David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus: An Anti-Fantasy
Reviewed date: 2023 Jan 7
62 pages
First I read A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. Then I read The Lament of Prometheus by John C. Wright, which is an examination of the book's philosophy and an analysis of why the book ultimately is a failure. And finally, I read Bryan Wysopal's Master's thesis that examines A Voyage to Arcturus as a work of literature. Link here: David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus: An Anti-Fantasy
Wysopal casts Arcturus as an anti-fantasy, that is, it uses the forms of fantasy fiction but intentionally subverts them. This seems to me to be a fair analysis.
I'm a little disappointed that Wysopal didn’t list Wright in his Works Consulted, but perhaps Wright’s perspective and purpose is different enough that his input would not have had bearing on Wysopal's analysis of A Voyage to Arcturus.