Jacob Wrestling by James Mortmain
Author: James Mortmain
Publisher: Not known
Source book: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Rose, Cassandra and Thomas Mortmain live with their father and stepmother Topaz, an artist’s model (there are paintings of her in the Tate), in a ruinous castle deep in the countryside. Their father, the brilliantly successful author of Jacob Wrestling, has almost no income because he can’t write a second book. The family lives in extreme but genteel poverty, having sold almost all their books and furniture. They seem to have hardly any clothes to wear, and at times, almost nothing to eat. The only person who can bring in a little money is Stephen, the son of a servant who died and just carried on living with the Mortmains. He feeds the family.
Jacob Wrestling features scenes including Jacob’s ladder, and Jacob wrestling with the angel. We never learn exactly what it’s about, but Cassandra describes it as a mixture of fiction, philosophy and poetry. It was very successful in America and Mr Mortmain made a lot of money lecturing about his book.
Recently I listened to a podcast about Dodie Smith and the main presenter described Jacob Wrestling as Joycian. I have never attempted to read any of James Joyce’s work, so this hadn’t occurred to me.
Following an incident where he brandished a silver cake knife at his wife, unfortunately witnessed by an officious neighbour who thought he was contemplating murder, Mr Mortmain was sent to prison for three months. If it was the sort of cake knife I imagine, it would have been hard to draw blood at all, and even harder to cause serious damage.
Since then he has struggled hard to write a follow up. He seems to have been battling writer’s block for years; reading many detective novels, falling into research rabbit holes looking things up in an old copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and eating biscuits to avoid the tyranny of the blank page. Yeah, we all know what that’s like.
When Simon and Neil Cotton, the rich new owners of the castle, arrive unexpectedly, it turns out that Simon studied Jacob Wrestling at college and is really interested to read a sequel. Mortmain announces there never would be a sequel and Simon at once agrees that something so special never could have a sequel. Next day Simon brings Mortmain a book of essays by a famous American critic (also obviously a fictional book) because one of the essays is about Jacob Wrestling. However, almost at once Rose spoils the nascent relationship by making a dead set at Simon who decides he never wants to meet her again.
The family has been so poor for so long that Rose feels ready to marry the Devil himself to escape her situation. Mortmain gets very excited at what the critic has written about his book; it seems he has detected meaning that he, Mortmain, certainly never put there and looks forward to discussing it with Simon. But Simon is avoiding the family.
The Mortmain and Cotton families gradually become more friendly, Rose gets engaged to Simon, and Mortmain begins to visit the British Museum, and is working on strange and complicated crossword puzzles. He goes for walks with an out of date copy of Bradshaw (the railway guide favoured by Sherlock Holmes), and peers intently at a cracked old willow-pattern plate Cassandra found in the hen house. As he is rushing out of the house to catch a train he picks up a battered old carpet bag and starts examining that too.
When Mortmain comes back from London he brings a telephone directory, a book on elementary Chinese, and a newspaper called The Homing Pigeon. And apparently while he was in London he borrowed all the cookery books in the Cottons’ flat. And then there’s the incident with the haddock bone, and all the extracts from the American funnies he has stuck up on his study wall.
Cassandra and her brother Thomas get so anxious about their father’s behaviour that they lock him in one of the castle towers. They provide writing materials and food, but they won’t let him out. Luckily Topaz comes back from London where she’s been modelling, and lets him out. But by this time Mortmain has begun writing again.Although, Cassandra and Thomas are in despair when they see what he’s written. It looks like nonsense.
It turns out it’s very clever to start a book by writing THE CAT SAT ON THE MAT 19 times in a row. Section A of Mortmain’s new book is about a child learning to read and write; Section B is a series of puzzles for children, an acrostic, a rebus (maybe even a word search) and there are crossword clues with the answers all about nightmares and terror; then there’s Section C featuring a comic strip called Pigeon’s Progress with pictures of pigeons talking, and showing the distances between places that the hero pigeon might fly; and Section D has a new kind of puzzle invented by Mortmain, using words and patterns, and every clue leading you further back into the past.
Publishers both in England and America pay handsome advances for this innovative new book even though it will not be finished for ages. And the first four sections are to be printed soon in an American magazine.
Also, Cassandra realises she is in love with Simon, Rose realises she doesn’t love Simon and elopes with Neil, and Stephen becomes a photographic model and acts in what sound like very avant garde films. With goats.
I Capture the Castle is a favourite book for many people. The book they read again and again. On the other hand, a lot of other people don’t get it at all. Dodie Smith is best known for 101 Dalmatians but this book is well worth a read. There’s a very funny scene with an escaped bear… or is it a bear?
And here’s an embarrassing story. Years ago I found I had two identical copies of I Capture the Castle. Something moved me to give one copy to my employer’s wife. Several years later the wife invited me to lunch, I really don’t know why, it’s not as though we were friends. Anyway, while she was in the kitchen doing something with potatoes, I was lusting after at the beautiful built in bookshelves. I saw a copy of I Capture and pulled it off the shelf. It had my name in it. In my writing! Quickly I put the book into my bag and said nothing. Surprise surprise, when I got home there was my other copy. But you had already worked that out for yourself.
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| Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel) Paul Gaugin - National Galleries of Scotland |
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