Thread: Aleister Crowley, The Drug and Other Stories
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Old 10-05-2010   #6
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Re: Aleister Crowley, The Drug and Other Stories
Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Valzer View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Freyasfire View Post
[...] I confess the fact that David Tibet is doing the forward is partly fueling that curiosity. .
Given that Tibet has stated in previous interviews that most, if not all, of the resonance he once felt for Crowley's magical and philosophical Work has fizzled, I hope the tone of his Foreword is not too flippant or dismissive in regards to these fictives.

Richard

It's not as simple as that: He has mentioned in a later interview that he never adored Crowley as much as people seemed to think, and that he, afterwards, never disliked Crowley as much as people seemed to think.

I believe he holds some kind of position in the Typhonian OTO (in the cabinet, which is an advisory position) of which Bill Breeze is the current international leader. I don't think Tibet is a member, but I really don't know, and I'm not really sure I care either.

Both Tibet's and Breeze's introduction are very nice, and are quite appreciative, without being fawning; balanced as well as sympathetic. Tibet's is only two pages, Breeze's is seven pages long.

I have so far only read some five stories stories in the volume, the most interesting to mention here being 'The Testament of Magdalen Blair' and 'The Stratagem'.

'The Testament of Magdalen Blair' is interesting as an early example of cosmic horror (perhaps before cosmic horror as a literary mode had begun existing), or a story about a particular type of delusion, or (or rather, and) both.

'The Stratagem' is absolutely brilliant. Were it not for the fact that it had been written by Crowley, it would have ranked as one of the great short stories of the 20th Century. It's quite a Borgesian story, and very funny as well.

While this is not much to go on, given this is around 70-80 pages out of almost 600, I'm quite impressed, and very surprised. Crowley's writing is fluent and with good pace; his ideas are very well developed. I haven't been very interested in Crowley, especially since I've met a few of his admirers and weren't impressed by most of the people who were attracted to him. Still, that's not Crowley's fault. What surprised me most was how funny he was - he's witty, humourous, has a good eye for certain types of people; due to many of his fans (not all!) I had somehow expected it to be pretentious, self-absorbed and drowning in pathos. Not at all - irony and self-irony permeates these supernatural and weird tales. Heartily recommended.
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