NUMBER: 106

Genre: Fiction; Origin: Australia; Pages: 150

Satisfaction rating: 8.0

OVERVIEW:

David Malouf’s imagination inhabits shocking violence, quick humor, appealing warmth and harsh cruelty with equal intensity. He shares tales of bookish boys, taciturn men and intimate stories of men and women looking for something they seem to have missed, or missed out on.

This is a comprehensive compilation of Malouf’s shorter work. Stories are set in the stark and challenging Australian interior and the more lush and mysterious coastal enclaves; others are set in Australia’s past. The youthful dreams, physical desires and mental despair of Malouf’s richly varied characters as they explore their place in the world are always moving and universal.

MATTHEW’S COMMENTS:

I love short stories as a medium, often the shorter the better, think Raymond Carver. That said, there is unfortunately one problem, they are hard to read on public transport and that is where I do most of my reading. No matter how good or bad there is nothing worse than having to bookmark a short story with only a page or two to go.

Nevertheless, I still find myself giving them a go every now and then. My most recent effort is the collected works of David Malouf, a much appreciated birthday present from my partner. I’ve heard many good things about Malouf’s shorts and this clutch of four collections was just the place to get started, I wasn’t going to let the train get in the way.

Prior to this I had read three of his novels and they have been a mixed bag – from the splendors of Remebering Babylon to the bleak An Imaginary Life with the enjoyable Johnno falling between. So it may come as not surprise I was unsure installment of the anthology was going to bring.

Every Move You Make is a collection of seven short stories originally published in 2006. Although I felt the momentum falter towards the end I have to level most praise for the opening 40-pager, The Valley of Lagoons. A wonderfully emotive coming of age tale that is equal parts dark and menacing while enveloped by a warm embrace.

If you are wanting comparisons I would immediately think of Tim Winton’s latest novel, Breath. Each share effortless prose and emotive themes of independence of youth, or growing boys to be precise. Surely, Malouf must have been, and still may be, an inspiration to Winton, I can also see parallels to The Turning.

For now that’s it, I’ll leave the other three collections for the time being, but it won’t be long until I return. Malouf has a unique Australian voice that I’m finding increasingly hard to resist.

FURTHER REFERENCES:

Read more on the Random House site.

Read more on wikipedia.

Last Modified :March 18th, 2009 Filed under : The Log: novellas Navigate : Previous post / Next post