Džiaugsmas ir baimė

by Joyce Cary

Tabitha Baskett is seduced by an engaging scoundrel named Bonser who deserts her when she is pregnant. She is taken under the wing of a businessman who is also a patron of the arts; and after his death, by a millionaire. Finally she returns to Bonser who marries her. In charting the life of Tabitha, Cary has written one of the most enchantingly comic and life-enhancing stories of modern fiction and a vivid history of the first half of the twentieth century.

Genres: Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Cary 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.

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ir nėra ko laukti iš žmonių supratimo. Reikia tiesiog elgtis taip, kaip atrodo geriau.

[Dalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kai pats elgiesi kitų požiūriu netinkamai, atrodo viskas ok. Bet kai tavo anūkė elgiasi panašiai, kaip tu jaunystėje, jau nekažką...
Bet Tabitos kaip asmenybės augimas įspūdingas

[Szilags · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly engrossing. A confident achievement. Carey tells the fictional story of Tabitha Bonser, a woman whose life bridges two centuries, and takes one after another surprising and satisfying turn. It's filled with marvelous character creations and rich with social history. I was completely caught up with this book to the last page. So much life here.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese]

Recommended by Stan in High Sierra

[Steve Shilstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

English woman's life from mid 1870s through late 1940s. What a rich and thorough achievement. Cary was a very great novelist indeed.