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rubel's review
5.0
Wow, folks...this book. This book. This is the second novel I've read of his, with many short stories and a few essays in between. Fourth Mansions is the most like reading a really good Lafferty story, somehow maintaining the intensity and light-yet-deadly tone, and still remaining cohesive as a novel. Lafferty isn't for everyone--his style and dialog either charm & delight you or annoy & exhaust you--and while this may or may not be his best work, it is certainly the most HIS. I'm dazzled.
courtneykim2's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.25
deimosremus's review
challenging
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Much like John Crowley, Lafferty was another author that was oft-brought up in conversations I’ve had regarding writing styles and eccentricities that were similar to Gene Wolfe’s, or at least authors whose work bred likeminded fanatics. Wolfe being a friend of Lafferty’s and his praising of him as one of the genre’s most original voices sold me on the idea of seeking out his stories. I actually have a couple of short stories of his collected in some anthologies I own, but have yet to read, so I decided to give Lafferty a try by diving headfirst into one of his full-length novels instead.
Fourth Mansions is hard to parse. Very hard. It feels like a mixture of slipstream fiction and science fiction with a strange theological bent to it, focusing a lot on Eschatology (another similarity to Wolfe’s work). The best I can sum up the plot is that the world is found by a reporter to be run by secret societies, all with their own talent for reality-distortion, and plans for guiding humanity toward the end-times (or preventing it). Running concurrently are motifs that make allusions to Teresa of Ávila’s The Interior Castle (or, The Mansions), a work of Christian mysticism wherein the soul is akin to a mansion full of rooms that represent its different states. The book contains mind-manipulators, strange ghostly entities called Plappergeists that appear out of the corners of one’s eyes, and a general state of confusion regarding physical space, time and goings-on. It’s densely worded and tricky, befuddling, ominous, funny, and above all, intimidatingly obtuse... but despite a kind of ‘kitchen-sink’ approach to what’s included in the novel, it somehow works, thanks to Lafferty’s masterful and entertaining use of language and experimental structure. It’s incredibly bizarre, but I loved it, and it’s easy to see why Lafferty has a cult-like status. Hope to read more of his work as soon as I can.
Fourth Mansions is hard to parse. Very hard. It feels like a mixture of slipstream fiction and science fiction with a strange theological bent to it, focusing a lot on Eschatology (another similarity to Wolfe’s work). The best I can sum up the plot is that the world is found by a reporter to be run by secret societies, all with their own talent for reality-distortion, and plans for guiding humanity toward the end-times (or preventing it). Running concurrently are motifs that make allusions to Teresa of Ávila’s The Interior Castle (or, The Mansions), a work of Christian mysticism wherein the soul is akin to a mansion full of rooms that represent its different states. The book contains mind-manipulators, strange ghostly entities called Plappergeists that appear out of the corners of one’s eyes, and a general state of confusion regarding physical space, time and goings-on. It’s densely worded and tricky, befuddling, ominous, funny, and above all, intimidatingly obtuse... but despite a kind of ‘kitchen-sink’ approach to what’s included in the novel, it somehow works, thanks to Lafferty’s masterful and entertaining use of language and experimental structure. It’s incredibly bizarre, but I loved it, and it’s easy to see why Lafferty has a cult-like status. Hope to read more of his work as soon as I can.
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