David Malouf Dies Aged 92

Hello Gentle Reader,

David Malouf, one of the great Australian literary statemen has died at the age of 92. Best remember for his Booker Prize shortlisted novel “Remembering Babylon,” which captured the essence of Malouf’s literary themes, a clash of oppositional worlds and forces. In the case of “Remembering Babylon,” it is the colonial history of Australia and its Aboriginal inhabitants, bringing for questions of belonging, the nature of exile, the abject shock and horror of displacement, and the loss of a promised land. Written in Malouf’s sensuous and luxurious prose, the kind of prose writers used to aspire to. Prose that was worked at, full bodied in perspective and composition, allowing readers to appreciate the amount of kneading chiseling the writer had put into the sentences; not stripped down to a freshly flensed raw bone. David Malouf remains in many ways one of those rare writers. Whose eloquent and elegant language never worked to conceal a lack of depth or capacity for storytelling. Malouf was in continual philosophical inquiries with regards to memory and its expansive influence on individuals, but in terms of identity but also personal history; the experience of time as a component of human nature, an understanding that we age and decline; the intersection between natural landscape and personal character, how the natural world and upbringing influences ones character, in this Malouf celebrated the Australian landscape; while also being a writer who was acutely aware of the interior world of his character, teasing at their consciousness as the prism in which experience is filtered, categorized and understood. Malouf’s ability to capture the language of feeling separated him from younger generations of writers, who have all but abandoned the interiority in favour of external action and reactions. Captured in a language that is neither full bodied or eloquent in execution, but rather dry, calcified and anorexic. Though, David Malouf’s prose was not always appreciated. While an accomplished poet before turning to the novel, Malouf’s debut “Johnno,” was decried by critics and battered fiercely about in the literary circles. Though it found praise from Patrick White, and in due spread via word of mouth, leaving readers to make up their own minds about the coming age story of two youth’s growing up in Brisbane in the war time and postwar years. “An Imaginary Life,” does just that, imagines the final years of the exiled Ancient Roman poet Ovid; while the novel “Ransom,” retold and reimagined parts of the “Iliad,” on style and cue, David Malouf has always proven himself to be a masterful prosaist, capable of exploring the human condition and consciousness through a variety of lens, settings, be it autobiographical, historical or mythic. Beyond novels and poetry, David Malouf wrote essays, short stories, a memoir and libretti (including an operatic adaption of Patrick White’s “Voss,”). Australia has lost one of its great literary statesmen, David Malouf was an exceptional writer.

Rest in Peace, David Malouf.

Thank you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read

M. Mary