Part I Summary

'The Journey to the East" is a mystical novel telling of a strange secret league of artists, philosophers, writers and others that transcends time and space, and is engaged in a meandering "journey" that seems to have no concrete destination. The narrator of the tale is H.H., a member of the league who starts out on this journey with a group of other members but eventually departs from the group after becoming disillusioned. Many years later, he rediscovers the League and attempts to rejoin it. He is brought before a court of League members and confronted with his transgressions for deserting the League on the Journey. He is taken back into the League and shown the secret of his own place within it.

The novel opens with the narrator, H.H., declaring his intention to describe the fantastic Journey undertaken...