The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 14 January 2015
by Edward St. Aubyn
Have we given up on the New Age? It was a world of mysticism, spirituality, Eastern philosophies, yoga, tantric sex, crystals, tarot, and on and on and on. In the cynical age of the Internet (or is it the credulous age of conspiracies?), it seems that the New Age was a simpler time of dreamy personal growth, the Human Potential Movement. Is it still around? Of course it is. This brilliant novel, like a New Age Canterbury Tales, in which Canterbury is the Esalen Institute on California's Big Sur coast, brings us into the lost and searching environment of the New Age. With an improbably large number of characters for a book of modest length, author St. Aubyn looks upon their spiritual quest with a jaundiced eye, but also with a remarkable compassion that enlivens the story and provides the reader sympathetic ground on which to stand. Peter is searching for Sabine, a German woman with whom he had a three-day fling. She dreamed of visiting Findhorn and Esalen and, when Peter decides that he was really in love with her, he leaves his job and goes looking for her in these unlikely places. His search is more physical than spiritual. And yet, Peter's skepticism is challenged by the warm and nurturing atmosphere of Findhorn. This passage in the book convincingly skewers the New Agey lingo and saucer-eyed spirituality, but Peter is seduced by the community feeling, he finds himself slowly drawn to the earnestness of the residents and visitors of this alternative community. The author seems to be saying to us, "yes, it's weird and touchy-feely, but maybe there is something worthwhile here, too." And the reader, too, is drawn into the possibility. There are many other stories here, while Peter's quest is the central story. We see people come to Esalen from different places, different backgrounds, and different goals. Some of them are puerile, others sincerely spiritual. Both are transformed by the experience. Peter catches glimpses of enlightenment while wondering if the experience is real or just fantasy. His discovery of meditation is described at length and with a note of hope. St. Aubyn's compassion for all of these characters, their flaws and desires, their need to escape from suffering, drives the overall tone of the book. It is often very funny, sometimes a little preachy, very warm and even hopeful. In the end, many of the characters end up in a weekend Tantric sex workshop, the climax (if you will) of the novel. The results vary, from comic to erotic, silly to spiritual. The story arc is gentle, the goal uncertain. St. Aubyn is taking us to the New Age and letting us wonder if it is all that starry-eyed and silly as we so often think. And yet the New Age seems distant, still. This reader couldn't help but place this story in the late 1970s or early 80s, though there were plenty of clues that is was meant to be closer to the 1998 publication of the book. Highly recommended.