The Dark
McGAHERN, John
The Dark
London: Faber and Faber, 1965
8vo., black cloth lettered in white to spine; in the unclipped grey and white dustwrapper (priced 21s net to front flap); pp. [vi], 7-191, [i]; text block with slight shelf lean; the odd spot to endleaves and boards, but else an excellent copy; the wrapper with slight darkening along spine and folds, a touch creased at folds and rubbed to edges.
First UK edition of the author’s scarce second novel.
The Dark is a coming of age story, which tells of a powerful relationship between a son and widowed father. Set in rural Ireland, the plot follows an unnamed protagonist as he struggles with sexuality, authority, and abuse under the tutorage of his mentors - his teachers, priests, and father. Disturbing from the opening chapter, the 260 advance copies were immediately siezed by Irish Customs and Excise officers, and the book was subsequently banned in Ireland for its "indecent or obscene" content. McGahern was himself at the time teaching, and had been awarded £1,000 for his first novel, The Barracks, under the Macauley Fellowship in 1964. Having taken a sabbatical to write The Dark, the resulting controversy meant that he never resumed his teaching position.
McGAHERN, John
The Dark
London: Faber and Faber, 1965
8vo., black cloth lettered in white to spine; in the unclipped grey and white dustwrapper (priced 21s net to front flap); pp. [vi], 7-191, [i]; text block with slight shelf lean; the odd spot to endleaves and boards, but else an excellent copy; the wrapper with slight darkening along spine and folds, a touch creased at folds and rubbed to edges.
First UK edition of the author’s scarce second novel.
The Dark is a coming of age story, which tells of a powerful relationship between a son and widowed father. Set in rural Ireland, the plot follows an unnamed protagonist as he struggles with sexuality, authority, and abuse under the tutorage of his mentors - his teachers, priests, and father. Disturbing from the opening chapter, the 260 advance copies were immediately siezed by Irish Customs and Excise officers, and the book was subsequently banned in Ireland for its "indecent or obscene" content. McGahern was himself at the time teaching, and had been awarded £1,000 for his first novel, The Barracks, under the Macauley Fellowship in 1964. Having taken a sabbatical to write The Dark, the resulting controversy meant that he never resumed his teaching position.
McGAHERN, John
The Dark
London: Faber and Faber, 1965
8vo., black cloth lettered in white to spine; in the unclipped grey and white dustwrapper (priced 21s net to front flap); pp. [vi], 7-191, [i]; text block with slight shelf lean; the odd spot to endleaves and boards, but else an excellent copy; the wrapper with slight darkening along spine and folds, a touch creased at folds and rubbed to edges.
First UK edition of the author’s scarce second novel.
The Dark is a coming of age story, which tells of a powerful relationship between a son and widowed father. Set in rural Ireland, the plot follows an unnamed protagonist as he struggles with sexuality, authority, and abuse under the tutorage of his mentors - his teachers, priests, and father. Disturbing from the opening chapter, the 260 advance copies were immediately siezed by Irish Customs and Excise officers, and the book was subsequently banned in Ireland for its "indecent or obscene" content. McGahern was himself at the time teaching, and had been awarded £1,000 for his first novel, The Barracks, under the Macauley Fellowship in 1964. Having taken a sabbatical to write The Dark, the resulting controversy meant that he never resumed his teaching position.