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ncrawford 's review for:
Wolf Solent
by John Cowper Powys
A Glastonbury Romance is one of the most moving works of fiction a person can find. Wolf Solent is the precursor to GR and worth a look just for that. It's a simpler story with just one close protagonist, and the kaleidoscopic veering that Powys's fiction takes at any given moment to delve deep into the smallest unseen dramas between the animals or elements or life forces or cosmic adversaries is only here in its initial form. The riveting moments are more flourishes than they are part of a symphonic tapestry--they're good, but most all of them immediately forgettable.
The drama of a person being torn by an elemental true love and the love he has for his wife plays out in an interesting way here. Much of it focuses on the fatalistic burden between heart and body. There are some moments between sensuality and romantic rage that are very nice and deep, similar to Lawrence, but that's not the whole book.
The Faustian drama also at play, though, isn't well realized. It was hard to really even get 100 years later. And between these two melodramas, Solent's 'losing his mythology 'and not having his closer love, the story is a murk between deep and comic (i.e. ridiculous). Maybe with the right criticism I'd see Wolf Solent in a more moving light, but really, I don't think the drama lands well. And the time the reader spends with the side characters is...not great. It's just kind of there.
So in short, if you already know and love Powys, this is a must just to get those early elements of his writing and philosophy--all of his themes are very much there. But as a story, although I never wanted to leave the book unfinished, I knew I was being short changed from the greatness I was looking for.
If you're looking here and haven't read Glastonbury Romance yet, just go there first.
The drama of a person being torn by an elemental true love and the love he has for his wife plays out in an interesting way here. Much of it focuses on the fatalistic burden between heart and body. There are some moments between sensuality and romantic rage that are very nice and deep, similar to Lawrence, but that's not the whole book.
The Faustian drama also at play, though, isn't well realized. It was hard to really even get 100 years later. And between these two melodramas, Solent's 'losing his mythology 'and not having his closer love, the story is a murk between deep and comic (i.e. ridiculous). Maybe with the right criticism I'd see Wolf Solent in a more moving light, but really, I don't think the drama lands well. And the time the reader spends with the side characters is...not great. It's just kind of there.
So in short, if you already know and love Powys, this is a must just to get those early elements of his writing and philosophy--all of his themes are very much there. But as a story, although I never wanted to leave the book unfinished, I knew I was being short changed from the greatness I was looking for.
If you're looking here and haven't read Glastonbury Romance yet, just go there first.