Cabell's most notorious novel because of its obscenity association. Beyond that an exposition of accepting things just because that's the way they are. The story involves Jurgen, the last person in Poictesme to see Dom Manuel (with the grim reaper), or did he? Anyway, he has gotten on in age to eight and forty years and wishes he could do it all over again, this time rightly. He gets his wish, but does it all the same again and settles in the end content for the way things are. Along the way we visit heaven and hell and most places in between along with a bunch of new and recurring characters from the Biography of Dom Manuel.

Coth, Jurgen's father and a Knight of the Silver Stallion, meets Jurgen in hell (he's only there because he was burdened with a conscience in life) and does not recognize his own son. He constantly taxes the demons that torment him with the need for new and more painful tortures because he is not content with the way things are in hell. This gives you just a flavor of Cabell's irony. This and so much more as Jurgen plies his lance, sword, and scepter in the dark to find a woman more beautiful than his wife Lisa or his boyhood love Countess Dorothy.

Bawdy and picaresque Jurgen deals with one of Cabell's three philosophies, that of gallantry (chivalry and poetry being the others).

There are more than 25 slightly connected works in the Biography of Dom Manuel, so there is much more Cabell to savor beyond Jurgen. ( )

Had to read this to see the inspiration for Heinlein's "Job: A Comedy of Justice". ( )

Here Cabell suggests that all of us would be no better off than Jurgen, were our heartfelt desires granted and we found ourselves in our ideal circumstances. And yet, these dreams and ideals are not a waste of time, rather they are the very core of what is needed for our best life. Squaring that circle is left to each reader, though it appears there are far fewer Cabell readers today than when he wrote the book.

There is a mimetic element to the story: I experienced some of Jurgen's lack of satisfaction or discontent as I proceeded through the various episodes. Recognition of this effect actually lifted my spirits: Cabell may well have attempted this deliberately, and such a literary effect is thematically fitting. The double entendre for which Jurgen is notorious certainly is evident throughout, and it was becoming a bit tiresome until I noted my flagging interest was parallel to Jurgen's almost exactly.

Worth revisiting, as are all of Cabell's efforts I've read so far, but I suspect it never will be my favourite. Possibly it is because the plot and prose are so very richly embroidered. Though initially it was difficult to get a handle on Cabell's many and distinct motifs, in other writings they spool out more leisurely and with more space to develop. I might enjoy Jurgen best as recapitulation, after having read the rest of the Biography. ( )

This is my own Amazon review of this edition:

According to Amazon's listing this is an "Annotated" edition of Cabell's Jurgen. However it is not what any normal (or honest) person would mean by "annotated". There are NO ANNOTATIONS to the text -- no glossary, no explanatory notes, no footnotes, no endnotes. The text is preceded by a 7-page potted biographical introduction to Cabell and his career, followed by a single paragraph headed "PLOT".

There are ten or so illustrations -- very small, black and white, and poorly reproduced -- scattered amongst the first 90 pages but then there are no illustrations at all in the 260 subsequent pages.

So, here is the text of Jurgen, which is eminently worth reading. But you could get a better reading experience by purchasing one of the many second-hand McBride editions of Jurgen available on-line for a reasonable price, and then for your "annotation" just read the Wikipedia article on Cabell.

A middle-aged pawn broker, encounters a magical/pagan deity and is granted a do-over..He uses it as he wishes, and the world is relatively unchanged by his actions...perhaps he is a bit improved...perhaps not. Cabell's prose is not my favourite style, yet the book is famous. I think I read the 1928 reprint, as the Dover edition came out after my recorded reading. ( )