Rating: 
Summary: a flawed classic
Review: A first rule of thumb when approaching Cabell's 18-volume opus, the Biography of Manuel; every book will be about Cabell's relationship with his wife. Cabell is obsessed with marriage, and objectifies all of his female characters to fit one of his imagined female roles; nag, whore, or unapproachable beauty. Cabell's characters always return to their nagging wives, for familiarity's sake if nothing else, with never a suggestion that it might be possible to have a long-term relationship between a man and a woman in which both are creators and in which both learn from each other.The book Jurgen is from the same mold. Jurgen the pawnbroker moves from one of Cabell's stereotypical women to another. The book became well-known because of the godawful sex sequences, in which Cabell archly refers to Jurgen's sword, staff, or stick -- the resulting call for censorship made the book famous, but that doesn't mean it was Cabell's best. I thought The Silver Stallion and, in some respects, even The Cream of the Jest or The High Place to be better examples of Cabell's writing. I would recommend that anyone who likes fantasy read at least one of Cabell's books, because he writes like no one else. This book had the usual Cabell wittiness and sardonic feel, so if it's the only one you can find, certainly try it.
Rating:
Summary: a flawed classic
Review: A first rule of thumb when approaching Cabell's 18-volume opus, the Biography of Manuel; every book will be about Cabell's relationship with his wife. Cabell is obsessed with marriage, and objectifies all of his female characters to fit one of his imagined female roles; nag, whore, or unapproachable beauty. Cabell's characters always return to their nagging wives, for familiarity's sake if nothing else, with never a suggestion that it might be possible to have a long-term relationship between a man and a woman in which both are creators and in which both learn from each other. The book Jurgen is from the same mold. Jurgen the pawnbroker moves from one of Cabell's stereotypical women to another. The book became well-known because of the godawful sex sequences, in which Cabell archly refers to Jurgen's sword, staff, or stick -- the resulting call for censorship made the book famous, but that doesn't mean it was Cabell's best. I thought The Silver Stallion and, in some respects, even The Cream of the Jest or The High Place to be better examples of Cabell's writing. I would recommend that anyone who likes fantasy read at least one of Cabell's books, because he writes like no one else. This book had the usual Cabell wittiness and sardonic feel, so if it's the only one you can find, certainly try it.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine listen; Let's get it on MP3/CD!
Review: After 20 years of reading single-voice narrations, it was one of
my few exposures to multi-voice dramatizations. I did find the inevitable range of loudness of a dramatization
to be a bit of a problem with my hearing. Struggling with the
overly-complex user interfaced tone controls on my JVC in-dash
CD/MP3 player finally got that mostly under control. They fellow who played "the black guy" reminded me and my fellow
listener ever so much of Burgess Meredith. I didn't see a cast listing on the printed enclosure, I would have appreciated it.
That way, I wouldn't have to say "the black guy" to avoid my
uncertainty of the spelling of the character's name.
(Kothschai?). I just love banned books, and Jurgen is a fine early example.
(Right now, I'm reading "Harmful to Minors", there's nothing
like finding out that people are trying to keep me away to make
me want to read it...) The story is full of nuance and implication. The phrase
"treating fairly" will always have a new meaning for me. The accompanying music was added in just the right amounts and
at the right times. I'm resentful of Jurgen's whistling, as I
thought that I was preeminent at tuneless whistling, but be that
as it may... A delightful read in all, and my thanks to Yuri. David H. Straayer
The Self-Appointed CD/MP3 Audiobook Gadfly...
Rating:
Summary: Read this book
Review: All of JBC's books are interesting, this is among his best. Many modern readers may find his writing style unfamiar: it has quality and beauty. The themes are universal, and the sheer gnosis that the author displays is impressive. Cabell writes about the human condition, and even though we pride ourselves, in this day and age, of a certain level of cynicism, we cannot match the sardonic tone he displays, nor the depth to which his sword pierces. Much has been written regarding the Jurgen/Aleister Crowley connection, but I feel this book may indicate that Cabell really did have some practical experience with ceremonial magick after all. If you like this book, read "Something About Eve" which, I think, is actually better.
Rating:
Summary: Tell the rabble, my name is Cabell.
Review: Any guy, especially one over forty, who doesn't adore this book, and doesn't have at least a dozen Cabell books on his shelf, including at least one signed first edition, is a savage. If you don't understand the heart rending chapter, "Dorothy Who Did Not Understand", you haven't lived.
Rating:
Summary: The Eternal Curmudgeon
Review: Early in his journey, Cabell's Jurgen comes to a place known as 'The Garden Between Dawn and Sunrise.' In the garden live all the imaginary creatures that humankind has ever created: centaurs and sphinxes, fairies, valkyries, and baba-yagas. Jurgen is surprised when he sees his first-love wandering around the garden, but his guide replies "Why, all the women that man has ever loved live here...for very obvious reasons." Moments like this, simultaneously jaded and genuine, sentimental and cynical, are the most delightful parts of 'Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice.' Nominally the story of a medieval pawnbroker's quest to find his lost wife, 'Jurgen' becomes a bildungsroman in reverse as, on the way, its hero regains his youth and visits the lands of European myth, from Camelot to Cocaigne (the land of pleasure) -- each land shows Jurgen a way of life, and he rejects each in favor of his own sardonic stoicism, for he is, after all, a "monstrously clever fellow." That phrase describes Cabell as much as it does Jurgen: the author is remarkably erudite, and, like a doting parent hiding easter eggs, drops in-jokes through the book on subjects as far-ranging as troubadour poetry and tantric sex. Cabell corresponded with Aleister Crowley in his day, and, in ours, is an influence on Neil Gaiman ('The Sandman,' 'Neverwhere,' etc.). The book itself caused quite a splash when it became the centerpiece of one of the biggest censorship trials of the early 20th century: something to do with Jurgen's very large *ahem* sword. Social satire and an idiosyncratic cynicism in the guise of a scholarly romance-fantasy, 'Jurgen' is what would have happened if J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy Parker had gotten together to write a book.
Rating:
Summary: JURGEN in Relation to the Law and Musical Creativity
Review: In 1919, JURGEN, A Comedy of Justice was published by the Robert M. McBride Co. One of its readers, Mr. Walter J. Kingsley, was offended by the book and sent a critical letter about it to the literary editor of a New York newspaper. He wrote: "James Branch Cabell is making a clean getaway with JURGEN, quite the naughtiest book since George (A.) Moore began ogling maid-servants in Mayo (Ireland). How come? Dreiser had the law after him for THE GENIUS and HAGER REVELLY came close to landing Daniel Carson Goodman in Leavenworth, yet these volumes are innocent compared with JURGEN, which deftly and knowingly treats in thinly veiled episodes of all the perversities, abnormalities, and damn-foolishness of sex. There is an undercurrent of extreme sensuality throughout the book, and once the trick of transposing the key is mastered one can dip into this tepid stream on every page. . . . It is curious how the non-reading public discovered JURGEN. A few days after it appeared on the newsstands a male vampire of the films who once bought Stevenson's UNDERWOODS in the belief that it was a book of verses hymning a typewriter, began saying up and down Broadway: 'Say, kid, get a book called JURGEN. It gets away with murder.' This sold the first edition quickly. . . ." A copy of Kingsley letter found its way to the office of The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. John Saxton Sumner, its secretary, purchased a copy of the book, read it, was morally outraged and on January 14, 1920, "armed with a warrant, entered the offices of the publishers, seized the plates and all copies of the book and summoned the publishers to appear in court . . . on a charge of violating Section 1141 of the Penal Code." The trial began on October 15, 1922 and after a three day trial, the book was judged a work "of unusual literary merit and the case was dismissed. In January 1923, JURGEN AND THE LAW in an edition of 1080 numbered copies, was published. This work detailed the events leading up to the prosecution of the book and reported the main points of the trial. In a letter to Mary Kennedy dated 12 Dec 1920, Deems Taylor wrote: "I have finished Jurgen: a great and beautiful book, and the saddest book I ever read. I don't know why exactly. The book hurts me--tears me to small pieces--but somehow it sets me free. It says the word that I've been trying to pronounce for so long. It tells me everything I am, and have been, and may be unsparingly . . . I don't know why I cry over it so much. It's too--something-or-other--to stand. I've been sitting here tonight, reading it aloud, with tears streaming down my face . . ." Walter Damrosh of the New York Symphony Orchestra commissioned Deems Taylor to compose, "Jurgen, a Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, Opus 17." It was first performed in Carnegie Hall on 18 Novemver 1925. After 1945, it disappeared from the repertories. In 1999, Michael Keith, a Cabell enthusiast, secured the original score for the Jurgen Symphony and recorded it on a CD. He performed one version on a Synthetic orchestra and another on a MIDI piano. Keith lists the CD for sale on his website devoted to the work of James Branch Cabell.
Rating:
Summary: JURGEN in Relation to the Law and Musical Creativity
Review: In 1919, JURGEN, A Comedy of Justice was published by the Robert M. McBride Co. One of its readers, Mr. Walter J. Kingsley, was offended by the book and sent a critical letter about it to the literary editor of a New York newspaper. He wrote: "James Branch Cabell is making a clean getaway with JURGEN, quite the naughtiest book since George (A.) Moore began ogling maid-servants in Mayo (Ireland). How come? Dreiser had the law after him for THE GENIUS and HAGER REVELLY came close to landing Daniel Carson Goodman in Leavenworth, yet these volumes are innocent compared with JURGEN, which deftly and knowingly treats in thinly veiled episodes of all the perversities, abnormalities, and damn-foolishness of sex. There is an undercurrent of extreme sensuality throughout the book, and once the trick of transposing the key is mastered one can dip into this tepid stream on every page. . . . It is curious how the non-reading public discovered JURGEN. A few days after it appeared on the newsstands a male vampire of the films who once bought Stevenson's UNDERWOODS in the belief that it was a book of verses hymning a typewriter, began saying up and down Broadway: 'Say, kid, get a book called JURGEN. It gets away with murder.' This sold the first edition quickly. . . ." A copy of Kingsley letter found its way to the office of The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. John Saxton Sumner, its secretary, purchased a copy of the book, read it, was morally outraged and on January 14, 1920, "armed with a warrant, entered the offices of the publishers, seized the plates and all copies of the book and summoned the publishers to appear in court . . . on a charge of violating Section 1141 of the Penal Code." The trial began on October 15, 1922 and after a three day trial, the book was judged a work "of unusual literary merit and the case was dismissed. In January 1923, JURGEN AND THE LAW in an edition of 1080 numbered copies, was published. This work detailed the events leading up to the prosecution of the book and reported the main points of the trial. In a letter to Mary Kennedy dated 12 Dec 1920, Deems Taylor wrote: "I have finished Jurgen: a great and beautiful book, and the saddest book I ever read. I don't know why exactly. The book hurts me--tears me to small pieces--but somehow it sets me free. It says the word that I've been trying to pronounce for so long. It tells me everything I am, and have been, and may be unsparingly . . . I don't know why I cry over it so much. It's too--something-or-other--to stand. I've been sitting here tonight, reading it aloud, with tears streaming down my face . . ." Walter Damrosh of the New York Symphony Orchestra commissioned Deems Taylor to compose, "Jurgen, a Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, Opus 17." It was first performed in Carnegie Hall on 18 Novemver 1925. After 1945, it disappeared from the repertories. In 1999, Michael Keith, a Cabell enthusiast, secured the original score for the Jurgen Symphony and recorded it on a CD. He performed one version on a Synthetic orchestra and another on a MIDI piano. Keith lists the CD for sale on his website devoted to the work of James Branch Cabell.
Rating:
Summary: The Great American Fantasy Novel
Review: In the 1920s, James Branch Cabell (rhymes with "rabble") was considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers, based on this novel. Tastes changed with the coming of the Great Depression; worse, Cabell never again came close to writing a book of this quality, despite his many attempts. Whether or not Cabell is a great writer (and I incline to the view that writers should be judged by their best rather than their mediocre works), Jurgen is a great book, full of insight and a joy to read. The eponymous protagonist is a middle-aged pawnbroker who is given an opportunity to relive his youth. In his travels he encounters, among others, Guenevere, the Master Philologist, the Philistines, his father's Hell, and his grandmother's Heaven. In the end he has an opportunity to question Koshchei who made all things as they are. I heartily recommend this novel. Although it is in an older fantasy tradition, it is at least as readable and enjoyable as the best contemporary fantasy, and its literary quality is far greater. I have re-read it many times.
Rating:
Summary: The Great American Fantasy Novel
Review: In the 1920s, James Branch Cabell (rhymes with "rabble") was considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers, based on this novel. Tastes changed with the coming of the Great Depression; worse, Cabell never again came close to writing a book of this quality, despite his many attempts. Whether or not Cabell is a great writer (and I incline to the view that writers should be judged by their best rather than their mediocre works), Jurgen is a great book, full of insight and a joy to read. The eponymous protagonist is a middle-aged pawnbroker who is given an opportunity to relive his youth. In his travels he encounters, among others, Guenevere, the Master Philologist, the Philistines, his father's Hell, and his grandmother's Heaven. In the end he has an opportunity to question Koshchei who made all things as they are. I heartily recommend this novel. Although it is in an older fantasy tradition, it is at least as readable and enjoyable as the best contemporary fantasy, and its literary quality is far greater. I have re-read it many times.
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