- Paperback: 380 pages
- Publisher: Cosimo Classics (March 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1596050977
- ISBN-13: 978-1596050976
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Beyond Life is yet another wholly original work from Virginia writer James Branch Cabell. It's an imagined conversation between John Charteris, a successful author, and a young editor. They sit in a library lined with books categorized as unwritten masterpieces or intended editions--a wry commentary on the business of publishing by one of America's overlooked masters. The two discuss writers and writing, especially those who published in the early 20th century and the demands of the market. Anyone interested in the act of writing and publishing will find an amusing and thought-provoking discussion in Beyond Life. JAMES BRANCH CABELL, a native of Richmond, Virginia, wrote more than fifty books. He is best known for his novel Jurgen, which he wrote in 1919, and his octodecalogy, Biography of the Life of Manuel, which features the mythical world of Poictesme and the castle Storisende. His writing features many anagrams, puns, and wordplay, features that have made him a cult figure to many readers. The Virginia Commonwealth University established the James Branch Cabell Library in 1970.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Advocacy for the Romantic Basis of Literary Creativity, July 15 2000
By Robert Throckmorton - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beyond Life (The Collected Works of James Branch Cabell - Volume 46) (Library Binding)
The story takes place at Willoughby Hall in Fairhaven, the home of John Charteris, a successful USA writer of the early 20th century. A young writer, 22 years JC's junior, pays JC a visit. The time is shortly before the USA entered World War I on April 5, 1917. JC gave his visitor a tour of his library, then seated himself in a swivel chair and delivered an extemporaneous lecture on literary creativity. The visitor took notes of what JC had said and turned them into a book entitled BEYOND LIFE."Many a man lives a burden to the earth: but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, enbalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." That quotation provided the justification for his theory of literary creativity. The young writer summarized JC lecture: "And sometimes he talked concerning men who have made great literature, and spoke sensibly enough although with a pervasive air of knowing more than anyone else ever did. And sometimes he discoursed enigmas, concerning the power of romance, which he pretentiously called "the demiurge," as being a world-shaping and world-controlling principle . . ." "His notion, as I followed him, was that romance controlled the minds of men; and by creating force-producing illusions, furthered the world's betterment with the forces thus brought into being: so that each generation of naturally inert mortals was propelled to a higher sphere and manner of living, by the might of each generation's ignorance and prejudices and follies and stupidities, beneficently directed." JC continually harped on the unfairness inherent in existence and finally admitted that for him the great unsolved question of the universe was: "What is it all up to?"
The work provides a critical commentary on many of the popular USA writers of the early 20th century, many of whom have faded from view or survive as relict faunas nurtured by scholars and antiquarians. Harold Bell Wright (1872-1944) was one of those early writers discussed. Wright was the first USA novelist to earn a mllion dollars from his writings and his "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1911) was the first USA novel to sell one million copies.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Heavenly, Feb 7 2012
By Paul Gardner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beyond Life (Paperback)
Izzit a tease or a testament?Sublime: "The story of Christ is the story of
Cinderella only in more impressive terms."
The root of all evil isn't money, "it's a lack
of imagination."
Literature, love, life viewed with heavenly
jeux d'esprit.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the Tree of Life, April 7 2006
By Robert S. Lewis - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beyond Life (The Collected Works of James Branch Cabell - Volume 46) (Library Binding)
The book is in 100 chapters. Each Sephira is divided into 10 sephiroth. You can follow the descent of each idea in a way that is both enlightening and enjoyable. He also turns sulpher, mercury, and salt into three approaches to life, the poetic, gallant, and chivalric. To live life fully you would have to do all three at once, of course. This book takes magic out of the temple and into your life. It is very helpful for any autobiographer. Buy yourself a copy of Tamburlaine along with it to save time.
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