The Dead Seagull
by .Farrar, Straus and Young, S2.50.
Since it is for poetry, and exceptionally good poetry, that Mr. Barker is noted, it is not surprising that his brief and tragic novel is written with the imagery, symbolism, economy, and intensity of the poet. This is not to say that The Dead Seagull is a “poetical” novel. Rather it is a dramatic, brooding, and often powerful exploration of the moral enigmas involved in loving and in being loved, in which Mr. Barker considers the concept of original sin and the contradictions in sacred and profane love, and draws a partisan conclusion that the greatest human catastrophe is love itself.