Remembering Babylon: A Novel (Man Booker Prize Finalist)

The writing of David Malouf is always poetic, full of sensation and unique perspective. This makes him a joy to read, for he brings the reader to their senses with his vibrant evocation of smells, tastes, touch, and sound. Whereas we grow so accustomed to reading novels where plot and character development are the two primary concerns of the author, Malouf takes a different strategy. He enhances both plot and character development with dreamlike forces of nature and society and environment that act upon both the plot and character to such an extent that these forces become dominant themes. This is certainly the case in Remembering Babylon where fear of the unknown becomes a major force that captures every character and entraps them in their thoughts and social interactions and consequences of their thoughts, words, and deeds. It is also a book about identity, claiming identity, inheriting identity, developing identity, and losing identity. Jemmy, a London street child, cleaning under sawmills at age 5, is a cabin boy at thirteen, set adrift in the Pacific by sailors who fear his fever. He lands on the northern shore of Australia and for sixteen years survives as a fringe outsider to a tribe of Aborigine nomads. When he hears about white people his interest is peaked and he soon tries to locate them and live with them. But he is the `other', an outsider that never fits the community mould of these suspicious struggling Scottish pioneers who fear the unknown Aborigines and fears that Jemmy will somehow increase their vulnerability. Janet, the child of pioneers who take Jemmy into their home, is perceptive and intelligent and finds her life work among the first bee keepers in Australia. She experiences the pain that fear can cause in a community and even in her senior years, as a scientist nun with a study of bee sign language, she is again introduced to the effects of fear on the fabric of a community. Such a novel may frustrate some readers for characters talk past other characters, never really understanding or making connections. Malouf portrays this chronic world of misunderstanding with accuracy and pathos. In his books we see that we humans never really know each other, we have difficulty getting past our own projections and the projected defenses and masks of our contacts. We are vulnerable to the forces of fear which act like a contagion and spread quickly in human society. We have very few resources and defenses other than common sense which often fails in the face of fear, and compassion, which is a private solution in the face of public fear. Jemmy evokes fear in many of the farmers and compassion in a few. It is this mystery of human life that Malouf explores with such exquisite penetration and which makes him a joy to read.

I put off writing this review, because of worrying that I couldn't do justice to the book. This short, tight novel is like an archeological site, with many layers of richness, all of them disturbing but satisfying. The story is about early settlers in Australia, and the arrival of a white man who had spent the previous 16 years living amongst the Aborigines. He had been tossed off a ship, and saved by the natives, who graciously shared their lives with him. The novel asks both personal and sociological questions, such as: * What is most important to prejudiced people -- race or culture? * How do "civilized" people cope with the terror of wilderness during colonization? * Why do men automatically assume superiority over women? * How does fear morph into immoral, wicked behavior? Malouf's brilliance lies in his ability to get into the minds of his characters, and interpret even the most subtle glance or gesture. His language is so poetic that I kept wanting to underline phrases or sentences. He understands the irrationality of being a human being, and how people succumb to lesser behavior when they know better. And the clarity with which he portrays relationships is amazing. Perhaps the best thing about this novel is that it speaks the languages of anthropology, history, psychology and spirituality all at once. I want to learn more about the author, and read more of his books, right away.

This book tells the story of a British "wild man" who has lived among indigenous people for many years and unexpectedly stumbles into a community of Australian pioneers. Like a stone thrown into a still pond, the arrival of this native man changes the relationships between people in the community, exposing both the beauty and the ugliness of human nature. The book is very short, with the first nineteen chapters carefully building up the inner journeys and interactions of each character, portrayed with great subtlety and depth. However, unexpectedly, in the twentieth chapter, the story jumps fifty years forward and quickly wraps up. It is a pity that the characters, whom so much time had been spent developing, are not fully concluded. Despite this, the book’s portrayal of each character's psychological shifts is very realistic and sharp, making it worth a thoughtful and close read. ****(*)

I am a fan of Malouf's work and I have always found him very insightful. This book was no different, but it finished too quickly for me. I felt there was a section missing that would really help me absorb the themes and message of this novel.

A brilliant book. A classic and well-worth reading, though emotionally hard at times. A powerful story of how our culture has treated other cultures and minority people in the past will hopefully shed light on how we treat people so badly today.

Ben fatto esteticamente (margini giusti e caratteri chiari) al contrario di The Great World impossibile da leggere senza farsi venire un’emicrania per la bassissima qualità di stampa

Baratisímo! Libro de segunda mano, casi como nuevo excepto por varias de las páginas del principio que tenían anotaciones pero que no molestan en la lectura. Repetiré sin duda!

Interesting book bought as a gift and friend enjoyed, as did I.

Interessante ma non il mio genere, dubito che lo rileggerò mai.