Not to Mention Camels: A Wild Trip Through Time and Space [Paperback]

R. A. Lafferty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Three memorable creatures world jump in a meta-cosmic universe that orbits with nightmarish landscapes that thrive on anti-matter, anti-space, and anti-time. What mind and body searing challenges await the Pilger, Pilgrim, and Polder, who are really one man?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sui generis is an overused phrase, but it is the only one for R.A. Lafferty. If Not to Mention Camels is any indication, he has a mind like no one else on the planet. This novel is identified in one printing as "a wild trip through time and space," and on another as "a science fiction fantasy"; his fiction is sometimes described as "tall tales," sometimes as "mythic," sometimes as "moral"-and every phrase is true, yet inadequate and misleading. There are moments when Not to Mention Camels may bring Kurt Vonnegut to mind, or Avram Davidson, or Philip K. Dick; but only rarely, and only for nanoseconds. R.A. Lafferty does not write like anyone else, and what he writes is shelved as science fiction because it's the only remotely accurate label.

Unsurprisingly, Not to Mention Camels is difficult to summarize. Its premise is that there are "dozens of billions of life-supporting worlds" scattered across the universe, and/or coexisting in the same place in different universes. One world, the Prime World, may be the model or source of all worlds. True original souls may be rare; most people may be reflections of those few real souls--and everyone may exist in every world, perhaps sequentially, perhaps simultaneously. Not to Mention Camels follows the joyous, monstrous, compelling cult figure initially known as Pilger Tisman through four (or perhaps more) of his lives/worlds. --Cynthia Ward

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Borgo Press (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587152452
• ISBN-13: 978-1587152450
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,973,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not to mention to Newcomers, December 26, 2007

By 

Bigsleepj "A Christian and Eccentric" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not to Mention Camels: A Wild Trip Through Time and Space (Paperback)

I heard of Lafferty in a roundabout way during the past two years and decided to see if I could find any excerpts of his on-line. One book, FOURTH MANSIONS, had an incredible opening was insanely beautiful and unique, and was like nothing I ever read. I felt I had to read something of his soon, but for some reason I left the other book and went with this book instead (I admit I was intrigued by the title). Subsequently NOT TO MENTION CAMELS is the first book of RA Lafferty I ever read, and it was unique in a very good way, but I just don't think it is the best book of his to start with. The story (which is at times violent, gory and completely iNsAnE) is like nothing you'll find on any other shelf anywhere: it involved a man named Pilgrim (or variations of that name) who is a world-jumper. He has developed the ability to cheat death by allowing his consciousness to pass to different variations of Earth into different variations of himself, thus making him able to live multiple lives at a time. (All of these planets and minds are inter-connected like webs of a spider, by the way) Whenever Pilgrim's consciousness arrives on a new planet he goes about to set up a cult for himself in order to make himself a god and to spread himself out across all of time and space in the minds of millions of followers. But will such an audacious plan work?

As story go, it's a pretty complex and amazing as well as haunting and unforgettable. But I can't help but feel that the story ultimately goes nowhere. I wasn't disappointed, bored and I would consider the book `satisfying' (that vague term so many reviewers like to use), but I just can't help but feel that the book was written with no clear purpose in mind and builds up to nothing in particular, except a dour ending that would have been more powerful if the main character was easier to sympathise with (indeed, I sympathise more with his friend, the 'umbrella seller', who must be his friend against his will). Also the prose lacked some of the crazy energy that other excerpts of his prose (as well as some short-stories that are freely available on-line) had, and I'll admit it was that factor that attracted me initially to Lafferty (the short story SLOW TUESDAY NIGHT is an incredibly fun and unique read, by the way).

They say the best place to start with Lafferty is with his short story collections. Having liked what I read here I'm certain that I'll explore his short-story collection LAFFERTY IN ORBIT next, probably. Taking an educated guess (and not having read it myself) it seems that's the best place for you to start.