''In Watermelon Sugar'' is an American
postmodern
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...
post-apocalyptic novel
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
by
Richard Brautigan
Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...
written in 1964 and published in 1968.
Set in the aftermath of a fallen civilization, it focuses on a
commune organized around a central gathering house which is named "i
DEATH". In this environment, many things are made of
watermelon
The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...
sugar (though the inhabitants also use
pine wood and stone for building material and fuel made from trout oil). The landscape of the novel is constantly in flux; each day of the week has a different colored sun which creates different colored watermelons, and the central building also changes frequently. The novel's narrator, who is left unnamed, claims to be writing an investigative book on his experiences at i
DEATH. Its first-person narrative is sparse and
minimalist, granting the novel a detached and alien quality.
Plot
Through the
narrator
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
's first-person account, we learn the story of the people and the events of i
DEATH. The central tension is created by Margaret, once a lover of the narrator, and in
BOIL, a rebellious man who has left i
DEATH to live near a shunned area called the Forgotten Works, a huge trash heap where the remnants of a former civilization lie abandoned in great piles. Margaret, a collector of such "forgotten things", is friendly with in
BOIL and his followers, who explore the place and
make whiskey.
in
BOIL's separation from the group may have been related to the annihilation of the tigers, killed many years previously by the people. It is not clear to the reader whether the tigers were actual
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
s, human beings or somehow
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
: they killed and ate people, including the narrator's parents, but they could also talk, sing, and were at least competent with
arithmetic
Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that deals with numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms.
...
. Two tigers were killed on a bridge known later as the "abandoned" bridge. The last tiger was killed on a spot later developed into a
trout hatchery.
In the violent climax of the novel, told in retrospect after the fact, in
BOIL returns to the community along with a handful of followers, planning, he says, to show the residents what i
DEATH really is. The residents know only that something is about to happen. After leading members of the community to the trout hatchery, in
BOIL and his followers commit suicide, dismembering their faces with jackknives. Margaret appears oblivious to the threats, and unconcerned about the safety of her family and friends. Many suspect that Margaret knew and did not reveal details of in
BOIL's real plan, thus "conspiring" with the evil men. She is semi-ostracized from i
DEATH. At the beginning of the novel the narrator reveals that he ended their relationship because of these events.
Interpretations
The concept of i
DEATH is subject to various interpretations. It can be seen as a new
Eden in a
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
world, with the old destroyed world represented by the Forgotten Works, connecting the narrator and his new lover to
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
. The novel alludes to communal experiments of the 1960s, involving the intersection of nature and technology. For example, the i
DEATH building seems to have been constructed around nature, rather than displacing it; the building houses many trees, rocks, a creek, and a trout hatchery. Brautigan himself said he based the book on his life in
Bolinas, whose inhabitants were at that time known for their semi-communal and insular ways.
In a 1992 assessment of the novel, literary critic Patrick Morrow wrote: "It is possible to give an ironic reading to ''In Watermelon Sugar'', but this would entail a psychological interpretation of the fable, and fables are traditionally black and white — issue-directed, not motivation- and character-directed." The novel is considered a work of
postmodern
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...
fiction. Literary critic Carolyn Kelly commented on the novel's setting, writing:
Indeed, the perfected world of this novel does not work. Brautigan's silence speaks loudly as he presents what seems to be a parody of the pastoral. This society may represent what modern man might wish it to be—an answer to or a substitute for the mechanistic, profit-seeking, inhumane world of social and moral decadence in which he finds himself, but the distortion in the new society is also obvious and just as unattractive. Viewing this book, then, as a parody of the pastoral
The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
, one might consider the ideas that are implied by the silence and attempt to determine what Brautigan's attitude is toward this "perfect" society.
Allusions in other works
''In Watermelon Sugar'' is referenced in
Ray Mungo
Raymond A. Mungo (born 1946) is an American author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books. He writes about business, economics, and financial matters as well as cultural issues.
In the 1960s, he attended Boston University, where he ser ...
's book on his experiences founding and running the Total Loss Farm commune in Vermont. He speaks of i
DEATH several times.
Stephen Gaskin, who wrote that he felt an "acid weird" and "strange mythology" in the book, may have based some aspects of
The Farm commune in Summertown, Tennessee on i
DEATH.
The titles and characters are also used as lyrics in a song by
new rave
New rave (also typeset as nu-rave, nu rave or neu rave) is a genre of music described by ''The Guardian'' as "an in-yer-face, DIY disco riposte to the sensitive indie rock touted by bands like Bloc Party." It is most commonly applied to a Brit ...
band
Klaxons
Klaxons were an English Rock music, rock band, based in London. Following the release of several Gramophone record, 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick (Klaxons song), Magick ...
in their song "Forgotten Works", that features on their album ''
Myths of the Near Future''.
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case ( ; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case's singing voice has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a pow ...
references this book as the inspiration for her song "Margaret versus Pauline" on the album ''
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood''.
The setting of the novel is also referenced in the song "The Tigers" by the band Goodbye Kumiko. i
DEATH is also briefly referenced in the "New Traveler's Almanac" section of ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a multi-genre, cross-over comic book series co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The comic book spans four volumes, an original graphic novel, and ...
'' Volume 2.
''In Watermelon Sugar'' is also referenced multiple times in the
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and sati ...
novel, ''
One Door Away from Heaven'', by an important secondary character who believes, in her near-constant drug-soaked haze, that she would unlock the secrets of the universe if she could only understand this book properly.
The main character of the 1998
Wally Lamb novel ''
I Know This Much Is True'' reads and references ''In Watermelon Sugar'' throughout the novel.
Harry Styles
Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture.
Styles's musical ca ...
shared, during a February 2020
Tiny Desk Concert, that a copy of the book inspired the title of his song "
Watermelon Sugar
"Watermelon Sugar" is a song by English singer-songwriter Harry Styles from his second studio album ''Fine Line (Harry Styles album), Fine Line'' (2019), included as the album's second track. Styles wrote the song with Mitch Rowland and the so ...
".
References
Notes
Sources
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Further reading
*
*
External links
*
In Watermelon Sugarat
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
{{Richard Brautigan
1968 American novels
American novellas
American post-apocalyptic novels
Experimental literature
Novels by Richard Brautigan
Postmodern novels
Books with cover art by Edmund Shea
First-person narrative novels