Hedylus

by H.D.

First published in 1928. Dedicated to her daughter, Perdita, who contributed to this copy a "Sketch of The Eyptian Cat." H.D.'s second novel is set in ancient Greece. There is a handsome frontispiece photograph of H.D. by Man Ray, circa 1922.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

An innovative modernist American writer, Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961) wrote under her initials in a career that stretched from 1909 to 1961. H.D., most well known for her lyric and epic poetry, also wrote novels, memoirs, short stories, essays, reviews, a children’s book, and translations. An American woman who lived her adult life abroad, H.D. was engaged in the formalist experimentation that preoccupied much of her generation. A range of thematic concerns resonates through her writing: the role of the poet, the civilian representation of war, material and mythologized ancient cultures, the role of national and colonial identity, lesbian and queer sexuality, and religion and spirituality.

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that this BURIED Book by H.D. is not her masterpiece. Hedylus -- six ratings, now two Reviews. Unfortunate for me, that honor probably lies within her poetic work. See for instance her Collected Poems, 1912-1944 (1161 ratings) or Trilogy: The Walls Do Not Fall / Tribute to the Angels / The Flowering of the Rod, the later compared with Eliot and with Pound by our gr=blurb. I’ll be looking for her HERmione (left unpub’d until 1981) ; but since locating an H.D. book on the shelf at The Village Bookshop is about as likely as finding one by Dorothy Richardson, I’ll take whatever I find next. Closest comparison for this non-modernist reader would be with the reading of Djuna Barnes’ big book. At any rate, you over=consumers of Virginia Woolf, get on it and read your H.D.

the Black Swan Books edition of this is a beautiful Book=Object. Nicely done.

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quintessential H.D. A study of the love between mother and son, Hedyle and Hedylus. And of course Hermetic Definition comes into play: H(ilda) D(oolittle), H(e)D(yle) H(e)D(ylus). The prose is close to poetry, especially early Imagist poems with flowers carrying psychological meanings. The result is a novel that feels like frozen time, a life trapped in amber, a story that circles and circulates back to points of origin, that is arrested, like the arrested development of mother and son. Hedyle feels she has no future and her son feels he has no future as long as he is embraced by a maternal bond that will not release him into independent life.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read some of H.D.'s poetry before which I really enjoyed. This prose effort... not so much. There are some beautiful descriptions and turns of phrase, but overall this is difficult, turgid and at times verging on incomprehensible. It reads as if it's been poorly translated, but this was written in English.

Would not recommend.

[Luna Miguel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tal vez el libro que menos me ha gustado de Hilda Doolittle hasta la fecha. También influye, creo, la edición española, que encuentro repleta de errores, empezando por ese título horroroso: "El espejo y el brazalete". Lo mejor del libro: el cierre/epílogo de la hija de H.D., Perdita.

[Manuel Mellado Cuerno]

Me ha decepcionado mucho, de verdad me ha parecido un tostón