The Wild Goose Chase

The Wild Goose Chase, published in 1937 and Rex Warner's first novel, was a groundbreaking piece of fiction. The novel follows three brothers whose journey is a dazzling original political allegory of liberation through Marxism. While most socialist writing of the 1930s took the form of social realism or reportage, Warner broke with this tradition, drawing instead on surrealism, classical mythology, fairy tales, film, and popular genres of the time including Boys Adventure and science fiction. Its publication immediately secured Rex Warner's reputation as a major writer. In the novel, three brothers - Rudolph, David, and George - embark on a dangerous quest in search of the 'wild goose'. Their search takes them into a neighbouring country and they eventually arrive at a sealed-off town where the ruling dictators have enslaved the people and secured a life of privilege for themselves and a few harmless professors who teach at the town's university. Only George, the youngest brother, is able to stand up against the dictators, and he eventually leads a successful revolution against them.