A Troubadour's Testament [Hardcover]

James Cowan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 1998

The author of "A Mapmaker's Dream" takes readers on a magical journey through 12th-century Provence to discover the spiritual power of perfect love. Among the papers in a local museum, a writer uncovers an extraordinary scroll by a troubadour named Marcebru, in which he commemorates the great love of his life. Inspired, the writer embarks on a pilgrimage through the Provencal countryside and, in the process, discovers a land of timeless beauty .

Product Details

• Hardcover: 198 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (March 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570623392
• ISBN-13: 978-1570623394
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #943,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strange and compelling novel., February 4, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Troubadour's Testament (Hardcover)

"The reason for writing is to shelter something from death." André Gide James Cowan uses this quotation as an epigram at the start of his book. I think the reason for his own writing is certainly to shelter something from death, but he is very secretive about what that "something" is. In A Troubadour's Testament, perhaps he tells us in the title, for troubadours are believed to have carried with them on their journeys the secret knowledge of the path to enlightenment and spiritual perfection. Their "testament" was the affirmation of the primacy of love in such a quest - perfect spiritual love: Platonic love - which they expressed in their poetry and music. But this is a strange book. The story begins with the narrator's discovery of an ancient death roll - a twelfth-century scroll which had belonged to the troubadour-poet, Marcebru, and on which was his eulogy to his love, a Cathar nun called Amedée de Jois. On the scroll, too, (as was customary) are tributes to her from others, which have been added on Marcebru's journey across Aquitaine. The narrator sets out on a journey of his own, retracing Marcebru's steps in reverse and trying to discover his motivations and something more about his love. This is, of course, the narrator's quest, and the usual testing of the questing hero takes place in some very strange encounters on his path: a blind artist; a philosophical paper-maker; a gold-panner from "the museum of life" who pans pools for poetry; a doctor who regards illness as an illusory condition; a Sufi story-teller in a fortress-bound tent; an ancient Abbess. For a long time, perhaps because I have been working with quest material recently, I thought this book was a fairly straightforward re-casting of the old questing journey: highly imaginative and full of poetry, but presenting the usual journey pattern and the usual 'secret' knowledge about the search for Truth. But the end surprised me, although it should not have done so, for it was exactly the traditional completion of the quest - "In my beginning is my end" as T.S.Eliot put it. My review copy of this book was accompanied by a transcript of an interview with James Cowan. He and the interviewer discuss solitude and silence, the limitations of language, and the "debased currency of words": all themes which are explored in the book. "Who do you think "A Troubadour's Testament" will appeal to?", Cowan is asked. His reply: "Thoughtful people. People who are not content with the way things are. People who enjoy reverie. I think a writer must have the courage to create his audience not have it created for him" Well yes, the audience for this book will be fairly limited, but I am not sure that this is James Cowan writing at his best anyway. And perhaps that does have something to do with the limitations of language for the testament he is trying to affirm. -- Ann Skea, Reviewer

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Painfully bad, August 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Troubadour's Testament (Hardcover)

I hope I don't confuse John Evans too much by saying that his first review was dead-on. This book, which deals with a history and subject I usually love to read about, constitutes bad fiction writing, period. No character in this book is a convincing, flesh-and-blood person. There's no sensory engagement, no movement, no developed scenes, nothing except a lot of dull, pretentious, abstract drivel. And I would not call this an example of creative postmodernism, either. Cowan would have been better off writing a non-fiction work -- at least it would have been a less embarrassing read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, maybe "dog" is too strong a word...., August 6, 1998

By 

John Evans ([e-mail]) (St. Louis, Mo.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Troubadour's Testament (Hardcover)

In fact, I now think it's the wrong word altogether. More than that, I think I misjudged the book entirely! My apologies Mr Cowan.

I confess that the first time I read it I didn't like it all (and said so in a review on this website). But there was something about the book that captivated me, not allowing me to dismiss it so easily. Cowan writings has that effect on the reader, I have learned. I've read it three times now.

A TROUDADOUR'S TESTAMENT is not a succession of chapters so much as a collection of paintings; a tableaux in which the dialogue between the main character and the people he meets, his emotions, the scenery, all blend together to form a series of living pictures. Each picture relates a different phase in the main character's pilgrimage across France. With Cowan's encyclopedic knowledge and artful writing, they are beautifully crafted pictures as well. What I mistook the first time for underdeveloped plot and immobility on the part of the characte! rs was this "tableaux effect" (tableaux are not tableaux if things move too much!).

A TROUDADOUR'S TESTAMENT is an acquired taste. At least for me it was. But acquired tastes are also the longest lasting. I would still recommend Eco's THE NAME OF THE ROSE and Gaarder's THAT SAME FLOWER, though for different reasons than I now recommend A TROUBADOUR'S TESTAMENT. It is unique work and deserves to be enjoyed as such.