Psychedelic Multidimensional Freakout

Kjbartolotta

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Can anyone point me to some good stories with scenes where the character takes some kind of trippy interdimensional voyage. I am very much referring to things in the vein of Bowman's journey from 2001, I can'd describe it well but you probably know what I mean. Only story I can remember where it's done well is in the third Bartimaeus novel when Kitty travels to the spirit dimension. Any ones people here remember as being well done, or any pointers on how I would write one?

I know it's not a great question, but I've been off this subforum for a minute, and I miss you guys!
 

jjdebenedictis

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I think Philip K Dick had such a trip in the latter half of Lies, Inc.
 

Kjbartolotta

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Ooh, good so far folks, keep 'em coming! Yes, sci-fi counts, as does mystery, Norse sagas, and cookbooks. Gonna hafta go back and reread some Moorcock, love him sometimes, others find him quite unreadable. And yes, PDK. As the reincarnation of Philip K. Dick, I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier.
 

realityfix

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For a Fantasy-based (okay, this example is sword and sorcery) mind trip look at the end of Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone novel in which his MC, Kane, goes inter-dimensional and into the liar of a demon. For more of a traditional Science-Fiction flavor, check Asimov's I Robot collection of short stories. There is one story in there in which two technicians take the first faster-than-light space voyage.
 

Caitlin Black

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Strangely enough, I've been doing a little bit of research into such stories. While I haven't found many fictional accounts (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a primary text for what I'm working on, but while it certainly has psychedelic experiences, I'd hardly call them multidimensional), I have come across a pretty handy nonfiction book on LSD use. "Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream" by Jay Stevens. It's kind of a social history of psychedelic drug use, with key characters such as Timothy Leary. What was most useful about this book, for me at least, was in being able to see which elements of a trip are the most common and most universal, such as the nearly-instant change of personality post-trip.

Anyway, it might be useful to you. :)
 

Kjbartolotta

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@realityfix- Hmm, gotta check out that Bloodstone, sounds interesting. I respect Asimov but never been a huge fan, always willing to give him another look though.

@Cliff Face- Yes sir, I have read that book! Fifteen years ago, but still. Electric Acid Kool Acid Test is a natural companion, of course. Let's just say I've done some *ahem* personal research into the topic as well. I don't know if near-instant personality change is how I'd describe my experiences, most of the time I'd just be more moody a few days afterwards then gradually return to normal, I don't regret any of the experiences but they never gave me the mystical breakthrough I've always hoped for, nor did they make me wiser, smarter, happier, or more tuned in to the cosmic frequency. But then, my drug tolerance has always been high and I was weird to begin with. Sounds interesting what you're doing, specifically researching LSD trips? Graham Hancock is gaga about Ayahuasca and Terrence McKenna sees those little machine elves everywhere (or at least did when he was alive, god rest his crazy soul).
 

jjdebenedictis

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I think Philip K Dick had such a trip in the latter half of Lies, Inc.

I think I have to retract that recommendation. The character is taken to another planet, but he's drugged, so the trippiness comes from the fact he's high as a kite, not the journey itself. Sorry!
 

Caitlin Black

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Ah, Kj, fair enough. And I think I'll be adding Electric Acid Kool-Aid Test to my reading list at some point. (I was already considering it, but with your recommendation it's become more of a definite thing.)

As for what I'm researching... It's not limited to LSD use. Basically, I'm doing Honours in creative writing, and my thesis is looking at countercultural relevance of texts that are divorced from logic in some major way. So basically, looking at why Fear and Loathing, as well as the Alice in Wonderland books, are such successful books among the (drug-using) countercultures. I've done a fair bit of research already (approximately halfway through my Honours year), but most of it has been in establishing the parameters of what makes up a counterculture (or subculture), as well as coming up with some ideas of what the 2 primary texts have in common and why they're still relevant now, long after they were first published.

Honestly, it's a bit of a beastly research problem. :tongue I've gone off in a bunch of directions. Fortunately, I'm finding ways of linking the various areas together. For my creative piece, though, I was going to write a character taking LSD, because that seems to be the easiest way of challenging preconceptions of "logic".
 

Kjbartolotta

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Pretty interesting stuff, CF, quite a project if you ask me. For something like that, my go to would be Burroughs, better writer than any other Beat IMHO and very good at challenging the structure of reality.

BTW, you're Australian and your name listed as an author is C. Black. So most certainly you must be Claudia Black, star of shows such as Farscape and Stargate:SGI. Don't lie, your secret is out!
 

Jess Haines

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It's not really what you're looking for, but I was vastly entertained by the drug trip chapter in Jenny Lawson's memoir, LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED. If you haven't heard of the Bloggess, I find her quite amusing. ;)
 

Caitlin Black

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Pretty interesting stuff, CF, quite a project if you ask me. For something like that, my go to would be Burroughs, better writer than any other Beat IMHO and very good at challenging the structure of reality.

Mmm, Burroughs is another name I keep coming across. My main problem at this point is that I simply don't have enough time to read as much as I would like to. Like, Honours amounts to about 8 or 9 months, and then it's done. I've already read several thousand pages of stuff for research, still have a TBR pile of books that amount to another 1500 or so pages, possibly more, and that isn't even counting journal articles (the meat and potatoes of academia). I suspect the fatal flaw of my research project is that there are just enough aspects of it that I can't focus on one aspect in particular...

But it definitely is an interesting thing to be researching. I find it mildly amusing that I can research something so esoteric and have it count as a valid research project at university. :tongue

BTW, you're Australian and your name listed as an author is C. Black. So most certainly you must be Claudia Black, star of shows such as Farscape and Stargate:SGI.

Ha! I've seen all of Farscape before, and I'm currently on season 9 of Stargate SG-1. So I'm well aware of Claudia Black. She's a fantastic actress, isn't she? I didn't choose the pseudonym C. Black with her in mind, though. It's meant to be a pun. I wear all black virtually every day, so I "see" Black. :tongue

Don't lie, your secret is out!

Oh... Well, in that case... Yes. I am Claudia Black. Please address all fan mail to my agent, unless said mail also contains money. ;)