Aegypt

By: John Crowley

Narrated by: John Crowley

Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Is there more than one history of the world? This is the question Pierce Moffett is seeking to answer when, jilted and newly jobless, he gets off a bus by chance in the Faraway Hills and steps unawares into a story that has been awaiting him there. His search will bring him into contact with Rosie Rasmussen, another seeker marked by loss. And it will lead them both on a path toward the longed-for country of our oldest dreams and most unanswerable desires, toward a magnificent discovery.

©1987 John Crowley (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"A dizzying experience, achieved with unerring security of technique." (New York Times Book Review)
"Aegypt is a must....Crowley [is] an original moralist of the same giddy heights occupied by the likes of Thomas Mann and Robertson Davies." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Affecting, cerebral, surprising and delightful, this extraordinary philosophical romance suggests an unlikely but thriving marriage between a writer like Anne Tyler and one such as Jorge Luis Borges." (Publishers Weekly)

This audio was OK.

This audio was OK. It did not keep my attention the whole time I listened to it.

Astonishing!

Pierce Moffat is a man who lives in one reality while experiencing another. As he reviews his life he realizes that this “feeling” he inhabits has become his central focus. He begins to see that every event and action of his life has been leading him toward this realization. He looks to the horizon and the Far Away Hills, a mystical landscape on the border lands of the two realities. He examines his feeling of time in contrast to his perception of it. He senses a hidden story of the world and wonders how he might uncover it. Gradually he learns to accept and to submit to the flow events and trusts that he will be exactly where he needs to be in order to manifest this perplexing experience. We learn about the writer Fellowes Kraft a man to whom Pierce’s destiny is manifestly bound and who through whom we are introduced to the remarkable Giordano Bruno and the wonderful metaphysician Dr Dee. Then there are the women in Pierce’s life who somehow hold the key to unraveling Pierce’s sense of things. This book is categorized as “Fantasy”, but this is misleading for Aeygpt is really an allegory about an experience of reality that might be called “Intuitive”. This is a tradition with a long pedigree, one that has operated alongside all the mainstream religious belief systems while remaining largely hidden. We might find a sense of this in Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and in the Rosicrucian traditions to name but a few. There are some difficulties with this novel and the Audio production. Aeygpt is the first in a four book cycle, and therefore the spot on which this remarkable and highly talented writer has laid a detailed foundation, be patient as the form does eventually begin to take shape. Also, the writer is the narrator and his style does take a little getting used to. Finally, this book is a wonderful gift to those whose seek to raise their sight beyond the accepted truths. Persevere and you will be astonished.

One of the most amazing works in English

A staggeringly beautiful book. It is complex, and an ability to accept a blurred understanding of the storyline is an asset.

Crowley's narration feels rushed at first, but give it an hour or two; it ended up feeling perfect to me, and now I doubt if I another could have read it.

A great reading of one of the modern classics

John Crowley is one of the great authors of our time. Aegypt is a complex and enlightened work displaying his mastery of historical fiction and magical realism, taking the reader on a journey spanning the ages and arriving at personal discovery of the stories we create within our own histories.

Brought here by RBPPIF, and thank goodness for it

I remember the first half an hour or so just confused me, as I was expecting something else, or at least was not used to this form. Once I had the flow I started again and wow. The worst thing about this was having to stop every couple hours or so to, you know, be present. To be honest, I've heard better "readers" but it is quite something to have an author take on that role. Beautiful, absolutely.

slow, meandering, and beautiful

Crowley develops his stories slowly with lots of detail and writes beautifully. His writing and ideas are meant to be savored and pondered. If you like the idea of listening to a 15 hour and 29 minute narrative poem, with another poem inside it, then you might well like this book.

Crowley narrates the book himself, in a flat middle-American voice, with a quirky, slightly self-conscious manner. The narration worked for me. I found his voice easy to listen to, and his reading gave me more insight into what his artistic intentions are. But the narration isn't going to please everybody.

Excellent Book, Well Read

I cannot recommend this one highly enough. It has a somewhat opaque beginning, but stick with it! This is really not a very "difficult" book (or audiobook).

John Crowley's novels have often fallen through the crack between "serious" literary fiction and science fiction/fantasy. This novel (which has just been republished under the author's preferred title, "The Solitudes") is the first in a tetrology (still collectively called "Aegypt"). I can't say enough about it. It's a novel of ideas that contains interesting and believable characters. It is somewhat Pynchonesque (and has numerous Pynchon references for the Pynchonati) but is more humanistic in its orientation than Pynchon tends to be. And, despite what other reviewers have written, the author does an excellent job reading his own work. I only hope that Crowley provides us with audiobooks of the rest of the tetrology in the future!

Brilliant!

Where does Aegypt rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've only listened to two books, this being the second. I can't choose between it and Jerusalem by Alan Moore. Both are top notch novels, to say the very least, and wonderful narration performances.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Aegypt?

Ha! It's all great. I particularly like the novel's digressions into fictional/historical chapters.

What does John Crowley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love his easy, folksy narration, and the inflection he brings to small dialogue exchanges. I hope he narrates more of his books in the future.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have listened to it all if I could. I use the audiobooks on my rather arduous travel to one of my jobs (2 hours plus each day). It makes a molasses traffic trawl delightful.

Any additional comments?

There are three other books in the Aegypt Quartet, so now naturally I am wishing I could listen to those too. As Aegypt (AKA The Solitudes) was published as an audiobook back in 2007, subsequent narrated volumes seem to be wishful thinking. But there is always another of his astonishing works on offer: LITTE,BIG. Also narrated by Crowley himself. I can't wait to dig into that.

I want to live in Crowley's world with my friends,

so I'm asking them to listen to Crowley transport us there, to this inner world of AEgypt.

"There are many histies of the world."

I grew up in the West: Utah, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico. Now in the Ozark mountains near Eureka Springs Arkansas--in these parts they say it like this: John Crowley is the "real deal."

Worlds in worlds in worlds. How the world was then; time wakes up, shifts its limbs, goes back to sleep; how the world is now. And still it is our world.

More than any other book I am content to just be in the worlds Crowley evokes.

whoa

whoa this book is dense but readable i really enjoyed it and the author reading it gave it a lot of character