Lost in the Stacks: The Fountain

Have you ever heard of Charles Morgan?  I hadn't.  I decided this week to just look for a book completely at random and the spine of this one was pretty so I pulled it from the shelf.   I know, that sounds really shallow, but you can find the most interesting books that way. 

Here's the cover and spine.  They're sort of nice, don't you think?  The color is not very attractive, but probably when it was new it would have been more so.  As it turns out Morgan was an award winning novelist and playwright.  At least one of his novels has been reissued by Capuchin Classics and there is a modest website dedicated to his life and work.  You can read a bit about his life here, and I am fascinated to discover that he went to sea in 1907 at the tender age of thirteen.  He was at sea for seven years serving as a midshipman before he resigned and attended Oxford, though that was cut short as WWI then broke out. 

The Fountain was published in 1932 and won the Hawthornden Prize.  The story is set in Holland during WWI where an English officer is interned.  He discovers his childhood sweetheart is there but now married to a German officer who is away fighting.  I do like the sound of this one.  From what I have gleaned in my ramblings about on the web, this was a bestseller here in the US, though is perhaps not his "best" work.  The New York Times had plenty of good things to say about The Fountain and Charles Morgan, however.  They call his book both literate and literary.

"The Fountain is one of the most poetical pieces of prose fiction that has come to light for a long time.  Yet, though Mr. Morgan is evidently both of a poetic and scholarly mind--incidentally he is dramatic critic of The London Times--he is not out of touch with the realities of daily living.  In fact, it is possible that serving first in the war, and taking his university course after demobilization, was an excellent educative method for one destined to become a novelist.  Certain it is that whenever his literary style threatens (as occasionally it does) to become over literary, a stern hand, which we take to be out of his active past, stretches forth to pull him back.  One can read The Fountain with relish of its compositional artistry."

The reviewer actually cautions the reader that this is probably not a novel for the masses who want only entertainment and action.  It is a story that is thoughtful and moves slowly.  With words peppered throughout the review like superlative, exceptional, and literary achievement I think I have found a little gem hidden on the stacks.  If all that wasn't enough Morgan is even compared with Willa Cather in their "fineness of texture".  I love Willa, so perhaps I should give Charles Morgan a go as well.  With such high praise I wonder how he faded away?

One little bit of trivia I will leave you with--Stella Gibbons is thought to have modeled Gerard Challis from her recently reissued novel, Westwood, on Charles Morgan.  I am about halfway through Westwood, but it had to be moved to the back burner--first it had to be returned to the library and when I broke down and bought a copy I wasn't able to squeeze it back into the reading stack.  Now I am even more interested in getting back to it.

Comments

[Caroline]

No, I haven't heard of him. Sad somehow. He seems to have been a fine writer. Occasionally writers like this are rediscovered.

[Simon T]

I have not only heard of Charles Morgan but have read one of his novels! Not this one, though - I read A Breeze of Morning. I remember enjoying it, but that's all I remember... I had no idea Challis was based on him, how interesting!

[Kathy Johnson]

I love your "Lost in the Stacks" posts...so many interesting and "forgotten" authors. I just visited a house museum in New Orleans (the Beaureagarde-Keyes House) and admired the lovely old books on the shelves. I usually go for the simplest and cheapest versions of books because I'm a greedy collector (more! more!), but now I'm considering investing in some beautiful copies of favorite books...if I can find them. I've been intrigued by the Persephone books, for example.

[catharina]

This sounds like a story I would really like, and guess what: it is available through ILL so I have requested it already! Thank you for finding!

[Buried In Print]

Well...I was interested enough...and then you mentioned the Cather comparison and then my interest leapt once more. You really do find such treasures in those stacks!

[Margaret @ BooksPlease]

How interesting - and I'm currently reading Westwood!

[Kathleen]

I love this feature on your blog. It is so interesting to see the different books that are "lost" and can be rediscovered as treasures.

[Tiina]

I, too, enjoy your Lost in the Stacks posts.
I hadn't heard of Morgan until I read your post. Then I did what I've often done before, checked our stacks collection, and not only has The Fountain been translated into Finnish (in 1934), but so has some of his other novels, too. :)Plus quite a few are available in English either in our stacks or in the National Repository Library. I'll have to keep his name in mind for later.

[Danielle]

Caroline--It does make you wonder how many great books are out there, but lost as they are out of print and no one reads and talks about them! At least one of his books has been reissued anyway.
Simon--If I had to guess someone who might know this author it would have to be one of the Doves and you come to mind right away! He does indeed seem very Dove-ish! My library has A Breeze of Morning, too, so I will have to check it out! I should admit I found the bit about Challis/Westwood in the Wikipedia, so hopefully it is accurate!
Kathy--You are seeing so many wonderful places lately! I love seeing libraries in old houses--don't you want to just go and scan the shelves and see what people were reading?! I used to only buy brand new books in perfect pristine condition, but now I don't mind used books--they have a certain character to them. I do love nicely made books, though. Once you buy a Persephone you'll want to have them all, so beware! :)
Catharina--Isn't it cool how that works? A book you hear about that is in one place and a search online and request and you can find the same book where you are, too. Just like all the books I find, I am quite curious about this--I am still really interested in books from WWI, and this one was written not long after it, so I bet Morgan has a good and accurate perspective of it. I hope you enjoy it!
BuriedinPrint--I love looking around my library's stacks. I always think that I have surely found all the best books already, but I think I have really only touched the tip of the iceberg! My ears also perked at the mention of Willa Cather. That is what sold the book and made me bring it home.
Margaret--it was very serendipitous to read that. I really need to get back to Westwood. I was almost at the halfway mark when I set it down and now I wonder if I will have to start from scratch again.
Kathleen--It's fun to think of all those stories upstairs in my library that are just waiting to be told again if someone would just crack open the cover and start reading!
Tiina--It's kind of cool to think a few more people will have heard of Charles Morgan after reading my post and a few might even read one of his books again! Your library sounds great, too. I am always surprised by how many of the books you look for that are in my library and end up being in yours, too! We also have a number of his books in our collection. Now I want to take a little peek at the others.

[litlove]

I always go by the spines when I'm browsing in the UL! I'm convinced it's the right way to choose unknown books! This sounds very interesting, and Westwood is on my wish list, so when I get to it, I'll definitely keep an eye out for the Charles Morgan-alike!

[Danielle]

Litlove--It's so hard to know which books to pull from the shelves, and with no dust jackets (as we discard ours) it is a real guessing game as to what they are about. I can get a general idea depending on where in the stacks/call number range they are, but still a pretty spine at least gives me something to look for--something that sets a book out from the rest. And I hope I can get back to Westwood myself still this year.

[Stefanie]

Fancy book cover even if the colors aren't so attractive these days. Have never heard of Charles Morgan before. Sounds like he had quite an interesting life. And The Fountain sounds like quite an interesting book.

[Danielle]

Stefanie--It is nice, isn't it? Most contemporary hardcovers are very plain (though I like how nicely the new Murakami is designed!). He does sound like someone who would be interesting to read about and as always the book is one I would love to read--maybe another one for my ever growing list!