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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The ULTIMATE post-modern religious text, January 17, 2006
Simultaneously operating as a religion and a parody of religion, the Principia Discordia has acquired a cult following which I was surprised to discover is well-deserved.
The Principia's juxtaposition of seemingly incompatible elements encourages confusion on the part of the reader. For instance, religious anecdotes and revelations are absurd to the point of idiocy; the constant didacticism intentionally contradicts itself; serious concepts are riddled with toilet humor. As a whole, the text seems like a cleverly constructed joke, yet it does contain moments of compelling insight.
In short, I'm still not sure whether to take any of the Principia seriously. Even if it is possible to take seriously, it is impossible to decode.
Regardless of its intentions, the Principia comes across as an ingenious text without so much as a hint of pretentiousness. The text meaningfully addresses complicated ideas while undercutting them with humor and paradox - it's all painfully clever AND a fun read. In this age of shallow post-modern tricks, that alone is a noteworthy achievement.
NOTE: The entire text is available online. If, however, you intend to purchase a copy, buy the black-cover edition published by Steve Jackson Games - it is the most recent and contains additional content not found in the yellow-cover or purple-cover editions.
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lick here. You could be one of the lucky 25., November 12, 2001
I was sent a copy of this twisted beauty by a penpal, who accompanied it with the note 'I think you'll like this'. It has gone on to become the most borrowed book (and thusly the most creased) in my sizable collection and various phrases from within have crept into daily usage. Very funny, very clever, very Robert Anton Wilson and only-just-less-than very hallucinogenic, I love this book. A quick qualifier - I have a strong degree of revulsion towards the most organised of the religions, and this takes the (...) most admirably. The conversion 'what to say to convert a passer-by to Discordianism' is beautifully observed. There is a lot of insight behind the overt silliness, but you needn't bother with looking for insight if you're not inclined. That's kind of the point, anyway...and it isn't. The lighter side of Chaos magick, for those familiar. As I said earlier, I've lent this book to many people (around 40, I think...gods), only one of whom didn't enjoy it. Hail Eris! Consult your pineal. Fnord.
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73 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Are you a tomato? No. You are not a tomato., November 11, 2000
It's a holy book. Therefore, holy folk of the appropriate persuasion are going to give it the full five stars or none at all, just to be contrary and suchlike. They are more enlightened than I am. As many of my fellow Gracious And Fancy Popes of the Word were prior to encountering Eris, I thought I was simply posessed of a sense of humor about the cosmic absurdity of It All. It is not so: I was a Discordian, and a Pope to boot. It's like getting a can of green beans for free when you buy one at the store.As fiction, the Word is tripe. Hideous, slovenly stuff, written without care for typography or the quality of reasoning or illustrations. Bad bad bad. Naughty. This is a good thing. If it made *sense*, it wouldn't be Erisian, would it? No. This is a Zen Surrealism haphazard cut-n-paste history and chronicle of the early days and times of our forefingers Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam-Ravenhurst, and how they met the Monkey who had Met the Goddess in a bowling alley, and how things happened beforehand and afterwards. The character of Eris Herself is intimately probed with loving gentleness for the first time, and the various signs and sigils related herunto explained in more or less detail. The Thing About Hot Dog Buns comes to light: a Discordian shall consume no hot dog buns for it was with a hot dog that Eris consoled herself after the Great Snub during the banquet of the gods at which the seeds of the Trojan War were planted. Therefore, on Fridays, a Discordian shall Go and Joyously Partake of a Hot Dog to thumb the nose at five of the world's major religions, thusly: 1. Catholicism: No meat on Fridays. 2. Hinduism: No meat of beef. 3. Judaism: No meat of pork. 4. Islam: No meat of pork. 5. Discordianism: No hot dog buns. There are also a great many illustrations of dubious character, and no small abount of nose-swallowing. Things generally continue in this vein. The basic dichotomy of the world (Eristic vs. Aneristic, bright chaos vs. dim stasis) is shamefully dualist as usually presented here, when it is not holy nonsense, and sages of the Word will do well to recall that the Hand of Eris has five asymmetrical fingers, and that these wierd fingers are the ones that spin the world. However, that aside--this is a do-it-yerself enlightenment kit, folks. Your pineal gland--it's a little raisin-sized thing under your forehead about where you'd expect a third eye to be if you had one--will thank you, and will probably feel free to speak up more often about things. You will become wiser and more groovy as a direct result of this new connection to Eris, and housepets will not flee from your approach. Before you know it you will be a Gourder, rather than a Gourdee. Before you know it, you'll know what all of this means, and you'll love it.
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by Robert Anton Wilson
by Robert Anton Wilson
