This strangely marvellous story enthralled me. I would never have thought of bringing mythology to life in the present day. For a Tasmanian it must be very unsettling to think of encountering unseen powers and beings in their everyday environment. To me, even the setting and the natural history were weird and wonderful so that suited the unexplainable elements of the story.
The language is rich and poetic without losing touch with reality. Descriptions of people, places and events are vivid, atmospheric and sensuous.
Some parts of the plot are unbelievable and yet oddly logical. We have all experienced aspects of this in our dreams and nightmares. The way all the characters we have met in the different scenes and episodes are gradually shown to have connections with one another is rather satisfying; it reminded me of Louis Sachar's Holes.
Robbie Arnott admits "I have made up a lot of strange things here. It's all I know how to do." This is a debut novel so we'll have to see what develops next.
The language is rich and poetic without losing touch with reality. Descriptions of people, places and events are vivid, atmospheric and sensuous.
Some parts of the plot are unbelievable and yet oddly logical. We have all experienced aspects of this in our dreams and nightmares. The way all the characters we have met in the different scenes and episodes are gradually shown to have connections with one another is rather satisfying; it reminded me of Louis Sachar's Holes.
Robbie Arnott admits "I have made up a lot of strange things here. It's all I know how to do." This is a debut novel so we'll have to see what develops next.