In Watermelon Sugar

Infobox Book
name = In Watermelon Sugar


image_caption = Front cover of "In Watermelon Sugar".
author = Richard Brautigan
country = United States
language = English
genre = Novella
publisher = Four Seasons Foundation
release_date = June 14, 1968
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 138 pages
isbn = ISBN 1-131-52372-5
preceded_by = Trout Fishing in America (1967)
followed_by = Revenge of the Lawn (1971) "In Watermelon Sugar" is a novella written by Richard Brautigan published in 1968. It is a surreal tale of a small community organized around a central gathering house which is named "iDEATH". In this environment, many things are made of watermelon sugar — the inhabitants also use pine wood and stone for building material. The landscape of the novel is always changing. Each day has a different colored sun which creates different colored watermelons, and the central building also changes frequently.

Plot summary

The narrator remains un-named throughout the book, and through his first person account we hear the story of the people and the events of iDEATH. The central tension is created by Margaret, once a lover of the narrator, and inBOIL, a rebellious man who has left iDEATH to live near a forbidden area called the Forgotten Works. It is 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 inBOIL and later suspected of 'conspiring' with him, although the exact nature of the conspiracy is never revealed. In the violent climax of the novel, inBOIL returns to the community along with a handful of followers, and commits suicide by cutting himself to death saying "I am iDEATH." showing the residents what iDEATH really is.

Some critics believe the book to be about a new Eden in a post-apocalyptic world: the old destroyed world is represented by the Forgotten Works. The narrator and his lover Pauline become the new Adam and Eve in a new paradise. Some believe the novel to be about communal experiments in the 1960s. Some believe the novel to be a 20th century look at the pastoral, involving the intersection of nature and technology (for example, the iDEATH 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.

Allusions/references from other works

"In Watermelon Sugar" is referenced in Dean Koontz's "One Door Away from Heaven" and Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much Is True". The titles and characters are also used as lyrics in a song by new rave band Klaxons in their song 'Forgotten Works', that features on their album "Myths of the Near Future". Neko Case references this book as the inspiration for her song 'Margaret versus Pauline' on the album "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood". iDeath is also briefly referenced in the "New Traveler's Almanac" section of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2.

Characters in "In Watermelon Sugar"

* Narrator: The main character in the story is an un-named narrator who recounts the events that occur at iDEATH.

* Margaret: Margaret is a woman who is a part of iDEATH and was the ex-lover of the main character. Margaret likes to spend time at the Forgotten Works and searches for forgotten and rare things there. Near the end of the novel, Margaret is accused of conspiring with inBOIL. After many accusations toward her, she commits suicide by hanging herself.

* inBOIL: inBOIL is a rebellious man who left iDEATH with five other men to live in at the Forgotten Works. inBOIL doesn't like what iDEATH has become and has hated the new society of iDEATH for many years. inBOIL and his gang have resided in the Forgotten Works area for many years and spend time drinking whiskey. inBOIL commits suicide in front of the people at iDEATH saying "I am iDEATH," claiming that he is showing the people what iDEATH really is.

* Pauline: Pauline is a woman at iDEATH who is having an affair with the main character in the story. Pauline spends most of her time at iDEATH and cooks, cleans, and lives at iDEATH.

* Fred: Fred is the best friend of the main character in the novel and is a part of iDEATH. Fred lives in a shack in the Watermelon Works and works on a bridge there.

* Charley: Charley is another friend of the narrator and also the brother of inBOIL. Before inBOIL leaves iDEATH, he and Charley have a big fight at dinner.

* Old Chuck: Old Chuck is a 90-year-old man who is a part of iDEATH. He lights the lanterns on the real bridge and the abandoned bridge every night then extinguishes them every morning. Old Chuck moves very slowly, and he lives at iDEATH.

* Tigers: Tigers used to live in the Watermelon Works and the Forgotten Works before they were all killed by the people of iDEATH. The tigers are only mentioned in flashbacks and past memories that the main character has throughout the story. The tigers killed the narrator's parents when the narrator was nine but they spared him because they said "We're not going to hurt you. We don't hurt children." The people of iDEATH took all the tigers captive and killed them because they were harming the people of iDEATH.

External links

* cite web
last = Barber
first = John F.
date = 21 July 2006
url = http://www.brautigan.net/watermelon.html
title = "Novels > In Watermelon Sugar"
work = Brautigan Bibliography and Archive
accessdate = 2008-05-05