Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut (2014)

In Observation of the Birthday of E. M. Forster on  this day in 1879

Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut (Pretoria,  South Africa, 1963)novel based on aspects of the life of E. M. Forster from 1912 to 1924, is a great start for my reading year, a wonderful novel by a new to me writer about one of my favorite writers.

I have read and posted on all of Forster's novels but the posthumously published Maurice.  His Aspects of the Novel is a wonderful book.  I have also read a very good biography, E. M. Forester - A Life by P. N. Furbank.  I will say that in the unlikely event someone decides to read Arctic Summer without background knowledge of Forster, they will miss a lot.

Arctic Summer has been reviewed in several major journals so I will just talk a bit about why I think this is such a good novel, what I liked so much about it.  

Galgut deals directly  with Forster's sense of sexual identity and his sex life.  Forster was a life long homosexual who had two great loves,  one a wealthy Indian man and the other a street car driver he met while living in Alexandria.  One of my theories about British empire building is that there is a sexual motive behind much of it.  You can do things in the far reaches of the Empire that you would not do back in London. In India an inclined colonial official could have unlimited partners of any age or sex.   Any way just my theory.  

Forster fits the stereotypical pattern of a homosexual.  He was very close to his mother who dominated much of his emotional life.  He lived in a time when homosexuality was a crime but on the other side he attended Cambridge.  Forster, as depicted by Galgut, did not seem ashamed of his sexuality but he was certainly furtive about it in England.  He had male English sexual contacts but all were brief. 

 His first true love was a very rich Indian, Syed Massod.  They met while Massod was going to school in England.  Forster fell deeply in love but it is not quite so clear how Massod felt.  As portrayed by Galmut, Forster seems never to have gone beyond mutual masturbation, often of a furtive hand in the pants sort.  Massod invites Forster to visit him in India.  This part of Arctic Summer (the title comes from a novel Forster started but never finished) is truly fascinating.  Compressing some,  Forster takes a position as secretary to the ruler of a small princely state.  Forster thought he would be advising the prince on affairs of state but he ended up focusing on petty palace matters.  The story line starts out as a comic opera but then we slowly are made to see that this is from the limited lenses of a colonial official looking at a culture much older than his.  In India the power relationships of Massod and Forster are kind of reversed with Forster partially dependent on Massod.  We also see Forster struggling to shape his Indian experience into what will be one of the 20th centuries great novels, Passage to India.  Galmut does a great job depicting the visits to the caves that will play a crucial part in Passage to India.

The second great love in Forster's life was an Egyptian street car driver he met while he worked in Alexandria during World War One.  As you read Arctic Summer I think you will wonder to what extent is the street car driver one step above a rent boy, exploiting the sexuality and emotional needs of Forster for his own advantage.  Galgut does a wonderful job of nonjudgmentallly presenting their relationship. Of course one must wonder why are both of the loves of his life from the colonies.

There is much more in this rich novel, Forster's relationship to his mother is depicted with a truly subtle understanding.  We learn a lot about life in Alexandria and India.  Arctic Summer must rank among the great novels about a writer, up their with The Master by Colm Toibin and Katherine's Wish by Linda Lappin.

I look forward to reading more works by Dalmot Galgut and strongly recommend this book.

In the interest of full disclosure I was given a review copy of this book.

Mel u