( 6 reviews )
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( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 5 2008
Ok. I read this book a while ago and have intended to write a review ever since. First, I think trying to judge this book as a novel is like trying to hold water using a ladle full of holes. From a narrow technical perspective, yes, this book qualifies as a "novel," in that it follows the life and happenings of some fictional, groovy-to-earth demi-goddess named Rapunzel - but it is simultaneously an autobiography, a metaphysical treatise, and 400+ pages of perpetually palpitating poetry(and fully lubricated with the richest, most mellifluous cosmic spunk). Seriously, what sense is there in evaluating a book as a novel when it is equal parts autobiography? This book does not abide modestly in any one genre; it is a linguistic maelstrom that strobes and flickers within a system of genres with no clear locus save Spirit itself. The extent to which this book(and Free Will Astrology - sign up for the free weekly email! Now!) has altered my perception of reality cannot go understated. Rob Brezsny is a man traversing the furthest frontiers of human nature. If you are capable of regarding this book as an experiment with what it means to be a human being, then you may be able to appreciate it. I am serious when I say that Tel.Or. could be a textbook for students of consciousness studies. It also helps to dig poetry. On the level of language, this book transcends so many linguistic dimensions that I am unwilling to say any more on the subject. Appreciating this book is also greatly abetted by an appreciation of spiritual experiences. Brezsny is unquestionably an immensely spiritual man, and this pours into his writing like twenty-three Biblical floods. The whole notion of the author/reader dichotomy is thoroughgoingly minced.
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( 14 of 15 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 23 2005
If you yearn for a spiritual connection to the universe, but find Zen meditation deathly-dull, check out Breszney's version of enlightenment. He believes that holiness can -- and should -- be sexy and fun. If you like your Goddess to be smart and deep but also silly and irreverent, Breszney might just speak to you. If you feel hostility toward things that violate your expectations, then this isn't the book for you.
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( 3 of 21 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 20 2005
I am on page 140 now, and will update later, but so far Brezny is just a Tom Robbins wannabe. This is amateur bs. "Her pocket graced her shirt." That says it-graced? He has long lists of nonsense terms that are clearly imitating Robbins, and by the way, I saw his website and he used Robbins on there, so he obviously is obsessed with him. The book is flawed from the beginning-he launches into a internal monologue which is several pages long that we're supposed to believe that the main character has in less than a second. Does anyone else find that seriously flawed?
