The Pathless Country by James Harpur

It is Sunday and as I have the day to myself, I thought I would tell you about the book I have enjoyed reading for the past couple of weeks. It is called The Pathless Country, the debut novel by an Irish writer James Harpur published in 2021. James was born in 1956 and resides near Clonakilty in County Cork. He is best known as a poet, having won many awards for the eight volumes of poetry published prior to this novel. If you have read this blog page for a while you will know that I am an admirer of the Indian spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti. In 1929 when Krishnamurti dissolved the Order of The Star in The East which had set him up as the new ‘messiah’ he famously said, ‘I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect’. This is what drew me to reading this book because when reading Krishnamurti’s entry on Wikipedia it said that he is featured as a character in James Harpur’s novel The Pathless Country. K isn’t the only famous person to appear in the book, some of the most notable figures of British and Irish society in the early 20^th century walk across the pages of this book.

Painting by Degas

The central protagonist is a young carpenter from Galway Patrick Bowley the son of Joe a Quaker, and Bridie a Catholic. Joe experiences mystical visions such as whilst working at Tullira Castle the home of playwright and republican Edward Martyn he is transfixed by a painting of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas which has a profound effect on him. He also has a brief romantic encounter in a Galway church with Nora who later becomes the partner and muse of James Joyce. Patrick eventually moves to London to live with his aunt Faith who is influenced by theosophy and the suffragette movement. After attending a talk by the socialist and theosophist Annie Besant at the Queens Hall Patrick and Faith have a chance encounter with Jiddu Krishnamurti and his brother Nitya. This leads to a friendship and regular correspondence between Patrick and Jiddu. In London he also meets Agnes who becomes the love of his life. Later, back in Ireland he visits Achill Island and encounters the painters Grace & Paul Henry. I first thought they were fictitious characters, but on investigation I found they were real artists of repute.

Painting by Grace Henry.

The first world war arrives and Ireland is in turmoil. Irish soldiers are dying in their thousands fighting for the British Empire, while at home people like Padraig Pearse are making fiery speeches demanding independence from Britain. In the north the unionists under Edward Carson are preparing to fight to stay with Britain. Militias are training for war throughout the country. Agnes’s husband Dominic is killed fighting in France, Agnes and Patrick are now free to marry. Due to Patrick’s Quaker sensibilities and the influence of Krishnamurti he believes violence is not the way forward and he begins giving speeches appealing for unity. This gets him in trouble with the British authorities and the Irish republicans. Finally, he and Agnes set off across Ireland on a pilgrimage of peace. The book reaches its gripping climax when they arrive in Dublin on the eve of the Easter Rising 1916. I won’t tell you anymore because you also might like to read this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it because James Harpur has a poet’s eye for detail. There are some wonderful descriptive passages of the Irish landscape and people.  If you are interested in such subjects as spirituality, philosophy, art, poetry, or Irish history then I think you might enjoy this book as well.