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Lucifer with a Book
"Education, boy, is not something to prepare you for life. That is a vulgar American error...It's something to take you out of life. Don't you want to have some small kingdom of your own that no one can take away from you?"
Miss Sophia said it, and then she died. Eighty-one years later the private school of her founding opens for a new semester. To it comes the young new teacher and war veteran Guy Hudson, who by the year's end would encounter a bizarre staff, who would fall in love variously, and almost give himself to the vulgar American error.
The tragically brief career of John Horne Burns was one of the most important of the post-war years. He was able to publish only three novels before his death in 1953 at the age of 36. All reveal his remarkable gifts.
Maxwell Geismar noted on publication of Lucifer with a Book: "What is apparent...is the dominant sexuality of the novel, and a sexuality that finds expression in harsh and violent terms. There is an inverted Puritanism in Mr. Burns work, and a remarkably sophisticated sense of evil and malice."
"A master novelist's lethal and brilliant novel of a school. John Horne Burns was by far the most talented, and the most attractively talented, American novelist to emerge after the war." -- Brigid Brophy.
Miss Sophia said it, and then she died. Eighty-one years later the private school of her founding opens for a new semester. To it comes the young new teacher and war veteran Guy Hudson, who by the year's end would encounter a bizarre staff, who would fall in love variously, and almost give himself to the vulgar American error.
The tragically brief career of John Horne Burns was one of the most important of the post-war years. He was able to publish only three novels before his death in 1953 at the age of 36. All reveal his remarkable gifts.
Maxwell Geismar noted on publication of Lucifer with a Book: "What is apparent...is the dominant sexuality of the novel, and a sexuality that finds expression in harsh and violent terms. There is an inverted Puritanism in Mr. Burns work, and a remarkably sophisticated sense of evil and malice."
"A master novelist's lethal and brilliant novel of a school. John Horne Burns was by far the most talented, and the most attractively talented, American novelist to emerge after the war." -- Brigid Brophy.
- GenresFiction
406 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1949
3 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
John Horne Burns
5 books21 followersJohn Horne Burns was a United States author. He is best known as the author of the 1947 story-cycle The Gallery, which depicts life in Allied-occupied Naples, Italy, in 1944 from the perspective of several different characters. In this work he explores the themes of material and class inequality, alcoholism, relations between the sexes, and sexuality in general, including homosexuality, with the encounter between American and Neapolitan culture as a general thematic backdrop. The "Gallery" referred to is the Galleria Umberto I in down-town Naples.
Burns's works often feature homosexual themes, and he is known as a gay novelist. As recorded by his contemporary Gore Vidal, Burns said that "to be a good writer, one must be homosexual, perhaps because his or her marginalized status provides the gay or lesbian author with an objectivity not attainable within mainstream culture." Burns's fiction though, is not exclusively restricted to gay themes. Some of his fictional pieces use a heterosexual female perspective, and conformity to class as well as gender expectations plays a large role in these texts.
Burns's works often feature homosexual themes, and he is known as a gay novelist. As recorded by his contemporary Gore Vidal, Burns said that "to be a good writer, one must be homosexual, perhaps because his or her marginalized status provides the gay or lesbian author with an objectivity not attainable within mainstream culture." Burns's fiction though, is not exclusively restricted to gay themes. Some of his fictional pieces use a heterosexual female perspective, and conformity to class as well as gender expectations plays a large role in these texts.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 3, 2013
I went through hell (no pun intended) to get a copy of Lucifer with a Book and, I must say, it was worth it. While I fully believe this is a satire, I see why John Horne Burns got into so much trouble with it. Every single character is presented in a terrible light: the stupid headmaster and his dotty wife, the spinster-ish, sex-starved female teachers, the asexual male teachers, the effeminate boys, and the aggressive jocks. No one is spared from the wrath of Burns. But I thought the book was funny. It's a little too long with pages of descriptions of how awful someone looks or behaves and a little too mean at times, but it's not the disaster many critics made it out to be.
October 10, 2025
4.5, rounded down.
Usually when it takes me a long time to read a book, that indicates that either it is poorly written and/or just not holding my interest (e.g., Milkman, by a different Burns, which is approximately the same length as this and ALSO took me 10 days to read). That is NOT the case here, as my rating indicates.
Although this second novel of Burns got decidedly negative reviews upon its appearance in 1949 (and led to his downfall and early death from alcoholism), it was definitely ahead of its time and can perhaps be more appreciated 76 years on as a neglected - well, perhaps not masterpiece, but indeed a well-written and quite entertaining read. My languor in getting through it was primarily due to some health issues (since resolved) and other diversions.
That said, the book itself details a year in the life of the private Sophia Academy in Maine in the year prior to publication - as the author himself was indeed a teacher at the infamous Loomis School both prior to and after his service during the war years, one can infer that much of this is largely based upon his experiences there.
The title ostensibly refers to Mr. Pilkey, the dictatorial headmaster, although the main character (although this IS largely an ensemble piece) is one Guy Hudson, a handsome redheaded history teacher with a scarred lip he picked up in the war - and although there are strong implications that he is bisexual, centers on his wooing of French teacher Betty Blanchard.
Indeed, for 1949, there are many overt gay references (Burns himself was fairly openly gay), and the writing is replete with many almost camp witticisms - my favorite being: 'Hitherto his life had been lived in little spurts of detailed and nebulous ecstasy, like a Henry James heroine on a bender.' (p. 174) .
And it's almost eerie how some things never change - as at one point Hudson proclaims: 'I believe we are preparing for a third world war unless millions of American wise up to the menace of the cartels and the reactionary tactics of the Republican party...' (p. 294). !!!
I actually enjoyed this much more than Burns' first novel, The Gallery, considered his masterpiece, and as he only wrote one other novel, A Cry of Children, I presume I will get around to reading that one also, on the strength of this one.
PS: copies of this long OOP book are difficult/$$$ to get hold of, but anyone wanting to read it can do so online at: https://archive.org/details/luciferwi...
Usually when it takes me a long time to read a book, that indicates that either it is poorly written and/or just not holding my interest (e.g., Milkman, by a different Burns, which is approximately the same length as this and ALSO took me 10 days to read). That is NOT the case here, as my rating indicates.
Although this second novel of Burns got decidedly negative reviews upon its appearance in 1949 (and led to his downfall and early death from alcoholism), it was definitely ahead of its time and can perhaps be more appreciated 76 years on as a neglected - well, perhaps not masterpiece, but indeed a well-written and quite entertaining read. My languor in getting through it was primarily due to some health issues (since resolved) and other diversions.
That said, the book itself details a year in the life of the private Sophia Academy in Maine in the year prior to publication - as the author himself was indeed a teacher at the infamous Loomis School both prior to and after his service during the war years, one can infer that much of this is largely based upon his experiences there.
The title ostensibly refers to Mr. Pilkey, the dictatorial headmaster, although the main character (although this IS largely an ensemble piece) is one Guy Hudson, a handsome redheaded history teacher with a scarred lip he picked up in the war - and although there are strong implications that he is bisexual, centers on his wooing of French teacher Betty Blanchard.
Indeed, for 1949, there are many overt gay references (Burns himself was fairly openly gay), and the writing is replete with many almost camp witticisms - my favorite being: 'Hitherto his life had been lived in little spurts of detailed and nebulous ecstasy, like a Henry James heroine on a bender.' (p. 174) .
And it's almost eerie how some things never change - as at one point Hudson proclaims: 'I believe we are preparing for a third world war unless millions of American wise up to the menace of the cartels and the reactionary tactics of the Republican party...' (p. 294). !!!
I actually enjoyed this much more than Burns' first novel, The Gallery, considered his masterpiece, and as he only wrote one other novel, A Cry of Children, I presume I will get around to reading that one also, on the strength of this one.
PS: copies of this long OOP book are difficult/$$$ to get hold of, but anyone wanting to read it can do so online at: https://archive.org/details/luciferwi...
June 21, 2016
Ummmm....lol
Plot: WWII veteran comes home, becomes a teacher at a prep school, thinks on teaching and sex and patriotism.
Ok, so I would have given this 1 star, but the prose is really fun and well-written. So: 2 stars
Essentially, this: If you want to read some classic 50's style misogyny as well as sexual tension between teachers and teachers and students, homosexual and heterosexual, with a dash of racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia to keep things interesting, this is the book for you.
And there are some reflections about the classism of the day, and on teaching. It's also interesting to see how WWII vets were viewed by the 50's era, or at least portrayed by this book (and the author was a WWII vet who came home to teach at a prep school) - as basically rowdy young men who were made rude by the war and can't fit back into society. So as a "soldier home from war" book, this would be a good addition.
But I'm just going to stick this under DNF. I may get back to it someday, but this weird 50's Freudian obsession about each character's sex life (or lack thereof) is a little too much for me. By the middle of the book, I can barely get through 2 pages without laughing. It's like a cynical romance novel.
Here's a few of my favorite lines:
"The WAC taught her what she'd suspected at Wheaton: that women together are a suffocating lot, like waves of steam from a drier in a beauty salon."
"Popularity with your class is a form of prostitution. But by God I'm trying my damnedest to be a whore..."
"...This was the scholarship boy Ralph Du Bouchet, who with his long black lashes and response to Teecher without any attempt at flattery made Guy Hudson almost delude himself into thinking he was a Great Teacher. Sometimes...he caught himself teaching on the for the response of Ralph. The boy...had the reflexes of a lover in bed. ...Sometimes Guy Hudson decided he was a puppet in Ralph's brain."
The whole book is like this. Or at least the part I read :P
Plot: WWII veteran comes home, becomes a teacher at a prep school, thinks on teaching and sex and patriotism.
Ok, so I would have given this 1 star, but the prose is really fun and well-written. So: 2 stars
Essentially, this: If you want to read some classic 50's style misogyny as well as sexual tension between teachers and teachers and students, homosexual and heterosexual, with a dash of racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia to keep things interesting, this is the book for you.
And there are some reflections about the classism of the day, and on teaching. It's also interesting to see how WWII vets were viewed by the 50's era, or at least portrayed by this book (and the author was a WWII vet who came home to teach at a prep school) - as basically rowdy young men who were made rude by the war and can't fit back into society. So as a "soldier home from war" book, this would be a good addition.
But I'm just going to stick this under DNF. I may get back to it someday, but this weird 50's Freudian obsession about each character's sex life (or lack thereof) is a little too much for me. By the middle of the book, I can barely get through 2 pages without laughing. It's like a cynical romance novel.
Here's a few of my favorite lines:
"The WAC taught her what she'd suspected at Wheaton: that women together are a suffocating lot, like waves of steam from a drier in a beauty salon."
"Popularity with your class is a form of prostitution. But by God I'm trying my damnedest to be a whore..."
"...This was the scholarship boy Ralph Du Bouchet, who with his long black lashes and response to Teecher without any attempt at flattery made Guy Hudson almost delude himself into thinking he was a Great Teacher. Sometimes...he caught himself teaching on the for the response of Ralph. The boy...had the reflexes of a lover in bed. ...Sometimes Guy Hudson decided he was a puppet in Ralph's brain."
The whole book is like this. Or at least the part I read :P
October 7, 2013
I can't figure out exactly why I read this book. A friend mentioned not liking it much. I don't think it has generally gotten much praise, and have a dim recollection from an article I read on Burns that it was soundly panned when it came out in 1949. To my surprise, I enjoyed reading it and think it deserves more attention.
There are, of course, a great many novels about prep school life. While this is not quite one of the best, it can hold its own with most of them (and is a lot better than, say, "In One Person" by John Irving). The characters are vivid, and while there are quite a bunch of them, they stay clear in one's mind without effort. And much of the writing is exceptionally well-crafted.
I lived through much of what Burns writes about, albeit at an all-male college, and it matches my recollection of how all of that functioned socially. There is a particularly poignant chapter in which dates arrive for a prom weekend, all of which was right on target. And having worked in education for my entire career, the faculty could have been people with whom I worked, especially the oily Grimes who reminds me of several former colleagues, The way private institutions toady to major or potential major donors has not changed, nor has the way these people too often feel deserving of special treatment.
I was struck by how issues which concerned Burns are startlingly relevant today. Guy Hudson, the teacher who is essentially the protagonist, complains about excessive attention given to standardized testing, for instance. Burns also talks about how privileged members of society live in a world with little or no contact with people different from themselves, an issue often discussed these days in terms of the increasing disparity between the very wealthy and the rest of us. His fear that the US building military preparedness created a risk of another major war was echoed some years later in Eisenhower's "Military Industrial Complex" speech. And finally, that there are more than isolated instances of teachers in the 1940-1960's period sexualizing students of their own gender (not explicitly explored in "Lucifer," but clearly present) has finally been recognized at a number of top formerly all male schools, such as Horace Mann in New York.
My guess is this book was excessively progressive for the time when it was written. However, it is in some ways a period piece, and I did wince over Burns' patronizing depiction of two students (one Jewish and one African American) who are the only non-WASP characters in the novel. It's uncomfortable to read (repeatedly) terms like "Negress" and "Jewess," but perhaps worth suffering through when one remembers that Burns was undoubtedly less prejudiced than most in the era in which he wrote. In that sense, one can see that America has indeed some a long way from where things were in 1949.
There is a downside. The book is a bit savage (though the butts of this seem to deserve it), occasionally long-winded and decidedly preachy in parts.
This seems an interesting book, to me, for people working in education or just interested in the evolution of American society. It probably reads a lot better today than it would have when it was published. And the fact that it is for the most part a good story and well-written may may make it as intriguing a work as it was for me.
There are, of course, a great many novels about prep school life. While this is not quite one of the best, it can hold its own with most of them (and is a lot better than, say, "In One Person" by John Irving). The characters are vivid, and while there are quite a bunch of them, they stay clear in one's mind without effort. And much of the writing is exceptionally well-crafted.
I lived through much of what Burns writes about, albeit at an all-male college, and it matches my recollection of how all of that functioned socially. There is a particularly poignant chapter in which dates arrive for a prom weekend, all of which was right on target. And having worked in education for my entire career, the faculty could have been people with whom I worked, especially the oily Grimes who reminds me of several former colleagues, The way private institutions toady to major or potential major donors has not changed, nor has the way these people too often feel deserving of special treatment.
I was struck by how issues which concerned Burns are startlingly relevant today. Guy Hudson, the teacher who is essentially the protagonist, complains about excessive attention given to standardized testing, for instance. Burns also talks about how privileged members of society live in a world with little or no contact with people different from themselves, an issue often discussed these days in terms of the increasing disparity between the very wealthy and the rest of us. His fear that the US building military preparedness created a risk of another major war was echoed some years later in Eisenhower's "Military Industrial Complex" speech. And finally, that there are more than isolated instances of teachers in the 1940-1960's period sexualizing students of their own gender (not explicitly explored in "Lucifer," but clearly present) has finally been recognized at a number of top formerly all male schools, such as Horace Mann in New York.
My guess is this book was excessively progressive for the time when it was written. However, it is in some ways a period piece, and I did wince over Burns' patronizing depiction of two students (one Jewish and one African American) who are the only non-WASP characters in the novel. It's uncomfortable to read (repeatedly) terms like "Negress" and "Jewess," but perhaps worth suffering through when one remembers that Burns was undoubtedly less prejudiced than most in the era in which he wrote. In that sense, one can see that America has indeed some a long way from where things were in 1949.
There is a downside. The book is a bit savage (though the butts of this seem to deserve it), occasionally long-winded and decidedly preachy in parts.
This seems an interesting book, to me, for people working in education or just interested in the evolution of American society. It probably reads a lot better today than it would have when it was published. And the fact that it is for the most part a good story and well-written may may make it as intriguing a work as it was for me.
October 6, 2017
Not really Lucifer, just a dick.
February 8, 2020
My Amazon.ca review as fishface42
3.0 out of 5 stars Bitterness, Spite, good writing and penetrating remarks on education.
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2019
Format: Hardcover
Shortly after returning to the US from WW2 service, Burns wrote an excellent and widely celebrated novel, "The Gallery," of life in post-war Naples, a series of chapters all set at a covered mall. One critic called it the best post-war novel. Alas, Burns's life and career went downhill from there. I suggest first reading the excellent biography "Dreadful: the short life and gay times of John Horne Burns" before beginning "Lucifer with a book". This second novel ruined Burns's reputation and alienated his former colleagues and students. Lucifer is written equally from an astute and loving sense of teaching and a seething resentment at the very prep school he once attended and returned to as an English teacher after WW2. The Lucifer of the title is the long serving principal of the Loomis Academy. Virtually all the characters are thinly veiled biting portraits of staff members, one of whom is stripped bare of his carefully constructed cloak of character, and who eventually committed suicide at 45. As entertainment the book is engaging for me till about half way through. Burns' trenchant examination of the students and staff becomes too long, too labored, too personal. He despises many characters and is writing an expose. So I skimmed the second half. Burns was dissolving into the alcoholism which essentially killed him at age 37. Pictured is the first and only hardback edition I bought for $26. from Abebooks on this site. The biography is great reading.
3.0 out of 5 stars Bitterness, Spite, good writing and penetrating remarks on education.
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2019
Format: Hardcover
Shortly after returning to the US from WW2 service, Burns wrote an excellent and widely celebrated novel, "The Gallery," of life in post-war Naples, a series of chapters all set at a covered mall. One critic called it the best post-war novel. Alas, Burns's life and career went downhill from there. I suggest first reading the excellent biography "Dreadful: the short life and gay times of John Horne Burns" before beginning "Lucifer with a book". This second novel ruined Burns's reputation and alienated his former colleagues and students. Lucifer is written equally from an astute and loving sense of teaching and a seething resentment at the very prep school he once attended and returned to as an English teacher after WW2. The Lucifer of the title is the long serving principal of the Loomis Academy. Virtually all the characters are thinly veiled biting portraits of staff members, one of whom is stripped bare of his carefully constructed cloak of character, and who eventually committed suicide at 45. As entertainment the book is engaging for me till about half way through. Burns' trenchant examination of the students and staff becomes too long, too labored, too personal. He despises many characters and is writing an expose. So I skimmed the second half. Burns was dissolving into the alcoholism which essentially killed him at age 37. Pictured is the first and only hardback edition I bought for $26. from Abebooks on this site. The biography is great reading.
September 26, 2022
I remember hearing about this book when I went to Loomis School back in the early sixties. The book was supposedly based on Loomis and because of its "scandalous" nature was banned from the school library. So far, I haven't read it and I don't know if I'd be able to get anyway. Burns' WWII novel "Gallery"(his first - "Lucifer" was his second) is much better known. If I can remember I'll try to get it. He was a teacher at Loomis both before and after his WWII service, though he himself went to Phillips Academy(known colloquially as Andover).
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews