Customer Reviews

Strange Life of Ivan Osokin: A Novel (Arkana S)

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Over the years, I've recommended this book to my friends at least twenty times, and I have for sure recommended it to every psychologist, or anyone in any sort of therapy, that I have known. I read it when I was in college, doing the usual recreational drugs, and reading widely. This book amazed and dumbfounded me, probably more than any other book. The author possesses what seemed to me to be a rare quality (conceited and/or foolish as I am), and that is, he knows more about human nature, and the way the world works, than I do, and he can write about it.

The form of the book is a novel; the protagonist is beset by difficulties that he feels somehow responsible for, but, that he cannot understand. Like all of us? As the story unfolds, we see that this novel is unlike any other, as it examines the protagonist's role in the minutest details of events, and shows how these events contribute to the inevitablity of what seem on the surface to be chance or uncontollable outcomes.

One lesson I drew from the book is to try to 'look deeply' at things. There is the reality that our concious mind registers and that changes moment to moment, and there are currents of meaning that are constant and don't change, but that are not recognized for what they are and are not acknowledged by our concious mind. However, our unconcious mind is fully aware of these currents, and their reality is more substantial than the concious reality. Does that make any sense? Probably not. Be assured that 'Osokin' is an interesting tale, not pyschobabble like my attempted explication.

Ouspensky was a follower of Gurjeiff, and there are still Gurjeiff groups that meet to discuss his thoughts. My last boss at a tech firm was a leader of such a group! I found out from him that Gurjeiff-ans think that the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray is in the spirit of "Osokin". I agree. The setups are the same, a day, or a life, to live over, however, what follows is entirely different.

You seldom come across books which can significantly change your way of thinking or maybe your life for good. This is definitely one such book. I accidently came upon it when I was searching for one of Colin Wilson's books and came upon Strange Life of P.D. Ouspensky which in turn led to this book.

The protagonist, Ivan Osokin, is someone with whom most of us can empathize with. He's someone who would like another chance to live his life again so that he can make use of opportunities he wasted. He is blessed when he finds a magician who can exactly do this - send him back in time with the memories of the "future". He finds himself being a schoolboy again and at a critical path of his life. The strange thing being - now its difficult for him to believe any of it. His memory of "future" starts fading slowly and he finds that the inertia of fate is not easy to get rid of. He's taking the same decisions that he took the last time. His "memory" reduces to a plain deja vu and he's left wondering whether any of it was really true.

Giving away more will destroy the pleasure of reading.

Ouspensky's insights will leave you spellbound till the end. I just wish I had read it a few years earlier.

Ouspensky has captured the essence and tragedy of life in this book - that life is a trap. But there is a way out of this trap. This story is beautiful when you understand what it means, and how closely it relates to the life of someone who is an old soul. It really hits home.

This is an amazing book and should be in print! it's far more accessible than his philosophical writings a la Gurdjieff. I am desperately keen to get a copy of Talks with a Devil, his book of short stories. Publishers and film makers should make sure that this guy is widely known in the next century!

Think of all the mistakes that you've made in your life. If you could go back would you do things right? Ivan says yes, the magician says we'll see and sends him back. Ah but Ivan soon forgets...until. While this story is casual and interesting, it made me think about life almost without realizing it.

If you like Kundera, have a fondness for Nietzsche, enjoyed the Bill Murray movie "Groundhog's Day," or sit there mulling over the towering pronouncement from Rilke's "Archaic Torso of Apollo," : 'You must change your life!' then this is the book for you. Even if none of the above apply to you, just take a chance on this slim novel. While I wouldn't recommend the entire mystical theosophist movement that propelled Ouspensky, this work will never quite leave you -- my criterion for a work of great art.

From a music student to a student of Hermetic Science - this book changed my whole life, and way of thinking.

Ouspensky manages to combine real human feeling and longings with fantasy and dreams.

Enjoy!

I first read this book at age eight after finding it on my mother's nightstand. I remember becoming totally engrossed in the story and reading it straight through form cover to cover. Strangely this novel has stood up well to several subsequent readings at various times in my life. I say strangely in part because I have not developed any noticable interest in any other works of fantasy or the occult in the ensuing years. This book stands out in my memory as a singular phenomenon.

I want read this book? Who have it? I pay good for it!!

Magnificent, a master piece. The writer really knows the human mind