David Lindsay (novelist)

David Lindsay(3 March 1876 – 16 July 1945)was a Scottish author best remembered for the philosophical science fiction novelA Voyage to Arcturus(1920).

David Lindsay
Born	3 March 1876 Lewisham,England
Died	16 July 1945(1945-07-16)(aged 69) Hove,England
Occupation(s)	Insurance clerk, writer

Biography

Lindsay was born into a middle-classScottishCalvinistfamily in London, and was brought up partly inJedburgh,where he had family background. He was educated atColfe's School,Lewisham,and won a scholarship to university, but for financial reasons went into business, becoming an insurance clerk atLloyd's of London.He was successful, but his career was interrupted by service in theFirst World War,starting at the age of 40. He first joined theGrenadier Guards,then theRoyal Army Pay Corps,in which he was promoted to Corporal.

After the war Lindsay and his young wife, Jacqueline Silver, moved to Porth nearNewquayinCornwall,and lived there from 1919 to 1929.He became a full-time writer there. His novelA Voyage to Arcturuswas published in 1920, but it was not a success, selling fewer than six hundred copies. The work shows links with Scottish fantasists such asGeorge MacDonald,whose work Lindsay was familiar with,and it had a central influence onC. S. Lewis'sOut of the Silent Planet.J. R. R. Tolkiensaid that he had read the book "with avidity", and characterised it as a work of philosophy, religion and morality.

Lindsay attempted to write a more commercial novel with his next workThe Haunted Woman(1922), but this was barely more successful thanVoyage.He continued to write novels, including the humorouspotboilerThe Adventures of Monsieur de Mailly,set in France in the time ofLouis XIV.After publishingDevil's Torin 1932 he found it increasingly difficult to get his work issued and spent much of his time on his last work,The Witch,which was not published in his lifetime.

With his wife, Lindsay opened a boarding house inBrighton,but they did not prosper and their marriage came under considerable strain. The house was damaged by the first bomb to fall on Brighton in theSecond World War,and Lindsay, who was in his bath at the time, never recovered from the shock. His death from an infection resulting from anabscess in his toothwas unrelated to the bomb;Darrell Schweitzerattributed it to Lindsay allowing "rotting teeth to develop into cancer of the jaw".

Work

Main article:A Voyage to Arcturus

A Voyage to Arcturushas been described as the major "underground" novel of the 20th century. The secret of Lindsay's apparent originality as a novelist lies in his metaphysical assumptions.Like thegnosticshe seems to have viewed the "real" world as an illusion, which must be rejected in order to perceive genuine "truth". InThe Haunted Woman,the two main characters discover a room which seems to exist only some of the time; while they are there together, they can see more clearly and express themselves honestly. InThe Violet Apple,the fruit of the title is of the species eaten byAdam and Eve,and Lindsay's description of its effects is a startling, lyrical episode in a novel which is otherwise concerned with rather ordinary matters.

Lindsay's austere vision of "true reality" seems to have been influenced byNorse mythology.After being out of print for many decades, Lindsay's work has become increasingly available. In 1971,A Voyage to Arcturuswas produced as a 35mm feature film byWilliam J. Holloway.It was the first film to be funded by aNational Endowment for the Artsgrant and has recently been re-released.Harold Bloomwas also interested in Lindsay's life and career, going so far as to publish a novel,The Flight to Lucifer,which he thought of as a Bloomianmisprision,an homage and deep revision ofA Voyage to Arcturus.Bloom, however, conceded that his late-comer imitation is overwhelmed by Lindsay's great original.Colin Wilsonwas also interested in David Lindsay. He wrote an essay, "The Haunted Man: Lindsay as Novelist and Mystic" that first appeared in the bookThe Strange Genius of David Lindsay(1970), as well as prefaces toThe Violet Apple,The WitchandSphinx.

Bibliography

• A Voyage to Arcturus(1920)
• The Haunted Woman(1922)
• Sphinx(1923)
• The Violet Apple(1924, first published 1976)
• Adventures of Monsieur de Mailly(1926) [UK];A Blade for Sale(1927) [US]
• Devil's Tor(1932)
• A Christmas Play(1930s, first published 2003)
• The Witch(unfinished, first published 1976)

Sources

• The Strange Genius of David Lindsay: An Appreciation(1970) byJ. B. Pick,E. H. Visiakand Colin Wilson
• The Life and Works of David Lindsay(1983) by Bernard Sellin,Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0521034012
• David Lindsay's Visionby David Power (2005)
• David Lindsayby Gary K. Wolfe (Wildside Press LLC, 1982)ISBN0-916732-26-6
• Galad Elflandsson "David Lindsay and the Quest for Muspel-Fire" inDarrell Schweitzer(ed)Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction,Gillette NJ: Wildside Press, 1986, pp. 104–112.

Further reading

• Pick, J.B.(1980),David Lindsay and the Sublime,inCencrastusNo. 2, Spring 1980, pp. 15–17,ISSN0264-0856
• Pick, J.B. (1993), "The Vision of Beleagured Light: David Lindsay (1876-1945)", inThe Great Shadow House: Essays on the Metaphysical Tradition in Scottish Fiction,Polygon, Edinburgh, pp. 73 - 88,ISBN9780748661169

External links

• Works by David Lindsay in eBook formatStandard Ebooks
• Works by David LindsayatProject Gutenberg
• Works by David LindsayatFaded Page(Canada)
• Works by or about David Lindsayat theInternet Archive
• Works by David LindsayatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• "The Violet Apple"– site dedicated to the life and work of David Lindsay
• David Lindsayat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• David LindsayatLibrary of Congress,with 15 library catalogue records