MORTAL LEAP by MacDonald Harris
ISBN: 978-1-915812-10-0 (Boiler House Press)
Who am I? This question repeatedly arises for almost everyone in our modern culture. It is simple to ask, but hard to answer. A lot of the time, that question comes up in art. And even then, one does not get an answer, but one is more likely to see the journey that one takes. MacDonald Harris’s 1964 novel (and now re-released) Mortal Leap is one such destination from being a struggling merchant seaman to (a struggling) man of wealth and taste.
Mortal Leap is noir writing, but almost with a Proustian twist. It surveys the landscape of the pre-World War II years as we enter the battle of all battles, and the issue of class and privilege is not simply stated as a political stance but more of a psychological level of understanding. This novel is rich in its descriptions of a hospital existence, life on a merchant sea ship, port towns, and the beach life of the rich. The reader even gets some insight into Jean Cocteau’s films.
The novel is narrative-driven, with surprises here and there. I don’t want to expose anything here in this review, but what makes Mortal Leap superb is the combination of making the surroundings lively and engaging, as well as fascinating insights into the subject matter of class. And how something like the cinema or reading books can show another world to someone who will never have the chance to enter that planet. Of course, our main character travels in different areas of society, and it’s an enticing reflection on how identities are made and accepted in certain circumstances.
Mortal Leap has touches of Proust, Patricia Highsmith, Richard Stark, classic adventure narrative, and some of Albert Camus’s angst. It is the latter part of March, and I already feel this is the best and the most obscure novel. Many thanks to the publisher, Boiler House Press, for republishing this masterpiece.
I stumbled upon this review a while back, I guess when you published it. I sought the book out (at the LA library) and I gotta agree with you here, this was a pretty amazing read. It felt a little like Camus or Sartre maybe. It's like a book you might read in high school that kind of blows your mind at that age, but then it's got the added benefit of its distinctly American point of view. I love the action adventure component as well, which ends up making,what ends up being a wieghty-philosophical-ish treatise on what it is that makes an identity, fun. In short, loved it! Victor versus Leo and all the rest of it. Cynicism versus faith and intention. Good stuff.
It would probably make a great movie as well.
I felt he probably could have trimmed a little bit in the first 2/3 of the book, but overall I was mightily impressed. Thanks for the recommendation.