillinger as characters.

In a curious (and perhaps significant) coincidence, the "discordian" philosophy touted and quoted throughout the trilogy derived from the mind of a very interesting individual. Kerry Thornley was one of Lee Harvey Oswald's fellow marines. He testified before the Warren Commission, and much of the information linking Oswald to Russia came from him (Thornley stated that the others in the platoon referred to him as "Private Oswaldovitch"). Amazingly, Thornley wrote a book about Lee Harvey Oswald BEFORE the Kennedy assassination. He has long been a person of interest to JFK assassination researchers. The fact that Shea and Wilson were so influenced by Thornley and his invented "discordian" philosophy is fascinating, to say the least.

My own 2007 novel "The Unreals" was influenced by the "Illuminatus" trilogy. Shea and Wilson do a masterful job of weaving real historical events and figures into a fictional setting. While much of the conspiratorial stuff is perhaps purposefully far fetched, readers will find references to some of their favorite subjects within the pages of "Illuminatus."

I highly recommend this work.

Who can you trust more than Jesus, Mohammed or the Buddha? Yourself. I can't stress enough how mindblowing and absurd this dadaesque excursion into the psychic bowels of the weird part of YouTube is. Except this book is enlightening rather than pathetic. Everything from Nazis to JFK to the creation of life and then some is covered with lysergic glee and tongues firmly planted in cheek. Or are they? One can find more than a few philosophical meals nestled in the chaos and that itself is quite a feat. You just may come out of the experience with your mind blown or your funny bone tickled at least. Hail Eris!

I read the Trilogy right after reading 'Gravity's Rainbow.' It was really a breath of fresh air. I found myself easily able to keep up with the multiple plots and characters. It wasn't frustrating...it was fun. It reminds me a lot of some of Philip Dick's work, particularly 'Valis.' The underlying subject matter is serious in nature, and yet it's dealt with in a rather playful fashion and along the lines of a game or puzzle. Don't read this book if you're not at least receptive to the idea that things may not really be as they appear. You'll get bogged down and frustrated, and probably follow the red herrings too literally and seriously. In a way this books seems to be a way for free thinkers to pat each other on the back, wink, and otherwise make themselves the hero or at least take the helm of their own style of adventure story. Who doesn't want to be Celine Hagbard, the guy with all of the answers, bravado, gets the girls, and wins in the end?

I didn't give the book 5 stars b/c 'The Eye in the Pyramid' was so great and the rest of the work didn't live up to it. The middle book kind of seemed flat to me. 'Leviathan' is too heavy to Joe Malik, which I found disappointing. I have no objective criticism of the second two books, which I still think are good, only personal opinion. This is very entertaining read overall.

I know who killed JFK! The authors, writing most of it on a long trip through the door of perception (of which I'm sure), reveal it quite openly. I know why there are wars. I know why there are the United States of America. I know virtually everything (I don't know the reasons for which one squirrel is wandering through the Central Park right now, though) for I am a new man after having read this novel. I know much enough to tell the omnipresent simultaneous narration and the sham stream of consciousness style will make you sick after having crawled through several pages of it. Yet then, before you decide whether you're reading a whodunit or a psychological-naturalist-science-fiction-metaphysi cal-gothic-horror-ezoteric-novel-with-a-deeper-mea ning you will get entangled into loads of data of which none will seem entirely false nor entirely true. You will read this book in secret. From then on you are lost and no-one can help you till you get to the last page and go `Knew it!'. You will be avoiding shadowed places for the fear of the Illuminati (the beddies) by then, and trying to get in touch with the Discordians (the goodies). You will draw hundreds of pyramids and thousands of apples. You will go nearly crazy. And then you will go crazy.
You're never gonna believe it, yet you're never gonna forget it. Addictive.

This book seems to generate two sets of extremes. Either people loved it and found it to be a life-altering experience, or they found it to be a rambling mess and didn't get it. I side with the third minority who fall somewhere in between.

There's no doubt that the Roberts (Anton Wilson and Shea) are brilliant individuals. Quite a lot of research went on into creating the this book and the authors definitely did their homework. Their creative switching of tenses, timelines and perspectives is also wildly original and will challenge the reader.

As several reviewers have noted, there are a multitude of plot-threads and the authors do an amazing job keeping them all straight. I sometimes wonder about the WAY this book was written. Did the Roberts write a straight narrative and scramble it up? Or did they actually write it straight through? Remember, this was before word processors.

Indeed, the authors did what they did to get the readers to "think outside the box". And it works, mostly.

However, it does tend to drone on. There are some long and large passages that ramble on without any seeming significance. I'm sure this a result of the "stream of consiousness" style of writing from the 70's. But it gets tedious...sort of like watching the last 20 minutes of "2001: A Space Odyssey." It's a definite product of the Woodstock generation, where "Freedom of expression" sometimes meant "lack of self-editing" and it shows.

The subject matter is interesting and makes you think. And if you approach it with an understanding of when it was written and the culture that produced it, it's a good read.

But don't expect this book to alter your reality anytime soon.

Is this trilogy a fantasy, a treatise, a cosmic romp, or the stream of consciousness meanderings of two madmen? I think yes.
Wilson and Shea, in their only collaboration, have a great time weaving conspiracies, numerology, science, pseudoscience, practically everything else they can get their minds around.
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.
Do not, however, use these books as a basis for Sunday school lessons or self-improvement exercises.
The 23 enigma is given full play here, so be on guard. Once let loose, it will overwrite your neurolinguistic programming and established paradigms.
(I loaned a friend my first set of these books for him to read while he was traveling in Europe. As he was reading in the books a scene where the characters visit the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, he decided to do the same. When he returned to his room, the second and third books were missing. Nothing else was taken including the first volume.)

I first read R.A. Wilson's epochal "Illuminatus! Trilogy" twenty-five years ago and now, a quarter century later, find myself no less thrilled with it.

Not just one of my favorites, it is also one of the truly formative books I've read in my lifetime, and has prompted me to study - with greater or lesser seriousness and in greater or lesser depth - a wide range of esoterica, from the "Principia Discordia," to the writings of Hakim Bey and Peter Lamborn Wilson, to the Kabbalah and Chaos Magick.

It has also prompted me to explore the role of a cultivated sense of humor as a spiritual path.

Rabelais said to his readers, "For all your ills, I give you mirth." Hagbard Celine, one of the heroes of "Illuminatus!" tells his devotees that Love will not free humankind, nor will political power nor force. Rather, it is our imaginations that will liberate humankind to achieve the evolutionary zenith of its destiny.

To which this convinced Discordian and conspirator against consensus reality adds a hearty "Amen" and, as the Illuminati would say, "Ewige Blumenkraft!"

This book requires great amount of concentration to wade through and memory to remember all of the characters/times/places this book introduces to the uninitiated. Like any other piece of high OR low art (which is this again?) it takes a few reads through to make sure you soak it all in. Based mostly on the Principia Discordia and the works of Timothy Leary, H.P.Lovecraft and Buckminster Fuller, the book taught me as a 14 year old, of a world of conspiracies and supernatural I had never imagined watching X-Files. Although silly at most parts, and anyone with an even slightly above average IQ should get the puns and irony, this is a supremely enjoyable piece with, for like i said earlier the uninitiated, will inspire many like myself to READ the works of those who inspired this work. That's really what R.A.Wilson is to me, more or less, bringing the ideas of hundreds of genii(?) to the fore. But I digress, READ THIS BOOK. If you don't enjoy it you've been the victim of your own gullibility FNORD? FNORD! (potard?)

People have said that Wilson's writing is derivative. It is. He borrows from Vonnegut, Burroughs, Pynchon (though not from Gravity's Rainbow which came after this one), Joyce, Aleister Crowley, H.P. Lovecraft, and probably dozens of other brilliant people whom I never would have heard of if not for this book. So therefore I give it 5 stars? No. ... This book's scope is so deep and so broad as to warrant the description encyclopedic. If you read this book you will have opened a can of worms you will not be able, or willing, to close. Your thoughts will change, your sense of humor will change, your very lifestyle could be at risk. So, of course, like the rest of us fools(sic), you'll probably go out and get a copy ASAP. Enjoy!

I'm writing this review several years after having read the book. I still remember exactly the feeling I had after finishing it, "What just happened?"

Although there are some very funny moments in the book, I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but, ironically, I'm glad that I did and I'm considering reading it again.

I'm giving it 4 stars because although it's not a favorite of mine, it has left a lasting impression on me (not sure what that impression is) and it has made me question some things that I used to take for granted.

I just recommended it to a friend who's starting to get caught up in some of the current popular conspiracy theories, because it gave me a sort of sixth sense about conspiracy theories.

I recommend the book to anyone who likes to think about things, i.e. stuff.

It was a hard read for me. The only reason I finished the book is because I wanted to see if ANYTHING was actually going to happen. Immediately after finishing it I was confused because I didn't "get it" and angry because I felt like I'd just flushed several hours of my life down the toilet. Over time the book started to pay dividends though as I would see and hear things that would remind me of it or make me chuckle.

Definitely a strange read.

This trilogy is the granddaddy of conspiracy theory fiction. It also jumps all over the place. It jumps in time. It jumps in perspective, from first-person to third-person. It even jumps into critiques of itself. This can make it hard to follow occasionally, but it's worth it.

The plot goes through pretty much every conspiracy theory that existed at the time of its publication: who actually killed JFK, the existence of Atlantis, why MLK was assassinated, the existence of the Illuminati and the Discordians, and countless more. Numerology plays a big part, with many things being tied back to their numerological roots. There are double agents and triple agents.

I enjoyed it, although I'll say that I honestly enjoy playing the Illuminati card game a lot more than I enjoyed reading the book.

This is simply a landmark book for anyone interested inconspiracy theories, religion, international espionage, Art Bell, oranything else considered "fringe". It is a massiveundertaking to actually read this enormous tome, but the size isnecessary to contain the amount of satire within.
...Those with evena cursory knowledge of the subjects receiving jabs will find thisimmensely entertaining. Those unfamiliar with these subjects willgain quite a list of required reading once finished.
The book isfunny, smart, and dangerously true in some aspects. Readers shouldpick up Wilson's non-fiction works after finishing to see the amazingway this man's mind must work.

This is able to grab the minds, imaginations, hearts, groins, etc. of anyone who is trying to read for a simple escape and dump so much R.A.W. information into your system that you either jumpstart your critical thinking skills or go insane trying, but just in case you happen to be messed-up so completely that you can't tell 'up' from 'down' anymore (which isn't as hard as it sounds since just enough knowledge can lead you to the realization that the Americo-centric 'up' "becomes" the Australio-centric 'down'), he provides hefty load of appendices making you capable sorting it all back out later.

For a good conspiracy novel, try Dom DeLillo's "Libra". See, I have nothing against conspiracy novels per se and skepticism towards the powers-that-be is a HEALTHY thing, but this book has only one thing to recommend itself and that is the breadth and scope of the authors' imagination, presumably drug-induced. I give the authors, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, credit for imagination, however derived, and that is what keeps me from rating the book a "1". Apart from that, the book is insulting to taste and intelligence! This book is not for anyone who is uncomfortable with gratuitous portrayals of deviant sex, but OK, that's too EASY a target. The in-and-out spasms of time and space and quick-change shifts of perspective that are upchucked are CHEATS that must violate every principle of good writing, and the authors probably know this but don't care. Their intent seems to be to show you how CLEVER they are and how they've seen the connections between apparently interrelated events which YOU HAVEN'T SEEN. Their attitude is, "Why should we learn how to write like professionals? Isn't it enough that we're clever enough to discern all this?" At one point, they even seek cover (seek, not receive) from the criticism they could inevitably expect to receive for this book by having one of the characters within their novel give SOME OTHER BOOK the same review. The authors also CHEAT their readers by deliberating contradicting themselves. Are the Illuminati an 18th century conspiracy group or older than that? Are they omniscient or vulnerable? Is the book even meant to be taken seriously or not? Support for all these propositions and other varying ones can be found throughout this novel and when contradictions arise, the authors say, "So what? Don't trust us either", a cowardly way of side-stepping problems that a GOOD writer would seek to resolve. And while the authors try to attract a broad readership by arguing that the fight AGAINST the Illuminati conspiracy is necessarily apolitical, the identities of the heroes and villains make it clear to see that all they are really selling is mid-60's "tune in drop out" leftism. Abby Hoffman clothed in numerology. "Discordia" is just another way of urging, "Hey readers, steal this pyramid-covered book!" By the way, a lot of anthropologists and observers of the animal kingdom would be surprised to learn from Shea and Wilson that the universal constant of male supremacy is just another part of the Illuminati conspiracy. I myself always have thought that the small mocking delectable female-like Road Runner always thwarting the hairy predatory Alpha Male Coyote was an example of post WW2 matriarchalization of American culture, but even at that, I have to balk at the idea that Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd have been secretly communicating Illumanti buzzwords for 50 years. The authors can't really believe that, and in fact, it's another "cop-out" that allows them to "prove" that they weren't really serious to begin with, whenever they desire this. Don't even bother to steal this book!

American culture at the end of the 20th Century is a sewer of moral depravity, illogic, unreason, and poisonous ideological sludge, all flowing in a great, toxic river toward an inevitable cataract plunging down a bottomless abyss. One of the turds in this sewer is accelerating faster than all the others toward that pit, and proclaiming, as it outdistances the other blobs of filth, that it is superior to them all. This turd of which I speak is Mr. Robert Anton Wilson, and if his books have any value it can only be that they are perfect specimens of the most diseased and evil literary mind the 20th century could hope to offer. What makes Wilson's books so toxic is that they appeal to young, semi-intelligent people who are dissatisfied with the status quo and looking for a different, better way to live. Wilson's books have only one message: Reality doesn't exist, and you sollipsistically create your own reality. Wilson degrades Man continuously by comparing human behavior to that of apes, and endorses a lifestyle of irrational hedonism and occult mysticism. All of this filth is served up with a contemptous snicker, as if Wilson finds the collapse of Western Civilization nothing more than a dirty joke. To the misinformed, this appears profound and clever, but it is merely another case of a literary charlatan muddying the waters to make them appear deep. Wilson has nothing to offer the searching mind. For those readers who truly wish to rise out of the sewer of today's sick society, I urge you to study the philosophy of Objectivism, as outlined by Ms. Ayn Rand in her novel Atlas Shrugged.

I'll let most of the already-submitted reviews speak for themselves; worthy of note is the truly educational nature of the book--not in its information content (although plentiful), but in its ability to urge the reader to think and learn. It truly opened up a whole new world of independent thinking for me; one thing's for sure: after reading this, you'll never look at the world the same way again fnord.
As an additional treat, you'll see how much of the Hollywood industry is influenced by this book, and how many surreptitious references to it show up in film after film....

Particularly in these (justifiably) paranoid times, the Illuminatus! trilogy is an appropriate read. The anthrax scare and the little-known island of Fernando Poo are just on the edge of being too close to home. I wouldn't know where to begin to explain the plot, but it's something about Eris, something about government, and something about enlightenment.
While reading 805 pages of conspiracy theory is certainly a fine way to immerse yourself in the world of the authors, I have to say that all three books in one volume can be just a little bit too much of a good thing.

This book is apparently some species of science fiction, conspiracy theory clearinghouse, Joycian stream-of-consciousness on LSD, pop-culture polemic.
But appearances can be deceiving.
This is actually a complete religion/philosophy/cosmology _disguised_ as sci-fi wackyness. They should print a version with numbered verses for easier reference.
I would strongly forewarn the highly suggestible, the young, the old, the infirm, the complacent, the rigid-of-mind, the Glorp, the Pink, the Suit, the Dupe, the Prim, the Proper or anyone who is uptight about anything that might shake their faith in their current religion/reality-tunnel, or who is worried about what their neighbors or grandparents might think (or might be doing!) This book is not for you! It is a dangerous, pernicious, seditious, contumacious, pestiferous, procacious, insidious drug that will forever alter the way you THINK.
Use with extreme caution.

I bought this book because of a gushing review here ... worst purchase I ever made!
Bad writting, suspension of disbelief required from beggining to end. Kept slogging until around page 300 but couldn't keep going.

From the moment I began reading the Illuminatus! Trilogy, my life was warped forever. Robert Anton Wilson is either the greatest magus or most brilliant con-man since A. Crowley, who also held that same ambiguity. Like reading Timothy Leary and Aldus Huxley, but with a wit and style that make the subject matter flow together... There are many more books by R.A.W. that I would recommend, namely, all of them, starting with Ishtar Rising, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, Quantum Psychology, and that oh-so-wonderful book, Reality is What You Can Get Away With.

I first read this book (or the three paperbacks) when I was 14, and have re-read it a number of times throughout the intervening years. Every time, I come out the other side a changed man. I think a fully open mind ("gullible in the right way") could do worse than start the process toward "illumiantion" by reading this book.

Folks who really love this should check out Cosmic Trigger: The Final Secret of the Illuminati, which is Wilson's non-fiction account of what happened after the book. It's a trip.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy is an excellent introduction to the work of prolific writer, philosopher, social scientist, raconteur,and laid-back-funny-old-dude Robert Anton Wilson. Wilson has written eight or so works of science fiction, and numerous nonfiction works that cover a plethora of diverse subject matter. One gets a clear sense of the vast range of experience possesed by Wilson in this, his most popular work to date, written with friend and colaborator Robert Shea (R.I.P.)

The book essentially follows a large ensemble of characters whose experiences bounce off of each other, all in one way or another trying to find clues to the inner workings of a vast conspiracy. That is the basic thread, but the book itself contains a nonlinear plot sequence that weaves together a story of a kooky fast paced turbulent time, a spiritual detective story, a satirical rant, a social and political statement, a page turning science fiction-epic, and a book that references, in depth, the following and more: Eastern metaphysics, 60's era social dynamics, the esoteric activities of 1930's gangsters, black magic rituals, aleister crowley, the necronomicon, psychadelic rock music, sociopathic midgets, the truth about human origins, the significance of "the eye in the pyramid" on the dollar bill, dozens of literary references to William Blake, Ezra Pound, Goethe, and dozens of others, quantum everything, texas law enforcement, new york intelligentsia, hippies, yippies, wobblies, panthers, ayn rand, christian extremeists, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, black power groups, Irish immigrants, enlightened millionaire submarine piloting pirates, The Justified Ancients of Mumuu, sociopathic millionaire drug and weapons dealers, a shady Las Vegas Pimp with a potentially world destroying disease latent within him, a huge apocalyptic climaxe at a Bavarian rock festival, and a comical hippie protagonist named George Dorn who comes to terms with himself and helps save the world. If you are reasonably intelligent, young (at heart or otherwise) enough to open up to strange ideas, and wise enough to take a joke, you may enjoy this book. But a word to the faint of heart, parts are a bit sexual, gruesome, or both. I think it adds to the plot personally but after reading this book, one can understand how Bob Wilson came to be friends with George Carlin, heh. Enjoy!

I began reading this book already as a Discordian. After reading the Principia, I just couldn't expect my friends' warnings to be all that bad. The story frequently shifts chronology and narrators with little to no warning. Quite a paradox, a confused Discordian. After the first 300 pages all of a sudden it clicked, Du Hexen Hase I said to myself, I've got it. The entire story blends real facts with rather believable fiction creating a vortex that absorbs your mind. Every single character or even objects make some type of statement. The book is a giant allegory disguised as science fiction. Understanding that is the key to unlock this fantastic book. Once I became familiar with the narrative style I took every single twist and turn right with the characters. This is one of the books that WILL define our age after it has passed. It will remain a classic like Finnegans Wake or Faust. My highest recomendations.

Well, how to even BEGIN to describe this book? Other people have done it so much better than I ever will, and so I must be humble here folks - I can't.
What I can do is tell you a little about me; before and after I read this book.
Let me share with you what I knew before I read this book:
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I knew EVERYTHING, in great detail, in chronological order, with footnotes, dates, times, witnesses, alibies, all approved by law, bound by the church and stamped by the notary public.
Now, let me share with you what I know since reading this book:
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<insert blank, non-colored, non-existant "page" as a thought and uncomfortably long pause here>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any questions?
This book changed my life in ways I never knew it could change.
It shook my death grip upon the pillars of my so-called sanity loose and taught me a little bit about being more comfortable with myself, with acceptance, with tolerance, with sobriety, with religion, with spirituality, with consciousness, with unconsciousness, with love, with lust, with politics, drugs, sex, with cults, with fraternal organizations and all the other dirty subjects that people seem to "know" so much about around here.
The guerilla ontology portions alone challenged me and my so-called 'beliefs' so often, and so repeatedly, and I was constantly asked "is that your final answer?" so many times (and you think Regis is annoying!) that there is no way to hang onto those 'reality-tunnels' anymore. It's futile, Let go.
Some people might prefer "The Language of Letting Go" or "The Road Less Travelled" or some Depak Chopra, or Florence Scoval Schinn, but I prefer "The Illuminatus Trilogy."
Maybe that says something about who I am, but that's all right by me because I'm no longer who I was.

I first read R.A. Wilson's epochal "Illuminatus! Trilogy" twenty-five years ago and now, a quarter century later, find myself no less thrilled with it.
Not just one of my favorites, it is also one of the truly formative books I've read in my lifetime, and has prompted me to study - with greater or lesser seriousness and in greater or lesser depth - a wide range of esoterica, from the "Principia Discordia," to the writings of Hakim Bey and Peter Lamborn Wilson, to the Kabbalah and Chaos Magick.
It has also prompted me to explore the role of a cultivated sense of humor as a spiritual path.
Rabelais said to his readers, "For all your ills, I give you mirth." Hagbard Celine, one of the heroes of "Illuminatus!" tells his devotees that Love will not free humankind, nor will political power nor force. Rather, it is our imaginations that will liberate humankind to achieve the evolutionary zenith of its destiny.
To which this convinced Discordian adds a hearty "Amen" and, as the Illuminati say, "Ewige Blumenkraft!"

Wilson and Shea penned one of the biggest cult classics of all time. Inspiring a game, a stage production and countless conversations, Illuminatus! launches one on a whirlwind tour of the bizarre and the ridiculous.

The underlying message? Think for yourself, dummy! An interesting introduction to caballism, discordianism and the always interesting mental trap of freeing oneself from mental traps. A must read for anyone who likes to both think and giggle, preferably at the same time.

Forget being tied up in mental pretzels, this book (series) ties your mind into more complex knots, and just when you think you've gotten sorted out and untangled, it turns out that they're just leading to into another configuration of knots.
I don't think I've ever read a book that made me feel so ignorant. The authors draw on so many historical, cultural, and mythical references that I knew I'd never get half the references. I fully intend to go through the book, read every (real) publication they refer to, and go back to read it again. Maybe *then* it'll make some sense.

Warning: Slight plot spoiler ahead. If you don't like knowing the first 1/4 of a book before reading it, skip this. Hey, didn't I just warn you about this? Go read something else! Fine. Have it your way. After reading this book, you will claim that the movie "Dogma" gives a more accurate representation of God than a sermon at church, even if Dogma came out years after this book. In Illuminatus!, the plot (should you choose to call it such) basically starts with the two best characters in the book, a dolphin and a squirrel, being introduced, and moves on to a police officer (who begins as the narrator, but doesn't stay that way) being called in the middle of the night to investigate a bombing/kidnapping/possible homicide at a small liberal magazine's office in NY. While there, they find some interesting research which was being conducted by the editor. After looking through some research in a possible conspiracy, they decide to 'lay low' and try to keep the FBI and CIA out of it. ... This bookeventually comes to a climax ..., which is both action packed and hilarious. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Just read it.

"Truly a Masterpiece," I thought, when comming back down to earth, after having my mind blown by the fnords. Shea and Wilson's book of conspiracies--on top, of conspiracies--will open one's mind to what's really going on. This doped and sexed up trilogy is vividly outrageous, and funny. Throwing every idea the authors could come up with--in rapid fire sequences; the story could very well be the key for one to reach Cosmic Illumination, or not.

It may be the greatest book of all time--like many reviewers claim--or not. The answer is up to the response of each persons individual nervous system. However if you like books, with geners and subject matters related to sex, satirical humor, sex, drugs, sex, conpiracies, sex, historical fact and fiction, sex, fantasy, sex, sci fi, sex, magic, sex, thriller, and of course lots of sex...I mean erotica, in both perverse and of a loving nature, you will probably enjoy this book thoroughly. If you don't like much of what has just been listed, you probably won't like the above mentioned title, and probably shouldn't bother picking up the book.

A great example of how size and complexity do not equal depth or worth, this large, culty trilogy is more or less a white-noise barrage of meaningless events splattered over a thousand or so pages. As a proper novel it's a big shaggy-dog story, and as a reading experience it's just not interesting enough. By the end I was reading it as a grudge, just to prove that I could do it.
It's dated, too - the female character(s) are/is there for the men to have sex with - and the time- and space-hopping narrative isn't nearly as clever as it seems to think. It has some memorably smug characters, too, and the air of something dreamed up and written down one night whilst bored.

For those who are breaching sanity and reaching insanity
If you feel you've grown to the extent that you are now, because of the constant inner pursuit of truth or morality or justice etc.. And you've found that the truths you know now are far more complicated than the water down versions everyone to your left and right knows..If that has led you even deeper into the rabbit hole, transforming your very being. Then your on the right track and this book is a step. MAybe the first step, maybe the 5th step, maybe the last toward seeing the world as it is and not how its illustrated, or maybe this will tell you what you already know and fill you with tremendous excitement because others know what you know and what you know is that noone knows anything beside what they know. Welcome to insanity. This book is hilarious and mirrors what is undoubtedly happening in your own head. Seek and you shall recieve muhahahahahhaha

This book is essential to any discussion on why the human species is failing. My interpretation of the conspiracies in this book is that though some of them may have had flesh and blood individuals behind them, the conspiracies themselves are caused by 'mode-locking'. One example of mode-locking is the reason we drive gasoline powered cars rather than steam driven cars. When automobiles were first being built, there were both kinds. There happened to be a disease among horses that was thought to be transmitted through watering troughs, and these troughs were where drivers of steam driven cars refilled their tanks. People went to gas powered cars because they feared this was unsanitary. The conspiracies are imbedded in our minds in the form of mode-locked behavior patterns, such as territorialism, male-dominance behavior, and materialism, which are now obsolete, yet we still depend upon them as a foundation for our society. Wilson's book examines the destructive ways in which humans are programmed by society to think about ourselves and others. You may find this book difficult to read, but it will change your life. It is impossible to stress what an important work this book is.