Author's Note from the 2010 Edition: -
Decades ago, I came across a book in a ship’s library. It was Roger Peyrefitte’s Special Friendships, translated from the French by Edward Hyams. The book remained at the back of my mind in the intervening years for three reasons: the boldness of its subject matter, the elegance of its writing and the fact that I’d never managed to reach the end of it for stress of shipboard duties.
Curiosity eventually got the better of me and I ended up searching for the book on the internet. Having thus been re-acquainted with it I found myself once more enthralled by Peyrefitte’s prose but disappointed by a rather unimaginative, not to say improbable, ending. Although I’d never contemplated writing a novel myself I felt I could at least arrive at a more credible outcome; after all, we’ve all been to school and can draw on and enlarge upon our experiences. I could not hope to match Peyrefitte’s encyclopaedic knowledge of antiquity and religiosity, nor the elegance of his prose, but, be that as it may, as I proceeded the work ‘just growed’. The key characters acquired Bunyanesque attributes, the plot gathered its present ramifications and the impending denouement became more and more Wagnerian such that at times the tail was in danger of wagging the dog. I sometimes wondered what a proper novelist could have done with it.
Of dramatic necessity this work encompasses a celebration of that span of the male human condition that lies between the nursery and adolescence; but what may have been bold in Peyrefitte’s day has since become something of a melodramatic cliché. Accordingly I have trod lightly in that direction, such that the apprehensive reader will encounter more eroica than erotica.
Otherwise, a telling that retains an enduring capacity to shake even the author himself obliges me to consider what it might do to others. I did not deliberately set out to construct the spiritual experience that Redemptor Domus seems to render; as a lifelong sceptic I’m no fit person to so proselytize. It’s just that the course of the work took on a directionality of its own, my own part but that of a helmsman under orders. Should some readers find themselves swept along in the wake, let them not look to me for a lifeline …
Devotees of Special Friendships – if indeed there are any left – might detect the echo of certain phrases. I have also in deference retained the same name for the hero of my work, for, try as I might, I could not conjure up a more heroic name than Alexander.
Gamelyn Chase, 2009
JUMP NOW TO 2018:
Regarding Amazon’s present Kindle edition: I’ve put Amazon on notice that all copyright now resides with myself by reason of reversion, and I have asserted a lien on any and all royalties accruing post the winding up of Pen Press; and that I request and require that the item be taken down from further sale with effect from immediately.
As to re-launching Redemptor Domus, I’ve decided to eschew the agency route and have instead placed the product with Matador. Why, you might ask. Well, how much time has one got? First find your agent - then the agent has to find a publisher ... And I'm not exactly in the first flush of youth. You get the picture.
The upshot is; Redemptor Domus was re-launched in May 2018.
I have a problem in that I’m not one of those serial scribblers so beloved of agents and publishers. There’s no follow-up to Redemptor Domus. It’s not part of any ‘trilogy’ or similar. Once one has delivered oneself of such a literary monster, there’s really nowhere else to go. My notional agent would be stuck with a one-trick pony. Yes, I’ve published stuff elsewhere, but that’s been technical, historical articles in society journals far removed from adult fiction – no commission to be had there.
Lee Page Turner’s review is all you really need to know about Redemptor Domus. Another reviewer was not so sanguine, viz.: “Where was the editor?”. So asked Handelian on 19 Jun. 2016. He awarded only three stars and went on to say “Somewhere in this book is a good story struggling to get out. Unfortunately it is buried under over-written and dull descriptive prose. Obscure words are chosen over plain ones and the story itself stretches credulity. It's a pity because the book deals with one of the most serious issues facing modern societies. Both the story and style need re-working.
Fair comment, but perhaps he should try labouring through Henry James’s or Thomas Mann’s dense prolixities for a comparison – and they seem to still be selling rather well. I do however take issue with the credulity comment; it’s fiction FFS! And as for dealing with “serious issues” – if I catch his drift – I leave such things for others. I merely employed them to fuel the plot. And nothing needs re-working. The story stands; and as for style, I purposefully adopted an arcane writing style to match the work’s portentous tenor. RD is not for skateboarders.
Yet another reviewer, a purporting fellow author who claims he couldn’t finish the book, presumably because of the “repugnant” bits, veritably festooned his contribution with sour grapes.
No disparagement to Handelian but I would conjecture if you’re the kind of person who likes re-runs of Monty Python and its ilk, Redemptor Domus is not for you (I’d better wrap this up right now as I don’t want to alienate further tranches of my potential readership!).
REDEMPTOR DOMUS is now out in hardback, r.r.p. £11.99. For details, please refer to the home page.
The contents of this site were reviewed in April 2021. Your helpful comments and advice would be most welcome.
Decades ago, I came across a book in a ship’s library. It was Roger Peyrefitte’s Special Friendships, translated from the French by Edward Hyams. The book remained at the back of my mind in the intervening years for three reasons: the boldness of its subject matter, the elegance of its writing and the fact that I’d never managed to reach the end of it for stress of shipboard duties.
Curiosity eventually got the better of me and I ended up searching for the book on the internet. Having thus been re-acquainted with it I found myself once more enthralled by Peyrefitte’s prose but disappointed by a rather unimaginative, not to say improbable, ending. Although I’d never contemplated writing a novel myself I felt I could at least arrive at a more credible outcome; after all, we’ve all been to school and can draw on and enlarge upon our experiences. I could not hope to match Peyrefitte’s encyclopaedic knowledge of antiquity and religiosity, nor the elegance of his prose, but, be that as it may, as I proceeded the work ‘just growed’. The key characters acquired Bunyanesque attributes, the plot gathered its present ramifications and the impending denouement became more and more Wagnerian such that at times the tail was in danger of wagging the dog. I sometimes wondered what a proper novelist could have done with it.
Of dramatic necessity this work encompasses a celebration of that span of the male human condition that lies between the nursery and adolescence; but what may have been bold in Peyrefitte’s day has since become something of a melodramatic cliché. Accordingly I have trod lightly in that direction, such that the apprehensive reader will encounter more eroica than erotica.
Otherwise, a telling that retains an enduring capacity to shake even the author himself obliges me to consider what it might do to others. I did not deliberately set out to construct the spiritual experience that Redemptor Domus seems to render; as a lifelong sceptic I’m no fit person to so proselytize. It’s just that the course of the work took on a directionality of its own, my own part but that of a helmsman under orders. Should some readers find themselves swept along in the wake, let them not look to me for a lifeline …
Devotees of Special Friendships – if indeed there are any left – might detect the echo of certain phrases. I have also in deference retained the same name for the hero of my work, for, try as I might, I could not conjure up a more heroic name than Alexander.
Gamelyn Chase, 2009
JUMP NOW TO 2018:
Regarding Amazon’s present Kindle edition: I’ve put Amazon on notice that all copyright now resides with myself by reason of reversion, and I have asserted a lien on any and all royalties accruing post the winding up of Pen Press; and that I request and require that the item be taken down from further sale with effect from immediately.
As to re-launching Redemptor Domus, I’ve decided to eschew the agency route and have instead placed the product with Matador. Why, you might ask. Well, how much time has one got? First find your agent - then the agent has to find a publisher ... And I'm not exactly in the first flush of youth. You get the picture.
The upshot is; Redemptor Domus was re-launched in May 2018.
I have a problem in that I’m not one of those serial scribblers so beloved of agents and publishers. There’s no follow-up to Redemptor Domus. It’s not part of any ‘trilogy’ or similar. Once one has delivered oneself of such a literary monster, there’s really nowhere else to go. My notional agent would be stuck with a one-trick pony. Yes, I’ve published stuff elsewhere, but that’s been technical, historical articles in society journals far removed from adult fiction – no commission to be had there.
Lee Page Turner’s review is all you really need to know about Redemptor Domus. Another reviewer was not so sanguine, viz.: “Where was the editor?”. So asked Handelian on 19 Jun. 2016. He awarded only three stars and went on to say “Somewhere in this book is a good story struggling to get out. Unfortunately it is buried under over-written and dull descriptive prose. Obscure words are chosen over plain ones and the story itself stretches credulity. It's a pity because the book deals with one of the most serious issues facing modern societies. Both the story and style need re-working.
Fair comment, but perhaps he should try labouring through Henry James’s or Thomas Mann’s dense prolixities for a comparison – and they seem to still be selling rather well. I do however take issue with the credulity comment; it’s fiction FFS! And as for dealing with “serious issues” – if I catch his drift – I leave such things for others. I merely employed them to fuel the plot. And nothing needs re-working. The story stands; and as for style, I purposefully adopted an arcane writing style to match the work’s portentous tenor. RD is not for skateboarders.
Yet another reviewer, a purporting fellow author who claims he couldn’t finish the book, presumably because of the “repugnant” bits, veritably festooned his contribution with sour grapes.
No disparagement to Handelian but I would conjecture if you’re the kind of person who likes re-runs of Monty Python and its ilk, Redemptor Domus is not for you (I’d better wrap this up right now as I don’t want to alienate further tranches of my potential readership!).
REDEMPTOR DOMUS is now out in hardback, r.r.p. £11.99. For details, please refer to the home page.
The contents of this site were reviewed in April 2021. Your helpful comments and advice would be most welcome.
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