The Grass Won't Grow Till Spring

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Grass Won't Grow Till Spring by David Lytton, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Lytton ISBN: 9781448205462
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: September 28, 2011
Imprint: Bloomsbury Reader Language: English
Author: David Lytton
ISBN: 9781448205462
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: September 28, 2011
Imprint: Bloomsbury Reader
Language: English

Few novelists have probed so honestly and deeply into the uneasy confusion of the South African scene as David Lytton. The central character of his powerful new book is Grevil Marais, who works in a Cape Town office and lives in a bungalow a few miles outside, a sophisticated but typically bewildered and angry white liberal. When we meet him he is on his own because his wife Ginny, the spoilt daughter of a rich family, has taken their daughter Jill to England for an operation. It is a relief: Grevil and Ginny, with their widely differing viewpoints, have long been drifting apart.

These new circumstances have a profoundly disturbing effect on Grevil. He at once develops a sexual obsession, almost comic in its solemnity, for his Malay servant Tina. He is made painfully aware of the pressures that lie outside the bungalow by a series of mysterious 'patriotic' messages and threats, culminating in attentions from the Special Branch. Lust and insecurity combine to fill the vacuum of his isolation and he plunges into a debauch of the flesh and spirit, during which he feels an increasing alienation from his own family and kind. Gradually, however, he begins to hear a still, small voice, in whose existence he had not previously believed, which leads him out of the desert represented by a corrupt society and his own incomplete self.

The account of this dark night of the soul is in the form of Grevil Marais' journal, a black comedy about white men and women unnaturally excited by the depravity of their environment.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Few novelists have probed so honestly and deeply into the uneasy confusion of the South African scene as David Lytton. The central character of his powerful new book is Grevil Marais, who works in a Cape Town office and lives in a bungalow a few miles outside, a sophisticated but typically bewildered and angry white liberal. When we meet him he is on his own because his wife Ginny, the spoilt daughter of a rich family, has taken their daughter Jill to England for an operation. It is a relief: Grevil and Ginny, with their widely differing viewpoints, have long been drifting apart.

These new circumstances have a profoundly disturbing effect on Grevil. He at once develops a sexual obsession, almost comic in its solemnity, for his Malay servant Tina. He is made painfully aware of the pressures that lie outside the bungalow by a series of mysterious 'patriotic' messages and threats, culminating in attentions from the Special Branch. Lust and insecurity combine to fill the vacuum of his isolation and he plunges into a debauch of the flesh and spirit, during which he feels an increasing alienation from his own family and kind. Gradually, however, he begins to hear a still, small voice, in whose existence he had not previously believed, which leads him out of the desert represented by a corrupt society and his own incomplete self.

The account of this dark night of the soul is in the form of Grevil Marais' journal, a black comedy about white men and women unnaturally excited by the depravity of their environment.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Constitutional Pluralism in the European Union and Beyond by David Lytton
Cover of the book The New Arab Journalist by David Lytton
Cover of the book American Civil War Railroad Tactics by David Lytton
Cover of the book Gielgud, Olivier, Ashcroft, Dench by David Lytton
Cover of the book A Modern History of the Balkans by David Lytton
Cover of the book Nelson's Navy by David Lytton
Cover of the book Rules of Attraction by David Lytton
Cover of the book Des Pawson's Knot Craft and Rope Mats by David Lytton
Cover of the book Nature Displaced, Nature Displayed by David Lytton
Cover of the book Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space by David Lytton
Cover of the book Antiquity and the Meanings of Time by David Lytton
Cover of the book The Complete Guide to Kettlebell Training by David Lytton
Cover of the book Man on Fire by David Lytton
Cover of the book Lesson Planning for Primary School Teachers by David Lytton
Cover of the book Divine Self, Human Self by David Lytton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy