The Plains

by Gerald Murnane, Wayne Macauley

Overview

Winner of the Patrick White Literary Award, 1999. Introduction by Wayne Macauley.

There is no book in Australian literature like The Plains. In the two decades since its first publication, this haunting novel has earned its status as a classic.

A nameless young man arrives on the plains and begins to document the strange and rich culture of the plains families. As his story unfolds, the novel becomes, in the words of Murray Bail, 'a mirage of landscape, memory, love and literature itself'.

Gerald Murnane was born in Melbourne in 1939. He has left Victoria only a handful of times and has never been on an aeroplane. His first novel, Tamarisk Row, was published in 1974, and was followed by seven other works of fiction, most recently, Barley Patch. He has also published a collection of essays, Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs (2005). In 1999, Gerald Murnane won the Patrick White Award. In 2009 he won the Melbourne Prize for Literature.

Wayne Macauley is the author of three novels, Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe (2004), Caravan Story (2007) and The Cook (2011), and the short fiction collection Other Stories (2010). He lives in Melbourne.

textclassics.com.au

'Murnane is quite simply one of the finest writers we have produced.' Peter Craven

'A distinguished, distinctive, unforgettable novel.' Shirley Hazzard

'Gerald Murnane is unquestionably one of the most original writers working in Australia today and The Plains is a fascinating and rewarding book...The writing is extraordinarily good, spare, austere, strong, often oddly moving.' Australian

'A piece of imaginative writing so remarkably sustained that it is a subject for meditation rather than a mere reading...In the depths and surfaces of this extraordinary fable you will see your inner self eerily reflected again and again.' Sydney Morning Herald

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781921921872
Publisher:	The Text Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/26/2012
Series:	Text Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	52,325
File size:	672 KB

About the Author

GERALD MURNANE was born in Coburg, a northern suburb of Melbourne, in 1939. He spent some of his childhood in country Victoria before returning to Melbourne in 1949 where he lived for the next sixty years. He has left Victoria only a handful of times and has never been on an aeroplane.

In 1957 Murnane began training for the Catholic priesthood but soon abandoned this in favour of becoming a primary-school teacher. He also taught at the Apprentice Jockeys’ School run by the Victoria Racing Club. In 1969 he graduated in arts from Melbourne University. He worked in education for a number of years and later became a teacher of creative writing.

In 1966 Murnane married Catherine Lancaster. They were to have three sons. His first novel, Tamarisk Row, was published in 1974, and was followed by seven other works of fiction, most recently, Barley Patch. He has also published a collection of essays, Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs (2005).

In 1999, Gerald Murnane won the Patrick White Award. In 2009 he won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. In the same year, after the death of his wife, Murnane moved to Goroke in the north-west of Victoria.
GERALD MURNANE was born in Melbourne in 1939. He has left Victoria only a handful of times and has never been on an aeroplane. His first novel, Tamarisk Row, was published in 1974, and was followed by seven other works of fiction, most recently, Barley Patch. He has also published a collection of essays, Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs (2005). In 1999, Gerald Murnane won the Patrick White Award. In 2009 he won the Melbourne Prize for Literature.
WAYNE MACAULEY is the author of three novels, Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe (2004), Caravan Story (2007) and The Cook (2011), and the short fiction collection Other Stories (2010). He lives in Melbourne.

Read an Excerpt

Twenty years ago, when I first arrived on the plains, I kept my eyes open. I looked for anything in the landscape that seemed to hint at some elaborate meaning behind appearances.

Editorial Reviews

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 substance of myth.’ A film-maker arrives to record aspects of their heritage, discovering symbols, stories and parables that transcend spiritual, political or cultural purposes; even the rugged patriarchy of their world is somehow illusory. Deeply mysterious yet grounded in familiar, everyday detail, this novel is an alchemical miracle, converting vision into pure narrative. A stunning achievement . . .”—Debra Adelaide, Sydney Morning Herald

From the Publisher