Swept away with T. C. Boyle

Water Music by T. Coraghessan Boyle ; introduction by James R. Kincaid. New York : Penguin Books, [2006]. Originally published by Little, Brown and Company, 1981. 25th Anniversary Edition with a new introduction. (Kincaid is Aerol Professor of English at the University of Southern California.) "Map to illustrate Mungo Park's missions into West Africa (on 2 facing pages preceding the t.p.)

The citation for this novelized version of the life of Mungo Park in Richard Holmes' The Age of Wonder (more on this later) reminded me of my resolution to read more of T. Coraghessan Boyle's work. Several years ago I read Riven Rock and Road to Wellville but wandered off to read other authors. From his wikipedia entry I realize he's written a dozen novels so I've more than a few books to I have to read in order to catch up. OK, one of these days.

Back to Mungo Park and his fascinating life (the unusual first name stuck in my memory but prior to reading Mr. Holmes' book I lacked a context in which to place the famed English explorer.) Here in a most unconventional fictionalized biography, Boyle reimagines Park's life in parallel with the experiences with those of an orphan who grows up in the slums of 18th century. This fictional alter ego, Ned Rise, is a young man in a hurry to succeed who pretty much turns everything he touches into a mess (not all that dissimilar from Boyle's view of Park.) Along with real characters like Ailie Anderson Park, Mungo's wife who gives new meaning to the term long-suffering, and Joseph Bank, one-time explorer but now stay-at home president of the Royal Society, Boyle creates a batch of fictional characters including Johnson (Mungo's guide to the mysteries of the River Niger), Gleg (a Scottish physician who stays home and tries to stand by Ailie) and various friends and enemies of Ned Rise.

If you're a fan of T.C. Boyle's but missed this uproarious first novel, please read it; if his reputation as a modern great or the ponderous pace of the film version of Road to Wellville has turned you off , give Water Music a try. I think you'll be in for a treat.