The Horse's Mouth [Hardcover]

Joyce Cary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 1984

Joyce Cary wrote two trilogies, or triptychs as he later preferred to call them. The first comprises: Herself Surprised, To Be a Pilgrim and The Horse's Mouth. The Horse's Mouth is a portrait of an artistic temperament. Its principal character, Gulley Gimson, is an impoverished painter who scorns conventional good behaviour. He may be a bad citizen, but he is a good artist, so wholly preoccupied with his art that he is willing to endure any privation for its sake. Such is his contempt for orthodox mores, he takes a delight in cocking a snook at them. For him there is only one morality: to be a painter. 'Mr Joyce Cary is an important and exciting writer; there's no doubt about that. To use Tennyson's phrase, he is a Lord of Language ... if you like rich writing full of gusto and accurate original character drawing, you will get it from The Horse's Mouth.' John Betjeman, Daily Herald

Editorial Reviews

Review

Comic novel by Joyce Cary, published in 1944. It was the third volume in a trilogy that included Herself Surprised (1941) and To Be a Pilgrim (1942). The book's protagonist, Gulley Jimson, is an iconoclastic artist consumed with the creative process who rejects the predictable and conventional in art. He does not hesitate to use people to achieve his ends... --The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

From the Publisher

One of Cary's most memorable novels--the uproarious tale of Gulley Jimson, artist, genius, con man, and aging lover. From "one of the outstanding humorous writers of the century."--The Modern Age --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (June 6, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884113116
• ISBN-13: 978-0884113119
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's great to see this book back in print., October 24, 2001

By 

R. H OAKLEY "roboakley" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Horse's Mouth (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

The Horse's Mouth is the concluding volume in Joyce Cary's first trilogy. It is the story of Gully Jimson, a gifted artist but a selfish and erratic man. However, his sense of humor, even at his own misfortunes, make him an interesting character. Although this is the third volume in a trilogy, you need not have read the first two to enjoy this one. When you have read the trilogy, however, you will appreciate Cary's ability to create characters who view the world in distinct ways. As a painter, Jimson has a strong visual sense, and so this book has much more detailed descriptions of what he sees than is provided by the narrators of the first two books in the trilogy.

Jimson is a thoroughly believable artist, who is in many ways a scoundrel but who also possesses a genuine creative gift. He reminds us of the great gap that often exists between the artists who create and the staid academics who later analyze their works. The book is a minor classic, and The New York Review of Books should be congratulated at restoring it to print, as it has with a number of other important, but out of print, novels. If you read this book, you will certainly want to go back and read the others in the trilogy, Herself Surprised and To Be a Pilgrim.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Shiny Diamond In The Rough, April 26, 2001

By 

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Horse's Mouth (Hardcover)

Gulley Jimson is an artistic genius. Not too many people in the novel realize it, except, perhaps, for a down and out art critic who wants to introduce him to the world and for a stammering young man, nicknamed Nosey, who idolizes and persistently follows Gulley around to the latter's constant annoyance. Although some reviewers call Gulley Jimson a con artist, he himself is "conned" out of a number of his paintings, which is used for payment of back rent money, while he languishes helplessly in jail. Gulley, 67 years old and ill, believes he might finally enter the pantheon of great English artists in a final "creation" that, if it succeeded, could be compared to Michaeangelo great Sistine Chapel mural. Gulley's dream is a great one, and the reader must decide at the book's ironic end whether Gulley succeeded or failed to achieve his ambition.

The novel is peopled with many picaresque Dickensian characters, besides, of course, Gulley Jimson himself. In addition to the aforementioned art critic and Nosey, there is his ex-wife who modelled for him years before, a woman bartender, a poor "philosopher-king" who loves to quote Spinoza, a wealthy and aristocratic old and somewhat gullible British couple who are Gulley's patrons, and many others. "The Horse's Mouth" is a wonderful novel of great heart. This is so in spite of (or maybe because of) the main character's perceived character flaws.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true original, December 8, 2000

By 

Jay Dickson (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Horse's Mouth (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

It's often been said that Cary's novel is the best ever written about a painter and the process he goes through in creating his art. The genius of the novel is that Gulley Jimson is such an unlikable character, given to violent fits of temper, all the while he is possessed of genuine genius and immense talent. The book is hilariously funny, but Jimson's misdeeds dangerously increase as the novel continues to the point where the reader starts wondering why he or she is laughing anymore, and begins to see the troubling ethical questions the novel poses about the relation of genius to morality.