In Youth Is Pleasure, 1945

The novel recounts the adventures and experiences of Orvil Pym (clearly Denton himself) during a summer holiday with his father and brothers circa 1930. The book is dedicated to his mother in her maiden name, and his protagonist’s name may be a further tribute to Rosalind; her brother was called Orville.

What’s it about?

There is little plot, but plenty happens! Orvil’s father is visiting England from his home in China to spend the school holidays with his three boys in a Surrey hotel. Orvil describes his activities and adventures, usually spending his days alone in the countryside around the hotel, often indulging in the intense voyeurism that feeds his incredible powers of description. His evenings are spent with family and their friends, and (oddly) he takes a train to Hastings in the middle of the holiday to visit a friend of his own. Throughout the book his perspective and expectations are at odds with most others, not in a confrontational way, but in constant mutual perplexity.

The narration is often intense and feverish, showing Orvil’s sympathetic reader the awkwardness of his relationships with just about everyone, his anxiety and experimentation with himself, the perpetual swing between fierce independence and emotional neediness. The book ends with Orvil and his brother heading back to school together on the train; a term or so later, this is where Maiden Voyage begins.

Artwork

Once again, Denton designed the cover and illustrated the book himself. The pictures below from the Cary collection show the illustrations as they appeared in the American version. However, the cover is the English version.