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Gilgamesh: A Novel
This is a magnificent book, a story of encounters and escapes, of friendship and love, of loss and acceptance. It is full of sparely depicted but fully fleshed characters and the wide sweep of history.
It is 1937. On a tiny farm in the town of Nunderup, in far southwestern Australia, seventeen-year-old Edith lives with her sister Frances and their mother, a beautiful woman who lives mostly in her own mind after the sudden death of Frances and Edith's father. One afternoon two men, Edith's cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend Aram, arrive-taking the long way home from an archaeological dig in Iraq. Among the tales they tell is the story of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh's great journey of mourning after the death of his friend Enkidu, and his search for the secret of eternal life, is to resonate throughout Edith's life, opening up the possibility of a life beyond the hardscrabble farm life of her village. When they leave, Leopold to return to London and Aram to Armenia, the house feels suddenly empty and Edith misses them fervently.
Two years later, in 1939, Edith sets out on a journey of her own, bringing with her the young son she and Aram conceived, whom he does not know about. Motherhood has clarified Edith-she has become single-minded, unwilling to swerve from her path, no matter what social mores or practical limitations are put in her way. When she is sent to a birthing house to bear Jim, and believes they plan to adopt him out against her will, she sneaks out at dawn and takes him home. She raises him alone, under her sister's disapproving eye and despite the patronizing of Madge Tehoe, her employer at the Sea House hotel. When Madge's brother-in-law Ronnie comes to visit, he tells Edith how easy he has found it to make a life traveling around the world. She finds out how much she'd need to get started, and begins hoarding tips and quietly stealing small sums and useful objects from guests and the hotel.
Edith believes that if she can get to Armenia, she and Aram will find each other. She catches a ship to London, where she gets to know Irina, Leopold's mother. Leopold himself is off at another dig. Irina tries to dissuade her from going to Armenia, but soon Edith boards the Orient Express in Paris for Armenia. On board, she and Jim are curiosities-a single woman and a toddler, traveling alone. A wealthy old man known only, famously, as Mr. Five Percent (for the five percent share he has in various aspects of Armenia's international trade), attempts to seduce her in his compartment, but she escapes and is befriended by Hagop, a textile trader who was made partially lame when his music school was bombed in a dispute between Armenian nationalists and the secret police. Hagop elects himself as Edith's traveling companion, negotiating her into Armenia despite her lack of a visa, and finding her transport and a place to stay in Yerevan, the capital. She moves into the apartment of a famous Armenian poet, an old blind woman known only as Tati, and becomes her caretaker. Hagop and his wife Nevart, a beautiful, caustic pianist embittered by the ending of her career and being put in a wheelchair by the same explosion in which Hagop was injured. Edith remains in Yerevan, enrolling Jim in school, working herself hard caring for Nevart and Tati, enjoying Hagop's companionship, and once sleeping with a nightclub owner named Manouk. Her responsibilities are eased when Nevart begins singing and playing piano at a hotel nightclub for an audience of Russian soldiers, and eventually moves into the hotel full-time. But in January 1943, things start to become more dangerous-Germany and Russia are locked in combat, and Yerevan is increasingly tense with informers and surveillance.
In the first months of 1944 Nevart kills herself, and simultaneously Hagop informs Edith and Jim they must leave, that they are no longer protected from the secret police. He picks them up on the street the afternoon of Nevart's funeral (they did not attend for fear of informers), and puts them in a car with Manouk's cousin, who drives them to the border. On the other side is Leopold. He takes them across Iraq to Syria, elaborating on the Gilgamesh story he had told Edith so many years before, and near Aleppo he installs them in the same orphanage Aram was taken to after his family was killed in the Turkish genocide. As Leopold's Jeep leaves the orphanage, there is an explosion, and Edith and Jim receive word that a British Jeep was blown up by a mine. Edith writes to Irina and receives no answer. They wait there, grieving and listening to news of D-Day and the Russian Front, until finally in April 1945, a year after their arrival in Aleppo, Edith and Jim catch a ride with an Australian transport of soldiers and begin the long journey home. They arrive a year and a half later.
Much has changed in Edith's years of travel. Her "sin" is no longer so glaring now that she has lived beyond iiiiiit, e...
It is 1937. On a tiny farm in the town of Nunderup, in far southwestern Australia, seventeen-year-old Edith lives with her sister Frances and their mother, a beautiful woman who lives mostly in her own mind after the sudden death of Frances and Edith's father. One afternoon two men, Edith's cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend Aram, arrive-taking the long way home from an archaeological dig in Iraq. Among the tales they tell is the story of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh's great journey of mourning after the death of his friend Enkidu, and his search for the secret of eternal life, is to resonate throughout Edith's life, opening up the possibility of a life beyond the hardscrabble farm life of her village. When they leave, Leopold to return to London and Aram to Armenia, the house feels suddenly empty and Edith misses them fervently.
Two years later, in 1939, Edith sets out on a journey of her own, bringing with her the young son she and Aram conceived, whom he does not know about. Motherhood has clarified Edith-she has become single-minded, unwilling to swerve from her path, no matter what social mores or practical limitations are put in her way. When she is sent to a birthing house to bear Jim, and believes they plan to adopt him out against her will, she sneaks out at dawn and takes him home. She raises him alone, under her sister's disapproving eye and despite the patronizing of Madge Tehoe, her employer at the Sea House hotel. When Madge's brother-in-law Ronnie comes to visit, he tells Edith how easy he has found it to make a life traveling around the world. She finds out how much she'd need to get started, and begins hoarding tips and quietly stealing small sums and useful objects from guests and the hotel.
Edith believes that if she can get to Armenia, she and Aram will find each other. She catches a ship to London, where she gets to know Irina, Leopold's mother. Leopold himself is off at another dig. Irina tries to dissuade her from going to Armenia, but soon Edith boards the Orient Express in Paris for Armenia. On board, she and Jim are curiosities-a single woman and a toddler, traveling alone. A wealthy old man known only, famously, as Mr. Five Percent (for the five percent share he has in various aspects of Armenia's international trade), attempts to seduce her in his compartment, but she escapes and is befriended by Hagop, a textile trader who was made partially lame when his music school was bombed in a dispute between Armenian nationalists and the secret police. Hagop elects himself as Edith's traveling companion, negotiating her into Armenia despite her lack of a visa, and finding her transport and a place to stay in Yerevan, the capital. She moves into the apartment of a famous Armenian poet, an old blind woman known only as Tati, and becomes her caretaker. Hagop and his wife Nevart, a beautiful, caustic pianist embittered by the ending of her career and being put in a wheelchair by the same explosion in which Hagop was injured. Edith remains in Yerevan, enrolling Jim in school, working herself hard caring for Nevart and Tati, enjoying Hagop's companionship, and once sleeping with a nightclub owner named Manouk. Her responsibilities are eased when Nevart begins singing and playing piano at a hotel nightclub for an audience of Russian soldiers, and eventually moves into the hotel full-time. But in January 1943, things start to become more dangerous-Germany and Russia are locked in combat, and Yerevan is increasingly tense with informers and surveillance.
In the first months of 1944 Nevart kills herself, and simultaneously Hagop informs Edith and Jim they must leave, that they are no longer protected from the secret police. He picks them up on the street the afternoon of Nevart's funeral (they did not attend for fear of informers), and puts them in a car with Manouk's cousin, who drives them to the border. On the other side is Leopold. He takes them across Iraq to Syria, elaborating on the Gilgamesh story he had told Edith so many years before, and near Aleppo he installs them in the same orphanage Aram was taken to after his family was killed in the Turkish genocide. As Leopold's Jeep leaves the orphanage, there is an explosion, and Edith and Jim receive word that a British Jeep was blown up by a mine. Edith writes to Irina and receives no answer. They wait there, grieving and listening to news of D-Day and the Russian Front, until finally in April 1945, a year after their arrival in Aleppo, Edith and Jim catch a ride with an Australian transport of soldiers and begin the long journey home. They arrive a year and a half later.
Much has changed in Edith's years of travel. Her "sin" is no longer so glaring now that she has lived beyond iiiiiit, e...
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2000
109 people are currently reading
1420 people want to read
About the author
Joan London
26 books113 followersJoan London is an Australian author of short stories, screenplays and novels.
She graduated from the University of Western Australia having studied English and French, has taught English as a second language and is a bookseller.
She lives in Fremantle, Western Australia, with her husband Geoff.
Joan London was the youngest of four sisters.
A baby boomer, she and her husband, Geoff, did the mandatory trip across Asia and were very attracted to the "internal revolution" that involved dropping out of society and making a new utopia in the country.
"We were very idealistic about it and had several attempts at it. Once we were with a couple who broke up, so that all collapsed. Another time we bought some land with a group of people, but we all fell out about what we wanted to do. We never built more than a shed on the land, then we had to sell it."
For about a year, they lived in a little cottage in the country, pursuing the simple life. Their first child was born there, and Geoff, an architect, became a trainee potter.
"But we hated it! You have to have practical skills, the right nature, a lot of resources. You have to really enjoy growing things and be able to fix things. All the skills I haven't got - and neither has my husband. We had to find out the hard way."
[The Age - 5 April 2008]
She graduated from the University of Western Australia having studied English and French, has taught English as a second language and is a bookseller.
She lives in Fremantle, Western Australia, with her husband Geoff.
Joan London was the youngest of four sisters.
A baby boomer, she and her husband, Geoff, did the mandatory trip across Asia and were very attracted to the "internal revolution" that involved dropping out of society and making a new utopia in the country.
"We were very idealistic about it and had several attempts at it. Once we were with a couple who broke up, so that all collapsed. Another time we bought some land with a group of people, but we all fell out about what we wanted to do. We never built more than a shed on the land, then we had to sell it."
For about a year, they lived in a little cottage in the country, pursuing the simple life. Their first child was born there, and Geoff, an architect, became a trainee potter.
"But we hated it! You have to have practical skills, the right nature, a lot of resources. You have to really enjoy growing things and be able to fix things. All the skills I haven't got - and neither has my husband. We had to find out the hard way."
[The Age - 5 April 2008]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
November 20, 2024
Leo Tolstoy observes that ‘all great literature is one of two stories; a man (sic) goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.’ In ‘Gilgamesh,’ both occur.
I last paid a visit to this quiet, beautifully written novel in 2014, for an English course called Journeys through Place and Time.’ But, as with London’s two other recently reread novels, it has a different movement and resonance now with its underlying sense of unease and fragility.
I last paid a visit to this quiet, beautifully written novel in 2014, for an English course called Journeys through Place and Time.’ But, as with London’s two other recently reread novels, it has a different movement and resonance now with its underlying sense of unease and fragility.
August 31, 2021
4.5★
This was an unusual reading experience for me because I read about Edith’s epic journey from privation in pre-WW2 Western Australia through England to Armenia, and then attempting to escape TO Aleppo in Syria to safety!
I’m writing this as Syria is in desperate straits, bleeding refugees from its borders whenever they can find a way out. Aleppo is a place people are fleeing from.
I was also reading Quicksilver by Nicolas Rothwell, which is six essays about (among other things) the connections he sees between today’s Australian culture, ancient Aboriginal culture and that of the Europe from which the colonists came. Between current politics, historical fiction and philosophical essays, I feel like I’m developing a peculiarly individual view. (I feel lucky!)
Back to Edith. Her father never really recovered from ‘his’ war, WW1, and her English-born mother, whom he met when she came to visit soldiers in hospital, never really recovered from the life he led her into.
He doesn’t last long, so Edith and her sister, Frances, who share one pair of shoes, work barefoot on the family’s miserable excuse for a farm. When the returned soldiers drew lots, her father drew one with a terrific view but with hard soil and icy winds blasting up from Antarctica.
The view won’t keep them warm or fed, but the guest hotel nearby is at least a source of some work for Edith (and the one pair of shoes).
Her mother lives for the annual Christmas letters from her sister in England, and Edith and Frances chuckle over pictures of their cousin, Fat Leopold as they call him. Then one day, when Edith is in her late teens, not-so-fat-anymore Leopold shows up with a young Armenian friend, Aram, and they move in.
“Men filled a house, she thought, and yet these ones trod gently, stood back for the women, calling them all by name. ‘Edith’, they said, ‘Frances, ‘Aunt Ada, ‘Madame’, a gleam of alertness in their eyes.
She thought of small courtesies from Aram, turned them over one by one in her mind. A plate passed to her first, a smile, a tap on her arm, all the more thrilling because he spoke so little. Signs of secret favour.”
The young men are political, and Leopold talks a lot, asks questions and tells stories. Edith feels embarrassed and ignorant. Leopold tells them the story of Gilgamesh, who travelled the world to find his friend. He always carries the small book with him. Aram is quieter, grew up in an orphanage and learned to be wary.
They feel like family, and the night before the men are leaving, they go to a dance in the Hall. (If you've never been to a dance in a country hall, you haven't lived.)
“The hall was lit by hurricane lamps. Couples of all ages shuffled through sawdust strewn across the floor. On the stage a woman in a hat was thumping out ‘The Pride of Erin’ on a piano, her hands firm and capable as if she were kneading bread. An old man in a bow tie timidly dabbed at some drums. The clarinetist had paused to tip the spit out of his instrument. Aram and Edith slipped into the circle of dancers like swimmers into a river. Children threaded their way between couples, or sat on the edge of the stage.”
The inevitable happens and Edith is left with a fatherless son. Her mother is becoming demented, her sister is becoming decidedly odd, and she’s itching to go. She pilfers enough stray garments from the hotel so that she has at least one of each item of clothing in her father’s old Globite case, she packs up Jim, and off they head to Aunty Irina in London and thence, like Gilgamesh, on a quest to find Aram.
I’d say it’s an unbelievable trek, but sadly, it’s not. People are doing it harder now. She is a pretty young woman (only 19!) who attracts just enough sympathy to be helped. She is in Armenia when war breaks out and then, as I said earlier, hopes to find safety in Syria.
I enjoy London’s writing. Descriptive without being heavy-handed.
“X had never seen a face like Y’s before. So pale and serious and exposed. . .
But something seemed to have rinsed out the blood from Y’s skin, chiselled her bones, bleached her eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a long stringy tail between her shoulder-blades. Her red-knuckled hands looked flayed. She didn’t talk of everyday matters. She sounded as if she were reciting poetry all the time.”
An interesting story that deserved being short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award in 2002.
This was an unusual reading experience for me because I read about Edith’s epic journey from privation in pre-WW2 Western Australia through England to Armenia, and then attempting to escape TO Aleppo in Syria to safety!
I’m writing this as Syria is in desperate straits, bleeding refugees from its borders whenever they can find a way out. Aleppo is a place people are fleeing from.
I was also reading Quicksilver by Nicolas Rothwell, which is six essays about (among other things) the connections he sees between today’s Australian culture, ancient Aboriginal culture and that of the Europe from which the colonists came. Between current politics, historical fiction and philosophical essays, I feel like I’m developing a peculiarly individual view. (I feel lucky!)
Back to Edith. Her father never really recovered from ‘his’ war, WW1, and her English-born mother, whom he met when she came to visit soldiers in hospital, never really recovered from the life he led her into.
He doesn’t last long, so Edith and her sister, Frances, who share one pair of shoes, work barefoot on the family’s miserable excuse for a farm. When the returned soldiers drew lots, her father drew one with a terrific view but with hard soil and icy winds blasting up from Antarctica.
The view won’t keep them warm or fed, but the guest hotel nearby is at least a source of some work for Edith (and the one pair of shoes).
Her mother lives for the annual Christmas letters from her sister in England, and Edith and Frances chuckle over pictures of their cousin, Fat Leopold as they call him. Then one day, when Edith is in her late teens, not-so-fat-anymore Leopold shows up with a young Armenian friend, Aram, and they move in.
“Men filled a house, she thought, and yet these ones trod gently, stood back for the women, calling them all by name. ‘Edith’, they said, ‘Frances, ‘Aunt Ada, ‘Madame’, a gleam of alertness in their eyes.
She thought of small courtesies from Aram, turned them over one by one in her mind. A plate passed to her first, a smile, a tap on her arm, all the more thrilling because he spoke so little. Signs of secret favour.”
The young men are political, and Leopold talks a lot, asks questions and tells stories. Edith feels embarrassed and ignorant. Leopold tells them the story of Gilgamesh, who travelled the world to find his friend. He always carries the small book with him. Aram is quieter, grew up in an orphanage and learned to be wary.
They feel like family, and the night before the men are leaving, they go to a dance in the Hall. (If you've never been to a dance in a country hall, you haven't lived.)
“The hall was lit by hurricane lamps. Couples of all ages shuffled through sawdust strewn across the floor. On the stage a woman in a hat was thumping out ‘The Pride of Erin’ on a piano, her hands firm and capable as if she were kneading bread. An old man in a bow tie timidly dabbed at some drums. The clarinetist had paused to tip the spit out of his instrument. Aram and Edith slipped into the circle of dancers like swimmers into a river. Children threaded their way between couples, or sat on the edge of the stage.”
The inevitable happens and Edith is left with a fatherless son. Her mother is becoming demented, her sister is becoming decidedly odd, and she’s itching to go. She pilfers enough stray garments from the hotel so that she has at least one of each item of clothing in her father’s old Globite case, she packs up Jim, and off they head to Aunty Irina in London and thence, like Gilgamesh, on a quest to find Aram.
I’d say it’s an unbelievable trek, but sadly, it’s not. People are doing it harder now. She is a pretty young woman (only 19!) who attracts just enough sympathy to be helped. She is in Armenia when war breaks out and then, as I said earlier, hopes to find safety in Syria.
I enjoy London’s writing. Descriptive without being heavy-handed.
“X had never seen a face like Y’s before. So pale and serious and exposed. . .
But something seemed to have rinsed out the blood from Y’s skin, chiselled her bones, bleached her eyes. Her hair was pulled back into a long stringy tail between her shoulder-blades. Her red-knuckled hands looked flayed. She didn’t talk of everyday matters. She sounded as if she were reciting poetry all the time.”
An interesting story that deserved being short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award in 2002.
March 25, 2021
I was poking around previous years of the Stella Prize longlists for suggestions of female Australian writers to read during the Australia/New Zealand month for the Read the World challenge that I'm participating in in Instagram. (Even though I have access to a few books from the current year's lists, it is more common that books starting out in Australia take a solid year or two to end up available in the states, if ever.) I kept encountering an author I had never read or heard of - Joan London - and picked her earliest novel available to me through the library, this one.
It starts with Russian sisters who emigrate to London after the revolution. One marries and moves to Australia, where she has two daughters. When the daughters are almost grown and it is the brink of World War II, their cousin comes for a visit with his friend from Armenia. This as a storyline sounds... eh, it doesn't sound that interesting. But Joan London writes the landscape (southwestern Australia) well alongside the characters who live in areas such as this, and captures the heightened tensions worldwide since various characters travel to at least three regions. I couldn't put it down and read the entire book in a day. I can't wait to return to this author.
It starts with Russian sisters who emigrate to London after the revolution. One marries and moves to Australia, where she has two daughters. When the daughters are almost grown and it is the brink of World War II, their cousin comes for a visit with his friend from Armenia. This as a storyline sounds... eh, it doesn't sound that interesting. But Joan London writes the landscape (southwestern Australia) well alongside the characters who live in areas such as this, and captures the heightened tensions worldwide since various characters travel to at least three regions. I couldn't put it down and read the entire book in a day. I can't wait to return to this author.
February 8, 2023
4.5★ - this book exceeded my expectations. I've added another of the author's books to my TBR on the strength of this one.
In 2002 Gilgamesh, which is Joan London's debut novel, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and was selected as The Age Book of the Year for Fiction, but I didn't know anything about it until 2013 when it was reviewed on ABC TV's First Tuesday Book Club https://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesda.... Although I remember how strongly it captured my interest, it then took another 8 years to pick it up and read it. Not my first reading regret, nor my last, I'm sure. The thing that really stands out to me about this book is that it's unlike any other Australian book I can think of. For such a small book (my edition is only 256 pages) it is enormous in scope and in heart.
It's not a full 5-star read for me, as I found Frank and Ada's section at the start of the book a little dull and slow. But that's just one, short chapter and once their daughters are grown, it really takes flight.
In 2002 Gilgamesh, which is Joan London's debut novel, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and was selected as The Age Book of the Year for Fiction, but I didn't know anything about it until 2013 when it was reviewed on ABC TV's First Tuesday Book Club https://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesda.... Although I remember how strongly it captured my interest, it then took another 8 years to pick it up and read it. Not my first reading regret, nor my last, I'm sure. The thing that really stands out to me about this book is that it's unlike any other Australian book I can think of. For such a small book (my edition is only 256 pages) it is enormous in scope and in heart.
It's not a full 5-star read for me, as I found Frank and Ada's section at the start of the book a little dull and slow. But that's just one, short chapter and once their daughters are grown, it really takes flight.
December 4, 2013
Even living here, the thing that’s easy to forget about Australia is how vast and empty it really is. Once you leave the noise and crowds of the cities and towns on the coast Australia just opens up, this massive, terrifying, beautiful wilderness. In Gilgamesh, Joan London captures this feeling perfectly, portraying Australia and it’s people with the weird mingling of ambivalence, awe, fear, love and disgust that is very familiar to me.
Gilgamesh is the story of Edith Clarke, a farmgirl growing up during the Depression in Western Australia, and her incredible journey into the world, a quest that is obviously similar to that of the title character in the ancient epic poem, but with several key differences.
"There's no women in this myth," Edith states, at one point. "It's not their story. No woman goes off on quests like that. Women get stuck. They are left behind with the children. That's the fate Edith constantly seeks to avoid. To get stuck. To have the freedom of choice taken from her. In the epic poem, it's the gods that seek to force the eponymous Hero into conformity and the responsibilities of adulthood. For Edith, the gods are any force larger than the individual that tries to impose rules, from the seemingly benign-but-judgmental society of rural Australia to the massive, fearsome NKVD of Soviet Russia. The old saying "Take what you want, and pay for it, says God," springs to mind, for that is exactly what Edith sets out to do. She's a lone, unmarried woman setting out to do exactly what she wants to do, heedless of the advice, cautions and threats of others, willing to pay the price for her freedom. Her quiet passivity hides an incredible determination and stamina, massive inner resources of endurance. London is a subtle writer, trusting her reader's intelligence. So much goes unsaid, revealed in in small glimpses and inferences.
It's also a story about loneliness, and the search for a home, a place to fit in and feel safe, but also about the contradiction in what 'home' might represent. This too was home. Edith thinks, of the small, barely functioning farm where she grew up. The feeling of closeness, with nowhere else to go. Home can be both a fortress and a prison at the same time.
It's a very sad and melancholy story, but it's not hopeless or cynical. Throughout the book, there is always a faint sort of optimism, a belief that no matter how dark and tragic the road is, there's always a way out, as long as you have the courage to take it. London nicely balances the big cruelties of the world with the small kindnesses of the individual during her Hero's quest.
Gilgamesh is the story of Edith Clarke, a farmgirl growing up during the Depression in Western Australia, and her incredible journey into the world, a quest that is obviously similar to that of the title character in the ancient epic poem, but with several key differences.
"There's no women in this myth," Edith states, at one point. "It's not their story. No woman goes off on quests like that. Women get stuck. They are left behind with the children. That's the fate Edith constantly seeks to avoid. To get stuck. To have the freedom of choice taken from her. In the epic poem, it's the gods that seek to force the eponymous Hero into conformity and the responsibilities of adulthood. For Edith, the gods are any force larger than the individual that tries to impose rules, from the seemingly benign-but-judgmental society of rural Australia to the massive, fearsome NKVD of Soviet Russia. The old saying "Take what you want, and pay for it, says God," springs to mind, for that is exactly what Edith sets out to do. She's a lone, unmarried woman setting out to do exactly what she wants to do, heedless of the advice, cautions and threats of others, willing to pay the price for her freedom. Her quiet passivity hides an incredible determination and stamina, massive inner resources of endurance. London is a subtle writer, trusting her reader's intelligence. So much goes unsaid, revealed in in small glimpses and inferences.
It's also a story about loneliness, and the search for a home, a place to fit in and feel safe, but also about the contradiction in what 'home' might represent. This too was home. Edith thinks, of the small, barely functioning farm where she grew up. The feeling of closeness, with nowhere else to go. Home can be both a fortress and a prison at the same time.
It's a very sad and melancholy story, but it's not hopeless or cynical. Throughout the book, there is always a faint sort of optimism, a belief that no matter how dark and tragic the road is, there's always a way out, as long as you have the courage to take it. London nicely balances the big cruelties of the world with the small kindnesses of the individual during her Hero's quest.
January 16, 2010
Sounded like an interesting story - young girl from the backwoods of Australia goes on an almost epic search for the Armenian father of her young child in 1937. I enjoyed the first third of the book, learning about Edith's life in Australia and how she finally plans her escape. From there however, things get bogged down by actions that don't make sense and a plotline that really doesn't go anywhere.
She's rescued implausibly several times, and her decision to return to Australia and the life she found so stifling is rather confusing (especially as she falls right back into her old life once she's home). I was disappointed.
She's rescued implausibly several times, and her decision to return to Australia and the life she found so stifling is rather confusing (especially as she falls right back into her old life once she's home). I was disappointed.
January 4, 2019
Gilgamesh is the story of a mother's search for the father of her child, of a young man's search for identity and purpose, of two friends travelling the world in search of adventure. Like the original story of Gilgamesh, Joan London's novel has a timeless quality, of travellers in strange lands, of the search for belonging and the answers to life's mysteries. Except the answers seem to arrive when the travellers finally find themselves at home.
Stylistically it is spare, yet evocative of place and character. The author distances the reader from the most momentous events of the story by having them happen offstage, mentioned as if in passing, when in truth the repercussions will reverberate through the entire story. I really enjoyed her light touch.
Stylistically it is spare, yet evocative of place and character. The author distances the reader from the most momentous events of the story by having them happen offstage, mentioned as if in passing, when in truth the repercussions will reverberate through the entire story. I really enjoyed her light touch.
July 24, 2020
A new author for me, and I loved it.
It was an interesting "walkabout" story of a young girl in Australia trying to track down her baby's father in Armenia, during WWII.
There were many themes that run through the story that made me think. It was a great read
It was an interesting "walkabout" story of a young girl in Australia trying to track down her baby's father in Armenia, during WWII.
There were many themes that run through the story that made me think. It was a great read
November 10, 2015
A dream-like narrative, covering three generations of a family that is pushed, like Gilgamesh, to explore worlds unknown.
Ada, the matriarch, leaves her native England in the aftermath of the first world war to settle with her ex-soldier husband in the wilds of Western Australia, on farmland that barely feeds them. She is determined to build a new life outside of the madness of war. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu are embodied in Ada’s nephew Leopold and his follower the Armenian Aram who suddenly turn up at Ada’s homestead on their world travels. Ada’s seventeen-year-old daughter Edith falls in love with both, is impregnated by one, and follows them along with her infant son Jim, to London first and then to Armenia just as WWII breaks out. Although the novel is essentially Edith’s story, we see a teenage Jim getting bitten with the curse upon his return to Australia and heading off to join his aging uncle Leopold on the next stage of the Gilgamesh-like chronicle that haunts this family.
The book skirts the edges of contrivance and plausibility, with some extraneous plot detail thrown in. How likely is a 17 year-old to survive with an infant on a cargo ship populated by pedophiles among its crew? How opportune for the textile merchant Hegop to board the Orient Express, just as Edith is running out of options, and offer her a way out, and similarly, how convenient for Leopold to be at the border to receive her when she is again heading into an unknown future. And what was all the espionage about, hinted at but not playing any role (just like Mr. Five Percent) in the story? And the unreliability of the mail service, a device that couldn’t be used today with e-mail and texting, is used extensively to get letters lost and have others arrive many months later, pre-empting actions that lead to dramatic situations.
The writing is spare and much time and many events are covered in an economy of words; this keeps you reading even though the book has a slow start. And yet there are some strong character portrayals: Hegop’s wife, Nevart the crippled singer who expresses the jealousy of the marginalized towards the ones enjoying good health; Jim’s emerging alienation in the land of his birth due to the colour of his skin; Edith’s diminished status as a fallen woman; Leopold’s destiny to always travel alone. There are strong portrayals of the land too: the barrenness of Western Australia, the relative dullness of England and the foreign-ness of Armenia. The only character left undeveloped is Aram who never utters a word in the narrative - perhaps this is deliberate, to account for his lack of English. Even Jim, who is raised mainly in Armenia until he is 8 years old, develops his speaking voice in the narrative only after his return to Australia. There are other components ripe with drama that are left on the table and not exploited: Edith’s life as a citizen of the allied forces living among the populace of an Axis nation, Mr. Five-Percent’s further designs and moves on Edith, and Leopold’s role as a spy in Turkey.
This is an unusual book. Australia and Armenia are poles apart and a rare combination in a novel. That’s what makes this book stand out from the crowd, I guess.
Ada, the matriarch, leaves her native England in the aftermath of the first world war to settle with her ex-soldier husband in the wilds of Western Australia, on farmland that barely feeds them. She is determined to build a new life outside of the madness of war. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu are embodied in Ada’s nephew Leopold and his follower the Armenian Aram who suddenly turn up at Ada’s homestead on their world travels. Ada’s seventeen-year-old daughter Edith falls in love with both, is impregnated by one, and follows them along with her infant son Jim, to London first and then to Armenia just as WWII breaks out. Although the novel is essentially Edith’s story, we see a teenage Jim getting bitten with the curse upon his return to Australia and heading off to join his aging uncle Leopold on the next stage of the Gilgamesh-like chronicle that haunts this family.
The book skirts the edges of contrivance and plausibility, with some extraneous plot detail thrown in. How likely is a 17 year-old to survive with an infant on a cargo ship populated by pedophiles among its crew? How opportune for the textile merchant Hegop to board the Orient Express, just as Edith is running out of options, and offer her a way out, and similarly, how convenient for Leopold to be at the border to receive her when she is again heading into an unknown future. And what was all the espionage about, hinted at but not playing any role (just like Mr. Five Percent) in the story? And the unreliability of the mail service, a device that couldn’t be used today with e-mail and texting, is used extensively to get letters lost and have others arrive many months later, pre-empting actions that lead to dramatic situations.
The writing is spare and much time and many events are covered in an economy of words; this keeps you reading even though the book has a slow start. And yet there are some strong character portrayals: Hegop’s wife, Nevart the crippled singer who expresses the jealousy of the marginalized towards the ones enjoying good health; Jim’s emerging alienation in the land of his birth due to the colour of his skin; Edith’s diminished status as a fallen woman; Leopold’s destiny to always travel alone. There are strong portrayals of the land too: the barrenness of Western Australia, the relative dullness of England and the foreign-ness of Armenia. The only character left undeveloped is Aram who never utters a word in the narrative - perhaps this is deliberate, to account for his lack of English. Even Jim, who is raised mainly in Armenia until he is 8 years old, develops his speaking voice in the narrative only after his return to Australia. There are other components ripe with drama that are left on the table and not exploited: Edith’s life as a citizen of the allied forces living among the populace of an Axis nation, Mr. Five-Percent’s further designs and moves on Edith, and Leopold’s role as a spy in Turkey.
This is an unusual book. Australia and Armenia are poles apart and a rare combination in a novel. That’s what makes this book stand out from the crowd, I guess.
January 31, 2021
‘What was her story in the great swirling darkness of the world?’
Gilgamesh is about searching, for people, for adventure, for identity and for purpose. In 1937, Leopold and Aram visit Edith’s family in south-west Australia. They are on their way home, indirectly, after working on an archaeological dig in Iraq. They are aware that the world is on the brink of war. One of the stories they share is the story of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, and his journey after the death of his friend Enkidu. This story will play a part in each of their lives.
In 1939 Edith and her young child set off from Australia to find the child’s father. Their travels take them to London to the Caucasus and the Middle East. The outbreak of war traps Edith and her child, disrupts their travel, raises more questions, and makes it much harder to find answers.
But are the answers there, so far from home? Are the answers external to the traveller, or are they contained within? Or is the journey itself more important than the destination? I finished this book restless for answers and wondering.
‘This too was home. This feeling of closeness, with nowhere else to go.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Gilgamesh is about searching, for people, for adventure, for identity and for purpose. In 1937, Leopold and Aram visit Edith’s family in south-west Australia. They are on their way home, indirectly, after working on an archaeological dig in Iraq. They are aware that the world is on the brink of war. One of the stories they share is the story of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, and his journey after the death of his friend Enkidu. This story will play a part in each of their lives.
In 1939 Edith and her young child set off from Australia to find the child’s father. Their travels take them to London to the Caucasus and the Middle East. The outbreak of war traps Edith and her child, disrupts their travel, raises more questions, and makes it much harder to find answers.
But are the answers there, so far from home? Are the answers external to the traveller, or are they contained within? Or is the journey itself more important than the destination? I finished this book restless for answers and wondering.
‘This too was home. This feeling of closeness, with nowhere else to go.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
October 6, 2013
How can a book of 256 pages be successfully described as an 'epic'? I was really looking forward to this story and reading this author for the first time. I was disappointed.
The story itself wasn't too bad, but nothing really happened. I found the characters quite inconsistent and uninteresting. I wasn't moved by the sisters' plight or the description of the different settings. Being someone who grew up near the beach in Aus, I was able to visualise their Aussie habitat, but the unimaginative descriptions of the journeys really made me struggle to put myself in Edith's shoes.
The most frustrating part of this story was the poor quality of the 'Vintage' edition I read. the text was blurry and there were numerous typos with spelling and punctuation.
In all, I finished the book with ease and didn't dislike the story. Yet I can't say that I'll remember much about it in a few weeks' time.
Better to try The Watch Tower, Cloudstreet or Jasper Jones.
The story itself wasn't too bad, but nothing really happened. I found the characters quite inconsistent and uninteresting. I wasn't moved by the sisters' plight or the description of the different settings. Being someone who grew up near the beach in Aus, I was able to visualise their Aussie habitat, but the unimaginative descriptions of the journeys really made me struggle to put myself in Edith's shoes.
The most frustrating part of this story was the poor quality of the 'Vintage' edition I read. the text was blurry and there were numerous typos with spelling and punctuation.
In all, I finished the book with ease and didn't dislike the story. Yet I can't say that I'll remember much about it in a few weeks' time.
Better to try The Watch Tower, Cloudstreet or Jasper Jones.
December 16, 2013
I picked up this book because of its title – and the reference to the myth of the King of Uruk and his friendship with Enkidu and what his death does to the King. Rather than the book being about friendship, it is about ‘wanderlust’, or the idea that life is really better over there than here (or it could be about growing up –Leopold makes that observation – Gilgamesh needs to go back home and accept his responsibilities as a King and father)…First Ada and Frank leave England for a bush block in post war Western Australia; Ada can’t ‘withstand the life’ and Frank originally a school teacher before the war can’t make the life as a farmer. Frank dies and leaves Ada to fend with their two daughters. Into their lives one day come their cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend Aman. They seem ‘as one’ this pair and Leopold carries with him a book about Gilgamesh. When they inevitably leave, they leave Edith pregnant with a child, as well as with the dream of Armenia as paradise. She steals to get her passage with her son over to England, and then journeys to Armenia. On board a cargo ship, then the Orient Express despite her naivety she seems to have no troubles navigating the journey.
I found Edith’s travels so easily facilitated as if she has a guardian angel and she seems to slip easily into these ‘other’ lives as if they are tailor made for her. Without wanting to be a spoiler she finds out that indeed her circumstances have been orchestrated by someone. (She does realize that for women there are no heroic journeys.) There is none of the unease of a traveler or foreigner in a strange land. At one point she realizes in Armenia that she has traded one set of circumstances for another (an aging woman, and invalid, who could have been her own mother and sister) and whom she needs to look after. I feel that part of traveling or wanderlust is to come home and her passage to Australia is as easily facilitated as her journey out. It is in her own ‘country’ that she finally decides to make a stand for herself and her son.
I found the book flimsy, which is not to say that it should have been longer, but just that the writing is emaciated and rather bland.
I found Edith’s travels so easily facilitated as if she has a guardian angel and she seems to slip easily into these ‘other’ lives as if they are tailor made for her. Without wanting to be a spoiler she finds out that indeed her circumstances have been orchestrated by someone. (She does realize that for women there are no heroic journeys.) There is none of the unease of a traveler or foreigner in a strange land. At one point she realizes in Armenia that she has traded one set of circumstances for another (an aging woman, and invalid, who could have been her own mother and sister) and whom she needs to look after. I feel that part of traveling or wanderlust is to come home and her passage to Australia is as easily facilitated as her journey out. It is in her own ‘country’ that she finally decides to make a stand for herself and her son.
I found the book flimsy, which is not to say that it should have been longer, but just that the writing is emaciated and rather bland.
September 1, 2024
I am going to have to sit with this one for a bit before I rate and review it. There is a lot to digest here.
November 25, 2014
I felt in good hands all the way through Gilgamesh. This book is stylish and quietly assured. I was quite surprised to learn this was London's first novel: she seemed to really know what she was doing.
Others have reported not liking the characters, finding them selfish and unbelievably reckless, but I didn't feel that way. Perhaps because my parents took off to Delhi with me when I was 1 and I've turned out largely OK, and perhaps because I've also often had the urge to just drop everything and leave, it made sense to me that young single mother Edith would want to flee her claustrophobic farm existence and everyone's disapproving looks and chase a romantic dream of finding her son's father in unknown Armenia. It's easy for us to look back and say, 'but the war was about to start and it's going to be hell in Eastern Europe, what was she thinking!', but Edith had very little idea just how bad things would become. And perhaps because I love being immersed in tales of just wandering the world, of discovering different ways of living and thinking, I was happy to aimlessly wander alongside Edith.
Others have reported not liking the characters, finding them selfish and unbelievably reckless, but I didn't feel that way. Perhaps because my parents took off to Delhi with me when I was 1 and I've turned out largely OK, and perhaps because I've also often had the urge to just drop everything and leave, it made sense to me that young single mother Edith would want to flee her claustrophobic farm existence and everyone's disapproving looks and chase a romantic dream of finding her son's father in unknown Armenia. It's easy for us to look back and say, 'but the war was about to start and it's going to be hell in Eastern Europe, what was she thinking!', but Edith had very little idea just how bad things would become. And perhaps because I love being immersed in tales of just wandering the world, of discovering different ways of living and thinking, I was happy to aimlessly wander alongside Edith.
February 26, 2019
Terrific. A story so well told that I quickly grew to want the best for the characters; I wanted the characters to have relief from their suffering. Edith's love for her son was moving, as was her search for Jim's father. I liked the historical setting of World War 2, and the character of Leopold, Edith's cousin, who was so vivid in my mind, so well portrayed.
The Australian setting in the Bush near Fremantle was a new setting for me. The Caucasus and Aleppo, Syria were also part of the telling of this story. I recently read the fictional work titled 'The Gendarme' which coincidentally narrates some of the early 20th century history of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
This novel is less about history and much more about love, risk, and making space for suffering to change into wisdom.
The Australian setting in the Bush near Fremantle was a new setting for me. The Caucasus and Aleppo, Syria were also part of the telling of this story. I recently read the fictional work titled 'The Gendarme' which coincidentally narrates some of the early 20th century history of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
This novel is less about history and much more about love, risk, and making space for suffering to change into wisdom.
July 15, 2018
This is a tale of two short stories joined by a middle piece that was quite muddling.
The story starts well with a WWI survivor and his wife eking out a life on a soldier's settlement in SW Western Australia. Edith is the eldest daughter and she becomes friends with her visiting cousin and his swarmy Armenian friend. The writing is fine depicting the struggles, poverty, grind and the Australian bush.
Then there is the muddling bit, Edith takes herself and her son off to Armenia where she is befriended more than once and survives WWII. This bit just seemed all forced.
Then there is a return to Australia, back to the old farm etc etc. For the fine piece of writing the story was a real disappointment.
The story starts well with a WWI survivor and his wife eking out a life on a soldier's settlement in SW Western Australia. Edith is the eldest daughter and she becomes friends with her visiting cousin and his swarmy Armenian friend. The writing is fine depicting the struggles, poverty, grind and the Australian bush.
Then there is the muddling bit, Edith takes herself and her son off to Armenia where she is befriended more than once and survives WWII. This bit just seemed all forced.
Then there is a return to Australia, back to the old farm etc etc. For the fine piece of writing the story was a real disappointment.
August 16, 2011
The first part of this book, I hated Edith. What a crazy! Dragging a toddler (not even two years old) across Europe to Armenia during World War II. I mean talk about the dumbest and most selfish thing anyone could do. And for what? For a man she barely knew. But she grew on me. In the end, I liked the book and I even liked Edith.
This is definitely an interesting look at World War II from the Aussie and Armenian perspective. Yes, a side rarely shown.
This is definitely an interesting look at World War II from the Aussie and Armenian perspective. Yes, a side rarely shown.
April 24, 2008
the women's lives in Australia and Armenia during WWII are compelling, beautifully written, but the underlying idea about Gilgamesh and Enkidu is somewhat bothersome -- in a way, she leaves the myth intact, suggesting that even adventuring women have lives shaped around men's real excursions.
December 3, 2022
I read about 25% of the book, and decided I just wasn't in the mood for dark, dysfunctional characters and story.
June 26, 2014
I absolutely loved this novel. It is the story of young Edith Clark and her son, Jim, and their journey to find Jim’s father in Armenia during the lead-up to World War II. The story begins with Edith’s parents, Frank and Ada, leaving London for Australia just after World War I. Frank joins a government scheme for repatriated soldiers and takes up a parcel of land in Nunderup, in the southwest of Western Australia.
Frank and Ada have two girls, Frances and Edith, and a son who dies shortly after birth. Frank succumbs to illness, and soon after, a cousin, Leopold, and his Armenian friend, Aram, arrive from the Far East to stay with Ada and the girls.
Frances is rather straight-laced, but Edith is captivated by the strangers—the way they dress, their polite manners, their foreign smells. Through them, she glimpses another world, another life. They begin to escort her to and from her job at the neighbouring hotel, the Sea House, and as she gets to know them, they become more and more alluring.
The visitors return to Europe, and Edith is left alone and pregnant. Thus begins her own journey. Like Gilgamesh in the ancient poem, she travels in search of something tantalising yet elusive—love and a feeling of belonging. I won’t say whether she finds it, but her journey from Australia, to England, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and throughout the Mesopotamia, is a great read.
The story is told simply, but the prose is delightful, full of exquisite phrases, like:
I loved this physical description of one of the characters:
Not only is this novel a delight to read, but it is richly layered. It’s been analysed by many already and I couldn’t hope to do it justice here. If interested in good analysis, these reading notes by Robyn Sheahan-Bright are really helpful: http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/resour...
This novel can be enjoyed at any level of sophistication. On the surface, it’s an epic story of a young girl’s travels, yet it’s also a multi-layered literary text. It’s one of the best Australian novels I’ve ever read—a masterpiece.
Frank and Ada have two girls, Frances and Edith, and a son who dies shortly after birth. Frank succumbs to illness, and soon after, a cousin, Leopold, and his Armenian friend, Aram, arrive from the Far East to stay with Ada and the girls.
Frances is rather straight-laced, but Edith is captivated by the strangers—the way they dress, their polite manners, their foreign smells. Through them, she glimpses another world, another life. They begin to escort her to and from her job at the neighbouring hotel, the Sea House, and as she gets to know them, they become more and more alluring.
‘She woke each morning with a start, a leaf tapping at the window, something is waiting for you … She lay listening out for the sounds of the men. She thought she’d hardly slept and yet she felt washed smooth as a morning beach.’
‘She had seen Aram rise up out of the iron tub on the verandah, his satiny shoulders, his tight boylike buttocks, his whiplash spine. They were strangers and yet she felt close to them, so close she could sense wherever they were and what they were doing. As if now that they ate the same food, breathed the same air, they were part of her. All the habits and needs of their bodies had become familiar.’
The visitors return to Europe, and Edith is left alone and pregnant. Thus begins her own journey. Like Gilgamesh in the ancient poem, she travels in search of something tantalising yet elusive—love and a feeling of belonging. I won’t say whether she finds it, but her journey from Australia, to England, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and throughout the Mesopotamia, is a great read.
The story is told simply, but the prose is delightful, full of exquisite phrases, like:
‘Their breath, raw and vivid, filled the house.’
‘Strange how one small object could seem to hold all the light in a room.’
‘He was a country she’d come home to.’
I loved this physical description of one of the characters:
‘Now her hair was silver, swept into a turret at the crown of her head. She was full chested as a dove, and walked with her head held high and her shoulders back. Her skin was velvety and pale and crinkly like the back of an old rose petal.’
Not only is this novel a delight to read, but it is richly layered. It’s been analysed by many already and I couldn’t hope to do it justice here. If interested in good analysis, these reading notes by Robyn Sheahan-Bright are really helpful: http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/resour...
This novel can be enjoyed at any level of sophistication. On the surface, it’s an epic story of a young girl’s travels, yet it’s also a multi-layered literary text. It’s one of the best Australian novels I’ve ever read—a masterpiece.
November 2, 2015
There is enough material in this book for it to be a big gutsy epic, a la Gone With the Wind or Dr. Zhivago - thank God, Joan London resisted and has beautifully written a sparse, eloquent and elegant novel. Lots of gaps for the readers to fill in if they feel the need to add their own padding. Edith is a brave, bright and strong character and, obviously, a female hero.
However, there is, for me, a big gap at the end which I find very tempting to "pad", "...her great adventure now was to stay...". Please Edith dump the drunk, dropkick farmer and let the chooks out and create Australia's first organic, free-range chicken empire, or dump the drunk, dropkick farmer, sell the place and move to a stone cottage in Fremantle where you become a Bohemian, hugely successful novelist with heaps of lovers, travelling the world to gain experience for your next book.
Go Edith. Be bold. Rule your own world. Be Gilgamesh.
However, there is, for me, a big gap at the end which I find very tempting to "pad", "...her great adventure now was to stay...". Please Edith dump the drunk, dropkick farmer and let the chooks out and create Australia's first organic, free-range chicken empire, or dump the drunk, dropkick farmer, sell the place and move to a stone cottage in Fremantle where you become a Bohemian, hugely successful novelist with heaps of lovers, travelling the world to gain experience for your next book.
Go Edith. Be bold. Rule your own world. Be Gilgamesh.
June 6, 2009
Interesting piece of historical fiction, mostly set in Armenia and Australia. Good enough to keep reading, not good enough to make you stay up all night.
January 19, 2015
As I'm finding with many of the small countries in the world, there isn't a lot of English language fiction set in Armenia. I had already read what is likely the most well known novel about Armenia, Chris Bohjalian's The Sandcastle Girls. So of the few others that I found, I selected Gilgamesh, by Joan London, because of its theme of immigration and the experience of being in an unfamiliar place, which (as you have probably realized) is a favorite of mine. The novel's namesake, Gilgamesh is the protagonist in The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem written around 2100 BC that is considered the first work of literature. He is a demi-god and king who has many great adventures, but it is his friendship with Enkidu, a wild man created to subdue Gilgamesh's arrogance, that serves as the thematic undercurrent of the novel.
In Joan London's Gilgamesh, we follow the lives of Edith, beginning with her parents' migration from English to rural Australia, and of Jim, her illegitimate son. Edith and her sister, Frances, grow up in extreme poverty, in a remote part of Australia on the coast where their only exposure to the outside world is through a small seaside resort that was built next to their patch of unfarmable land. When their cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend, Aram arrive unexpectedly for a visit, the world opens up to Edith and she begins to imagine, for the first time in her life, the possibilities beyond what she has experienced of life thus far. Their departure breaks her heart because Leopold has become a treasured friend and confidante, but even more so because of Edith's romance with Aram, who leaves Australia for his homeland, Armenia, never knowing of Edith's pregnancy.
Gilgamesh
Despite the trouble brewing in Eastern Europe as the world faces war in the last 1930's, Edith, too, decides to leave Australia behind and sets out for Armenia, which she has built up to be a magical place where she will find Aram, introduce him to their son Jim, and live happily ever after. And so she sets out with Jim, crossing the ocean to England, then heading overland by train into Armenia, a country that everyone wants to leave and no one, other than her, is trying to enter. Her life there is hardly the adventure she had imagined, but she lands among friends: Hagop, a kind Armenian she meets on the train; his wife of convenience, a musician who was injured in a bombing and is confined to a wheelchair; and Tati, the elderly grandmother who needs constant care but keeps Edith centered through her words of wisdom.
Edith waits for Aram until she literally cannot wait any longer and, because of the dangerous conditions in Soviet-ruled Armenia, she and Jim must leave. Here, she encounters Leopold once more ... steadfast, loyal, and unassailable Leopold ... and within the safety of his love and friendship, begins her journey to return home.
Gilgamesh is a beautiful story of searching, not just for one thing but for all things that make life whole. Along with Edith, Frances is searching (for love); Leopold is searching (for meaning); Hagop is searching (for redemption); Irina is searching (for reconciliation); and little Jim, as he grows up, is searching (for himself). The prose is poetic in places, clear and direct in others, and at all times, giving us a glimpse of Edith's innermost dreams as they shift from desperation to leave back to desperation to return home.
www.theworldbybook.blogspot.com
In Joan London's Gilgamesh, we follow the lives of Edith, beginning with her parents' migration from English to rural Australia, and of Jim, her illegitimate son. Edith and her sister, Frances, grow up in extreme poverty, in a remote part of Australia on the coast where their only exposure to the outside world is through a small seaside resort that was built next to their patch of unfarmable land. When their cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend, Aram arrive unexpectedly for a visit, the world opens up to Edith and she begins to imagine, for the first time in her life, the possibilities beyond what she has experienced of life thus far. Their departure breaks her heart because Leopold has become a treasured friend and confidante, but even more so because of Edith's romance with Aram, who leaves Australia for his homeland, Armenia, never knowing of Edith's pregnancy.
Gilgamesh
Despite the trouble brewing in Eastern Europe as the world faces war in the last 1930's, Edith, too, decides to leave Australia behind and sets out for Armenia, which she has built up to be a magical place where she will find Aram, introduce him to their son Jim, and live happily ever after. And so she sets out with Jim, crossing the ocean to England, then heading overland by train into Armenia, a country that everyone wants to leave and no one, other than her, is trying to enter. Her life there is hardly the adventure she had imagined, but she lands among friends: Hagop, a kind Armenian she meets on the train; his wife of convenience, a musician who was injured in a bombing and is confined to a wheelchair; and Tati, the elderly grandmother who needs constant care but keeps Edith centered through her words of wisdom.
Edith waits for Aram until she literally cannot wait any longer and, because of the dangerous conditions in Soviet-ruled Armenia, she and Jim must leave. Here, she encounters Leopold once more ... steadfast, loyal, and unassailable Leopold ... and within the safety of his love and friendship, begins her journey to return home.
Gilgamesh is a beautiful story of searching, not just for one thing but for all things that make life whole. Along with Edith, Frances is searching (for love); Leopold is searching (for meaning); Hagop is searching (for redemption); Irina is searching (for reconciliation); and little Jim, as he grows up, is searching (for himself). The prose is poetic in places, clear and direct in others, and at all times, giving us a glimpse of Edith's innermost dreams as they shift from desperation to leave back to desperation to return home.
www.theworldbybook.blogspot.com
August 27, 2014
I am in two minds about this novel - there are some wonderful special moments throughout the book, and yet, I didn't feel satisfied by the end.
The story has a lot going for it. Soldier settlement in WA that stutters along - as so many of them did through inexperience; the outside world coming onto the scene through two exotic men; and the adventures of a young woman caught up in the 2nd World War. A homecoming and with maturity and life experiences, making a new life for oneself. However, in many ways, I didn't feel the main characters are fully fleshed out. Francis for example, seemed like a pale watercolour left out in the blazing sun, as she fades to ?? whatever. I felt she was a prop to be used to hang important incidents upon.
The literary praises all talk about the sparse writing style. Unfortunately, some novelists in the 90s made this their calling card, so that by now, it is not longer fresh and new but rather conventional, when describing the Australian bush. We now expect a craftsmen to use this, otherwise it turns to hackney and old hat very quickly.
The most complete character for me was Edith. Her Australian innocence & unworldliness does personify the Australian soldiers as they signed up & moved off to the European and African fronts. Our lack of land borders means we don't fully appreciate needing visas and the like to travel across neighbouring countries. However, she is definitely a different person on her return and the way she deals with situations are different from when she was a younger character. For me, she was quite believable in her development. However, some of the situations she created should have killed her off outright. The vagaries of war.
It was the foreign scenes that were London's undoing. That sparse language might work well in a vast featureless landscape, but it fails when in a smoggy city under Soviet rule. And finally, the title!! What the Hell! Talk about a loose allegory between this and the epic poem. I feel the title does little justice to the tale.
The story has a lot going for it. Soldier settlement in WA that stutters along - as so many of them did through inexperience; the outside world coming onto the scene through two exotic men; and the adventures of a young woman caught up in the 2nd World War. A homecoming and with maturity and life experiences, making a new life for oneself. However, in many ways, I didn't feel the main characters are fully fleshed out. Francis for example, seemed like a pale watercolour left out in the blazing sun, as she fades to ?? whatever. I felt she was a prop to be used to hang important incidents upon.
The literary praises all talk about the sparse writing style. Unfortunately, some novelists in the 90s made this their calling card, so that by now, it is not longer fresh and new but rather conventional, when describing the Australian bush. We now expect a craftsmen to use this, otherwise it turns to hackney and old hat very quickly.
The most complete character for me was Edith. Her Australian innocence & unworldliness does personify the Australian soldiers as they signed up & moved off to the European and African fronts. Our lack of land borders means we don't fully appreciate needing visas and the like to travel across neighbouring countries. However, she is definitely a different person on her return and the way she deals with situations are different from when she was a younger character. For me, she was quite believable in her development. However, some of the situations she created should have killed her off outright. The vagaries of war.
It was the foreign scenes that were London's undoing. That sparse language might work well in a vast featureless landscape, but it fails when in a smoggy city under Soviet rule. And finally, the title!! What the Hell! Talk about a loose allegory between this and the epic poem. I feel the title does little justice to the tale.
March 1, 2016
I have to admit I skim read the last few chapters. I started reading this book because I have read so few local Perth authors which I definitely have to remedy! I know Joan London is generally praised as a good author so maybe I'd like her other novels but this one just left me thinking what was the point of all that. I enjoyed the beginning, the setting up of British settlers in WA's south west after WWI. How Edith's parents were not at all suited to their new home. But the rest of the story I found somewhat contrived. It's understandable that Edith would want to travel and find the father of her child but it seemed really dumb to leave the safety of England and think she could just find Aram in the whole country of Armenia during the outbreak of WWII. The rest of the book contained characters and descriptions that while occasionally interesting in themselves, just seemed to happen without any point to them. There were themes that were interesting that could have been explored in detail, mostly around nationality, but those were just touched on with most of the story taken up with pretty dull descriptions of Edith's day to day life in Armenia and then trekking it back to Australia, with some random Russian service stuff thrown in. Perhaps if Edith had been a more likeable or interesting character I could have gone along with the story, but she comes across as selfish, uncaring and pretty boring. Jim is portrayed as much more interesting what with being half Australian and half Armenian but fitting into neither country, but he's only given a point of view at the end. Maybe the story from his perspective would make a more engaging read.
October 20, 2012
This is a story about the wanderings of the soul. Referring back to the ancient epic of Gilgamesh, Joan London describes the journeys of Edith Clark, a young Australian woman, who sets out across the world to find her lover just prior to WWII. Edith's search takes her, and her baby, from the wilds of Australia to London (where she resides with her exotic Russian aunt, Irina) and finally on to Armenia, where she attempts to locate her son's father on the eve of war. The tale is captivating. Edith's experiences crossing Europe aboard the exotic Orient Express are rich and compelling, especially her encounter with the mysterious Mr. Five Percent (who, in real life, was Calouste Gulbekian, the wealthiest man in the world). And, when Edith finally reaches her destination, London's account of the Russian occupation of Armenia had me turning the pages well into the night.
London's writing is fluid and lyrical, and filled with atmosphere. The characters are portrayed with a starkness and lack of sentimentality that makes them both unique and believable. However, the lack of sentiment, while in keeping with the general themes of the book--loneliness, estrangement, loss--also made it difficult to get close to the characters. In the last section of the book, London seemed to lose track of both her characters and her story. As the plot wandered away, London finally resorted to a deus ex machina in an effort to return it home. In spite of these flaws, Gilgamesh is well worth reading, not just once but several times, simply for the elegant ease with which London spins her tale.
London's writing is fluid and lyrical, and filled with atmosphere. The characters are portrayed with a starkness and lack of sentimentality that makes them both unique and believable. However, the lack of sentiment, while in keeping with the general themes of the book--loneliness, estrangement, loss--also made it difficult to get close to the characters. In the last section of the book, London seemed to lose track of both her characters and her story. As the plot wandered away, London finally resorted to a deus ex machina in an effort to return it home. In spite of these flaws, Gilgamesh is well worth reading, not just once but several times, simply for the elegant ease with which London spins her tale.
November 30, 2015
I'm always surprised when I enjoy what might be categorized as "historical fiction." But, like the best of any kind of fiction, good historical fiction sucks you in with characters you care about and details of setting and place that advance the story. London accomplishes this beautifully, taking the reader from rural Australia to London to Soviet Armenia in the lead-up to, and the duration of, World War II.
This novel deserves the kudos it received on publication. It's a modern-day (well, sort of--it takes place in the 1930s to 1950s) Odyssey with an Australian woman, Edith Clark, as the heroine. I found myself swept up in the settings--a grand old hotel in southwestern Australia, a London house inhabited by a "White Russian," an orphanage in Aleppo, Syria--yet always interested in the lives of the characters: Edith, her sister Frances, her son James, and the two men largely responsible for her beginning her epic journey.
If you like quiet adventure stories with depth and atmosphere, you'll enjoy "Gilgamesh."
This novel deserves the kudos it received on publication. It's a modern-day (well, sort of--it takes place in the 1930s to 1950s) Odyssey with an Australian woman, Edith Clark, as the heroine. I found myself swept up in the settings--a grand old hotel in southwestern Australia, a London house inhabited by a "White Russian," an orphanage in Aleppo, Syria--yet always interested in the lives of the characters: Edith, her sister Frances, her son James, and the two men largely responsible for her beginning her epic journey.
If you like quiet adventure stories with depth and atmosphere, you'll enjoy "Gilgamesh."
July 29, 2013
It is difficult to express how deeply this novel can touch you if you take the time to savour it. This is not an action filled book, although the actions of Edith, the main character, have profound consequences for herself and her son. This is a book that is introspective. Simply following the plot will offer only partial rewards. Yes, the plot winds through the Australian desert, and 1940's Middle Eastern countries (Armenia, Turkey, Persia, Syria) and is a fascinating tale of perseverance. But there are rewards beyond plot, the book is richly emotive and resonating questions of morality. Its lessons and observations made me think deeply about my preconceived notions of love, motherhood, loyalty and courage.
September 9, 2014
London's wonderfully efficient writing style takes you through the trying second world war years of rural Australia. Set in the (then remote) area of south-west Western Australia this books tracks the path of a family as they try to make a meaningful life for themselves in conditions. The chance arrival of some cousins from Europe triggers events which will shape their lives and makes for a compelling read. I had trouble putting this book down and read it in a few days while on holiday - in Western Australia funnily enough!!
April 16, 2022
PMQ library loan
Miles Franklin nomination 2002
Slow start but loved the character development.
Edith, Jim - son of Aram and Leopold. Multi-layered characters held intrigue. I would love to do a summary of Jim's character!
Very engaging writing style.
Listened to audio in November 2010 and enjoyed this book all over again.
Miles Franklin nomination 2002
Slow start but loved the character development.
Edith, Jim - son of Aram and Leopold. Multi-layered characters held intrigue. I would love to do a summary of Jim's character!
Very engaging writing style.
Listened to audio in November 2010 and enjoyed this book all over again.
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