Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (1993, HC) 1st Print VG w/Protective Cover
$ 10.56
Description
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (1993, HC) 1st Print VG w/Protective Cover. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific Region). The book in your image is Remembering Babylon, a 1993 post-colonial novel by acclaimed Australian author David Malouf. This specific cover belongs to the Pantheon first US edition.The novel is highly regarded for its lyrical prose and its exploration of the complex, often violent, encounter between European settlers and Indigenous Australians in the mid-19th century.Story SummarySet in a remote 1840s settlement in northern Queensland, the story begins when Gemmy Fairley, a white man who was shipwrecked as a boy and raised by Aborigines for sixteen years, "stumbles" back into European society. Gemmy's return disrupts the small community of white settlers, who are fascinated but also deeply terrified by his "otherness" and his connection to the Indigenous world. The narrative follows the McIvor family, who take him in, and the varying reactions of the community as they grapple with their own prejudices and fear of the unknown.Key ThemesIdentity and Hybridity: Gemmy exists between two worlds, challenging the rigid colonial definitions of race and "civilization".Colonialism and Dispossession: The novel critiques the settlers' belief in their right to seize land and their deep-seated racism and xenophobia.Language and Communication: Malouf explores how language can both connect and isolate people; Gemmy, having forgotten much of his English, embodies the struggle to express identity across cultural boundaries.Nature and the Land: The Australian landscape is portrayed as a mystical, living force that resists colonial control.Awards and RecognitionThe book was an international success and received several prestigious honors:Winner of the inaugural International Dublin Literary Award in 1996.Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific Region).
