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Castle Corner
Joyce Cary was nothing if not an ambitious novelist. In his prefatory essay he tells us 'Castle Corner was to have been the beginning of a vast work in three or four volumes showing not only the lives of all the characters in the first volume, but the revolutions of history during the period 1880-1935'. This particular 'vast work' was abandoned - he subsequently wrote two trilogies or triptychs, as he preferred to call them - but what is left, Castle Corner, is completely satisfying in itself, indeed, it contains some of his very best writing, especially in the Irish sequences in which Cary fictionalized some of his own family history. His biographer, Alan Bishop, refers to these sequences as being 'composed with patent zest. Characterization, especially of John Chass and Mary Corner; descriptive passages; incidents like the tandem race - all are magnificently realized . . . Undoubtedly the Irish chapters of Castle Corner contain some of his very best writing, by turns frenetic, ecstatic, meditative, poignant'. 'Mr Cary's book is stupendous . . . There is an intellectual richness . . . pages of allusive anecdote, chat, picture, narrative, family history, and a grim display of human squalor and inconsequence. It is a grand effect; and the book has a fury of incontrovertible detail.' Frank Swinnerton, Observer
652 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
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About the author
Joyce Cary
101 books98 followersCary now undertook his great works examining historical and social change in England during his own lifetime. The First Trilogy (1941–44) finally provided Cary with a reasonable income, and The Horse's Mouth (1944) remains his most popular novel. Cary's pamphlet "The Case for African Freedom" (1941), published by Orwell's Searchlight Books series, had attracted some interest, and the film director Thorold Dickinson asked for Cary's help in developing a wartime movie set partly in Africa. In 1943, while writing The Horse's Mouth, Cary travelled to Africa with a film crew to work on Men of Two Worlds.
Cary travelled to India in 1946 on a second film project with Dickinson, but the struggle against the British for national independence made movie-making impossible, and the project was abandoned. The Moonlight (1946), a novel about the difficulties of women, ended a long period of intense creativity for Cary. Gertrude was suffering from cancer and his output slowed for a while.
Gertrude died as A Fearful Joy (1949) was being published. Cary was now at the height of his fame and fortune. He began preparing a series of prefatory notes for the re-publication of all his works in a standard edition published by Michael Joseph.
He visited the United States, collaborated on a stage adaptation of Mister Johnson, and was offered a CBE, which he refused. Meanwhile he continued work on the three novels that make up the Second Trilogy (1952–55). In 1952, Cary had some muscle problems which were originally diagnosed as bursitis, but as more symptoms were noted over the next two years, the diagnosis was changed to that of motor neuron disease, a wasting and gradual paralysis that was terminal.
As his physical powers failed, Cary had to have a pen tied to his hand and his arm supported by a rope in order to write. Finally, he resorted to dictation until unable to speak, and then ceased writing for the first time since 1912. His last work, The Captive and the Free (1959), first volume of a projected trilogy on religion, was unfinished at his death on March 29, 1957.
Cary travelled to India in 1946 on a second film project with Dickinson, but the struggle against the British for national independence made movie-making impossible, and the project was abandoned. The Moonlight (1946), a novel about the difficulties of women, ended a long period of intense creativity for Cary. Gertrude was suffering from cancer and his output slowed for a while.
Gertrude died as A Fearful Joy (1949) was being published. Cary was now at the height of his fame and fortune. He began preparing a series of prefatory notes for the re-publication of all his works in a standard edition published by Michael Joseph.
He visited the United States, collaborated on a stage adaptation of Mister Johnson, and was offered a CBE, which he refused. Meanwhile he continued work on the three novels that make up the Second Trilogy (1952–55). In 1952, Cary had some muscle problems which were originally diagnosed as bursitis, but as more symptoms were noted over the next two years, the diagnosis was changed to that of motor neuron disease, a wasting and gradual paralysis that was terminal.
As his physical powers failed, Cary had to have a pen tied to his hand and his arm supported by a rope in order to write. Finally, he resorted to dictation until unable to speak, and then ceased writing for the first time since 1912. His last work, The Captive and the Free (1959), first volume of a projected trilogy on religion, was unfinished at his death on March 29, 1957.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 4, 2017
“Castle Corner’ was intended to be the first part of three or four volumes that Joyce Carey hoped would be his major opus. However, a less than enthusiastic critical reception dampened those hopes completely and Carey abandoned the project, leaving us with only this first volume.
It’s a great pity that Carey lacked the convictions of his undeniable talent. An artist with a stronger ego may have gone ahead certain that the critics were wrong, as they may well have been in this case.
“Castle Corner” is a fine novel, an engrossing read from start to finish. Carey creates a vast range of colorful characters, located largely in Ireland whose landscapes he evokes with much love and craft, as well as some sections in West Africa, where Carey himself had spent time.
Despite being one part of a series never undertaken, “Castle Corner” stands well on its own; that is until its slightly abrupt and seemingly unresolved ending. However, that should not put readers off since there’s much to enjoy in this fine, somewhat undervalued novel.
It’s a great pity that Carey lacked the convictions of his undeniable talent. An artist with a stronger ego may have gone ahead certain that the critics were wrong, as they may well have been in this case.
“Castle Corner” is a fine novel, an engrossing read from start to finish. Carey creates a vast range of colorful characters, located largely in Ireland whose landscapes he evokes with much love and craft, as well as some sections in West Africa, where Carey himself had spent time.
Despite being one part of a series never undertaken, “Castle Corner” stands well on its own; that is until its slightly abrupt and seemingly unresolved ending. However, that should not put readers off since there’s much to enjoy in this fine, somewhat undervalued novel.
February 22, 2019
A lovely novel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews