This book was a surprising treat. The format is three novellas, two of which are re-imaginings of the lives of literary characters Don Juan and Tristan and Isolde (Ysold in this novella). I don’t know much about the origins of either of these stories, so the re-imaginings were fresh tales for me. Both novellas were beautifully written and Millhauser evokes incredible visual images through his writing.
In An Adventure of Don Juan Don Juan travels to England to escape his reputation and find refuge at the estate of an acquaintance, Augustus Hood. The Don is weary of his existence and seeks a truly new experience. Hood is an eccentric Englishman who’s life work appears to be overseeing the creation of various worlds within his four thousand acre property. Millhauser describes these undertakings in detail and the reader is drawn quickly into this beautiful but artificial life. Amidst all the fake scenery Don Juan begins to experience true emotion as he has never been able to in his life thus far. The results are painful and though the story of Don Juan is dated, the human emotion in this novella is poignant and ageless.
The King in the Tree is the novella based on the story of Tristan and Ysold. Again Millhauser brings alive an ancient story by infusing it with undeniable emotion. Each character is sympathetic and real, but the love triangle they are caught in begs the reader to choose sides.
The first novella in this book, Revenge, is the only one that stands alone without a historic tale as its basis. The story is told in 2nd person which normally drives me mad. However, Millhauser makes it work in this seemingly innocuous story that grows more complicated with each room the narrator takes us into on her tour through her home.
One thing I really liked about this book was that each story really gained in momentum and substance as you got deeper into it. This worked well for me because I did not want to rush through the book as I am wont to do. The pacing allowed me to put the stories down and then get more deeply involved the next time I picked it up. I am looking forward to reading more of this author’s work.
