The Horse's Mouth is a 1944

1944 in literature

The year 1944 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Samuel Hopkins Adams – Canal Town*Jorge Amado – Terras do Sem Fim *Saul Bellow – Dangling Man*Jorge Luis Borges – Fictions...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Joyce Cary

Joyce Cary

Joyce Cary was an Anglo-Irish novelist and artist.-Youth and education:...

, the third in his First Trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

, whose first two books are Herself Surprised (1941) and To Be A Pilgrim (1942). The Horse's Mouth follows the adventures of Gulley Jimson, an artist who would exploit his friends and acquaintances to earn a quid

Quid

Quid may refer to:* Pound sterling, British slang for £1 in currency* Euro , in Irish slang* Irish punt, Irish slang* Australian pound, Australian slang * Quid , a French encyclopedia...

, told from his point of view, just as the other books in the First Trilogy tell events from their central characters' different points of view. Cary's novel also uses Gully's unique perspective to comment on the social and political events of the time.

Plot

Jimson's father, based on a real person known to Cary, was an Academy artist who is heart-broken when Impressionism drives his style from popular taste. Jimson has put aside any consideration of acceptance by either academy or public and paints in fits of creative ecstasy. Although his work is known to collectors and has become valuable, Jimson himself is forced to live from one scam or petty theft to the next. Cadging enough money to buy paints and supplies, he spends much of the novel seeking surfaces, such as walls, to serve as ground for his paintings.

When the novel opens, Jimson has just been released from jail. He seeks money from Hickson, his sometime patron. Later in the book, he tracks down Sara Monday, his ex-wife, and tries to obtain an early painting from her that is worth a great deal. Sara is reluctant to give up the picture, which serves as a reminder of her youth. In the struggle that follows, Sara falls and suffers a fatal injury. Jimson is unsentimental about his life and work and sees himself as someone who has given over to a destructive passion. Yet he regrets nothing.

At the novel's end, Jimson reflects on his life and the home and family that he has missed. But he recognizes that he himself made the decision to sacrifice those possibilities in order to pursue his art. It is only clear at the end that Jimson has suffered a paralysing stroke, and can no longer paint. As he is being taken to hospital, a nun who is nursing him remarks that he should be praying instead of laughing, "Same thing, Mother." replies Jimson, his last words.

Adaptation

In 1958, a film adaptation, also titled The Horse's Mouth

The Horse's Mouth (film)

The Horse's Mouth is a 1958 film directed by Ronald Neame and filmed in Technicolor. Alec Guinness wrote the screenplay from the 1944 novel The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary, and also played the lead role of Gulley Jimson, a London artist.-Synopsis:...

, was released, with an Academy Award

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

-nominated screenplay by actor Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...

. The film was directed by Ronald Neame

Ronald Neame

Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...

, and starred Guinness, Kay Walsh

Kay Walsh

Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....

, Renee Houston

Renee Houston

Renée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...

, Mike Morgan

Mike Morgan (actor)

Mike Morgan was a British actor. His film acting debut was in the 1957 film comedy Barnacle Bill, which also starred Alec Guinness....

, and Robert Coote

Robert Coote

Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.-Biography:Coote was educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex...

. It generally follows the book, except for deviating from the ending. It focuses on the Jimson character and what it means to be an artist, rather than the social and political themes. John Bratby

John Bratby

John Randall Bratby was an English painter who founded the kitchen sink realism style of art that was influential in the late 1950s....

painted the pictures attributed to Jimson in the film.