King Midas: a Romance

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

4923

Title

King Midas: a Romance

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Upton Sinclair's romantic retelling of the King Midas legend weaves a tale of forbidden love, spiritual crisis, and transcendent faith. Set against lush natural backdrops and punctuated by classical music references, the narrative explores the transformative power of devotion and the terrifying cost of losing one's soul to despair.

Summary up to 500 words

In Upton Sinclair's *King Midas: a Romance*, the narrative unfolds in a lush May forest where the young man Arthur anxiously awaits his childhood sweetheart, Helen. Their reunion is abruptly interrupted by a violent storm, shifting the focus to Helen's home, where she lives with her father and her fiancé, David. David is a man of intense, almost fanatical faith who struggles with dark thoughts regarding his own mortality and Helen's spiritual vulnerability. Following a period of deep emotional intimacy, David suddenly collapses and dies. In his final moments, he reveals his impending death and urgently warns Helen that grief is a 'crime.' He implores her to cling to her faith to avoid spiritual ruin, urging her to fight for her soul before he passes. Overcome by terror and the memory of his dying words, Helen musters a supernatural strength to suppress her overwhelming grief. She embraces a terrifying yet magnificent vision of the divine, realizing that her faith has saved her from despair. She recounts seeing God's glory, understanding that life is a battle to maintain the sacred power David possessed. Consecrated by this experience, she resolves to fight alongside Arthur for a spiritual prize. A week after David's death, Helen, though pale and hollow-eyed, tells Arthur that she has won this internal battle. She describes the vision she witnessed as a 'demon force' that freed her from fear and evil. She interprets her survival as a victory, feeling as though she had won David's soul from death itself. Now filled with a 'fearful consecration,' she declares that she and Arthur must fight together to win the 'prize of God,' viewing their lives as a struggle to uphold the infinite glory and truth that David died to protect.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction