A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay

A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Here is an unusual propulsion system for space craft

“What are ‘back-rays’?”
“Light which goes back to its source,” muttered Nightspore.
“And what kind of light that may be?”
…
“Unless light pulled, as well as pushed, how would flowers contrive to twist their heads round after the sun?”

A book that needs a lot patience, as it tends to meander and get repetitive. But some wonderful poetic bits every now and then – just rewards for all the travails of the protagonist

For him, in his sullen purity of nature, all the world was a snare, a limed twig. Knowing that pleasure was everywhere, a fierce, mocking enemy, crouching and waiting at every corner of the road of life, in order to kill with its sweet sting the naked grandeur of the soul, he shielded himself behind pain…
‘What is the Trifork?’
‘The stem, Maskull, is hatred of pleasure. The first fork is disentanglement from the sweetness of the world. The second fork is power over those who still writhe in the nets of illusion. The third fork is the healthy glow of one who steps into ice-cold water.’

and

Life breeds passion, passion breeds suffering, suffering breeds the yearning for relief from suffering.

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