Customer Reviews

The Book of Paradox

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this is an excellent book. the tale of varka's journey explains the tarot in an interesting and unconventional way while avoiding the dusty and dry symbolism that fills most books on this subject. i find the author's statement that she felt like the book was coming into her head from somewhere else very interesting, especially if this may have happened with some of her later books.

For me, this read like a sort of "Alice in Wonderland". It had the feel of a fairytale - including strange characters (like the Queen of Blue) and a bizzare quest that required Varka (our hero) to solve a series of paradox's in order to reach his destination (find Limbo and his lost love).

I would have given this book four stars, since I very much enjoyed it, if it wasn't for the ending. Upon reaching the last few chapters, I began to worry that there wasn't enough book left to leave a very satisfactory ending, and in fact, there wasn't. I'm still not entirely sure what, exactly has supposed to have happened to Varka and I feel as though whatever great "twist" Lousie Cooper has attempted to pull off with this has utterly failed on me. Whatever was supposed to have happened-I sure missed it!

Up until the ending, the story is pretty good. The characters are very undeveloped - they're there to serve a purpose and that's mostly it- but they work. This is a short book, so I didn't expect anything more than I got. Varka's quest is entertaining, and I loved the Alice in wonderland feel to it all. It was all a little wacky and strange, and I liked that.

In the Book of Paradox, Louise Cooper has chosen to theme each of her 20+ chapters around the tarot cards. An interesting idea, for sure, but for me personally, I'd have preferred the book be without it. It seemed to hold too much dominance over the story, yet in the end, seemed utterly irrelevent. What do tarot cards have to do with Varka's journey? Nothing, from what I could tell. The little descriptions for each chapter's corresponding tarot card was interesting (I learned a bit about tarot cards whilst reading this book!) but were ultimately rather pointless.

When author Louise Cooper is good, she is very, very good. When she is bad she writes sentences like: "Varka grinned, then laughed shrilly as she fell dead at his feet."

The hero Varka is hell on women in "The Book of Paradox." All of the women he loves and/or beds end up dead, including the blind, mute woman who was carrying his child. Think of Varka as a masculine Alice in Wonderland. He falls down the equivalent of a rabbit hole, and interacts with very strange characters, including a Blue Queen and a deck of cards. However, Varka is devoid of Alice's intellect, manners, or ironic sense of humor. In spite of the homicides he commits, he is a petulant, snivelling wimp who is helped on his way by many kind, though eccentric strangers. Heck, if I were the Blue Queen I would have murdered his butt rather than raise the blind, mute woman from the dead to give Varka the next clue on his journey to Limbo.

Of course, maybe the Blue Queen did murder him---I couldn't quite figure out what happened to Varka at book's end.

One very important hint: keep track of the characters' hair color. For instance Darxes, Lord of the Underworld starts out with black hair and beard. Varka is blonde. Remember that, and maybe the last chapter will make some sense.

Mainly "The Book of Paradox" is about the Tarot. Each step (i.e. chapter) of Varka's journey is governed by a different Tarot card, which is why the plot is so chopped up and the characters so, well--cardboard. The author is more interested in relating each of the book's twenty-two chapters to a different Tarot card, than she is in plot or character.

"The Book of Paradox" would make an interesting mnemonic for learning the Tarot, if that is the reader's inclination. That's the only reason I gave it two stars.

When author Louise Cooper is good, she is very, very good. When she is bad she writes sentences like: "Varka grinned, then laughed shrilly as she fell dead at his feet."

The hero Varka is hell on women in "The Book of Paradox." All of the women he loves and/or beds end up dead, including the blind, mute woman who was carrying his child. Think of Varka as a masculine Alice in Wonderland. He falls down the equivalent of a rabbit hole, and interacts with very strange characters, including a Blue Queen and a deck of cards. However, Varka is devoid of Alice's intellect, manners, or ironic sense of humor. In spite of the homicides he commits, he is a petulant, snivelling wimp who is helped on his way by many kind, though eccentric strangers. Heck, if I were the Blue Queen I would have murdered his butt rather than raise the blind, mute woman from the dead to give Varka the next clue on his journey to Limbo.

Of course, maybe the Blue Queen did murder him---I couldn't quite figure out what happened to Varka at book's end.

One very important hint: keep track of the characters' hair color. For instance Darxes, Lord of the Underworld starts out with black hair and beard. Varka is blonde. Remember that, and maybe the last chapter will make some sense.

Mainly "The Book of Paradox" is about the Tarot. Each step (i.e. chapter) of Varka's journey is governed by a different Tarot card, which is why the plot is so chopped up and the characters so, well--cardboard. The author is more interested in relating each of the book's twenty-two chapters to a different Tarot card, than she is in plot or character.

"The Book of Paradox" would make an interesting mnemonic for learning the Tarot, if that is the reader's inclination, which is the only reason why I gave it two stars.

I, like other reviewers, read this book in the early seventies.
It is one of the most profound books I have read because 30 years later I am still trying to find a copy.

Buy it; read it; do not ever lose it.

This book is very interesting, it tells the voyage of Varka, while he searches for his dead love, 'following' the tarot's major arcana cards. It's very simple and at the same time very complicated, in a manner that shows Louise Cooper's talent and originality. The word paradox will follow you throughout the book.

I read this book almost twenty years ago and am still fortunate to have it. It is creatively imaginative without relying on over-adjectived text. Curl up in a dark room and begin your journey with these words... "Aloethe screamed."

This is not your standard fantasy fare. There awaits Varka no grand (nameable) nemesis, no saccharine solutions, no certainty. This is a journey of the mind and soul through realms not bound by linear logic. And yet, this book manages to have all the basics, the bizarre, the adventure.

When author Louise Cooper is good, she is very, very good. When she is bad she writes sentences like: "Varka grinned, then laughed shrilly as she fell dead at his feet."

The hero Varka is hell on women in "The Book of Paradox." All of the women he loves and/or beds end up dead, including the blind, mute woman who was carrying his child. Think of Varka as a masculine Alice in Wonderland. He falls down the equivalent of a rabbit hole, and interacts with very strange characters, including a Blue Queen and a deck of cards. However, Varka is devoid of Alice's intellect, manners, or ironic sense of humor. In spite of the homicides he commits, he is a petulant, snivelling wimp who is helped on his way by many kind, though eccentric strangers. Heck, if I were the Blue Queen I would have murdered his butt rather than raise the blind, mute woman from the dead to give Varka the next clue on his journey to Limbo.

Of course, maybe the Blue Queen did murder him---I couldn't quite figure out what happened to Varka at book's end.

One very important hint: keep track of the characters' hair color. For instance Darxes, Lord of the Underworld starts out with black hair and beard. Varka is blonde. Remember that, and maybe the last chapter will make some sense.

Mainly "The Book of Paradox" is about the Tarot. Each step (i.e. chapter) of Varka's journey is governed by a different Tarot card, which is why the plot is so chopped up and the characters so, well--cardboard. The author is more interested in relating each of the book's twenty-two chapters to a different Tarot card, than she is in plot or character.

"The Book of Paradox" would make an interesting mnemonic for learning the Tarot, if that is the reader's inclination. That's the only reason I gave it two stars.

I read this book in 1974. Lost the copy and have been searching for another copy for 24 years. Last week I found one for an exorbanant cost and bought it. It is worth every penny.