Possibly THE seminal, defining work of modern light fantasy, highly influential on modern writers like RA Heinlein, and, mostly, just one of the most fun to read books published during the past 100 years, Jurgen should be on the to be read list of anyone who loves to laugh out loud as well as of those who like books that spawn sleepless nights of philosophical contemplation. Jurgen spawned one of the most important obscenity trials in American history during the Twenties, and it has lost none of it's relevancy with the passage of 90 years. Quite simply an amazing book by what may be the most unjustly forgotten writer.
Time and fashion may have passed Cabell by, but Jurgen is still one of the wonders of literature. If you like wordplay of all kinds (anagrams, different languages, puns, you name it), then this is a book you need to read. Have a dictionary handy, or perhaps a passing knowledge of (at least) French and Russian, and this book is both funny and edifying. Cabell loved wordplay, and Jurgen is his crowning achievement.
The book was actually banned; authorities figured those odd words and puns just *had* to be something obscene. They weren't sure what, but it *had* to be... :)
The book was actually banned; authorities figured those odd words and puns just *had* to be something obscene. They weren't sure what, but it *had* to be... :)
