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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
dark
funny
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A wonderfully rich and intelligent novel, by turns dark and humorous, about the lives and preoccupations of a successful gay author and his equally successful Catholic family.
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quixotic tale, a linguistic delight, mischievous, raises questions about good and evil
mid and soooo long and got so racist #gay #catholic #italian #nun #divorce
Met zeer veel plezier gelezen kroniek van de twintigste eeuw aan de hand van een homo en een katholiek. De eerste zin is er één om op te kauwen. Heerlijk. Veel stof om over na te denken. Goed en kwaad. Kunst en kitsch. Sex en onthouding. Lekker erudiet en je verveelt je geen moment. 50 uur leesplezier.
When I started this book, I was very surprised to find that it heavily featured a gay character. Some would even say that he is the main protagonist of this book. In a way, this character was what made me go through this book in its entirety.
Even though we hear the whole story through Kenneth Toomey, it felt like the actual main character in the novel was Carlo Campanati and through him Christianity. The book has a huge scope as the title Earthly Powers suggests. We start the novel at the beginning of 20th Century and move our way almost till the end of the same. Since this covers the two major World Wars, that is quite a lot of ground. The book felt like it was mostly about reconciling these two Wars with the idea of a friendly and forgiving God.
I was initially very happy that the gay angle was done well. It gets muddled in the middle. The character inexplicably turns asexual and then turns into a pervert of sorts. There is also a lot of equating homosexuality with pedophilia. Given that this book came out in 1980 and that it is mostly set in the early 19th centuries where, I assume, this idea were very prevalent - it makes sense. But the asexuality was confounding. Somewhere in the initial pages, Toomey the pseudo-protagonist writes a virulently heterosexual novel and views it as an experiment in how his imagination works. Perhaps Anthony Burgess also tried the same with this novel. From whatever historical evidence I could gather, he seemed to have been very straight. I must say that for a straight guy from the 20th Century, the representation is surprisingly good. The few acts of the gay movement that appear are covered properly and have the right views. The problem with the book however is that this is just a small part of it. How I wish this had been the mainstay!
The main parts of the book are about religion. There are not really any new ideas that are expounded here. Man is inherently good and everything evil is perpetrated because of the Devil's action. How that can be misunderstood and misused is covered in the last part of the novel. Burgess stays away from concluding anything. He presents mysterious ailments from East and exoticizes the people there, which is nothing new. It is supposed to give a counterfoil to the logical thinking that the West expounds. He also presents Tamil people and the Tamil language as something which is very crass. As a Tamil person, I did feel a little attacked by it. He also attacks other languages and cultures while he is at it though, so I can forgive him.
I have to say that I did not feel any type of way about Carlo Campanati as a character. He just seemed so tiresomely heroic. He somehow always has the right view and the right reaction to everything. Burgess tries to compensate this with quirks like his gambling and excessive eating, but they don't really take. If you find this character fascinating, your reading of this novel might be entirely different to my own. I found him quite humdrum and not compelling enough for such a huge tome.
Having read A Clockwork Orange first, I think my expectations of this novel were widely different. This book is nothing like that one. I think part of the problem with this one is the sheer length of it. Burgess could have reduced the scope and focused on just some of the events with greater clarity. It would have made for an infinitely better book. When not pontificating about Christianity, Burgess does take the time to make the novel very humourous and that helps with the flow. It is just too many things at the same time which is the biggest deterrent.
Worth a read, partly just so you can proclaim that you've read this monstrously huge classic.
Even though we hear the whole story through Kenneth Toomey, it felt like the actual main character in the novel was Carlo Campanati and through him Christianity. The book has a huge scope as the title Earthly Powers suggests. We start the novel at the beginning of 20th Century and move our way almost till the end of the same. Since this covers the two major World Wars, that is quite a lot of ground. The book felt like it was mostly about reconciling these two Wars with the idea of a friendly and forgiving God.
I was initially very happy that the gay angle was done well. It gets muddled in the middle. The character inexplicably turns asexual and then turns into a pervert of sorts. There is also a lot of equating homosexuality with pedophilia. Given that this book came out in 1980 and that it is mostly set in the early 19th centuries where, I assume, this idea were very prevalent - it makes sense. But the asexuality was confounding. Somewhere in the initial pages, Toomey the pseudo-protagonist writes a virulently heterosexual novel and views it as an experiment in how his imagination works. Perhaps Anthony Burgess also tried the same with this novel. From whatever historical evidence I could gather, he seemed to have been very straight. I must say that for a straight guy from the 20th Century, the representation is surprisingly good. The few acts of the gay movement that appear are covered properly and have the right views. The problem with the book however is that this is just a small part of it. How I wish this had been the mainstay!
The main parts of the book are about religion. There are not really any new ideas that are expounded here. Man is inherently good and everything evil is perpetrated because of the Devil's action. How that can be misunderstood and misused is covered in the last part of the novel. Burgess stays away from concluding anything. He presents mysterious ailments from East and exoticizes the people there, which is nothing new. It is supposed to give a counterfoil to the logical thinking that the West expounds. He also presents Tamil people and the Tamil language as something which is very crass. As a Tamil person, I did feel a little attacked by it. He also attacks other languages and cultures while he is at it though, so I can forgive him.
I have to say that I did not feel any type of way about Carlo Campanati as a character. He just seemed so tiresomely heroic. He somehow always has the right view and the right reaction to everything. Burgess tries to compensate this with quirks like his gambling and excessive eating, but they don't really take. If you find this character fascinating, your reading of this novel might be entirely different to my own. I found him quite humdrum and not compelling enough for such a huge tome.
Having read A Clockwork Orange first, I think my expectations of this novel were widely different. This book is nothing like that one. I think part of the problem with this one is the sheer length of it. Burgess could have reduced the scope and focused on just some of the events with greater clarity. It would have made for an infinitely better book. When not pontificating about Christianity, Burgess does take the time to make the novel very humourous and that helps with the flow. It is just too many things at the same time which is the biggest deterrent.
Worth a read, partly just so you can proclaim that you've read this monstrously huge classic.
re-reading a first edition now. i remember thinking this book was the most interesting, epic, intelligent book when i read it back in high school... we'll see what i think ten years later.
Well, I'd probably still give it a lot of stars, very interesting, certainly entertaining, but maybe not as satisfying as I remember.
Well, I'd probably still give it a lot of stars, very interesting, certainly entertaining, but maybe not as satisfying as I remember.
I have to read this one again. There is so much in it. History, religion, love, humour, zeitgeist ... loved the style and the jokes. Sometimes it is a bit of a challenging read, but well worth it.
As a teenager, I used to make a game out of seeing how much I could compress the themes and plot of a book whenever anyone asked me “What’s it about?” Were I to play the game with Earthly Powers, I would have to reply, “A gay Catholic novelist and the Pope.” (If I really wanted to compress and confuse, “gay Catholic novelists” would have to do.) For full review, see: https://ellethinks.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/46-earthly-powers-by-anthony-burgess/
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hadn't heard of Earthly Powers before I discovered it at my local library. I borrowed it because the blurb compelled me and I knew of Anthony Burgess from A Clockwork Orange. Yet, despite the fact Earthly Powers is a compelling read, it's so satirical and distant that it never quite reaches its full potential.
Earthly Powers tells the story of Kenneth Toomey, an author who writes theatre for the masses and fiction he considers trash. He is also a homosexual who feels rejected by the church for his sexuality. His relationship with religion is muddled at best and contradictory at worst. His brother-in-law, Carlo, wants to be canonized as the Pope and must navigate the politics of religion very carefully to achieve this. Toomey's homosexuality is an open secret, and this doesn't do Carlo any favours.
Honestly, I think the novel features some compelling themes about morality, religion, faith, and whether or not personal morality and religious dogma can ever be reconciled. And yet, due to the satirical and distant writing style, I never really connected with the characters like I wanted to. The style feels oddly detached and ironic, which is strange because it feels like Kenneth Toomey's memoir in many ways. Maybe the ironic distance is the point and this novel isn't for me, but I really wanted more of an emotional connection from this piece of fiction. I feel like you should care for characters you spend time with for 649 pages, but maybe this is just Burgess' style.
Earthly Powers tells the story of Kenneth Toomey, an author who writes theatre for the masses and fiction he considers trash. He is also a homosexual who feels rejected by the church for his sexuality. His relationship with religion is muddled at best and contradictory at worst. His brother-in-law, Carlo, wants to be canonized as the Pope and must navigate the politics of religion very carefully to achieve this. Toomey's homosexuality is an open secret, and this doesn't do Carlo any favours.
Honestly, I think the novel features some compelling themes about morality, religion, faith, and whether or not personal morality and religious dogma can ever be reconciled. And yet, due to the satirical and distant writing style, I never really connected with the characters like I wanted to. The style feels oddly detached and ironic, which is strange because it feels like Kenneth Toomey's memoir in many ways. Maybe the ironic distance is the point and this novel isn't for me, but I really wanted more of an emotional connection from this piece of fiction. I feel like you should care for characters you spend time with for 649 pages, but maybe this is just Burgess' style.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, War, Classism