The Golden Barge

by Michael Moorcock

From back cover: "Then the mist eddied. Out of it, purposefully and with dignity, loomed a great golden barge, a barge which glittered with a light of its own. Tallow was astounded. He looked at the towering shape, agape. He was no longer the integrated and impenetrable thing he had been for he had not taken the golden barge into account before. He became worried that the barge should not escape as it passed. It disappeared in the mist again...."

Jephraim Tallow's fantastic quest for the golden barge is the theme that runs through this unique novel. Unique in that it was Michael Moorcock's original novel in whose pages can be found the basic elements that were to emerge in his Eternal Champion novels as well as in his worlds of Jerry Cornelius, Karl Glogauer and Una Perrson.

Unique, also, in that it has never been published in America before. The DAW book is therefore the first appearance in the New World and the myriad readers of Michael Moorcock's works will not want to miss this vivid fantasy experience.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Michael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.

Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.

During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Golden Barge was written in 1958 but only published in the mid-to-late '70s. The book is the 19-year-old Michael Moorcock's attempt to write an existential novel. As such, it's really not that much fun to read. It has the flaws you might expect from a 19-year-old's book, which are many, and the flaws you might expect from one of Moorcock's existential novels, which are just as many, if less annoying.

Like I said, it's not that much fun to read. The central conceit is kind of boneheadedly obvious in its thematic importance, so I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes.

However, Moorcock admirers will find The Golden Barge an extremely interesting document because it has some strange early, semi-formed renditions of the themes that later show up in his Eternal Champion cycle and the Jerry Cornelius books. The fact that Moorcock was able to turn out a novel even this good at 19, on themes as broad as this, is fairly impressive.

What's more, the DAW First North American 1980 edition is worth picking up for the introductions by Moorcock and M. John Harrison. That's, you know, if you're, you know, a Moorcock nerd. Or something.

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Moorcock is one of my favorite authors, but this one is a real stinker. While this is first written novel in the Eternal Champion Cycle, it's pretty badly realized. It starts out as primarily an allegorical novel, but it devolves into a mess. Like Stephen King's Roadwork, it feels like the author was just trying way too hard to compose an "important" book and instead delivers a miscarriage. Oh well, on to the next book.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journey down river follows the efforts of Tallow to reach and board a mysterious golden barge. It remains elusive however, and he encounters a plethora of strange and unique characters upon the way.

Each have their effect on him and change him, revealing different facets of his character, yet ultimately he still yearns to discard his connections to humanity and follow the barge. Yet this hunting of a mirage and shunning of humankind comes at a price...

A philosophical fable that owes much to Mervyn Peake’s imagination and Gormenghast tales. Moorcock’s first novel and therefore worth a read. Many of his recurring themes and concepts are contained in this initial sorry including a mention of a land called Melibone...

[Ivan Lanìa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vox populi: "Ivan, ma la smetti di leggere ogni anno dai 2 ai 5 romanzi di Michael Moorcock?"
Il sottoscritto: "AHAHAHA NO"

Dopo la parziale delusione di Warriors of Mars la voglia di un romanzo d'avventura fantastica mi era rimasta, ergo mi sono lanciato sulla seconda opera giovanile di Moorcock (dopo l'orrendo Sojan the Swordsman composto al liceo), e devo riconoscere che questo The Golden Barge è una piccola gemma: il Moorcock diciannovenne doveva essere benedetto dalle Muse, perché è riuscito a mettere assieme un incrocio affascinante e funzionante fra una cerca cavalleresca medievale e un romanzo di formazione nichilista alla Il giovane Holden. Da un lato, la struttura generale degli eventi e le connotazioni psicologiche danno al romanzo una gradevole patina fiabesca: il nostro eroe Jephraim Tallow ha la fisionomia grottesca e gli appetiti essenziali di un buffone medievale e il suo inseguimento della Chiatta d'Oro eponima per raggiungere "la vera conoscenza" ha molto della cerca del Santo Graal, la coprotagonista Pandora si muove obiettivamente lungo l'asse psicologico tradizionale "Madonna-Puttana" (con tutte le implicazioni sgradevoli conseguenti...), e la concatenazione di soste avventurose lungo l'asse del Grande Fiume ha un che di odisseico, specialmente nella tappa della città di Melibone (sic!) che odora moltissimo di isola di Scheria. Dall'altro lato, le tribolazioni di Jephraim sono indiscutibilmente esperienze paradigmatiche dell'Europa postbellica stretta dalla Guerra Fredda: internamenti che sanno di kafkiano e di buzzatiano, bagordi orgiastici che sembrano anticipare la Londra-Melniboné del ciclo di Elric, carestie ed epidemie memori dei massacri del '39-'45 (e profetiche di quelli successivi), il conflitto culturale fra il razionalista individualista Jephraim e il predicatore misticheggiante Mesmers, la lunga e appassionante vicenda delle lotte intestine nel regno di Rimsho forse modellata sulla guerra civile greca del '43-'49 e terrificante prefigurazione di tanti golpe del secolo scorso (l'omicidio del colonnello Zhist, mutatis mutandis, mi ha fatto pensare con più di un brivido all'assassino di Salvador Allende).
Posti questi meriti, il difetto del romanzo è quello indicato con grande franchezza e obiettività nella prefazione: come ogni opera prima abbonda di energia ma manca di finezza, e la vicenda psicologica di Jephraim, la sua ricerca di completa autonomia solipsista dal consorzio umano, è espressa un po' troppo poco lasciando parlare le sue azioni e un po' tanto da discettazioni filosofiche roboanti che lo vedono contrapporsi ad altri personaggi. Diciamo che al terzo dialogo (o talvolta soliloquio) che esplicita i significati inconsci di eventi precedenti, la cosa diventa un po' pesante – ma comunque ben più interessante de La coscienza di Zeno, detto fuori dai denti.
In chiusura, un piccolo bel romanzo imperfetto ma densissimo. Consigliato assai.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Golden Barge is a strange and existential novel, Moorcock's first completed book-length story, completed when he was a teenager. It's an interesting read, particularly for the foreshadowing of the multiverse and Eternal Champion themes he would later embrace. It's not a strikingly good book in its own right, but it's not terrible. Moorcock's introduction is quite interesting, though there's another by M. John Harrison that's somewhat incomprehensible. A good pick for Moorcock fans.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this wasn't a re-read. I do think I skimmed the intros long ago. I'm glad I read this, but almost a completist. I'm glad the author didn't get this published when he was young. Because it was awful. The plot made no sense. The main character was despicable. And the side characters not much better. This wouldn't even have made a decent dream sequence. There are some hints of the Eternal Champion here, but they are thin. And mostly around despair. Ugly.

[Leothefox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually more intrigued by unfavorable reviews. If the reviewer thought a thing was flawed, ill-advised, puerile, contrived, workmanlike, or even unforgivably terrible, I'm far more likely to read the book than if the reviewer loved it and found it indispensable. I became interested in Moorcock's “The Golden Barge” years ago when I read a negative review and for my trouble here I am writing one!'

So, this has a few strikes against it to start with, being a first novel. Moorcock was only 18 when he penned this and I'm not really crazy about him in his prime either. Given these factors, it's no surprise that this begins as episodic and moves on to being merely a mixed bag.

It's supposed to be a fable, so that allows for some things like the deformed hero who wakes up to find his navel is missing and promptly sets off to follow a golden barge on a river that might as well be endless. Jephraim Tallow sets off on a mad journey that gets him in places like a mental hospital, fairyland, and place very much like Latin America.

Despite the magic ship that no one ever seems to catch up to and meetings with supernatural beings, the story never quite becomes a dedicated fantasy and despite some would-be Kafkaesque touches, it never becomes a thorough literary parable either. The result is like the prose equivalent of a Christopher Nolan movie: guilty of big ideas and eager to explain them to you at length. There's no room to discuss or speculate or draw conclusions, the themes are address directly in the text.

I guess I knew more or less what I was getting into, but somehow I'm still let down. Unless you're a Moorcock completest, you can probably skip this.

[John Everard Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fantasy story of the journey of Jephraim Tallow seeking the meaning of life, what it means to be human, something represented by the Golden Barge. Many have not seen it. Maybe it does not exist except in his imagination. He has adventures, diversions, relationships, and adventures but the journey of his life is really about finding the secret or wisdom attached to the Golden Barge. I followed Jephraim from one adventure to another experiencing the internal conflict within himself and between himself and those who offer him opportunities along the way. The struggle is between being an individual with freedom and being connected to others. He doesn't want connection (help). We become involved in search for identity; a young man at the beginning, growing older, but what is he learning along the way. I did not come away from this book satisfied that the story hung together with enough to give it more than a 3. I gave it a 3 because the writer does involve us in the dilemma that is Jephraim Tallow.

[Steven Poore · Rating 3 out of 5]

An episodic and slightly uneven adventure, certainly, but saying it's Moorcock's first [unpublished until the late 70s] novel it feels more accomplished than some of the slighter works that came out in the 60s and early 70s. Jephraim Tallow, a misformed wretch, takes to a heavily symbolic river to chase after an equally symbolic Golden Barge that apparently only he can see. In the beginning he wants to learn why he has no navel (no navel-gazing here, please), towards the end he is determined to gain the deck of the barge if only to convince himself of what he now suspects he has been wrong about all along...

There may not be much subtlety, but there is enough in the telling to see The Golden Barge as a foundation of Moorcock's philosophy. Slight, but enjoyable, and more rounded than the very truncated short story version to be found in the collection The Time Dweller.

[Harry Palms · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had several copies of this book over the years and it was the first of Michael Moorcock's works that I would read, followed very quickly by Warhound And The Cure To The World's Pain after which I was an avid fan. I would recommend any of the Eternal Champion series to a fan of fantasy fiction or science fiction since the Eternal Champion tends to dance accross genres with more ease than a metaphor with an identity crisis.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this one in the “A for effort” category. As something of a Moorcock superfan, I’ve taken to just picking up novels of his when I find them to read as much of his daunting catalog as I can.

The Golden Barge is Moorcock’s first book and something of a departure, recounting the unlikable protagonist’s existential journey. Certinly no Elric or Corum but the great writing is still there.

Definitely one for Moorcock fans only.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adventures of a nihilistic misanthrope. A not particularly subtle allegory, obviously the work of a young writer, and the characters are a bit of a bore. But it does have some power and atmosphere.

[Lumen Reese · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not fun enough to make up for how absurd and pedantic it is. Sorry.

[Phil Nicholls · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed with The Golden Barge. The introduction from M. John Harrison explains how this was Moorcock’s first novel and it really showed.

Many of the themes of later books by Moorcock are suggested here. The elusive barge leading the Jephraim Tallow down the river reminded me of the Runestaff. The city of Melibone is undoubtedly a precursor to Elric’s Melnibone. Tallow’s endless quest and musings on fate and destiny are common tropes in the later Eternal Champion series.

Yet for all these links and connections, The Golden Barge failed for me. I did not find Tallow an engaging character. The cyclical nature of his adventures at every stop along the river seemed repetitive. This is one of those books that I am pleased to have read, but will almost certainly return to the second-hand bookshop to be sold again.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imperturbable, it cannot be changed; only the banks change and the things on the banks. It is the life source of the cities and towns and villages which throng the banks - and it brings death. It brings hope and it destroys dreams. On it sail Tallow and a golden barge. We see it from above, see all its countless misty miles. We float over it and see only Tallow's boat; even we cannnot see the barge at this moment.

This was the first novel that Moorcock completed, but wasn't published until 20 years later. It is the story of Jephraim Tallow's obsession with a mysterious golden barge, which he follows down-river, in the belief that when he catches up and boards it, it will contain the answers to everything that he doesn't understand about his life, such as the disappearance of his navel.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man goes on long journey, feeling discontent and always seeking something. He abandons family, lovers, friends, mentors, and even his country to seek after this ephemeral thing. He even does horrible things. In the end he realizes he has grown old, having traveled down the river of life and at least reached the sea of death. He fears to go on.

Yep, it's an allegory — one that's pretty transparent and not that exciting. Still, you can see the shapes of Moorcock's future ideas, and there's some nice imagery here as well.

Though I don't entirely love this short, early novel, I find it interesting, and I'm glad that Moorcock decided to make it available, despite the fact that he wrote it as a juvenile.

[CM Schofield · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters in this annoyed me no end, friendships and relationships formed for no shown reason and the characters were not consistent in the slightest. The main character's motivations were never or very weakly explained. I could accept the mystical urge to follow the barge, it was all his other interactions what just didn't seem to have much grounding in his character or the situations. The inconsistency of his actions and the way people seemed to fall for this guy for absolutely no reason, not to mention how horrid he was, means that I just didn't care about his journey at all.

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moorcock's first novel, and quite possibly his worst. A weird, unsubtle parable about a guy who follows a golden boat down a river, fucks over everyone he meets, and ultimately meets his own doom.

[Clive Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Michael Moorcock. An interesting curiousity.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your lucky enough to find a first edition with the metallic cover, snap it up!

[Chris Pollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moorcock's trademark surrealist style carries you through another fine yarn.