Customer Reviews

Free Fall

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This is one of the most beautifully-written books I've read. There are only maybe two or three moments where every word is not perfect. It's like reading poetry, only it lasts for the entire length of a novel. Furthermore, everything that Mountjoy describes, tangents though they may seem, fits perfectly into our understanding of his character. And, to top it all off, the last sentence is one of the least predictable I've ever seen.

Here is a mind-boggler of literary art. Golding takes you in--in through the portals of the main character's mind. And then the true adventure begins. This is an exploration on the theme of freedom lost, which goes into an existential search, taking you through a labyrinth of broodings and memories deep, deep within the psyche, and in the end you (together with the protagonist) will experience something stirring and substantial. It is the turning of freedom outside-in, and in and in and in, and then out again. Just read one chapter. That's all it will take to enter uncharted territory.

Samuel Mountjoy is an artist. Does it matter if he is a Christian, a Marxist, a rationalist? He is the narrator. Samuel doesn't know his father. His mother bets on horses and drinks. She is enormous. He doesn't dislike dirt, begins school barefoot, and his house is in the vicinity of the area called Rotten Row. It is a slum.

Sam's escort to the infant school, Evie, is more interesting than the school. (Later things change. There are housing estates and tellies.) Sammy and Johnny Spragg play at the airfield. The kids are caught and police action is threatened. They are chased from a hill where there is a general's house. The narrator carries around with him a load of memories. It seems that Johnny and Sam are bullies, but the third pal, Philip,
is not necessarily a victim. He can run fast, for one thing.

When Sam is hospitalized for a mastoid operation, his mother dies. This is a case of happenstance. Next Sam, now in foster care, is nineteen years old, attending art school, and in love with Beatrice Ifor, a model. Sam and Philip draw Beatrice. They are Communists. In the party there is generosity, martyrdom, and a sense of purpose.

Beings of awful power determine the fate of some of the characters in this interesting, Dickens-like book.

The aesthetic of Free Fall is akin to painting and that is a stroke of brilliance. The lack of judgment is what prevents the madness and uncleanliness of the book from being ugly. The imperfections are treated with such care and self-love that they become beautiful. I believe that Golding was extremely good at accessing his past as a vital source of inspiration, and he here re-enters various cognitive states. As with any human, the illusion wears and a weightier sensibility takes over. Yet it is obvious that this character, like Golding, has what would now be termed a mental illness. The seriousness of such conditions shouldn't be taken lightly, and even Golding's shouldn't be seen in a glamorous light, by which I mean paying mind only to this novel as, e.g., his, most autobiographical. Darkness Visible reveals the very depths of horror, and yes Golding new such delusions and madness. He was very brave to deal with those experiences in writing. A demon is not scary for what it will do to you, but for what it means about you; thus the horror. It's implicit in Golding's writing as it is in Dostoyevsy's. However, I believe this book is extraordinary in its redemptive power. Here Golding shows something that I know very well. Suffering and madness are not a source of creativity (As the wives' tale goes), yet, when spiritual, they are often caused by true visionary experience. It is also true that some people seek the visionary and get it-get it and a heavy dose. Let's just say if it gets too intense, you can't handle or interpret it--not until the dust settles anyhow. You might get 'blinded' in the middle. Yet, on the other side, when the suffering, confusion and the overwhelming pain of light passes, the reward is the knowledge of the initiate, esoterica, and finally, the song of the muses. If the visionary experience were to die, the pain would with it, but then, the doorway to the invisible would close, too.

This is without question the most well written book I have ever read. The language and description are sublime. The way in which the author tells the story keeps the reader searching for the answer to his overarching question right along with him. It is not an easy read which is something I long for: delicious big ideas to consider. Golding's ability to craft a story is an art form of old world legend. I have read it twice and intend to read it again, even at the risk of seeming obsessed. It's just that with each reading I find more meaning and uncover more layers lost in the impatience of the first reading.

I am still under the spell of enchantment of this book. I picked it up by chance at a used-book store going out of business just because I had so enjoyed Lord of the Flies in high school. I don't think I have ever read anything that impacted me so much as the simplicity and painful beauty in Golding's use of the language. This is a book to read again and savour. I'm surprised there is not more literary criticism of it to be found on the web. I agree with the reviewer who states that the last line is the book is totally surprising. I'm not sure yet that I understand it.

This book doesn't need to be introduced, as well as its writer, Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, Booker Prize literature winner, one of my favorite writters. I bought this book for my son along with "Inheritors" and hope he will love them as much as I do.