- Paperback: 308 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (May 1986)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192819410
- ISBN-13: 978-0192819413
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
289,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature > Short Stories > Gay
- #100 in Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Novels & Novelists > 19th Century
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Interweaves a nightmare and a day-dream... Terrifying' W.H. Auden; 'Written from the devil's side' Graham Greene
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
This novel was considered too subversive and libellous to publish until long after Rolfe's death, but it is now ranked among the finest novels of the early twentieth century.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a classic! Over priced here but then it is hard to come by... Written under the psuedonym 'Baron Corvo', The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole is the story of a poor English writer in Venice at the end of the 19th Century. The story is fascinating because it pre-empts events in the life of the author - including his death. There's some great, colourful language - read with a dictionary on hand - but its not difficult...
3 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Buy it!!!!!!!!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Love and Death in Venice
4 Dec 2006
Format:Paperback
I find the Desire and the Pursuit of the Whole difficult to evaluate in the typical terms used to describe fiction. The book, and presumably Rolfe's other works, seem to exist on their own plane and cannot fit into the comfortable categories invented for the era's literature. One can ascribe terms to him, naturally, but none of these ring true on close examination, for Rolfe is too filled with contradictions to ever be fully pinned down. Rolfe is not conventionally 'decadent', despite having all of the hallmarks: he was a pederast, had a fondness for the medieval and the obscurities of history, and a morbid and self-destructive personality (all characteristics which are manifested in this autobiographical work). But at the same time, he was deeply Catholic in the purest sense, not 'aesthetic Catholicism', as practiced by Huysmans and the like, but rather the real thing, and he held a deep belief in the purity and importance of the Mother Church. Furthermore, he was madly proud and bore a deeply ingrained sense of duty and morality, tending to lash out against anything which offended his deeply-ingrained sensibilities (even if this offense was an offer of much-needed assistance). He was not a refined, pampered aesthete, for he had a strange understanding of and admiration for a naturalistic way of life. Despite Rolfe's ornate and antiquated writing style, he is a far easier and immediately enjoyable read than, say, Henry James, and his idiosyncratic style is easily adapted to.
Although the story is apparently told in the third-person from a man who had the story related to him by the two chief characters in the book, Nicholas Crabbe, the main character and clearly a manifestation of Rolfe, is also functionally the narrator. Much of the book consists of a detailed cataloguing of the various wrongs committed against Nicholas by his literary agents and others in charge of his affairs back in England. These sections, while some may find tedious, are strangely comic, as Rolfe, as Auden put it, was "one of the great masters of vituperation." It is, however, when Rolfe steps away from detailing the innumerable misfortunes of his life, that the book truly succeeds. The silent and tender love which develops between Nicholas and Zildo seems amazingly genuine, and the character of Zildo, for all of the elements of fantasy inherent in him, is compellingly real and touching. The novel, not in spite of, but because of, its fragmented and curious qualities, succeeds. With the Desire and the Pursuit of the Whole, we are left with a most revealing portrait of a misunderstood man.
Although the story is apparently told in the third-person from a man who had the story related to him by the two chief characters in the book, Nicholas Crabbe, the main character and clearly a manifestation of Rolfe, is also functionally the narrator. Much of the book consists of a detailed cataloguing of the various wrongs committed against Nicholas by his literary agents and others in charge of his affairs back in England. These sections, while some may find tedious, are strangely comic, as Rolfe, as Auden put it, was "one of the great masters of vituperation." It is, however, when Rolfe steps away from detailing the innumerable misfortunes of his life, that the book truly succeeds. The silent and tender love which develops between Nicholas and Zildo seems amazingly genuine, and the character of Zildo, for all of the elements of fantasy inherent in him, is compellingly real and touching. The novel, not in spite of, but because of, its fragmented and curious qualities, succeeds. With the Desire and the Pursuit of the Whole, we are left with a most revealing portrait of a misunderstood man.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
well worth the effort
5 Feb 2005
Format:Paperback
This is certainly not the novel for those seeking the formulaic rubbish that passes for moden fiction.The beauty of this work is in the writing with the story, fascinating though it is, being secondary. Frederick Rolfe aka Baron Corvo was a strange individual who lived an altogether tragic life - largely because of his own character. Rolfe is almost legendary for his bitterness, cynicism and a shocking willingness to bite the hands that fed ( and generally helped) him. He failed in his ambition to be a priest and often signed his name 'Fr. Rolfe" in an effort to be mistaken for a member of the Clergy.There is an unmistakable fug of the lithurgical in much of his writing as a result.
His personality permeates every sentence of his writing and thus affords something of an insight into the author. Read this book if you are willing to allow yourself to enter his strange world view...otherwise it may well seem like a ponderous exercise. This is by far his best work ( in my humble view) but it is worth tracking down a copy of his other book "Hadrian" if you find youself aching for more of his unique writing.
His personality permeates every sentence of his writing and thus affords something of an insight into the author. Read this book if you are willing to allow yourself to enter his strange world view...otherwise it may well seem like a ponderous exercise. This is by far his best work ( in my humble view) but it is worth tracking down a copy of his other book "Hadrian" if you find youself aching for more of his unique writing.
2 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Less Desirable and more pursuit
9 April 2004
Format:Hardcover
I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to finish this book and without any success. No wonder no one has read this book.
This story tells of Nicolas Crabbe, a loner author, who meets with Zildo, a breast-less girl, when her town is struck with an earthquake. She refuses to leave him since he did save her. They eventually find their way to Venice where she becomes his servant. No longer is she a female, but dressed in drag as a male. Crabbe who is a semi-famous author is not only known for writing but for making enemy. Some how he finds himself in debt and falling in love for Zildo.
At least that's what I think the story is about.
This is one of the worse novels I have ever read.
The writing is confusing, especially the numerous unnecessary characters. It is written in old English, but with one fatal flaw. The writing is a bit aimless in its pursuit of furthering the plot. The beginning tries to be philosophical in its definition of love, according to Plato. But the entire story moves from a baby's crawl and a snail's slow day. The story was dull. The writing does not express the inner turmoil as much as would be expected because that is, as I suspect, the main conflict.
In all honesty, I have not finish this novel and I really don't plan to. There have been only a handful of novels I haven't finished. This is one of them I probably don't even consider to finish.
I gave it an extra star because the concept is original. Which is; it is an act of homosexuality when you love a female that embodies the ideal male?
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