Play Abandoned

by Garry Disher

Every summer, the country families load the roof racks and motor south to the Bon Accord hotel. They find order here, beside the sea. Constancy in a changeable world. But this time ladders and workmen choke the foyer. There's foreign muck on the menu, posters proclaiming a Summer Festival of Writing. And child abductors are lurking on the sun blasted streets, in the tricky dunes. There's smoke in the hot inland winds. Everything's different this time. This time Marian Parr is not complete. She knows she should not have come. As love fractures, and old certainties crumble, Marian leans grieving against a balcony post, meddling with the cosmos.

Genres: Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2011

About the author

Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.

He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.

Reviews

[Hazel Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very different from Disher's other novels. Still perceptive characterisations and realistic portrayal of a seaside hotel with satirical view of a writers' festival, but not enough happens. I kept waiting for the climax. I prefer his mysteries.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this from the library because I enjoyed Peace a lot. I quickly realised I had read it before and not really liked it, so jumped to the end. Good in some ways but I found it unconvincing and a bit misanthropic

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting story; two different country families from rural Australia arrive at the Bon Accord hotel for their annual holiday by the beach. The two families are subtly different, one has a more limited social status, a religiously annoying grandmother and two unpleasant children. The second family, we quickly learn is incomplete it consists of two brothers, their wives and children but this year one brother and a child are absent. It becomes clear that there has been a family tragedy.

This is a fairly placid book in terms of events; nothing much happens. The enjoyment of it is in the characterisations, the subtle interplays between characters and the setting. The setting is very Australian, as are the families, the Australian character is subtle and well done. Unlike many novels which throw Australiana and Aussie slang at you so hard you reel, the Australian-isms of 'Play Abandoned' are understated and so much more convincing and enjoyable to read. It may be too subtle for anyone who has not spent much time in Australia, but I really liked it.

The ending is abrupt, explains nothing and feels decidedly as though the author just ran out of interest and did not bother to finish it properly so it just stops. It makes no sense; it is a hotel, people go home from hotels, it would make such a natural ending that it is mystifying as to why the author did not bother. There is an even more mystifyingly unexplanatory, single paragraph epilogue.

Anyhow it is a good read on the whole, perfect for a before-bed book; it won't keep you awake dying to read more, you wont miss anything by reading it just a few pages at a time. I enjoyed it, if you like well written Australian novels you probably will too.

[Margaret Small · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as his detective novels, but an entertaining read all the same. Two farming brothers and their families have been holidaying at an Adelaide beachside hotel since the men were children, but this year tragedy has truck one brother and his wife and child have come without him. There's another family as well who were there at the same time the previous year. There's lots of tensions between the characters, adults and children. The characters are mostly three dimensional, farmers obsessed with the weather and cricket, farmers wives desperate to go shopping, stroppy teenage girl, etc, but Marian, the wife whose husband isn't there, and her son, are the most rounded (and most appealing) of the cast. There's a delightful parody of a writers conference, and no doubt Disher has attended enough of these to know what they can be like. So, hardly great literature, but I enjoyed it all the same.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something different from Wyatt and the crime novels

[Kym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it was black and sad and very Aussie. I think it will be hard for all my friends from other cultures to relate too

[Bev Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different from his other books.