Sabbatical
A Romance.
366 pages.
Original publisher: Putnam.
Current publisher: Dalkey Archive Press.
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Synopsis
A nice return to form, and very prescient about the kinds of topics that Barth has chosen to write in the ’80s and ’90s. Written in the first-person plural, Sabbatical is probably Barth’s most political novel and one of his most down-to-earth. The narrators, one an author and one a professor on sabbatical, sail down the Chesapeake and get involved with the CIA, a possibly mythical sea monster, and one heck of a storm. It helps to know something about sailing when you read this book.
In many ways, this novel is just a warm-up for Barth’s The Tidewater Tales; the two books curiously share many of the same plot points and even some of the same dialogue. I preferred Sabbatical, which is a much quicker and breezier read.
Critical Reaction
“Movingly original.”
— Library Journal
“Barth has proved again and again that he can equal the traditionalists at their own game, and thus he has won the right to be different.”
— Saturday Review
“Barth, almost alone among his fellows, will have none of the bloodless abstractions. Among his many styles, what is most distinctive is his toughness, the quick march of his verbs, his reliance on muscular Anglo-Saxon locutions, his puns.”
— Washington Post
Resources
- Review by Michael Wood (New York Times)
- Dalkey Archive Press page for Sabbatical and LETTERS
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