The Volcano God

by Philip Freund

London during the blitz provides the background to this startling and monumental novel. It’s characters, brought together by the Reading Room of the British Museum, are ever more closely linked by the upheavals of war. Each one in his own way seeks the spiritual strength to meet the great crisis: the civil servant and his novelist wife, the young scientist gathering top secret data, the music critic, the student, the anarchist, the young strangers from the New World. As they meet and find love and friendship, antipathy and hate, and they vividly debate their wifey divergent views in a series of brilliant dialogues unequalled in contemporary literature for their scope and originality of presentation.

1162 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this beast of a book. This is the first rating/review of it and I couldn’t find any other comments about it online. I don’t usually write reviews for books, especially since so many others do such a great job, but I’ll say a few words for those who are curious about reading this.

Of the nearly 1200 pages, over 80% of it is debate/discussion about a wide range of topics from literature (especially Proust and Dostoevsky) and classical music to God, religion, myths (Otto Rank is cited heavily), philosophy, economics (Marxism, communism, capitalism, etc), philosophy (all the major ones up until that point), art, psychology (Freud, Jung) etc… you name it… they talk about it, and in significant detail. If you’re ’widely-read’ or fairly knowledgeable in most of these areas, and don’t mind 1,000 pages of debate on these topics - you’ll LOVE this book.

The remaining 20% is plot… and it’s DAMN good. This guy can WRITE, and I really wish there was more plot because it was so engaging.

Give it a try… but warning… it is not for the faint of heart.