The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz

A Romance in Eight Days

By: Johann Valentin Andreae, John Crowley - translator

Narrated by: John Crowley

Often described as an alchemical allegory, John Crowley instead decided this is "the first science fiction novel". After all, "it's fiction; it's about the possibilities of a science; and it's a novel". No matter what else it might be, it's definitely one of the great outlandish stories in Western literature.

Public Domain (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

interesting listen.

I enjoyed this.
The commentary was appreciated.
I think this requires multiple listenings
to fully appreciate.

wonderful

Deep, rich and full of such layered wisdom. Crowley is very skilled as a storyteller and narrator and the tale itself is a wonderful puzzle.

Amazing rendition

In the beginning the narrator mentioned a ding noise for whenever he would read a foot note, however it looks like that didn't make it into the final cut. Amazing copy of this title though!

Great version

Though, as a Rosicrucian, I like to delve deeper into the metaphysics of this text, I enjoyed this version in that it could at once be an alchemical, religious or moral play into deeper sublime truths and also a comedy into the frailty of human understanding and knowledge. The "Ground Hog's Day" Sci-Fi considerations at the conclusion only enforce the RC foundation in this beloved tale. CRC is viewed as a cyclic character and so is the Order akin to his name. As such, the roots of RC reach back before the three manifestos. It was never meant to be understood. And, to me, it is ok to consider it nonsensical and in the same moment profound. Profoundly nonsensical. Therein a mystery. Such is life.

Trippy

This is considered the foundational text of the Rosicrucian order, a secret society of alchemists traveling through Europe during the 1600s. Also, as Crowley points out, this is arguably the first science fiction story ever written. I won't pretend I understand almost any of the symbolism, but I still had fun with this, especially the early steampunk-esque technologies. If any of this sounds interesting to you, check it out!