The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography (New York Review Books Classics)

In recent years we've been treated to many thoughtful and highly readable studies on the nature of biography itself, such as in Richard Holmes's FOOTSTEPS and Janet Malcolm's THE SILENT WOMAN. Symons's THE QUEST FOR CORVO could almost be a sketch for these later, deeper studies in its very metatextual approach to what it means to compose a biography of Frederick Rolfe, one of the strangest figures in fin-de-siecle British letters. Although later biographies took this work to task for its errors and omissions, that shouldn't dissuade you from enjoying how Symons juxtaposes differing perspectives on the quarrelsome and paranoid Rolfe's actions and behaviors, and his desire to get at the "real man." Greater drawbacks, I think, might be Symons's homophobia--which, while very common for its time, seems a bit hysterical today--and the fact that Rolfe (or "Baron Corvo," as he liked to style himself) as a person either enchants readers completely or eventually becomes as tiresome to them as he did to his contemporaries. Still, even though Rolfe's antics do grate on some people's nerves a bit after a while(as they did mine), the fascination of his personality remains quite compelling.This edition features a beautiful cover and paper stock (as do all NYRB editions) and an intelligent and thoughtful introduction (which, unfortunately, they do not always).

I read this book many years ago and it was fascinating because of its portrait of a seriously weird man. The man who called himself Baron Corvo was one of the strangest members of the British company of eccentrics. At the time I read it, I was of an impressionable age, so I was not sure that I would be as impressed by it upon re-reading it. It is still an engrossing "experiment in biography" but it is much more than that. I felt at the time of first reading that the prose was the best model for a writer that I had ever read. The prose is is not florid or ornamental. It is almost transparent. When reading it, you do not notice the prose. It is almost as if the story it relates goes directly into your mind without any intermediary. Outstanding writing!

I’m a fan of arcane biographies, and this is certainly arcane.Corvo (Fr Rolfe) was quite the character. I liked “The Secret Lives of Trebisch Lincoln,” a similar book, better than this. But it’s a great look at a complex, tortured, talented soul.

This book is mostly famous as an example of how o make a biography engaging. Rather than chronologically narrating the life of Frederic Rolfe a.k.a "Baron Corvo", the author follows his own progress and correspondence in search of the Baron's life details. The subject of the book itself is one of those late victorian characters that simply had to confront a new reality driven by capitalism and not just church or aristocratic patronage.Frederic Rolfe was a delusional, tragic man with a talent for writing and a deep seated paranoia. He attempted to become a priest for all the wrong reasons and was quickly expelled and dismissed as a superficial spendthrift . He cursed at all those who tried to help him, begged and buggered around in Venice till funds ran out. Then he died alone and poor as a rat. He refused moral judgment while dispensing it in abundance. But his writings, mostly "Hadrian the VII" and "Tales that Toto told me" caused enough impression on enough people to merit Mr. Simmons "quest" for Corvo. It is interesting to see how the author seems to need to justify the life of this hard working parasite again and again based on his literary merits. The author cannot conceal his passion for the subject and it becomes contagious. May be he saw in Fr. Rolfe a twin soul. I haven't read the books Rolfe wrote but I am afraid that they might have lost whatever glow they had in their time. Some of the neologisms he created and the language he used might have been dazzling a century ago. Today, I am afraid it might be almost incomprehensible in its rancid archaism. I admit I am judging it a priori but somehow I have no interest in finding out if I am right or wrong.

A fascinating and troubling character whose mysterious life is revealed by the author’s indefatigable research. Beautifully written too.

Book had me hooked from the first page and it keeps getting better. Well bound and good feeling cover and pages too

why all the fuss over Corvo. Better bios elswwhere.

for anyone interested in the esoteric art of obscurity and a lifestyle as performance art, and beautiful literary detective work, a must read. cracking good. then read the biography of AJA Symons by his brother Julian.

I made a regrettable - embarrassing, even - mistake when I started reading this on my Kindle: I neither checked the date of publication, nor the genre. I read the first third of this marvellous biography under the illusion that this was some Borgesian or Lem-ian fake biography of a writer who never lived; but the story began to repeat itself - Corvo making a friend, leeching money off said friend, then, feeling somehow betrayed, turning against the friend - so much that I thought, "Who would ever make this stuff up?"So finally I paused my reading and looked back at the bibliographic detail, and yes - Corvo (or Frederick Rolfe) really existed (and I'd never heard of him despite the amazing pieces of literature he crafted!) and the biography I was then reading had been written roughly eighty years ago. That explained so much!Given that I've never read a word of Corvo's, this was a remarkably engaging biography, with a turn towards the end straight out of a thriller. Definitely worth persevering with, and I'm glad to have read it (even though it took me quite a while!).

For personal reasons I wanted to find out more about the author of "Nicholas Crabbe" one Baron Corvo (really F. Rolfe) The novel was a hard read, and the product of a brilliant, but disturbed, man and the story line was unbelievably sad - yet by reading the book "The Quest for Corvo" we can see how true to life it all was. Symons' book (written so long ago) is a franck expose of one of the saddest creatures to walk the earth, yet despite this - or maybe because of it - his "experimental biography" is quite a compelling read.

This book (described as 'an experiment in biography') has been highly regarded for years, partly due to the extraordinary character it depicts & partly due to its account of the protracted & complex investigation carried out by its author. 'Baron Corvo', real name Frederick Rolfe aka 'Fr Rolfe' was the son of a Cheapside piano tuner who was dismissed from studying for the Roman Catholic priesthood & then led an impoverished picaresque life around Britain & latterly Venice, functioning variously as an author, artist, photographer, inventor, conman (& allegedly pimp for boys in Venice). He is best known for his wish-fulfilment fantasy 'Hadrian VII', in which a poor English Catholic with priestly aspirations becomes Pope & sets Europe to rights before being martyred. Rolfe's personality was clearly narcissistic & paranoid, leading him into repeated disputes & legal conflicts. It took much effort on the author's part to track down people who knew Rolfe & were prepared to share their experiences of him, but the result is an astounding portrait of a very odd & unsympathetic yet strangely fascinating man.

It’s astounding this masterpiece of a book was written in 1934 because even now I can think of only one other book of biographical literature that is so strikingly ground-breaking, so thrillingly compelling in its method of composition – Laurent Binet’s investigation of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich HHhH. There are similarities between the two books – most obviously how both authors forge an intimacy with their reader by narrating not only personal feelings about their subject but also making a kind of detective story of how they sought and found the necessary source material. It’s like we’re taken inside the process of writing biography.There’s no question Symons lucked out with his subject. Frederick Rolfe, also calling himself Baron Corvo, is like a fantastic character from Nabokov. His comic possibilities almost infinite. Rolfe was a failed painter, photographer, musician and priest before becoming a writer. He experienced his troubles and injustices, actual, threatened or imagined, as more relentless, taxing and dramatic than those of other people. Symons’ interest in him begins when a friend lends him one of Rolfe’s novels, Hadrian the Seventh. Symons is so bewitched by the novel that he wants to find out more about its author.Rolfe’s most passionate ambition was to become a Catholic priest. When he was thrown out of the Scots College in Rome due to “erratic behaviour” he never really recovered from his sense of injustice (toward the end of his life, he signed himself Fr. Rolfe, hoping to be mistaken for a priest) and the persecution complex that follows is without question his most compelling and defining trait. He has the persecution complex to end all persecution complexes. In his novel Hadrian the Seventh he exacts his revenge by appointing himself as Pope and slandering all his enemies, a method of revenge he will employ in all his future fiction. Basically if you get on the wrong side of Rolfe you’re going to be lampooned with brilliant flourishes of venomous wit in his next novel! Symons has an early stroke of luck when he procures a series of magazine articles in which a writer vents an incredibly detailed account of Rolfe’s misdemeanours while living in Aberdeen.Rolfe never has any money and is therefore dependent on patrons. But he is also convinced of his genius and so resentful that the world doesn’t provide him with a living. This grievance he will always take out on his benefactors. No matter how promisingly every new relationship begins you just know it’s only a matter of time before his paranoia kicks in and his vituperative tongue will begin lashing out. Of his many eccentricities one that always brings him into conflict with publishers is his refusal to use conventional spelling. There are many examples of this stubbornness in him, a couple that spring to mind being an insistence on spelling public publick and Cyprus Zyprus. No way will he stand down, even if it means scuppering the deal and returning to extreme poverty.Not that Rolfe consists only of comic flaws. He clearly has a rare insight into the medieval mind and a deep insightful feeling for Italian history – one of his books is a biography of the Borgias. He is also clearly charming when he wants to be. He ends his life in Venice, often reduced to sleeping on a boat and going without food for days on end.Symons’ final quest is to find Rolfe’s missing manuscripts, always ornately handwritten on expensive paper and in various coloured inks, as few of his books were published in his lifetime. Symons’ genuine love for Rolfe’s writing means there’s always a tender, sympathetic side to his portrait of Rolfe. Symons sees the comic charlatan in Rolfe but, thanks to his generosity of imagination he also sees genius and it’s this delicately balanced perspective that makes this such a riveting, hysterically funny and moving book. It’s also an awesome achievement how much material Symons managed to gather given that Rolfe was no more of a public figure than you or I at the time he set out on his quest. Rolfe works his consuming charm on Symons just as he bewitched all his patrons. But Symons was the only one he is unable to turn on and slander. And as a result finally a patron is free to help Rolfe get the recognition he deserves.

A fascinating literary detective story, which I can recommend. The author must have spent months on the research, and quite a lot of money. The subject of the book was an appalling human being. but a brilliant writer. Ironic that he died in poverty, while some at least of his books have never been out of print and one (Hadrian VII) has become an international best-seller, a stage play and a film.