All or Nothing

by John Cowper Powys

Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar. His mother was descended from the poet William Cowper, hence his middle name. His two younger brothers, Llewelyn Powys and Theodore Francis Powys, also became well-known writers. Other brothers and sisters also became prominent in the arts.

John studied at Sherborne School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and became a teacher and lecturer; as lecturer, he worked first in England, then in continental Europe and finally in the USA, where he lived in the years 1904-1934. While in the United States, his work was championed by author Theodore Dreiser. He engaged in public debate with Bertrand Russell and the philosopher and historian Will Durant: he was called for the defence in the first obscenity trial for the James Joyce novel, Ulysses, and was mentioned with approval in the autobiography of US feminist and anarchist, Emma Goldman.

He made his name as a poet and essayist, moving on to produce a series of acclaimed novels distinguished by their uniquely detailed and intensely sensual recreation of time, place and character. They also describe heightened states of awareness resulting from mystic revelation, or from the experience of extreme pleasure or pain. The best known of these distinctive novels are A Glastonbury Romance and Wolf Solent. He also wrote some works of philosophy and literary criticism, including a pioneering tribute to Dorothy Richardson.

Having returned to the UK, he lived in England for a brief time, then moved to Corwen in Wales, where he wrote historical romances (including two set in Wales) and magical fantasies. He later moved to Blaenau Ffestiniog, where he remained until his death in 1963.

Reviews

[Rupert Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's something of the 'pataphysical about All or Nothing, reminiscent of Voltaire's Micromegas and Jarry's The Supermale. Cowper Powys's naming conventions certainly are a nod to classic nonsense. Such names as Zug, Wug, Bog, Urk, Bubble, Squeak, etc. The story is rather frenetic from one surreal state to another. The absurd creatures and interplanetary travel is as farfetched as could be fetched from the imagination. The main protagonists, John o' Dreams and Jilly Tewky render the narrative through some sort of mythopoeic madness with plenty of philosophical, theological, mythological substrate to keep the reader intrigued. However, I found myself towards the latter part of the book in a kind of aimless drift amongst the manic plot shifts and to make matters worse, when arriving at the pivotal elucidation of all or nothing, I felt like Cowper Powys was telling me he'd had enough and that was the end of it all. It all seemed like trying for profundity a little too hard.

[Sarah]

a kind of philosophical fairy tale that walks the line between inspiring and not quite working. not sure which way i'd go on this.

[Tom Newth · Rating 4 out of 5]

delightfully eccentric