How does the Tarot deck figure into the book?
Created: 04/19/13
Replies: 9
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Join Date: 10/20/10
Posts: 33
I don't know enough about the Tarot deck to fully appreciate how Arnott wove it into the book. I got the obvious things--how each chapter is named after one of the cards in the deck, and I think I recognized when one of the cards turned up in the story--but I wish that I knew more about the various traditional interpretations of the cards to see how Arnott played off of them.
Join Date: 06/18/12
Posts: 49
I also did not know anything really about a Tarot deck before reading this book. I did think it was nice the way he structured the book based on the deck. Each chapter was titled after a card and the story within that chapter was also tied to the title of the card. One of the chapters is about a meeting with Aleister Crowley, so maybe the deck the chapters are based on, is the deck he designed. Is that the case?
Join Date: 04/22/13
Posts: 4
Did you notice that in the section The Tower, which is about Larry Zagorski, we find out that he wrote a book called The Quantum Arcana of Arnold Jacubowski, which is clearly the book we are reading, House of Rumour. His book is "a cycle of twenty-two interlocking stories structured around the trump cards in the Tarot deck" which of course is also this book. I loved that. And there was something very evocative about the chapters being named after the Tarot cards, and frequently there was an obvious connection between the title of the chapter and the character or events in the chapter, but I kept thinking there was more to it than that that I just wasn't seeing (other than the obvious continual ways an actual Tarot deck kept showing up).
Join Date: 07/18/11
Posts: 68
Join Date: 01/12/12
Posts: 298
Using the Tarot as a means of weaving the story together was really a great framework. It's original and ingenious, I thought. It did add to the difficulty for me, personally, as I'm totally unfamiliar with the meaning behind the symbols found on the cards. The book requires a lot of effort from the reader.
Join Date: 05/14/11
Posts: 119
Not only effort but a grand and broad knowledge of EVERYthing. So, I learned many new things, I saw connections I hadn't seen before, and I had to look up many things as well. Now, I want to re-read it with the added information - someone else in this discussion also wants to re-read - I saw that and am thriled to know it's not just me! First find the old Tarot deck that's been laying about for years........
Join Date: 04/25/11
Posts: 14
I have virtually no knowledge of Tarot and wouldn't have even known the chapter headings were based on the cards but for reading a review that talked about it. I'm also not one to do a lot of research while reading so the metaphors went right past me. Makes me sound like a bit of a lame reader but I read for enjoyment and when a book isn't gripping me I'm unlikely to invest more time in trying to figure it out.
Join Date: 04/27/11
Posts: 33
Join Date: 01/12/12
Posts: 298
I enjoy books that require so much from the reader. The trouble is, once I've taken time to look up the background I don't always have time to re-read the book itself! By that time I'm generally wrapped up in something else and never get back to the primary book.
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