The Sad and Curious Decline of Magnus Mills' Novels

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In 1998 I read Magnus Mills' The Restraint of Beasts and was in for a delicious novel, both full of philosophical depth as it presents a fable about capitalism that is unforced and full of the uncanny, both mysterious and familiar. The novel is deceptive, light and funny, but there is a demonic talon lurking beneath. With great anticipation, then, I read his next novel All Quiet on the Orient Express. No sophomore jinx here. The second novel was as satisfying as the first. Both novels feature a lugubrious unnamed narrator, half nincompoop and half Every Man, who languishes under forces he cannot control. Both novels take place in a very tactile, muddy, gritty world. Both novels are short, which I like, no more than 60,000 words. I think both have the qualities of a masterpiece, full of hilarious characters, mysterious, and having the quality of having written themselves. I'd give both novels an "A" grade. Then Mills' third novel Three to See the King, took a metaphysical turn, withdrawing from a real, tactile world and focusing on a fairy-tale like fable. Its satirical treatment of a false Messiah figure was eerie and mysterious, which I like, but its failure to produce a gritty world like its predecessors make me esteem it less. I'd give the novel a "B+/A-". Mills' next novel The Scheme for Full Employment seemed less like a novel and more like a cartoon outline. It was all concept and contained no detailed world. Nabokov said the great novelist creates a world that the reader has never before entered. Mill's fourth novel fails miserably on this count. Then Mills' fifth novel Explorers of the New Century seemed a notch above his fourth. However, it lacked compelling characters like he had created in his first three. Thus far I await Mills' sixth novel but I am skeptical. If Mills has lost his juju, I can forgive him. His first two novels are fun-to-read masterpieces for which I salute him grandly. 

Comments

[gerald johnson]

jeff, having only read the restraint of beasts and explorers of the new century, i frankly didnt have the chance to perceive the gradual dulling of mill's work. i thought the characters in new century were pretty well fleshed out, but again, having missed the follow up works to beasts, i kinda rode that good read high of his first effort into his last. i am definitly going to read the others in sequence. i hope you havent tainted me, i will try to be objective! keep up the good work man. i now do my coffee each morning to your site, way over here on johns island,sc!

[Jeff McMahon]

Thanks for the encouragement. The blog started slowly but now gets about 3,000 hits a week. Modest but at least growing.

I love Mills' first 3 novels. The magic was gone for me after that.