The golden journey of Mr. ParadyneWilliam John LockeOmniClassics · Literature
The golden journey of Mr. Paradyne
William John LockeA successful barrister wakes in a roadside caravan with no explanation for how his orderly life brought him there.
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About the book
Cosmo Paradyne first assumes that his unfamiliar bed belongs to a ship taking him on holiday. Dawn reveals a caravan, a grazing horse, and surroundings that have no place in his remembered plans. He knows exactly who he is, yet cannot account for the interval separating his legal work and family routine from this strange awakening. As he reconstructs recent events, the apparent success of his professional life begins to look less complete. His daughter's wedding and his distant relationship with his wife expose habits of feeling that work has allowed him to neglect. Locke turns the unexplained journey into an opportunity for altered perception, asking what an accomplished man might discover when the structures that ordinarily define him temporarily fall away.
- Identity and routine
- Success and emotional life
- Travel and self-discovery
Why read it
Paradyne's precise legal mind makes his inability to explain his own situation both comic and revealing.
English text of the 1924 John Lane, The Bodley Head edition