A review by leventmolla
Piracy; a romantic chronicle of these days, by Michael Arlen. 1923 [Leather Bound] by Michael Arlen

3.0

This is a somewhat interesting novel by Michael Arlen, or Dikran Kuyoumjiyan. Born of Armenian parents in Bulgaria, he has emigrated to England and has used the pen name Michael Arlen, later adopting the name legally as well. He has written several satirical romances, as well as gothic horror and psychological thrillers. This book is one of his romances.I had mixed feelings about the novel. It starts with a detailed description of a little street and restaurant in London (nearby Soho), named Mont Agel. After a description of the owner Mr. Stutz, his wife and some of the customers, the narrative jumps to a Mr. Ivor Pelham Marlay, a young man sitting at a table on the evening of May 1st, 1921. He has lost an arm in the Great War seems to be depressed, having done nothing significant during the day.Early reflections of the young man's thoughts and his dialogue with other people gives the reader the impression that this is one of the Lost Generation (although this epithet is usually spared for American writers of the 20s who were struggling to find meaning in an absurd world after the 1st World War).However, once we finish the Prologue in which we get introduced to the restaurant and the protagonist, we are confronted with a narrative that makes us doubt whether the mindset of Marlay has anything to do with the war. He has been a young man, well before the War, with no apparent goal in life. He is expected to go to Oxford for his education (and can afford it) but he does not want to do it. He is expelled from high school for a silly reason and as such stops all discussion of Oxford, disappointing his aunt Moira.The rest of the book is about his attempts to find his direction in life, struggling with the fact that he really has no ambition, does not want to work and he has no clue what to do.His relation with several women is also indicative of the shallowness of some of the aristocrats of English Society in early 20eth century. Most married women have been left to do whatever they wish by their estranged or indifferent husbands and they spend all their time giving or going to a party and engaging with men, with almost no limits in their relationships as long as they do not cause a scandal. I struggled through the three "books" and 35 chapters of the novel in which Marlay moves from the lovely Mrs. Gray to the War, then back to London and so on... The narrative is flowing if somewhat verbose and the tone is sometimes entertaining. Although somewhat using a similar carefree atmosphere for its characters and portraying them with the same features as in Fitzgerald's books, for example, I did not necessarily get the feeling about a justifiable cause for the characters' behaviour throughout the book, except for an intrinsic decadence of English aristocracy, if that is what Arlen tries to portray.Arlen has also been on the Time magazine cover in May 1927 (with his original name).The author has included a note that there will be a sequel narrating further adventures of Ivor Marlay, but that seems to have never been realized.

As for the title “Piracy”, I have no clue. The word is not to be found in the book apart from the title.

His son Michael J. Arlen wrote an award-winning book, Passage to Ararat, where he investigates his Armenian origins, whereas Michael Arlen has kept clear of his Armenian origins on general.
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