**Henry Green's first novel, and the book that began his career as a
master of British modernism
Blindness--*Henry Green's first novel, begun while he was still at Eton
and finished before he left university--is the story of John Haye, a
young student with literary airs. It starts with an excerpt from his
diary, brimming with excitement and affectation and curiosity about life
and literature. Then a freak accident robs John of his sight, plunging
him into despair. Forced to live with his high-handed, horsey stepmother
in the country, John begins a weird dalliance with a girl named Joan,
leading to a new determination. Blindness is the curse of youth and
inexperience and love and ambition, but blindness, John will discover,
can also be the source of vision.