Giants' Bread

At the glittering opening night of London's new National Opera House, Sebastian Levinne unveils The Giant, a radical futuristic opera of machinery, icy spectacle, and shattered-glass symbolism that leaves the audience thrilled, baffled, and scandalized. Critics sense that the unknown composer Boris Groen may be a genius ahead of his time, while Levinne hints at hidden truths he cannot reveal. Their conversation becomes a meditation on modern art, war's losses, and the real giant at the heart of the work: mankind itself, small yet magnificent, and costly to create. From that public triumph, the story turns inward to Vernon's childhood, where a stern nurse, a remote God, and an invisible companion named Mr. Green shape his first sense of the world. The nursery, the garden, and the mysterious Forest become landscapes of obedience, secrecy, and longing, even as family tensions, a mother's emotional collapse, and a father's distance teach him that adult life is unstable and full of contradiction. As Vernon grows, he is drawn into wider social circles and into the orbit of Jane Harding, a magnetic actress whose intelligence and emotional force unsettle him. Her chance at artistic destiny arrives through Herr Radmaager, while her direct, unsparing honesty forces Vernon to confront desire, ambition, and the sacrifices that come with both. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.