Description
THE CASE OF MR. CRUMP
Book Summary
Published in Spanish for the first time, this novel, a precursor to Lolita and Stoner, explores the limits of desire, jealousy, and sexual repression in the Puritan America of the Belle Époque. Through the destructive marriage between a young, cultured musician and a mature, manipulative woman, Ludwig Lewisohn constructs an unrelenting portrait of social hypocrisy and the clash between the purity of art and materialistic vulgarity. A rediscovered masterpiece that defied the conventions of its time.
What is it about?
Herbert Crump, a young and innocent academic of German descent, a cultured musician with a virtuous spirit, leaves his family to conquer New York. Along the way, he encounters Anne, a mature, married, experienced, and sex-addicted woman who traps him in a stifling marriage. What begins as a sexual affair becomes an emotional trap that threatens to destroy Crump's naive and artistic life. Their life together highlights their opposing conceptions of the world: spiritual elevation versus vulgar materialism, the sincerity of art versus the hypocrisy of social conventions. The novel, rejected by every American publisher in 1926 for being considered scandalous and provocative, anticipates by three decades the controversy that would surround Lolita.
Main themes
- The conflict between artistic purity and the materialistic vulgarity of modern life.
- Emotional and sexual manipulation within marriage as a power dynamic.
- The hypocrisy of American Puritanism regarding desire and female sexuality.
- Jealousy as a destructive force that corrodes identity and vocation.
- The cultural clash between European tradition and American pragmatism.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in early 20th-century psychological narrative, in novels that explore the complexity of toxic relationships and uncompromising female desire. Also for those seeking rediscovered works that questioned the moral limits of their era, with echoes of authors such as Nabokov, John Williams, or Henry James.
What this book offers
- A pioneering perspective on female sexuality and power dynamics in relationships, ahead of its time.
- An immersion into the America of the Belle Époque and its moral contradictions, told through the eyes of an immigrant.
- A cult novel rescued from oblivion, comparable in psychological depth to Stoner and in thematic audacity to Lolita.
- A lucid and uncompromising portrait of how social conventions can destroy artistic vocation.
Technical specifications
- Author: Ludwig Lewisohn
- Publisher: Hermida Editores, S.L
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: Modern and contemporary fiction, Erotic fiction
- Collection: El Jardín de Epicuro
- Publication date: June 2021
- Number of pages: 412
- Weight: 752 g
Editorial review
A necessary editorial recovery. The Case of Mr. Crump is not only a brave novel for its time, but it also keeps its ability to unsettle and fascinate the contemporary reader intact. Lewisohn deploys a restrained yet sharp prose, dissecting desire and emotional dependency with a lucidity that recalls the great masters of the psychological novel. Its publication in Spanish allows for the discovery of a work that deserves to occupy a prominent place in the literary history of the 20th century. Recommended for those who appreciate narrative of high emotional voltage and social background.