A man travels to australias interior plains planning to make a film about the regions people and culture. It could be claimed and i am about to that gerald murnane s 1982 novel the plains has the most compelling opening in australian fiction. Each episode features a panel of authors, editors, publishers and critics. Gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding book the australian the plains are a vast place inhabited by wealthy landowners whose prime obsession seems to be preserving history by shaping from uneventful days in a flat landscape the. Murnanes boyhood was passed in a fervently catholic atmosphere, and murnane grew up thinking he might be a priest. The narrator, a filmmaker, arrives at the plains inner australia, the other australia the australia of mystery and spirit, you gatherin which the rugged individualists who make up its nearly feudal society seem to spend most of their energies in defining and redefining. I seem to have sensed from the first that to read fiction was to make available for myself a new kind of space. He essentially takes an existing country australia and reimagines its history or, at least, a history of a large part of it. His debut novel, tamarisk row 1974, was followed by nine other works of fiction, including the plains now available as a text classic, and most recently a million windows. The plains is parable, fable, allegory, analogue, mythology, and vision. On their vast estates, the landowning families of the plains have prese. He has won the patrick white award, the melbourne prize for literature, an adelaide festival.
Mild edge wear, particular to spine crown and corners and top edges. In the two decades since its first publication, this haunting novel has earned its status as a classic. Gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding book the australian. The plains, from gerald murnane is the feature of our august australian classics book club. The meaning of that text may be debated, but the text itself is a fixed entity. Watch the author talking about his book a million windows here. The plains, by gerald murnane gerald murnane is a most mysterious author of strangely seductive books, and im currently reading inland, first published in 1988 and now reprinted as part of the australian classics library. The case for gerald murnanes the plains the conversation. Foreword by andrew zawacki, editor of verse magazine. Aug 27, 2003 gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding book the australian. Like the world in which it is set, it eludes concise description, or, rather, any attempt to contain it fails to capture its rare and strange beauty. May 20, 2014 it could be claimed and i am about to that gerald murnanes 1982 novel the plains has the most compelling opening in australian fiction twenty years ago, when i first arrived on the plains.
He has created this large region of australia, essentially the geographical centre part, away from the coast, and created what amounts. He was recently treated for prostate cancer, and yet hes still the sprightliest person in the room. Oct 31, 2003 the plains is parable, fable, allegory, analogue, mythology, and vision. The plains an affordable boutique hardcover for murnane fans, featuring a new introduction by ben lerner. This is the first paragraph of a letter i wrote to gerald murnane in 2002. An author who retired long ago, then went on to produce his richest work. He has created this large region of australia, essentially the geographical centre.
I would suggest, in brief, that gerald murnane has written a firstrate, latterday gullivers travels books three and four. Quotes by gerald murnane i cannot recall having believed, even as a child, that the purpose of reading fiction was to learn about the place commonly called the real world. For the common reader and the scholar alike, the words of the title denote a text of about 35,000 words. Hed attended mass with his family every sunday since he was small and was much affected by his catholic upbringing. Reading landscape in gerald murnanes the plains exegesis. The narrator, a filmmaker, arrives at the plainsinner australia, the other australia the australia of mystery and spirit, you gatherin which the rugged individualists who make up its nearly feudal society seem to spend most of their energies in defining and redefining. Oct 04, 2018 the famous opening lines of gerald murnane s the plains might describe the authors own approach to his work as much as that of the storys unnamed narrator. He has been a primary teacher, an editor and a university lecturer. T he first gerald murnane book i read was the plains, originally published in 1982. Gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding bookthe.
The plains are the mind all right, but the plainsmen intellectuals. This is the story of the families of the plainsobsessed with their land and history, their culture and mythologyand of the man who ventured into their world. I first read the plains in 1985 and it had a profound effect on me. Jan 26, 2018 the australian writer gerald murnane is a man of profound contradictions. The australian writer gerald murnane was born in a suburb of melbourne, in 1939, and has spent his entire life in australia. It is also subtly satirical and often ingeniously funny. During his working life he was at various times an editor and a teacher, and at his retirement he was senior lecturer in fiction writing at deakin. Gerald murnanes the plains is a strange australian masterpiece. The latest addition to my website is gerald murnane s the plains. Two new books from australia, unconstrained by literary. My sentences are the bestshaped of any sentences written by any writer of fiction in. Text publishing the plains, book by gerald murnane. Aug 22, 2016 publisher and critic ivor indyk in converstation with the author gerald murnane.
First published in 1982, the plains is a mesmerising work of startling originality. Mar 27, 2018 murnanes books are strange and wonderful and nearly impossible to describe in a sentence or two. He is the author of thirteen works of fiction, including the internationally acclaimed novel the plains and most recently a season on earth, as well as a memoir, a collection of essays and a volume of poetry. Gerald murnane was born in melbourne, australia, in 1939. He is the author of eleven works of fiction, including tamarisk row, the plains, inland, barley patch, a history of books, a million windows, and border districts, and a collection of essays, invisible yet enduring lilacs. Jul 25, 2018 t he first gerald murnane book i read was the plains, originally published in 1982. I picked it up out of curiosity, and was immediately drawn in.
A short novelette by australian murnane, allegorical in intent, very drawnout and parchingly dry in execution. Giramondo publishing murnane says it would be a mistake to think he worked out how he wanted to. He essentially takes an existing country australia and reimagines its history or. At the time i was a 27yearold writer wondering if there was any new australian literature i was ever going to like, let. Is the next nobel laureate in literature tending bar in a. His debut novel, tamarisk row 1974, was followed by ten other works of fiction, including the plains and most recently border districts. The plains, by gerald murnane anz litlovers litblog.
The plains by gerald murnane 2017, hardcover for sale. Gerald murnane didnt think highly of his father and wonders whether, had the parent been more settled, the son might have written more books. His novel the plains, first published thirtyfive years ago and. He spent part of his childhood in country districts in the state of victoria but returned to melbourne in 1949 and has never since left. Jun 18, 2018 border districts a fiction by gerald murnane 2 pp. This a superb novel from murnane, best described as a fable, about the huge central area of australia called the plains, which seems to be run by some very rich and powerful barons who seem to be combination of texan cattle barons and european feudal lords. The plains 1st edition, first printing gerald murnane. I only came across it because my australian publisher sent it to me in 2016, along with a few other books. Gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding bookthe australian. Gerald murnanes the plains is a strange australian. Mar 29, 2017 the australian writer gerald murnane was born in a suburb of melbourne, in 1939, and has spent his entire life in australia.
Unpriced, dust jacket second state as firststate dust jacket was discontinued during first printing shows minimal wear. Jul 05, 2016 for six months in his eighteenth year, gerald murnane believed he would be a priest. Jul 06, 2017 the plains, first published in 1982, and now reissued as a ben lernerintroduced classic by the melbourne publisher text editions, begins in a large town, on a certain afternoon, with its narrator among the labyrinths of saloon bars and lounges on the ground floor of the largest hotel in the town. If it doesnt, murnane may not be the writer for you. The plains could be seen as the perfect novel for readers, because you can, within reason, pretty much make of it what you will. Shirley hazzarddeeply mysterious yet grounded in familiar, everyday detail, this novel is an. For me, the text of the published work is sometimes far from my attention when i respond to the sound or the sight of the title the plains. Sep 20, 2018 gerald murnanes border districts was shortlisted for the 2018 miles franklin award. The experience of reading the plains by gerald murnane is similar to viewing a shifting mirage or experiencing a dream. There is no book in australian literature like the plains. Gerald murnane born 25 february 1939 is an australian writer, perhaps best known for his novel the plains 1982. Twenty years ago, when i first arrived on the plains, i.
Last november i visited gerald murnane where he lives in the very small town of goroke in western victoria. Drawing on the tradition of the utopian novel, the plains describes with varying degrees of irony the lives of the plainsmen they are mostly. Oct 01, 2003 gerald murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in australia today and the plains is a fascinating and rewarding book the australian. Apr 04, 2018 the plains is also an unusual work for murnane. After his third novel, the plains, a fablelike story reminiscent of italo calvino. Gerald murnane was born in 1939 in the victorian suburb of coburgthe resemblance to prousts beloved cabourg is intriguingjust old enough to remember the war years and grow up during the 1950s. Australian classics book club the australian classics book club is a monthly exploration of australian writing. The new york times, in a big feature published on 27 march 2018, called him the greatest living englishlanguage writer most people have never heard of. His first two books, tarmarisk row 1974 and a lifetime on clouds 1976, were comingofage novels that drew on the authors upbringing in a. Tamarisk row, the plains, border districts the stinging fly.
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