Joyce Cary wrote two trilogies, or »triptychs» as he later called them, and both are Faber Finds. The first comprises Herself Surprised (1941), To Be a Pilgrim (1942) and The Horse»s Mouth (1944).
The Horse»s Mouth is a portrait of an artistic temperament. Its protagonist, Gulley Gimson, is an impoverished painter who scorns conventional good behaviour. If a bad citizen, he is a good artist, so wholly preoccupied with his art that he is willing to endure any privation. For Gulley there is but one morality: to be a painter.
»Joyce Cary is an important and exciting writer… To use Tennyson»s phrase, he is a Lord of Language … if you like rich writing full of gusto and accurate original character drawing, you will get it from The Horse»s Mouth.» John Betjeman, Daily Herald