The Floating Opera
252 pages.
Original publisher: Appleton, Century Crofts Inc.
Current publisher: Anchor Press.
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Synopsis
Barth’s first novel, after two unfinished failures that he describes elsewhere in his nonfiction. Opera, while a tidy little exercise in experimental ’60s nihilism, would probably not have launched a successful career were it not nominated for the National Book Award. (It lost.)
While brimming with the kind of mental energy that filled his later books, The Floating Opera shares little of the fascination with mythology and story-craft that his best fiction does. Much of the book seems dated today — particularly one chapter where Barth makes experimental use of double columns in the text layout.
Amazingly, Barth’s editor called the original ending of the book “too dark” and made him change it as a condition of publication. (The book had already been rejected by six other publishers.) The revised edition (published 1967) put Barth’s original ending back.
Critical Reaction
“[Barth] is young, erudite and clever. Every now and then in The Floating Opera he is funny. His ability to contrive a really preposterous situation is impressive. His gift of gab is impressive, too. Nevertheless, The Floating Opera isn’t anywhere near funny enough to make up for its grievous faults. Most of this odd novel is dull. Most of its humor is labored and flat. Some of its heavy-handed attempts to shock seem cheap in a juvenile and nasty way rather than sophisticated or realistic, as they probably were intended.”
— Orville Prescott, The New York Times Book Review
Resources
- John Clarke’s Annotations — A series of extensive notes and annotations on the text, exclusive to this site.
- The Floating Opera review by The New York Times
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