FIGURES OF EARTH - Softcover

Cabell, James B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345217632 ISBN 13: 9780345217639

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1969

Synopsis

An excerpt from The Yale Literary Magazine, Volume 86, 1921:

IF he were nothing else, James Branch Cabell would yet remain the most intriguing figure in contemporary letters. He is unique and apart from the back-wash of modern fiction. So that to his sternest detractor the advent of a new work of his pen is an occasion to be heeded. Particularly when that work is a tale of the Poictesme that is his chosen domain. It has been contended against Mr. Cabell that his work is a patch-work of older writers, that "Jurgen" is a medley of Voltaire, Rabelais, and Anatole France, seasoned with the spicy whimsies of Renaissance Minstrels. All this is, as so much criticism, at once quite true and a little absurd. "Jurgen"—equally with "Domnei," "The Line of Love," "The Certain Hour," "The Cream of the Jest," "Chivalry," "Gallantry," and "Figures of Earth,"—is built of the fragments of many master books. But all of these are equally and distinctly Mr. Cabell's own, with an originality as striking as their beauty. Originality in art is not a matter of material but of its arrangement. The artist has borrowed from all sides, and has mastered his borrowings so that they have become his own.

"Figures of Earth" is the finest example of literary art that has come into our hands for a long time.

... The Cabellian irony is there, the rapier-thrust of his wit, the disturbing mysticism of his philosophy...

...In itself, this is a notable work, a gripping tale, full of the fragrance of a romantic past, a flawless piece of artistic workmanship, the well-nigh perfect expression of a great writer.

About this title

About the Author:

Cabell is best known for his tales of the imaginary land of Poictesme, where chivalry and galantry live on.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1969
• ISBN 10: 0345217632
• ISBN 13: 9780345217639
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1