UPDIKE, JOHN — The Centaur

New York, Fawcett Crest. 1964, First Pbk.Ed. Pbk. Book, "The story concerns George Caldwell, a school teacher, and his son Peter, outside of Alton (i.e. Reading), Pennsylvania. The novel explores the relationship between the depressive Caldwell and his anxious son.. One thing George and Peter share is the desire to get out, to escape their hometown. Updike drew on the myths of antiquity in an attempt to turn a modern and common scene into something more profound, a meditation on life and man's relationship to nature and eternity. George is both the Centaur Chiron and Prometheus (some readers might see George's son Peter as Prometheus), Mr. Hummel, the automobile mechanic, is Hephaestus (AKA Vulcan); and so forth. The novel's structure is unusual; the narrative shifts..from describing the characters as George, Vera, and the rest, to the Centaur, Venus, and so forth" Neat tight copy. Very Good +.