Australian Novels - Book Club Favourites
October 31st 2006 19:28
Image: Allen&Unwin
It would seem my library book group have been leaning heavily towards the Australian novel this year with the completion of yet another one. White Earth by Andrew McGahan is set in rural Australia during the 1980’s Mabo debate. Young 8 year old William finds himself used as a pawn by his widowed mother and distant uncle in a family struggle of homestead survival. As with Kate Grenville’s Secret River, which we read earlier this year, it is a great novel depicting both sides of the rural conflict for land. It was agreed by most of our readers that it was interesting to read a novel that dealt with a history of our time. We were all aware of Mabo when it was happening, but most of us could not relate to the issue at the time, and of course it has recently returned in Western Australia.
We all found the characters to be realistic, even if William appeared to be a little too insightful for his 8 years. Sue suggested that the second half of the book was much more intriguing than the first half and Viti agreed. She felt the vocabulary was not elevated (say, to a Malouf level) enough to completely keep her interest, whereas Tera thought his description of the Australian bush was beautifully done and I had to agree with her. I found it simple and understated in a countrified way. Something Australians are very good at.
Anne loved its history, people, symbolism and social justice issues – and it got extra points for the map! We didn’t get too deep with this book as I think we could all clearly see the picture the author was painting. I did think it interesting that Nancy and Denise both commented on the women in the story and their ineptness. This was not meant to be anything other than an observation, but clearly an interesting one as it brought us to the discussion of depression in rural areas and its impact. This then moved on to the drought, isolation and the many hardships of staying on the land. A discussion could go many ways with this book, making it perfect for book clubs, as there are also opportunities in the indigenous and spiritual corners.
We score our books – 1 (being the lowest) to 10 (the highest) and these ran from 4 to 8, so it looks to be in a tight run with Secret River in the popularity stakes for our group. White Earth won the Miles Franklin Award last year, so if you have an interest in Australian fiction, it really is a must read.
Postscript : If you want to experience what could be called ‘cross-writing’ by an author, read McGahan’s Praise. This novel is on another plane all together.
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