Self Condemned
Description
Self Condemned, originally published in 1954, tells the story of Professor René Harding and his wife, Essie, as they find themselves in Momaco, a fictionalized version of Toronto, following René's resignation as an academic in London, England. Reduced to a position at the second-rate University of Momaco, René and Essie suffer through a bleak and oppressive isolation in a dreary and alien city.
The novel, a devastating, disturbing satire of life in wartime Canada, explores the difficulty individuals face as they struggle to adapt to new surroundings while preserving their sense of wholeness, as well as the bond that develops between people during a shared experience of isolation.
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Person
Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) was born on his father's yacht off Nova Scotia but grew up in England. The author of many novels, including The Revenge for Love, The Apes of God, and Tarr, he was associated with T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pund. Besides being a leading figure of the Modernist movement in English literature, Lewis was also a much-praised artist whose portraits of T.S. Eliot now hangs in the Durban Art Gallery in South Africa. Lewis spent the Second World War in Toronto, and his experiences there formed the basis of Self Condemned. In Canada, where Lewis had relatives, he developed a friendship with Marshall McLuhan and lectured at Assumption College, later the University of Windsor.
Allan Pero is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Western Ontario. He has published papers primarily on modern British literature. Pero lives in London, Ontario.
Content
- Intro
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part One: The Resignation
- I. That Other Man Again
- II. "You Are Not by Any Chance a Fool, My Son?"
- III. A Taxi Ride and a Dinner at "La Toulousaine"
- IV. Hester Hears the News
- V. Idealism Recognized
- VI. How Victor Saw the Matter
- VII. Rotter
- VIII. An Agreeable Dinner Party
- IX. How Much Can We Afford to Jettison?
- X. The Passenger Who Wore the Ribbon of the Legion of Honour
- Part Two: The Room
- XI. Twenty-Five Feet by Twelve
- XII. The Hotel and What Contains the Hotel
- XIII. Affie and the 'Roaches
- XIV. The Patroness of Rotten Janitors
- XV. The Marvels of Momaco
- XVI. The Word "Brute" Is Not Liked in the Beverage Room
- XVII. Vows of Hardship
- XVIII. Mr. Furber
- XIX. The Janitors
- XX. The Private Life of Bill Murdoch
- XXI. The Microcosm Becomes an Iceberg
- XXII. Had I the Wings of the Morning
- Part Three: After the Fire
- XXIII. Momaco or London?
- XXIV. The Party of Superman
- XXV. Dinner at the McKenzies
- XXVI. René Becomes a Columnist
- XXVII. The Black Fly
- XXVIII. A New Book on the Stocks
- XXIX. A Chair at Momaco
- XXX. Police Headquarters
- XXXI. The White Silence
- XXXII. The College of the Sacred Heart
- XXXIII. Return to the Normal
- XXXIV. The Cemetery of Shells
