
William Gerhardie is one of our immortals. He is our Gogol's Overcoat. We all came out of him.' Olivia Manning 'He is a comic writer of genius? but his art is profoundly serious.' C.P. Snow First published in 1925, this is perhaps the most acclaimed of William Gerhardie's novels and was celebrated by Anthony Powell as 'a classic'. Like his first novel, Futility, The Polyglots draws largely on personal experience. It is the story of an eccentric Belgian family living in the Far East in the uncertain years after World War I and the Russian Revolution. The tale is recounted by their dryly conceited young English relative, Captain Georges Hamlet Alexander Diabologh, who comes to stay with them during a military mission. Teeming with bizarre characters - depressives, obsessives, paranoiacs, hypochondriacs, and sex maniacs - Gerhardie paints a brilliantly absurd world where the comic and the tragic are profoundly and irrevocably entwined.
A young English officer finds himself entangled in the chaotic and eccentric lives of his relatives residing in the Far East during the volatile post-World War I era. Captain Georges Hamlet Alexander Diabologh serves as the narrator, documenting his observations while stationed with a sprawling, dysfunctional Belgian family. His objective is to navigate the social and personal absurdities of his hosts, who are defined by their neuroses and unpredictable behaviors. The narrative framework relies on the protagonist's dry, conceited perspective to frame the shifting boundaries between comedy and tragedy in a world destabilized by revolution and war.
Readers and critics frequently highlight the author's ability to balance sharp, biting humor with a profound sense of underlying tragedy. Discussion often centers on the narrator's detached and conceited voice, which serves as a lens for the bizarre cast of characters surrounding him. Many observers note the stylistic influence of Russian literature, particularly the works of Gogol, in the way the prose handles absurdity. The pacing is often described as deliberate, focusing more on the psychological quirks of the family than on traditional plot progression. Readers appreciate the work for its unique tone, which remains distinct from other novels of the early twentieth century.
Page Count:
336
Publication Date:
1987-10-22
Publisher:
OXFORD PAPERBACKS
ISBN-10:
019282063X
ISBN-13:
9780192820631
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