Greetings from the West! I read The white earth at Xmas time and actually visited the Darling Downs at the time - serendipitious. I thought the opening was very powerful, with the death of the father and the isolation of the boy - and the countryside!. The sense of place - more of "country" - is well drawn throughout the book (though it seemed a bit hilly for the darling downs). The other powerful theme is the huge liability of being heir to a "dynasty" and the expectations of all the participants. The concept of ownership of the land is also interesting.
Don't you think he's moved on a bit from Praise? His world is still pretty bleak and dark but I guess the characters have more depth - though not necessarily more maturity.
I'll be interested to hear what everyone else thinks.
3 comments:
Thanks Carmel for the response - good to see that you could post a proper message. I haven't started reading yet. I say Andrew McGahan on the Sunday program after he won the Miles Franklin talking about the book - lots of footage of the land, which appeared to be notably flat!
We read Praise for the book group, suggested by Ros and she claims she has never suggested another book. Not true. And anyway, it was a very successful bookgroup book. Specially if we are still talking about it years on.
Still awaiting a library copy.
Looking forward to reading this one.
At the meeting today there was a general opinion that 'The White Earth' is a good but flawed novel. Flawed by some of the characterisation and exaggerated events - but perhaps they suit the Gothic intent and are driven by the ideas.
Recommended.
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