posted on 30 Jun 2021

Too Far To Walk by John Hersey

I rather stumbled onto this book by accident when I came across the Corgi paperback which trumpeted the promise that this was ‘the turned-on novel of the L.S.D generation’. As is ever the case when it comes to marketing, this was a creative overstatement but it is true that Hersey’s 1966 novel was well-received at the time of its publication and attracted a review from The New York Times that declared it ‘the sequel to Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye’, enhancing Hersey’s growing reputation as a literary big-hitter.

What Hersey’s novel does is to update and slightly recast the Faust legend for the 1960s. John Fist is a student at the prestigious Sheldon College – an educational opportunity ruthlessly engineered by his middle class suburban parents. But Fist is having existential doubt – he just can’t see the point any more and finds himself sneering both inwardly and outwardly at his lecturers. He slides into lethargy and starts skipping lectures and when confronted about this explains that his absences are because the lecture theatre is too much effort to get to – it’s just ‘too far to walk’.

Into his life comes the fascinating but enigmatic fellow student, Chum Breed whose appearances always seem to be accompanied by the slight whiff of burning electrical wires. Fist confides his ennui to Breed who, spotting his moment, suggests that he is in fact the Devil incarnate and can offer his doleful new friend a 26 week contract – with an option to renew if required.

What’s on offer to Fist is the chance for the life-changing experiences he craves in exchange for his service in the name of the Devil. After a bit of dithering, Fist signs up. But it’s not long before he’s beginning to feel that the deal isn’t quite what he imagined – he seems to be getting none of the thrills and finds Breed using him for some miserable missions like burgling the chronically poor. Fist also outrages and alienates his parents by paying a visit home accompanies by a prostitute - but this also brings the frustrated young man no real satisfaction.

The relationship between John and his parents continues to spiral downwards when he confesses that he plans to leave the college that they had worked so hard to get him into. But his dissatisfaction isn’t just with his parents. When Fist finally confronts Breed and demands that his side of the contract should be fulfilled, the Devil takes him on an L.S.D. trip that Hersey paints in a series of events that may or may not have elements of reality about them.

The L.S.D. trip culminates in a Witches Sabbath where he, and a host of other acolytes, are asked to kiss Satan’s bottom. This is too much, even for Fist and he reneges on his contract and comes to the realisation that his university classes probably aren’t too far to walk to at all.

This being an update of the Faust legend, Fist isn’t dragged away to Hell but, Hersey seems to be saying, he’s already visited his own private version of that place of torment.

So what’s the message here? Well, I don’t think it’s the obvious conservative one that the old establishment offers a more palatable lifestyle than that offered by the demons of the alternative 60s drug philosophies. No, I think this is about how long we can live and thrive in a world where the interface between illusion and reality is always tenuous and shifting. What Fist learns from his brush with the Devil is that, to be worthwhile, life needs some commitment and effort – there is no deal that brings all its richness to your door without commitment from you.

A modestly priced paperback seems to be available online but the hardback is very much harder to find at a reasonable price.

 

Terry Potter

July 2021