The Illuminatus! Trilogy is the latest and greatest in the line of What the F-aholic line of books that I have been reading. Yet another example of how to be a successful writer of fiction while stoned out of your mind on a mixture of wild and exotic drugs, The Eye in the Pyramid is the first of three books in the Trilogy. A mixture of heavy research and acid, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson begin the series following Detective Saul Goodman and his investigation into the bombing of Confrontation, a left wing radical liberal magazine. Finding a series of memos investigating an organization called the Illuminai which was supposedly disbanded centuries earlier, Saul begins a journey to find the truth about what may be the largest and most powerful organization in the world or just a legendary conspiracy theory that could leave him chasing his tale for a lifetime.
Giving you just enough time to think you know what is happening, the security blanket is violently ripped away exposing the reader's naughty bits to the dark, cold, and scary shredding of the space-time continuum. Not really though. The book just starts jumping around a lot. Seriously. A lot. Sometimes mid-paragraph. With no warning. Like getting kicked in the head by a wombat, you never really see it coming. The story makes leaps from the late 1800's through the 1970's and quickly introduces a cast of characters as wide and varied as the time span.
Definitely a must read if you have ADD (or not) you can read it in bits or large chunks and still not really know what the hell is going on. As I approached the end of the first book for one glimmering and glorious second I thought I know what was going on and that Shea and Wilson had put me out of my writhing misery by wrapping the book up all nice and neat. Yeah, um, not so much. My dreams were quickly shattered and my curiosity further aroused like a lustful tickle. Originally the three books in the series came out individually but fortunately for me they are generally only sold as one large volume containing all three books. By a sincere stroke of luck (and design by the authors no doubt) the second book, The Golden Apple, picks up right where the first one left off and seems to follow a more constant train of thought than the first book, but I have been rudely awakened in the night before...
My ambiguity in this review aside, The Eye in the Pyramid is an amazing and torrid start to a classic series that I am very much looking forward to completing. Ultimately quotable and bestowing enough ambiance to leave me remembering the 60's with a teargas scented nostalgia (I was born in '80 but wanted to stay in the spirit) the humor peppered with memorable characters, sex, and violence, this first book is a roller coaster introduction to what I hope will be the path back to sanity when I am done. More to come on the state of my confusion once I finish The Golden Apple, but for now, go out and buy the book. You can all get your grubby hands on it at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Illuminatus-Trilogy-Pyramid-Golden-Leviathan/dp/0440539811 and join me in the conspiracy to find out what is going on.
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
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