Inevitably a disappointment, coming after The Solitudes, which gives the quartet such a strong start. But I suspect Love and Sleep is more satisfying the second time around, when the reader has a better idea of its strengths as well as its (many) weaknesses. The main problem is the way its parts fail to fit together into any kind of whole. The quartet probably helps one make sense of this part after one has read through the whole of it, but the first time through Love and Sleep, one finishes the book remembering a few memorable moments, and having the feeling that only toward the end did things even vaguely come together. The long, long piece that opens the book, concerning Pierce's upbringing, is going to appeal most (perhaps only) to those with a thing for Catholic coming-of-age stories. One might have thought we already had plenty of those, but here's another, though at least its relevance does, to a degree, become apparent toward the end. As for the flashbacks to John Dee, Crowley loses his knack for these at first, and most of them in this book seem needlessly pedantic and weighed-down by excessive research. Only toward the end do the flashbacks return to the ease and grace Crowley showed with them in the first book. A tendency to state the themes and premises of the series repeatedly doesn't help either (though maybe these were what have been removed in the revised edition.)As one moves though the book one is also, increasingly, left to wonder who on Earth this series is for. For Crowley fans, of course. But even more than the first book, this second is a very odd melding of straight-forward literary style and setting paired with Umberto Eco-like fantasy. While The Solitudes found the right balance, here the literary overwhelms the first half and the fantasy overwhelms the second. Little wonder the book failed to be the crossover success its publisher hoped it would be at the time. There's no way around it, this is a slow, hard slog of a read, aided only by a few (too few) flashes of brilliance along the way--and the promise that the series will find itself again eventually. That again makes me think that Love and Sleep probably wears better the second time around.
Starting in a time in the future, perhaps the end, of the series before plunging backwards through time to the childhood of Pierce Moffet, Love & Sleep starts living up to its name as events are related in a dream-like sequence and super-natural beings come and go depending on whether the characters are awake or not. Love & Sleep is the Summer Quaternary of the Aegpyt cycle. The wants and desires of the characters are established, and they now actively work towards their goal... even as the threat of Autumn looms just beyond our senses and does not take any discernible form until the end.Perhaps the most jarring feature of the novel is the first hundred plus pages that deal with a late summer in Pierce's childhood. Those impatient to continue the story in real and imaginary times from The Solitudes may find this portion as a tedious obstruction. It is necessary structurally to embody that magical aspect of Summer where possibilities are limited only by the eventual necessity of choosing. It also fits in with how John Crowley has chosen to reveal meaning in this series, peeling a layer of skin before getting to the pulp beneath. Once accepted, the other feature of the novel is the presence of background forces that shape where the story is going and where it is coming from. Even in the John Dee passages, some Other is shaping events towards some event that precipitates the Fall of many possible worlds and the emergence of a New Heaven and a New Earth. Like seasons, this book passes and transitions into what will clearly be the Autumn Quaternary... but as one season/age passes into another one, there is an 'end' featuring a stunning realization by Pierce and an incredible passage involving an angelic messenger. Time marches on, and so must my reading of this series.
What do You think about Love & Sleep (1994)?
Part two of John Crowley's Aegypt cycle appealed to me even more than the first book. There is much more about John Dee and Giordano Bruno here, ostensibly as part of fictitious author Fellowes Kraft's last novel. There are ruminations on werewolves and an incredible first section about the protagonist's childhood with his Uncle's family in Kentucky. These books make a nice introduction to Hermeticism and boast wonderful characters in very interesting situations. A good friend recommended The Golden Builders by Tobias Churton to me, and I found that it makes an excellent non-fiction companion to many of the ideas Crowley employs in this series.
—Steve
Love & Sleep was a lot slower going than The Solitudes, and more a 3 1/2 than a solid 4 for that. Still, it works well within the context of the series. As with The Solitudes, it helps to have read a bit about the Western Mystery Tradition (Hermeticism, Alchemy, Renaissance occultism, Rosicrucianism, etc.), Classical Mythology, Ars Memorativa, and Gnosticism, but it's by no means necessary. Readers with some knowledge of these subjects will catch all kinds of sly, veiled references and apparent references to little-discussed or marginal aspects of these topics. As always, Crowley's writing is superb, both beautifully composed and adeptly supportive of the ingenious parallels between the various strands of the story.
—Phil
i read this book. present tense. i have read in this book since 1994 - taking it with me for 4 vacations - opening it like some open the bible - not because it is a religious text but because i trust every page and enjoy every accidental paring of my life with random commentary/insight. of the four books in the Aegypt series, this is the one i love uncritically - still breathless, still laughing, still making notes in the margins. so - given how intensely personal the relationship has become, i cannot exactly recommend it - but i certainly hope everyone has a book like this of their own.
—Jude
