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Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale Edward Bulwer-Lytton

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Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale Edward Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni, first published in 1842, was inspired by a dream. Sir Edward, a Rosicrucian, wrote this engaging, well-researched, novel about the eternal conflict between head and heart, between wisdom and love, played out by the Rosicrucians before the dramatic background of the French Revolution. He described his book Zanoni as "a truth for those who can comprehend it, and an extravagance for those who cannot." Following his introduction, the novel is divided into seven parts, whose titles indicate the sevenfold path of spiritual development. The fourth section, "The Dweller of the Threshold," is the book's centerpiece, revealing significant esoteric facts and experiences.

A novelist, a dramatist, a scholar, an editor, and an active member of Parliament, Sir Edward was an extremely successful author whose writings were widely read throughout England and Europe. He poured into this esoteric work all of the ancient esoteric wisdom that he felt he could reveal to the public during an age buried deeply in materialism.

This work remains one of the great, pioneering landmarks of esoteric writing.

Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale Details

Date : Published December 1st 1990 by Steiner Books (first published 1842) ISBN : 9780833400178 Author : Edward Bulwer-Lytton Format : Paperback 462 pages Genre : Fiction, Philosophy, Occult, Classics, Literature, 19th Century

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From Reader Review Zanoni: A Rosicrucian Tale for online ebook

Samuel says

Well I'm on page 394 so I can't claim that the novel's denouement hasn't completely turned me off; yet, in light of the fact that I view published novels to be "as perfect" iterations of the ideas the author has delved into--which is to say, complete works in and of themselves in so far as they capture the imaginative genius of the author given the context of their own personal development, the publishing industry, etc.--I still can say that this is one of the my favorite novels. Increasingly I am feeling that, like our own great H.P. Lovecraft, I was simply born in the wrong century of Western culture, and this novel only compounds upon that personal revelation in that both Clarence Glyndon and Zanoni possess personality traits that I identify with on an intensely subjective personal scale. I have the intellectual and impassioned ambition of Glyndon while completely connecting with Zanoni's more amorously-inclined passion for Viola Pisani--a fascinating character in and of herself, if I might add. Like my first Goodreads.com review, which was for Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons," I firmly believe that the profound effect this novel has had on me has to do with my age and place in life while reading it: I'm nearly Glyndon's age yet identify mostly with Zanoni, and this completely coincidental likening to both of Bulwer-Lytton's protagonists makes the novel an extremely personal work for me. I can't necessarily recommend it to anyone based on this alone, but I can say that for me, it is quite an amazing feat of novelistic virtuosity.

On another note, I have yet to read a novel in English that utilizes our language to with such a poetic perspicacity. If you enjoy other leaps of English literary aptitude such as "Paradise Lost" or Shakespeare, Bulwer-Lytton's "Zanoni" will amaze you with it's sublime utilization and incorporation of the English language. Like Milton and Shakespeare, the unfamiliar (to modern audiences) use of our language might at first be an obstacle, but perseverance quickly reveals it to be a joy to the both the ear and the mind. Bulwer- Lytton does things with prose I didn't think possible until going forth with this novel. In fact, purely coincidently, the closest analogous writer I can think of to compare him to, is the aforementioned Lovecraft, in that both wield a style of prose inappropriate to their contexts and all the more magnificent for it.

This novel will undoubtedly give you much to think about in regards to love, being in love, falling in love, academia, intellectualism, spiritualism, religion, and politics, with such encyclopedic scope being another comparison to epic poets like Milton or psychological poets like Shakespeare. It confronts the intellectual's-- the TRUE, and HUMBLE intellectual--conundrum: the affluence of universal knowledge in the face of the short time each individual soul spends on earth. How is that question in any way intersected, over the course of the novel, with the questions of love? You'll have to read it to find out. You don't have to read far to confront the essential questions (100-200 pages) and Bulwer-Lytton provides less answers than he does questions, but isn't that why we read novels in the first place? The answers you get aren't those of a novelist like Dickens, where ambiguity is present but mostly disregarded and definitely glossed over with a healthy shine of humour, yet still, reading "Zanoni" is like reading Ovid's "Art of Love" in a desperate attempt to get laid: it might not be culturally relevant anymore, but it's use of language is poetically engaging, it's advice is (oxymoronically) outdatedly timeless, and, most importantly, it's fun.

Also: if there's a REAL girl like Viola Pisani, then, men, we are quite the more fortunate sex indeed.

Ignacio Senao f says

Es relatado la vida de una chica que proviene de un padre dedicado a la música y frustrado por no conseguir lo que quiere. Ella nace con un don especial para el espectáculo.

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Tras esta premisa el texto gira en torno a la muchacha, con un circulo amoroso entre varios humanos, y un misterioso ser, que aparece en los sitios más recónditos, y siempre diciendo algo de relevancia. Encima no envejece.

No pienses que es interesante la historia, pues el autor se centra en su crítica social, y expone sus conocimientos filosóficos de la vida en general. Mucha habladuría para una novela que debe entretener y no rayar.

Sebastian says a strange yet somehow pleasant experience. aaa says

A book every neophyte should read.

Vatroslav Herceg says

Cid Zagreb, 1996. Preveo Vili Bayer Prvotno objavljeno 1842. Sjajan roman! U pogledu konstrukcije romana, i na?ina ostvarivanja konstrukcije romana- tehnologije pisanja, ovaj roman pripada više realizmu, dok u pogledu sadržaja pripada više romantizmu. U prologu sam autor (ili sveznaju?i pripovjeda??) navodi da je naišao na rukopis ovog romana, kao istinsko svjedo?anstvo, u jednoj knjiškoj staretinarnici. Dakle, cjelokupan roman se izlaže kao prona?eni tekst. Navedeno je obilježje gotskog romana. Sam roman, koji dakle funkcionira kao prona?eni tekst, je pisan uglavnom u tre?em licu. Roman posjeduje višeslojnost pripovijedanja. Prvotni pripovjeda?, onaj koji u prologu navodi kako je pronašao ovaj tekst, je heterodijageti?ki pripovjeda?, zato jer ne sudjeluje u radnji. Postavlja se pitanje je li pripovjeda? prologa sam autor ili fikcionalni heterodijageti?ki pripovjeda?? Tako?er, pripovjeda? koji iznosi cjelokupni roman, uglavnom u tre?em licu, je heterodijageti?ki pripovjeda?, jer ni on ne sudjeluje u radnji. Pošto je gotovo cijeli roman, izuzev prologa, pripovijedanje unutar pripovijedanja radi se o hipodijegeti?koj razini pripovijedanja, koja je obilježje gotskog romana. Povremeno, u nekim pismima ili drugim umetcima u tekst, se javlja pripovijedanje u prvom licu. U navedenom sudjeluje više likova, pa, time, u romanu nailazimo i na mjestimi?nu polifoni?nost. Tako da pripovijedanje u tre?em licu nije sveprisutno, no ?ini ve?insko dio naracije. U po?etnom dijelu romana u središtu radnje je napuljska pjeva?ica Viola koja kroz cijeli roman ?ini središte ljubavnog trokuta. U daljnjem dijelu romana središte radnje ?ine dva lika, duhovnjak i mag Zanoni te mladi umjetnik Glyndon. ?ime se ostvaruje dinami?nost radnje. Jezik je na dostojnoj razini. Moj ukus bi zahtijevao još više jezi?ne aktualizacije, ali ne mogu svi biti Ranko Marinkovi?. U vezi jezika prijevoda zanimljivo je da se uglavnom upotrebljava oblik "sa" kada bi trebao biti upotrebljen oblik "s". Ne kužim zašto. Klasifikacija ovog romana bi bila prije svega da se radi o romanu tajnog društva. Nedavno pro?itah

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Schillerov roman "Vidioc duhova" koji tako?er spada u navedeni žanr; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... Je li Schillerov jedini roman utjecao na Bulwera-Lyttona? Ne bih rekao, ni u pogledu forme, ni u pogledu sadržaja. Schillerov roman posjeduje više dodirnica s gotskim žanrom. Preporu?io bih i Goetheov roman "Wilhelm Meister" koji na metafori?an na?in biva roman tajnog društva. Zašto je ovaj roman roman tajnog društva? E, pa moji pili?i, zato jer mladi umjetnik Glyndon želi ste?i metafizi?ka znanja kakva posjeduje mag Zanoni. Lik Zanonija podsje?a na tipizirani lik gotskog romana, lik lutaju?eg Žid(ov)a. Zanoni je živ ve? pet tisu?a godina, ostao je i dalje mlad, prika mu je bi?e iz više dimenzije, zra?ni duh Adonai. Zanoni je svojevrsni Morpheus, a Glyndon Neo, iako Zanoni nije izabrao Glyndona da mu bude u?enik. Zanoni navodi da pripada društvu rozenkrojcera. Na kraju romana kao likovi se javljaju glavešine Francuske Revolucije, radnja romana se zbiva u ranim 1790-ima, me?u ostalim i Robespierre. Potjere, dvorci, tajno društvo su toposi gotskog romana. Velik dio romana preuzima mnogo obilježja pustolovnog romana, kada Glyndon živi s razbojnicima na mediteranskom jugu. U tom smislu ovaj roman gdjegjde podsje?a na roman "Grof Monte Christo". Akcijski elementi ma?evanja su još jedno obilježje pustolovnog romana. Ideološka podloga romana je protuliberalna, protumaterijalisti?ka (u vidu filozofskog materijalizma), protuateisti?ka. Roman prikazuje Francusku Revoluciju kao krvolo?nu crvoto?inu koja guta sve pred sobom. Slažem se s kritikom materijalizma, racionalizma i ateizma. Iako je ovaj roman objavljen 1842., kao da je najavio strahote koje ?e plodovi Francuske Revolucije izazvati u dvadesetom stolje?u, a plodovi ideje racionalizma i liberalizma su, u svojim negativnim stranama, zasigurno utjelovljene u Sjevernoj Koreji. No, roman nudi jednoobraznu desni?arsku kritiku koja ne nudi pogled na pozitivne plodove Francuske Revolucije, socijalnu državu, razvoj zdravstva te pad Crkve. Ipak, roman je aktualan i danas. S fundamentalisti?kim liberalizmom, diktaturom ljudskih prava, te fundamentalisti?kim feminizmom o?igledna je tama naivnog racionalizma. Crkvu je zamijenio Laboratorij. Sve one koje golica duhovna i metafizi?ka podloga našeg svijeta pozivam da pro?itaju ovaj roman. Ovaj roman je baš kul pri?a o ljudskoj potrazi za znanjem i istinom, o borbi dobra i zla, a ovo bjesomu?no liberalno društvo želi relativizirati ?ak i postojanje dobra i zla, prometejska je tematika okosnica romana. Pro?itajte ovo, da ono ne pro?ita vas putem ljudskih okova koje predstavlja kao ljudska prava. Ovakve knjige pomažu u bu?enju... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTL4q...

Frank Van Wesemael says

Zanoni was written during the Victorian era in which there was a strong fascination with the supernatural in conjunction with science such as depicted in other Victorian literature like Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or others. This due to the fact that science was still in its infant stages and superstition common.

This book tries to shed some light on the ways and practices of the Rosicrucian brotherhood who, often accused of witchcraft or being in league with the Devil, use science to gain immortality and in this book are depicted as God-fearing men, misunderstood by society.

The book is often very poetic, filled with quotes from a wide range of sources and entertaining to read with a deep insight into the human psyche, set in the final stages of the Reign of Terror (French Revolution) it is, in essence, a love story between the immortal and mysterious Zanoni and the mortal Viola.

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David says

Published in 1842 and set during the French Terror [1789] this is NOT . What Bulwer- Lytton has produced is a turgid gothic romance popular during the period. Lots and Lots of exposition and little by way of dialogue, so it will not be the sort of book that modern genre readers will, most likely, enjoy.

I'm not going to outline the plot here, visit its Wikipedia page if you wish to see this, but what I will do is tell you the basic plot is that of a romantic tragedy...prospective readers will, hopefully, draw their own conclusions from this.

Having said the above, Zanoni is still a good, but not great, book within its tradition.

3 out of 5 stars with a mild recommendation for those who like period, genre-based narratives.

Piggie says

This book is beautiful. The writing is elegant. The characters are believable and moving. There are few books that have moved me to tears and this book is now among those few. The book is layered wondrously. If desired, it can be read solely for the surface story of those who would seek truth and love. However, for those that enjoy digging deeper, there is more to behold. There is an immense amount of social and moral commentary. This is a book that approaches the divine without the fetters of religion. When one considers the era in which this was written, that in and of itself heralds the enlightenment of this author.

Niels Saavedra says

Great story.

Alessandro Londei says

Illuminarsi non è cosa facile. La fede nella scienza, nella ragione, nella materia si contrappone alla conoscenza dell'intelletto, alla discesa nelle verità interiori, preziosamente custodite nello scrigno dell'anima. Il mondo ha scelto la prima via e gli effetti si manifestano nell'ultima parte del libro, nel sangue torrenziale della rivoluzione francese, quando la luce delle ideologie prevarica il senso della vita. Sull'altro lato sta Zanoni, ultimo dei rosacroce, custode di segreti antichissimi ed egli stesso di età venerabile (addirittura un caldeo della prima ora). La sua illuminazione spirituale tuttavia, sebbene al più alto grado, ha previsto la scelta tra il mondo umano delle emozioni e dei sentimenti con quello più sottile della conoscenza assoluta. Segue la rivelazione: il suo percorso non è terminato, la sua conoscenza non può essere totale, le sue scelte lo faranno deviare dalla pura conoscenza esoterica verso una maggiore completezza dell'anima. Un romanzo dalle tinte gotiche, dal linguaggio ricercato, una narrazione complessa e ricca di personaggi, di luoghi e di simboli. La lettura può avvenire su numerosi piani ma, a parer mio, se limitata al più superficiale, c'è il rischio di abbandonare l'impresa per insopportabile noia.

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Dfordoom says

The English novelist Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803-1873), is today best-known for inspiring The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a competition for the worst opening lines for the worst possible novels. This is a result of Bulwer-Lytton having opened one of his novels with, “It was a dark and stormy night.” This has gained him a reputation as a bad writer, a reputation that is most unjust. Bulwer-Lytton was in fact a fine and imaginative writer and one of the most interesting of all 19th century literary figures.

His short story The Haunted and the Haunters is one of the minor masterpieces of horror. Bulwer-Lytton wrote in many genres and was the author of the fascinating science fiction novel The Coming Race. He had a keen interest in the occult and it is one of his occult novels with which we are concerned - Zanoni, published in 1842. It is often described as his Rosicrucian novel, although in fact the two key figures in the book, Zanoni and Mejnour, are not Rosicrucians but members of a much more ancient and much more secret fraternity. They do however acknowledge the Rosicrucians as being on the right track. The alchemists they regard as sincere seekers after truth and wisdom, and often men of genius, but alchemy is not the path to the truths they seek.

This is a novel within a novel. The author claims to have come into possession of a manuscript, a manuscript written by an adept in the occult arts. He claims to have obtained the manuscript from its author, who claimed that it dealt with an idea derived from , that there are four types of enthusiasm or mania. Mania is used here in a positive sense, as a kind of spiritual exaltation. The four manias are the musical, the mystical, the prophetic and that that pertains to love.

The manuscript describes events that supposedly took place at the end of the preceding century. The hero of the manuscript is Zanoni. Zanoni is one of two surviving members of a brotherhood that dates back almost as far as the beginnings of human civilisation. Zanoni appears to be a youngish man, but in fact his lifespan is measured not in mere centuries but in millennia. Majnour is even older. Zanoni and Majnour chose different kinds of immortality. Zanoni chose eternal youth while Mejnour chose eternal old age.

Mejnour is the more content of the two. The passions of youth are behind him. He is no longer prone to emotional entanglements or the snares of the passions. He regards humanity with the detachment of a scientist. He almost never seeks to intervene in human affairs. Zanoni on the other hand still knows the extremes of youth - the extremes of happiness and of despair.

Zanoni can even fall in love, but he knows that to do so would have momentous consequences. Nevertheless when he meets Viola, the daughter of a brilliant Italian composer, he finds that try as he might he cannot escape love.

Zanoni’s path will also cross that of Glyndon, a young English artist who becomes obsessed with the idea of following the path of Zanoni and achieving the powers and the wisdom of the brotherhood.

This is most emphatically not a novel that treats the occult as something evil. The occult in this novel is rather a seeking for wisdom. On the very rare occasions on which Mejnour does interfere in the affairs of humanity it is always on the side of good. Zanoni frequently intervenes in human affairs, and again always on the side of good. Which is not to say that evil does not exist. It is a hazard even for the greatest of adepts, and among the common run of humanity it is all too common. The evils in this book are all very human evils.

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Zanoni can also be seen as a novel of the French Revolution but to see it that way is to miss the point. The French Revolution merely represents the absolute nadir of humanity, an event so cataclysmically evil that it is capable of having an effect even on Zanoni. It represents (according to the author’s afterword) the violent eruption of the actual into the ideal. Zanoni represents the ideal. All the major characters will find themselves drawn by destiny to Paris during the Reign of Terror.

It is somewhat pointless to try to analyse this book in terms of plot and characterisation. On the surface it might seem to be an historical novel but actually it is a philosophical novel that makes few concessions to realism, realism being an artistic ideal that Bulwer-Lytton regarded with contempt.

In this novel Bulwer-Lytton works out his rather eccentric but fascinating ideas on the occult. That might sound rather heavy but in fact it’s an entertaining novel that can be enjoyed as a kind of occult thriller. Bulwer-Lytton strongly believed that a novel must be entertaining first of all. If the author wishes to include multiple layers of meaning and hidden depths (and Zanoni includes those in abundance) then he is free to do so so long as it does not detract from the enjoyment of the story. It’s a surprisingly successful attempt to combine entertainment with esoteric occult speculation and it’s one of the most interesting of British 19th century novels.

There is a faint hint of decadence in the world-weariness of the novel’s immortals.

A strange but fascinating concoction and a must-read for anyone with an interest in the development of 19th century weird fiction, and a gripping occult thriller by an author with a considerable knowledge of the subject. Highly recommended.

Eija says

Rakkaustarina pääsääntöisesti. Korukieltä. Muutamassa kohdassa aika hyvä kauhuefekti, mutta myös aika paljon pohdiskelua, josta ei niinkään jaksanut innostua.

Stephanie Ricker says

I feel like I should be wearing a ruffly blouse and sipping hot chocolate while I'm curled up in a twilit drawing room while I'm reading it. Why this is, I'm not entirely sure, but it has something to do with the incredibly flowery prose, doubtless.

Murray says

An extraordinary book by a rather well informed writer on matters of spiritual and occult (they are not the same) interest. This book has a powerful description of the experience of meeting "the guardian on the threshold". It is worth it for that alone.

Andras says

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Below is the brief synopsis of the book with some side notes. Unfortunately, the novel is written in a very prosaic Victorian English, a style, which modern readers might not have the time or the patience to read. I would love to see a movie or a screenplay made of this story if it kept the original theme, message and esoteric tradition.

Bulwer-Lytton, (1803-73) was a English aristocrat and Earl of Knebsworth. Knebsworth remained open to the public. He was a pioneer historical novelist, and far more meticulous in his research and accurate in his facts than his contemporaries. The author was a member of the English Rosicrucian society, founded in 1867 by Robert Wenworth Little. This explains why he was so very knowledgeable in what we now call the Western Esoteric Tradition, and it is said that the famous French occultist Eliphas Levi came to England to visit him, although the tradition of secrecy that veiled these matters in those day was such that it is difficult to ascertain the cause of their meeting or what may have happened as a consequence.

The introductory chapter to the story of Zanoni recounts how the narrator, in his younger days, had been keen to become acquainted with the true origin and tenets of the Rosicrucian order. In his search he visited an obscure bookshop in Covent Garden, where he met an old man who hinted that he might well enlighten him should they happen to meet again. Indeed they do meet very shortly afterwards at the foot of Highgate Hill and the old man invites the young man to his house, in a secluded part of Highgate overlooking London, and instructs him in secret esoteric philosophy.

He tells that the Rosicrucian order still exist, but pursue their profound researches into natural science and occult philosophy in secrecy. Yet however respectable and virtuous they might be, and ardent in the Christian faith, they are but a branch of another more transcendent, powerful and illustrious Order that derives from Plato, Pythagoras and .

On the death of the old man he bequeaths to the narrator a manuscript in cipher that turns out to be the text of the novel "Zanoni". It is described by its anonymous author as a romance and yet not a romance. The book is written on two levels, a “line between the lines”, as a source of truth for those who can understand it, but wild extravaganza for those who cannot.

The old man, referring to the works of Plato, has already explained that there are four stages for the soul in its return to its first state of happiness in God. The first is music, the second mysticism, the third prophecy, and the fourth love. And it is upon this outline plan that the story of Zanoni is constructed.

Zanoni divides into seven parts, which are entitled: 1. The Musician, 2. Art, Love and Wonder, 3. Theurgia, 4. The Dweller of the Threshold, 5. The Effects of the Elixir, 6. Superstition Deserting Faith, 7. The Reign of Terror. This last section is an evocation of the French Revolution, along with Bulwer-Lytton's close adherence to fact, in which the occult adept Zanoni goes voluntarily to his sacrificial death in an attempt to save the innocent from the guillotine.

Zanoni’s death is of notable philosophical importance, for Zanoni is no ordinary mortal. He was born a star and fire worshipper in ancient Chaldea, and so is some 4000 years old, his occult powers having enabled him to avoid the ravages of time He is one of only two members of a great ancient esoteric Order who survive. The other initiate is named Mejnour and he, choosing a different path from Zanoni, may presumably still be living to this day. Whilst all this may sound fantastic, the esoteric status of Zanoni and Mejnour is much akin to that which is accorded by latter day occultists to Masters of the Wisdom, and what Lytton has to say about these Adepts predates by some forty years the celebrated Mahatmas of Madame Blavatsky or the Secret Chiefs of the Golden Dawn.

The heroine of the novel is Viola, a young Neapolitan girl, ignorant and uneducated but a supremely gifted

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Having helped Viola to become a star of the Neapolitan opera, Zanoni, although he loves her, tries to divert her natural love for him by encouraging her courtship by a young Englishman, Glyndon. His grounds for this are that he, being virtually an immortal, cannot realistically form a lasting loving relationship with a young girl who will grow old wither and die in the natural course of life, whilst he himself remains relatively unaffected by the passage of time.

The young Englishman (Glyndon) aborts his selfless plans however, an amateur artist of some talent but of solid respectable middle class stock, who cannot come to terms with taking a poor Italian girl for wife. How would she fit in on the English social scene? How would she be received by his parents or by his business associates? He yearns instead after the mysterious powers of Mejnour and Zanoni.

After some heart searching by all concerned Glyndon is eventually accepted for initiatory instruction under the adept Mejnour at a hidden temple in the mountains. In the meantime Zanoni marries Viola, hoping that perhaps he may be able to instruct her sufficiently in his secret sciences so that she too may avoid the march of time. Both these schemes founder in the test of hard reality and human fallibility. Glyndon, although spurred on in his mystic quest by having an alchemist as a distant ancestor, proves himself to be lacking in the qualities required of an initiate. The Dweller on the Threshold proves too much for him. He cannot resist the lure of idle curiosity or the temptations of the flesh - tests that have been arranged by Mejnour. He is accordingly rejected and returned to the world, but having evoked the wind he reaps the whirlwind, and undergoes a slow moral degeneration. This manifests at first as drunken self-indulgence and social ineptitude, and passes in the end to lust and betrayal.

Viola, on the other hand, is a simple, provincial Neapolitan girl. The local priest, who condemns her involvement with a man who practices the occult arts, disastrously influences her. Despite the exemplary conduct of her husband she begins to fear his knowledge and his background, and refuses all thought of him teaching her any of his esoteric powers. So fearful does she become, for their child as much as herself, that she leaves Zanoni - an instance of what is described as "superstition deserting faith" in Bulwer-Lytton’s section headings - the superstition of the ignorant priest over the faith in her wise and loving husband. By force of circumstances she ends up in Paris at the time of the worst excesses of the Revolution. Here, partly through the treacherous act of Glyndon, she is denounced and condemned to the guillotine. Zanoni arrives and, in a desperate attempt to save her, sacrifices his own life in the process but goes to his death with a new realisation of the meaning of human life, and above all of human death. Despite his efforts, by a quirk of fate (Karma?), Viola also dies, and their child is left an orphan in the prison cell, although the book ends with the strong hint that he will grow up safely as "the fatherless are in the care of God".

The books final message seems to be the futility of mundane life but the Universal power of Love. It is as if the book’s message to all secret 4000-year-old wizards are – “do not do this because attempts to change and speed up ones Karmic life is futile.” Karmic Family and the mundane world should be “killed off”, crucified, metaphorically speaking and replaced with Spiritual family and a Higher Realm. Zanoni could, presumebly reincarnate and hopefully would have learned the lesson the book’s story offers to all of us.

Throughout all these colourful events the author stresses the theme of the quest of the ideal in the arts, as opposed to the servile imitation of nature, for nature is not to be copied but exalted. The aim of the arts should be to lift the perceptions of the beholder to the level of the gods, to the highest potential of mankind. Yet the natural world is not to be rejected. Man's spirit is like a bird and cannot always be on the wing. They who best evoke the ideal also enjoy the most real. For true art finds beauty everywhere, in the street, the market place, or even a dingy room.

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The educational importance of the novel, among other aspects is the concept of the Dweller of the Threshold. It is a manifested, menacing entity, a sum of all Darkness in a person, accumulated throughout all the lifetimes he or she had lived. The Dweller gets manifested at the time of Initiation when the participant or neophyte is ready to cross the threshold from the mundane world to the Higher Esoteric Arts. The Dweller would do anything to hinder the persons crossing, from guile to temptations. The Biblical reference of this phenomenon is the temptation of Jesus by the devil.

Stuart says

I expected to read fifty pages, tire of the florid, overwrought meditations on beauty and mortality, and return it to the library, but to my surprise Zanoni may well be one of the best books I read this year.

Zanoni is a deeply engaging and well-written occult allegory/romantic tale that touches on love, immortality, magic, the nature of the real, the French revolution, Italian opera and one of the scariest figures in Western literature--one so legitimately creepy she was adopted wholesale by the Theosophists and later adapted by Japanese filmmakers for The Grudge.

Worth a read for the number of times things are described as "starry", also worth a read if you're familiar (or wish to become familiar) with early British occultism. Sir Bulwer-Lytton always claimed to have been most proud of this book and I have no reason to disagree with him.

Craig Bryson says

Okay- it is not really ABOUT the French Revolution, but a good deal of it takes place during the 'Reign of Terror'. It made me pick up Thomas Carlyle's epic 'The French Revolution- A History', plus, it is written by Edward Bulwer- Lytton, who wrote ' The Power Of The Coming Race', so you can be sure that there is some sound information for the student of life embedded into the adventure. I was originally following a Rosicrusion thread, when this book reintroduced the French Revolution back into my reading, sending me off in a new direction.

Edmond Dantes says

This is the end, my dear, this is the end...... Alla fine del '700 e durante il deprecato terrore rivoluzionario si consuma la fine dell'ordine dei Rosacroce, i cui due ultimi sopravvissuti sono costretti le tensioni di un moderno mondo, in cui in un caso, non sono più in gtrado di iniziare ed avanzare i profani nei misteri della Gnosi e nell'altro cedono alla loro parte umana perdendo i loro poteri e rischiando la vita. Bell'pologo sulla condizione degli iniziati, Buono, con la Vecchia scala delle stelle, risente di una traduzione un pò "arcaica". Da leggere per appassionati di esoterismo, tra l'altro da questo libro discendono termini ora usatissimi come ad es. "Il guardiano della soglia"; del resto l'autore è anche il creatore di frasi celebri come "la penna è più potente della spada" e il celeberrimo "era una notte buia e tempestosa".

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Timothy says

Real good metaphysical novel, not much into novels but this is a good book for those who can read & see beneath the novel aspect.

Wreade1872 says

A romance about an immortal. Elements of almost lovecraftian horror. Takes a long time to draw its female protagonist before the main elements start. Mixes in some real historical characters and events. Didn't like the ending but not because its not well written more because i was so invested in the story by then, i was hoping things would turn out differently. Overall just a really good supernatural/romance story. I'm pretty sure this was adapted into the film 'Hancock' with Will Smith.

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