Passage (2007 novel)
Encyclopedia
Passage is a novel by John David Morley
, the story of a 500 year-old man’s journey through five centuries of existence in the New World
.
empire of Tahuantin-Suyu, to the slave-plantations of colonial Pernambuco
, via antebellum New Orleans, to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
, before witnessing the birth of Hollywood and the explosion of an atomic bomb.
' of a novel wraps up the past of an entire hemisphere in one mesmerising voice," declared Boyd Tonkin in The Independent
. “Funny, depressing, optimistic, bleak, fantastic, mundane: John David Morley's remarkable new novel is all of these, often in the space of a single paragraph,” wrote James Porteous in The Herald
: “Morley's themes of time
, memory
, sleep
, death
, religion
, myth and longevity
evoke Borges and Marquez
and their mixture of magic and mundane. At its best, the book bears comparison with those masters.” The critic Frank Kermode
hailed Passage as "the apotheosis of the picaro
."
John David Morley
-Early life:The third and youngest child of the artist and sculptor Patricia Morley and John Arthur Elwell Morley, an officer in the British Colonial Service, John David Victor Morley was born “in something of a hurry on a bench in a third-class Chinese ward at the Kandang Kerbau Maternity...
, the story of a 500 year-old man’s journey through five centuries of existence in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.
Summary
Abducted by conquistadors in the year 1500, the merchant’s ward Pablito (alias White Water Bird, alias Paul Zarraté, alias Paul Straight, alias “the World’s Greatest Living Wonder”) passes through five books and five ages of man, as he travels from the primordial forests of the Amazon to the IncanInca civilization
The Andean civilizations made up a loose patchwork of different cultures that developed from the highlands of Colombia to the Atacama Desert. The Andean civilizations are mainly based on the cultures of Ancient Peru and some others such as Tiahuanaco. The Inca Empire was the last sovereign...
empire of Tahuantin-Suyu, to the slave-plantations of colonial Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
, via antebellum New Orleans, to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, before witnessing the birth of Hollywood and the explosion of an atomic bomb.
Reception
"The testimony of this decelerated man makes for a long, luxuriantly detailed read," Charles Fernyhough noted in The Sunday Telegraph. "This sweeping but pacey 'palimpsestPalimpsest
A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book from which the text has been scraped off and which can be used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin palimpsēstus from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος originally compounded from πάλιν and ψάω literally meaning “scraped...
' of a novel wraps up the past of an entire hemisphere in one mesmerising voice," declared Boyd Tonkin in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. “Funny, depressing, optimistic, bleak, fantastic, mundane: John David Morley's remarkable new novel is all of these, often in the space of a single paragraph,” wrote James Porteous in The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
: “Morley's themes of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
, death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, myth and longevity
Longevity
The word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography or known as "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected ....
evoke Borges and Marquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
and their mixture of magic and mundane. At its best, the book bears comparison with those masters.” The critic Frank Kermode
Frank Kermode
Sir John Frank Kermode was a highly regarded British literary critic best known for his seminal critical work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 ....
hailed Passage as "the apotheosis of the picaro
Picaresque novel
The picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...
."
External links
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/passage-by-john-david-morley-926539.html Passage by John David Morley', Anita Sethi, The Independent (September 14, 2008)