The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary

Joyce Cary wrote two trilogies, or 'triptychs' as he later called them, and both are Faber Finds. The first comprises Herself Surprised (1941), To Be a Pilgrim (1942) and The Horse's Mouth (1944). The Horse's Mouth is a portrait of an artistic temperament. Its protagonist, Gulley Gimson, is an impoverished painter who scorns conventional good behaviour. If a bad citizen, he is a good artist, so wholly preoccupied with his art that he is willing to endure any privation. For Gulley there is but one morality: to be a painter. 'Joyce Cary is an important and exciting writer... To use Tennyson's phrase, he is a Lord of Language ... if you like rich writing full of gusto and accurate original character drawing, you will get it from The Horse's Mouth.' John Betjeman, Daily Herald

- Google

The 900th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 20th on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
  2. - 89th on The 100 Greatest British Novels (BBC)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
The Horse's Mouth (Penguin Books #648) Paperback 768837 $15.53 1961
The Horse's Mouth (First Trilogy) Paperback 254860 $19.79 $4.44 2009
The Horse's Mouth Hardcover 1843447 $22.99 $23.45 1984
The Horses Mouth Hardcover 2936979 $0.01
The Horse's Mouth Hardcover 3862709 $70.00 $0.24
Horse's Mouth Hardcover 879885 $2.25 1944
The Horse's Mouth Hardcover 4070189 $4.65
The Horse's Mouth Mass Market Paperback 9492863 $9.99
Horses Mouth Mass Market Paperback 1408082 $2.97 $0.41
The Horse's Mouth Paperback 5443809 $1.99
The Horse's Mouth Hardcover 4392124 $469.54 $14.95
The Horse's Mouth (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback 1150097 $11.99 $1.99 1999
The Horse's Mouth (First Trilogy Book 3) Kindle Edition 222711 $3.99 2020
The Horse's Mouth Paperback 833437 $16.99 $17.53 2020
The Horse's Mouth Mass Market Paperback 1482939 $45.97 $0.01
Horses Mouth Paperback 2585542 $34.98 $0.01 1982
The Horse's Mouth Kindle Edition 439200 2016