I am... not very sure what to say or how to describe A Voyage to Arcturus. It's considered a classic in sci fi genre but really it is just a book about metaphysics wrapped in a dream quest hidden beneath a sci fi label, and my meagre brain cells found it hard to decipher. Throughout the book 'things' happen to Maskull yet it is unclear why they happen because after every supposed milestone he is neither affected nor really changed by them. Most of the time it isn't even clear why they happened in the first place. Now I understand what 'lack of character development' means. I don't even understand why Maskull was our hero, I did not find him much likable or sympathetic. And what exactly was the point of each step in this metaphysical journey? To point out various religious beliefs in hidden words and say that they are faulty? Awaken the gnostic in us and remind us that this world is a foil for life eternal hereafter and we must not let ourselves get distracted? And then that ending, Krag's last words, what are we to take from this? That we should renounce pleasure and embrace pain? So doesn't pain then become our pleasure? Isn't this a paradox? I am thoroughly confused... I came looking for a sci fi book and instead got lectured in philosophy, religion and morality. I don't know what to take away from that.