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Available
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Publication
New York : Dover Publications, 1977, c1946.
Description
Classic Literature. Fantasy. Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: The darkly comic allegory Jurgen caused quite a stir when it was originally published, with several jurisdictions deeming it obscene and calling for it to be pulled from store shelves. After his wife mysteriously vanishes, middle-aged pawnbroker Jurgen sets off on a not-so-heroic quest to find her, traveling through a series of strange lands in the process..
User reviews
LibraryThing member jsburbidge
Cabell is the fantasy writer of the road not taken: urbane, sophisticated, civilized -- which also means dependent on a web of allusions and on the reader's grounding in his predecessors.
Jurgen is the best-known of his novels and one of his best. It does not require (but is enriched by) prior
It helps in reading the story to keep in the back of one's mind things like Jean-Baptiste Pérès' demonstration that Napoleon was a solar myth, and keep an eye on the calendar.
The pawnbroker Jurgen goes in search of his wife, who has been taken away by Koschei, and manages to come up against various mythical, legendary, and generally non-earthly realms and their rulers. He also passes from lady friend to lady friend, some not entirely human, as he goes. He is clever, not averse to dissembling, and adaptable: Odysseus to Dom Manuel's Ajax, Cabell's pre-emeinent example of the gallant approach to life. He ends up returning to domesticity and to the erasure of his travels.
Cabell was resolutely non-heroic in attitude, and his type of fantasy, perhaps more reminiscent of the French prose tradition (Rabelais, Voltaire, Proust, Alain-Fournier) than of the English in its wit and structure, has had little impact on the writers of the later 20th Century. (Heinlein may make gestures towards Cabell in Job, also titled "A Comedy of Justice", but it's hard to imagine a writer less equipped to write Cabellian literature than Heinlein.)
Jurgen is the best-known of his novels and one of his best. It does not require (but is enriched by) prior
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knowledge of his Poictesme; it is assisted more by having the general background knowledge that an educated (and a classically-educated) reader would have had in the early 20th Century, though that is not absolutely required, either.It helps in reading the story to keep in the back of one's mind things like Jean-Baptiste Pérès' demonstration that Napoleon was a solar myth, and keep an eye on the calendar.
The pawnbroker Jurgen goes in search of his wife, who has been taken away by Koschei, and manages to come up against various mythical, legendary, and generally non-earthly realms and their rulers. He also passes from lady friend to lady friend, some not entirely human, as he goes. He is clever, not averse to dissembling, and adaptable: Odysseus to Dom Manuel's Ajax, Cabell's pre-emeinent example of the gallant approach to life. He ends up returning to domesticity and to the erasure of his travels.
Cabell was resolutely non-heroic in attitude, and his type of fantasy, perhaps more reminiscent of the French prose tradition (Rabelais, Voltaire, Proust, Alain-Fournier) than of the English in its wit and structure, has had little impact on the writers of the later 20th Century. (Heinlein may make gestures towards Cabell in Job, also titled "A Comedy of Justice", but it's hard to imagine a writer less equipped to write Cabellian literature than Heinlein.)
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LibraryThing member wirkman
This, the most famous novel by James Branch Cabell, is not his best. Nor is it his worst. But it is his most famous.
It became a cause celebre, and thus achieved a kind of immortality that his best books ("The Cream of the Jest," "The Silver Stallion," "The Music from Behind the Moon," "The High
But earnest comedies of literary reception do not make for usable literary standards. This book is an elaboration of a short story, and the story itself was perfect in its way. The novel? Well, it is funny, and suggestive, and it has even moved some readers, such as composer Deems Taylor, to tears. It also provided one Finnish-American author with a theme for a science-fiction novel. But, though it did all these things, and made Cabell a richer man than he was before (writing well is one thing, marrying well is much more effective), the book remains what it is.
A good book.
A book worth reading.
A book to laugh over, and wonder at.
A book with some images that will last till your dying day, perhaps.
But still, it is not a perfect book.
My advice to readers interested in Cabell is to start with "The Music from Behind the Moon." If you don't like that, give up. You will not like the rest. If you do approve, if you are moved to both laughter and tears, then move on to the main tales of "The Biography of the Life of Manuel," the highlights of which we can list as follows:
1 Figures of Earth (1921)
2 The Silver Stallion (1926)
3 Domnei
4 Jurgen #6 (1919)
5 The High Place #8 (1923)
6 Something About Eve #10 (1927)
7 The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck (1915)
8 The Cream of the Jest (1917)
And if you still enjoy Cabell, beyond these most obvious classics, try the various short story collections in the series, and try his books published after the series ended.
I just want to mention that, if you are like me at all, you will find "The Cream of the Jest" to be the cream of the geste. "Jurgen" pales in comparison.
It became a cause celebre, and thus achieved a kind of immortality that his best books ("The Cream of the Jest," "The Silver Stallion," "The Music from Behind the Moon," "The High
Show More
Place," "The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck," to name just a few) never did achieve. It was received by certain moralists to be immoral. And so the comedy began in earnest.But earnest comedies of literary reception do not make for usable literary standards. This book is an elaboration of a short story, and the story itself was perfect in its way. The novel? Well, it is funny, and suggestive, and it has even moved some readers, such as composer Deems Taylor, to tears. It also provided one Finnish-American author with a theme for a science-fiction novel. But, though it did all these things, and made Cabell a richer man than he was before (writing well is one thing, marrying well is much more effective), the book remains what it is.
A good book.
A book worth reading.
A book to laugh over, and wonder at.
A book with some images that will last till your dying day, perhaps.
But still, it is not a perfect book.
My advice to readers interested in Cabell is to start with "The Music from Behind the Moon." If you don't like that, give up. You will not like the rest. If you do approve, if you are moved to both laughter and tears, then move on to the main tales of "The Biography of the Life of Manuel," the highlights of which we can list as follows:
1 Figures of Earth (1921)
2 The Silver Stallion (1926)
3 Domnei
4 Jurgen #6 (1919)
5 The High Place #8 (1923)
6 Something About Eve #10 (1927)
7 The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck (1915)
8 The Cream of the Jest (1917)
And if you still enjoy Cabell, beyond these most obvious classics, try the various short story collections in the series, and try his books published after the series ended.
I just want to mention that, if you are like me at all, you will find "The Cream of the Jest" to be the cream of the geste. "Jurgen" pales in comparison.
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LibraryThing member wirkman
The most famous comedy of Cabell's career, it became so because of a famous censorship trial, in which the book was exonerated of all charges of indecency. Indeed, though it is obvious that Cabell was making some elaborate double-entendres, they were of such a nature that youngsters and the
Cabell, of course, designed it as such. He had prophesied his own ascendancy in his previous book, and he found it easy to prophesy, since he was the one in control.
An elaborate jape, perhaps not better than the original story it developed from ("Some Ladies and Jurgen"), and not nearly as great as was sometimes extolled, but well worth reading nonetheless.
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monomaniaclly dirty-minded would find nothing erotic (much less pornographic) in these droll pages. Cabell, of course, designed it as such. He had prophesied his own ascendancy in his previous book, and he found it easy to prophesy, since he was the one in control.
An elaborate jape, perhaps not better than the original story it developed from ("Some Ladies and Jurgen"), and not nearly as great as was sometimes extolled, but well worth reading nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member slickdpdx
Rabelais, Dante and Homer explore the human condition; with fewer fart jokes, and more scepter, sword and staff jokes. For a long while, I thought the book a bit old-fashioned in its approach to the genders. I still think that, but I realized toward the end that Cabell's allegory is big enough for
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readers of either gender. Show Less
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
I read this on Dec 26 and Dec 27. 1051. On Dec 26 I said of it: "Started reading Jurgen. What a funny book--risque, materialist, mocking, but yet quiteentertaining in its way; though the ludicrous gets a little worse increasingly." On Dec 27 I said: "Finshed Jurgen. I need never again bother
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reading anything by James Branch Cabell." Show Less
LibraryThing member selfnoise
One of many beautiful, satirical, bawdy, and gently ironic fantasies. Cabell was a notable literary figure at one point, but his mannered language seems to have fallen out of style.
LibraryThing member schteve
Outrageously funny and ribald satire as the rakish Jurgen lies and seduces his way through Heaven, Hell and all points between. The chapter 'Divers Imbroglios Of King Smoit' is worth reading again and again as is the obscenity trial Jurgen faces before a dung beetle prosecutor (a chapter added by
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Cabell after he was subjected to just such a trial as a result of this book). Show Less
LibraryThing member Crypto-Willobie
This is my own Amazon review of this edition:
According to Amazon's listing this is an "Annotated" edition of Cabell's Jurgen. However it is not what any normal (or honest) person would mean by "annotated". There are NO ANNOTATIONS to the text -- no glossary, no explanatory notes, no footnotes, no
There are ten or so illustrations -- very small, black and white, and poorly reproduced -- scattered amongst the first 90 pages but then there are no illustrations at all in the 260 subsequent pages.
So, here is the text of Jurgen, which is eminently worth reading. But you could get a better reading experience by purchasing one of the many second-hand McBride editions of Jurgen available on-line for a reasonable price, and then for your "annotation" just read the Wikipedia article on Cabell.
According to Amazon's listing this is an "Annotated" edition of Cabell's Jurgen. However it is not what any normal (or honest) person would mean by "annotated". There are NO ANNOTATIONS to the text -- no glossary, no explanatory notes, no footnotes, no
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endnotes. The text is preceded by is a 7-page potted biographical introduction to Cabell and his career, followed by a single paragraph headed "PLOT".There are ten or so illustrations -- very small, black and white, and poorly reproduced -- scattered amongst the first 90 pages but then there are no illustrations at all in the 260 subsequent pages.
So, here is the text of Jurgen, which is eminently worth reading. But you could get a better reading experience by purchasing one of the many second-hand McBride editions of Jurgen available on-line for a reasonable price, and then for your "annotation" just read the Wikipedia article on Cabell.
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LibraryThing member elenchus
Here Cabell suggests that all of us would be no better off than Jurgen, were our heartfelt desires granted and we found ourselves in our ideal circumstances. And yet, these dreams and ideals are not a waste of time, rather they are the very core of what is needed for our best life. Squaring that
There is a mimetic element to the story: I experienced some of Jurgen's lack of satisfaction or discontent as I proceeded through the various episodes. Recognition of this effect actually lifted my spirits: Cabell may well have attempted this deliberately, and such a literary effect is thematically fitting. The double entendre for which Jurgen is notorious certainly is evident throughout, and it was becoming a bit tiresome until I noted my flagging interest was parallel to Jurgen's almost exactly.
Worth revisiting, as are all of Cabell's efforts I've read so far, but I suspect it never will be my favourite. Possibly it is because the plot and prose are so very richly embroidered. Though initially it was difficult to get a handle on Cabell's many and distinct motifs, in other writings they spool out more leisurely and with more space to develop. I might enjoy Jurgen best as recapitulation, after having read the rest of the Biography.
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circle is left to each reader, though it appears there are far fewer Cabell readers today than when he wrote the book.There is a mimetic element to the story: I experienced some of Jurgen's lack of satisfaction or discontent as I proceeded through the various episodes. Recognition of this effect actually lifted my spirits: Cabell may well have attempted this deliberately, and such a literary effect is thematically fitting. The double entendre for which Jurgen is notorious certainly is evident throughout, and it was becoming a bit tiresome until I noted my flagging interest was parallel to Jurgen's almost exactly.
Worth revisiting, as are all of Cabell's efforts I've read so far, but I suspect it never will be my favourite. Possibly it is because the plot and prose are so very richly embroidered. Though initially it was difficult to get a handle on Cabell's many and distinct motifs, in other writings they spool out more leisurely and with more space to develop. I might enjoy Jurgen best as recapitulation, after having read the rest of the Biography.
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LibraryThing member raschneid
James Branch Cabell was a pioneer of the fantasy genre and went to William and Mary!
LibraryThing member ben_a
I did not finish it, so cannot honestly review. Also, I know that a cynical picaresque will not be to my taste. My desire is to be worthy of the garden in the book's beginning, to act so as to belong there. Helprin inspires me to be this way, ironic picaresques do not. Although Jurgen's memory of
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youth did help me. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
I find him a bit of a chore to read and miss much of his humor. Another whacky ride, but the language is amazing.
LibraryThing member nog
This comic fantasy caused quite a stir in its day. But it's not all the interesting today. Episodic and doesn't hang together too well.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
A middle-aged pawn broker, encounters a magical/pagan deity and is granted a do-over..He uses it as he wishes, and the world is relatively unchanged by his actions...perhaps he is a bit improved...perhaps not. Cabell's prose is not my favourite style, yet the book is famous. I think I read the 1928
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reprint, as the Dover edition came out after my recorded reading. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Gigamesh Award (1985)
Language
Original publication date
1919-09-27
Physical description
xx, 325 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0486235076 / 9780486235073
Local notes
Chapter XXII includes part of Section IV of Gnostic Mass, revised from more explicit copying in first edition. Text on page 303 appaers to be early version / source of "Annis Charge".
Other editions
Jurgen : a comedy of justice by James Branch Cabell (Paper Book)
Jurgen : a comedy of justice by James Branch Cabell (Paper Book)