"It is interesting to imagine a reader coming to Ægypt without having ever heard of Bruno, but it's hard to believe that such a reader would make it through all four volumes."
It's not hard for me: I was just such a reader. Ægypt (as the first volume was then called) was my first aware encounter with Bruno, and with John Dee; and it was moreover my first substantial engagement with the history and thought of the Gnostic sects, the Hermetic Tradition, Renaissance philosophy, and alchemy beyond the facile and stereotypical "lead to gold" motive. The invitation and opportunity to learn more about all this, which I also took up in the numerous books on all these subjects and more that now strain my shelves as a result, was captivating, and propelled me eagerly through each of the subsequent volumes as they appeared. In addition, of course, to the superb prose and deeply engaging characters.
I should add that, though much younger when I first read Ægypt (I was in college), and pursuing a technical degree (computer science), I wasn't entirely historically illiterate. It's just that my attention in that realm was much, much more focused on the classical and medieval periods, and took little notice of the Renaissance beyond the highlights hit by my high school A.P. History class.
I also had this side-gig going in Tolkien studies....
A wonderful take on these books. Thank you very much. Very enlightening indeed. Myself I had the opportunity to read Mr. Crowley's works one by one as they appeared. Pure coincidences. I am in the Stockholm area, Sweden. And to find these books I really would have to go into the big city, visit a few main bookstores who'd eventually have a little pile of them. I ain't in town all too often and by sheer luck when I've been to them stores now an' then, lo an' behold, a new work by John Crowley! This happened all the way from Engine Summer unto Lord Byron's Tale (KA I finally ordered.) What I wished to convey here really is that when I came to the end of Aegypt I had the sense that I had read a complete book ... and then many years later Love and Sleep arrived. Such a surprise! Well, thanks again for the essay. Lovely writing by the way.
"It is interesting to imagine a reader coming to Ægypt without having ever heard of Bruno, but it's hard to believe that such a reader would make it through all four volumes."
It's not hard for me: I was just such a reader. Ægypt (as the first volume was then called) was my first aware encounter with Bruno, and with John Dee; and it was moreover my first substantial engagement with the history and thought of the Gnostic sects, the Hermetic Tradition, Renaissance philosophy, and alchemy beyond the facile and stereotypical "lead to gold" motive. The invitation and opportunity to learn more about all this, which I also took up in the numerous books on all these subjects and more that now strain my shelves as a result, was captivating, and propelled me eagerly through each of the subsequent volumes as they appeared. In addition, of course, to the superb prose and deeply engaging characters.
I should add that, though much younger when I first read Ægypt (I was in college), and pursuing a technical degree (computer science), I wasn't entirely historically illiterate. It's just that my attention in that realm was much, much more focused on the classical and medieval periods, and took little notice of the Renaissance beyond the highlights hit by my high school A.P. History class.
I also had this side-gig going in Tolkien studies....
I'm delighted I was wrong about that!
A wonderful take on these books. Thank you very much. Very enlightening indeed. Myself I had the opportunity to read Mr. Crowley's works one by one as they appeared. Pure coincidences. I am in the Stockholm area, Sweden. And to find these books I really would have to go into the big city, visit a few main bookstores who'd eventually have a little pile of them. I ain't in town all too often and by sheer luck when I've been to them stores now an' then, lo an' behold, a new work by John Crowley! This happened all the way from Engine Summer unto Lord Byron's Tale (KA I finally ordered.) What I wished to convey here really is that when I came to the end of Aegypt I had the sense that I had read a complete book ... and then many years later Love and Sleep arrived. Such a surprise! Well, thanks again for the essay. Lovely writing by the way.