The Masters of Solitude [Hardcover]

Marvin Kaye (Author), Parke Godwin (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 397 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.; 1st edition (July 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385124805
• ISBN-13: 978-0385124805
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,548,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great piece of "social science fiction", August 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Masters of Solitude (Hardcover)

This is a book I will never forget. It's one of those ones you recommend to everyone you think is worthy of it, but don't want to actually lend out for fear you won't get it back. It's a great story if you're open-minded, a Freudian, a not-exactly-Christian, or any combination thereof. How nice to find an enjoyable piece of fiction that actually makes you think about your life and personal philosophy. And from a pure story-telling standpoint, there is a GREAT twist at the end.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the tradition of Orwell and Nietzsche..., May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Masters of Solitude (Hardcover)

I have been looking for a copy of this book since I read it several times (and subsequently gave it away) years ago. Especially fascinating is the authors' use of a "border-crosser" or guerrilla-type figure who, as one of the main characters, crosses boundaries between hyper-city and rural community in a post-Apocalyptic age, thus allowing us to reflect upon our own circumstances, plight, and so on as people caught between and inside fractured communities of all shapes and sizes and flavours. The book is imbued with Nietzschean values and has a tinge of Orwell's Burmese Days to it, in the sense that it conveys a tangible feeling of exile throughout (which 1984 does, as well). The authors have a gift of expressing philosophy in a novel that is both provocative and a joy to read. Write more, guys!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favs, September 23, 2005

By 

Maury Markowitz (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Masters of Solitude (Hardcover)

It's been a long time since I last read this book, and time does have a tendency to change one's perceptions, but I still remember this one fondly. It blends any number of features that alone would make a great story into a complete whole, something so few books do.

I particularily liked the quality of the writing. The narrative as Arin "goes sane" with the help of an imaginary friend always struck me as particularily well written, and his emergance as an instrument of retribution afterwards a particularily believable bit of character development.

A thought provoking read all around.