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outcolder's review against another edition
4.0
Less comical than the first Scheerbart novel, Lesabéndio appears to offer a moral to the story. There is a socio-political ism behind all this, but I ‘ll be damned if I know what it is. Togetherness over isolation, decisions by consensus, sound good but when the characters who consented with reservations or cannot see a role for themselves in the new project die from a kind of depression and then are literally absorbed into “stronger” personalities... uh, not sure. The entire society, the entire planet (or asteroid in this case) should all commit to one grand idea, and it should be one that offers scientific progress, at the expense of individual artists... whoah. Scheerbart is calling for a world that would exclude him even more? Or am I missing some irony? Towards the end we get some words about the value of pain, words sent telepathically to the de facto leader, words direct from the sun.
I think I liked the first novel better, it moved faster, it poked fun at humans. I see why this is considered the masterpiece, it takes itself more seriously and really does get philosophical and nuanced.
I am a bit spaced out with fever and illness, but this one also seemed trippier than the first one. Both contain long stretches of visual prose poetry describing strange aesthetic experiences. I kept imagining Lesabéndio as an opera, like baroque sets and costumes but musically more minimalist and impressionist if that makes sense.
So, came looking for psychedelic laughs, ended up with an intellectual confusion.
I think I liked the first novel better, it moved faster, it poked fun at humans. I see why this is considered the masterpiece, it takes itself more seriously and really does get philosophical and nuanced.
I am a bit spaced out with fever and illness, but this one also seemed trippier than the first one. Both contain long stretches of visual prose poetry describing strange aesthetic experiences. I kept imagining Lesabéndio as an opera, like baroque sets and costumes but musically more minimalist and impressionist if that makes sense.
So, came looking for psychedelic laughs, ended up with an intellectual confusion.
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