Customer Reviews

The Golden Barge

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In his introduction to the first edition (Savoy) Mr Moorcock explains how this is his first surviving book, done at an early age under the influence of his friend Mervyn Peake. He tends to disparage it but there is an odd, original quality about this book. You can now get it, with a lot of other good material, in White Wolf's EARL AUBEC volume, which reprints much of the author's shorter fiction, plus this novel. These beautifully produced illustrated editions are definitive and are well worth buying. Excellent value. But the original Savoy edition with its gold-leaf Moreau cover and its Cawthorn interior illustrations still isn't that expensive second hand from the UK. Check out the Savoy website for some strange, beautiful editions of VERY obscure titles!

Tallow is a short, odd man, who goes to find a Golden Barge, and with it, himself. His journey takes him through green women, war, death and other assorted goings on.

The introduction says this was the first thing Moorcock ever wrote, and he has changed it a bit for publication.

Who said authors cant leap fully made into great work. This is a great work. Often an authors early work is some or all of their best and this applies to Michael Moorcock. It captures brilliantly in the image of the unobtainable golden barge moving down the river - the unobtainable desire for the golden mean of contentedness and happiness as we move through our lives.

It encapsulates better than any novel I have ever read the word - no let us say "empire" of "yearning".

This was a book I read 15 or so years ago. Of the hundreds I have read this has been the most remembered and enjoyable read by far. For years I have looked for a personal copy having borrowed the one I read with out success. I would recommend to anyone, to beg, borrow, steal or pester Amazon.com to get you a copy of your own. The fable is a story following a river yet never catching up. By the end of the tale you pray the narrator will find his goal. The goal is well worth discovering and you must read the story to find out what it is. This is and is not religious. This book can also be considered a self help story, or perhaps a study in personal understanding. If you read it you will never forget it! PS. If you don't like it, I buy your copy!