The Tree of Man
The old buildings and the new grain storage tanks signify generations on the land. Australia's first and only Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Patrick White (1912-1990), wrote of these experiences in what some consider his greatest novel: The Tree of Man (1955).
patrickwhitecatalogue.com/novels/tree/
I remember studying Patrick White in high school literature classes in the 1970s, just after he'd been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973. It was often jokingly said (but with a grain of truth) that he was Australia's greatest unread novelist. Sadly, that statement is even more true today. lithub.com/on-patrick-white-australias-great-unread-novel...
But then that is true of most quality literature in this almost post-literary age. The book and literature remains the essential lifeblood of culture however, as it was long ago for the Greeks with Homer. Americans spent much of the 20th century looking for the "great American novel". And perhaps Patrick White's The Tree of Man comes close to that in Australian terms. The only writer I consider in his category of literary importance in the past 70 years of Australian writing is David Malouf, to whom White was a great mentor and friend. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Malouf
In the case of White and Malouf, the key elements are a deep understanding of the historical currents that shape a culture, and an intuitive sense of the poetic.
But let me conclude with a memory of Patrick White - the man. I once heard him speak in 1983 at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. He packed out the largest lecture theatre and addressed what he considered the most critical issue of the day: Nuclear Disarmament. Patrick White inspired us that day, not because he was obsessively political. But as a man of passion who spoke of a deep sadness at how the world that once imagined greatness like Homer, could be reduced to shrilled rats in a cage fearful that one of the superpowers would drop the bomb.
I will never forget that speech as long as I live. Here was a man proving why literature is still important and that we dismiss it at our eternal peril. We are now entrusted to care for the very land our ancestors passed down to us. Let us not fail in that duty.
The Tree of Man
The old buildings and the new grain storage tanks signify generations on the land. Australia's first and only Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Patrick White (1912-1990), wrote of these experiences in what some consider his greatest novel: The Tree of Man (1955).
patrickwhitecatalogue.com/novels/tree/
I remember studying Patrick White in high school literature classes in the 1970s, just after he'd been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973. It was often jokingly said (but with a grain of truth) that he was Australia's greatest unread novelist. Sadly, that statement is even more true today. lithub.com/on-patrick-white-australias-great-unread-novel...
But then that is true of most quality literature in this almost post-literary age. The book and literature remains the essential lifeblood of culture however, as it was long ago for the Greeks with Homer. Americans spent much of the 20th century looking for the "great American novel". And perhaps Patrick White's The Tree of Man comes close to that in Australian terms. The only writer I consider in his category of literary importance in the past 70 years of Australian writing is David Malouf, to whom White was a great mentor and friend. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Malouf
In the case of White and Malouf, the key elements are a deep understanding of the historical currents that shape a culture, and an intuitive sense of the poetic.
But let me conclude with a memory of Patrick White - the man. I once heard him speak in 1983 at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. He packed out the largest lecture theatre and addressed what he considered the most critical issue of the day: Nuclear Disarmament. Patrick White inspired us that day, not because he was obsessively political. But as a man of passion who spoke of a deep sadness at how the world that once imagined greatness like Homer, could be reduced to shrilled rats in a cage fearful that one of the superpowers would drop the bomb.
I will never forget that speech as long as I live. Here was a man proving why literature is still important and that we dismiss it at our eternal peril. We are now entrusted to care for the very land our ancestors passed down to us. Let us not fail in that duty.