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It began to rain and I suggested we should run for shelter. 'Let's just get wet,' Gretl said.
'Never go on a long journey with a saint,' Vicky said. 'What would you have to talk about? But with a sinner like me - just think of all the interesting conversations we could have along the way.'
'I haven't met many Australians,' Tess said. 'But you appear to be terribly energetic.'  'Have I beguiled you?' Julie asked. |
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On the Fairsky he meets a Wise Old Mentor in the shape of Len, a middle-aged Jewish mathematician and Holocaust survivor. Len outlines The Quest by quoting Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne believed that happiness is obtained by overcoming feelings of cultural, intellectual and sexual inadequacy.
Nick’s journey among women begins.
TESS is a forty-year-old Jewish woman with a wild sensuality. From Tess Nick discovers carnal pleasure but also a sense of emotional complication.
JULIE is an English girl obsessed with Celtic mythology. Sexual desire to her is a celebration of the natural world. She is expert at romantic game-playing, masquerade and fantasy. Nick realizes that in his quest to become a Realist and accept the harsh realities of existence he has foolishly discarded his playful boyhood imagination.
GRETL is a dark-haired Afrikaner beauty. Wilful and unobtainable. With Gretl he lives through the pain of obsession and romantic love and learns the folly of seeking the sublime in a human being.
VICKY is prickly, perverse, vulgar, a bitch – but more than she seems. In many ways she offers the most challenging relationship. She knows about the darker parts of the heart.
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At twenty Nick has curiosity, a certain self-deprecating sense of humour and a love of books. But his life lacks romance and adventure. Like the legend of Parsifal, he wants to shed his homespun garments for the shining trappings of a knight. He embarks for London.