Mr. Fortune's Maggot (New York Review Classics) (Paperback)

by Sylvia Townsend Warner (Author), Adam Mars-Jones (Introduction) "THOUGH the Reverend Timothy Fortune had spent three years in the island of Fanua he had made but one convert..." (more)
Key Phrases: calico lilies, House of the Salutation, Pacific Ocean, South America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'One can't be too thankful that Miss Townsend Warner has lived to discover the alchemists' secret of transmuting the past and the possible, and even the impossible now and then, into pure gold' HILARY SPURLING, OBSERVER 'One of our most idiosyncratic, courageous and versatile writers' HERMIONE LEE --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
In Mr. Fortune's Maggot, a missionary travels to a remote Pacific island, Fanua, to convert the natives, only to undergo a conversion of his own. As Mr. Fortune develops a deep love for the young boy Leuli, he loses his religious faith. A maggot is a whimsical, humorous tale, and all of Sylvia Townsend Warner's characteristic quiet wit is evident here. The Salutation, an included novella, describes Mr. Fortune's later adventures in the Brazilian grasslands. Destitute and adrift, he is taken in by an elderly widow. Still, he remains so wracked by guilt over Leuli's attempted suicide that he is compelled to continue his aimless wanderings.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: NYRB Classics (October 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940322838
• ISBN-13: 978-0940322837
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #780,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Love Laws, January 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Fortune's Maggot (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Gay? Or not gay? Let the reader decide. This very short novel about a Victorian-headed missionary who loses his head in the South Seas is a love story. The lover is the British man, the missionary, who gradually loses his balance. This is almost a spoof of "going native," because in this case, the natives are far more sensible and "civilized" than the missionary. The beloved is a native boy who is clueless of Mr. Fortune's torments, the guilts, and anguish. Forget about looking for "the good parts," if by that you mean the parts where they get it on. That never happens. What does happen is love. Mr. Fortune, against his will, loves Lueli, a young man who loves everything around him as easily as breathing and has no concept of shame. The novel invites us to think about guilt itself, about sexuality in any form, and about love. As Arundhati Roy wrote sixty years later, it is a novel about "the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. And how much." Like all of Townsend-Warner's novels, this one reminds the reader of impermanence. "For no reason he could see he had suddenly become immensely popular. And as he walked to and fro in the twilight waiting for his guests to take themselves off he heard his name being bandied about in tones of the liveliest affection and approval. He had one consolation: by the morrow he would be out of fashion again. As for Lueli, they scarcely mentioned him. If he had drowned they would have spent the evening wailing and lamenting: not for him but for themselves, at the reminder of their own mortality, after the natural way of mourning."

5.0 out of 5 stars Tolerance, March 24, 2009

By	D. Barnhouse - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Makes you question your own foundation and beliefs. Helps you to see that some things are better unloved or left alone.