First published 2018
This collection brings together three works that shaped modern occult and philosophical thought. Aleister Crowley's The Book of Lies offers cryptic wisdom through short chapters that weave together Tarot, Qabala, astrology, and Egyptian mythology. Crowley challenges readers to sharpen their perception and abandon conventional thinking through witty, elegant prose that includes the ritual Mass of the Phoenix. Friedrich Nietzsche's The Antichrist, written in 1888 but delayed until 1895 due to controversy, launches an attack on Christianity while advancing his will-to-power philosophy. Nietzsche argues that Christianity elevates weakness and opposes the self-preservative instincts of strong life. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground follows an unnamed retired civil servant in St. Petersburg whose rambling memoirs reveal his bitter isolation. The narrator breaks from society and descends underground, violating literary conventions in this 1864 work considered the first existentialist novel.
Genres: classics, philosophy, 20th-century, religion, occult, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unconventional-structure, unreliable-narrator
Setting: St. Petersburg
Period: 1864, 1888, 1895
290 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Content warnings: violence