John Cowper Powys

I have just boldly recommended 'A Glastonbury Romance' by John Cowper Powys, to one of our regular readers of Classic English and Russian Literature. I look forward to his review...will it be "an epic novel of terrific cumulative force and lyrical intensity," or "ridiculous tedious rubbish"?. Possibly I should have prepared him for the somewhat epic journey he was about to undertake. Henry Miller, on reading  A Glastonbury Romance, wrote to Lawrence Durrell: "my head began bursting as I read. No, I said to myself, it is impossible that any man can put all this - so much - down on paper. It is super-human.".

Unfortunately the only copy I had was Picadors 1975 (?) edition with the horrid cover. Add a dragon or two, a half dressed albino Amazonian, and it could take pride of place in our early Fantasy section.

 "Every day that we allow ourselves to take things for granted, every day that we allow some little physical infirmity or worldly worry to come between us and our obstinate, indignant, defiant exultation, we are weakening our genius for life." John Cowper Powys.

The actual Abbey

See here for an Extract, but take a deep breath.