oh, man, this was a weird one

[skippercollector]

I went to a charity flea market at the end of the sale and picked up for free a paperback called "Silverlock," by John Myers Myers. I learned it was originally published in 1949 and the copy I got must be from the early 1970s, by the way the cover looks.
It's about a man named Clarence Shandon from Chicago whose ship is destroyed somewhere in the Pacific. He is rescued by a man named Golias, who takes him to a mythical land called the Commonwealth. Golias quickly nicknames Clarence "Silverlock" because of the white streak in his hair.
Silverlock wanders all over the Commonwealth. He meets many characters from literature, religion and mythology, from Job to Daniel Boone. He ends up in Hell and meets Prometheus and Oedipus, and also Anna Karenina and Hester Prynne (I am NOT making this up!). Clarence never recognizes any of these people. His wanderings seem to have no purpose, other than the writer's attempts to squeeze as many literary figures into the book as possible. Seldom do the characters interact, except that Don Quixote wants to track down Paul Bunyan.
Shandon never really learns anything and he is never very likeable. Although the book was entertaining, easy reading and kept my interest--and it was fun trying to see who would show up next--it just seemed utterly pointless!



I bet you never expected to see the names Prometheus, Oedipus, Anna Karenina and Hester Prynne all in the same sentence, did you?!

[getting old in mke]

1. I adore _Silverlock_.

The retelling of the Alamo in skaldic verse is just brilliant. I've bought copies for each of my daughters at one time or the other. Only made one a convert, but it was worth it. I always felt it was kind of Odessey-esque, but lighter; a sort of pinball sense crisscrossing here and there.

It's been about a dozen years since I last read it, so it's probably time for the next read and see how many more I can identify this time.

[left-of-center2012]

2. I just looked it up

It got great reviews on Amazon but, from your review, I think I'll pass.

http://www.amazon.com/Silverlock-John-Myers/dp/0441012477