After Romulus

by Raimond Gaita

Described as "a profound meditation on love and death, madness and truth, judgment and compassion," Romulus, My Father became an instant classic. Now, Raimond Gaita reflects on the book, the film, the philosophies that underpinned his father's relationship to the world, and, most movingly, the presence and absence of his mother.

Genres: Philosophy, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, Australia

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

Reviews

[notgettingenough · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you thought that this was obvious, a sequel, cashing in, you couldn't be further from the truth. This companion to Romulus, My Father is the product of, on the one hand, the needs of the philosopher Gaita to process various ways in which the consequences of this book affected him and on the other, the needs of everybody who read it. Although I complained in my review that Romulus, My Father had been ignored by the world at large, it deeply moved Australia. 

So you write a book, a philosophical - because you are a philosopher - account of the life of your truly heroic and brave and encompassing of all the best human virtues, father and his friend. You write of your life in the Australian countryside, where nothing happens except madness and the aftermath of madness. You make the prose sing like a poem, but still, it is just a book about a migrant and other people around him going mad. And it becomes such a thing, that before you know it a movie is being talked about. And eventually is made.

Gaita warns the reader at the start of this book that it is hard to read. To paraphrase the xkcd cartoon 'Stand back, I'm doing philosophy'. Things could get dangerous. And certainly difficult. At that they do. I put my hard hat on and my brain still got a bit of a battering. Clearly there are, as Gaita himself advises, chapters that need to be reread and rereread as he talks about Romulus, My Father from a relatively formal philosophical viewpoint.

But Gaita wants nothing more than to be there with the reader every step of the way. It might hurt, but I'm holding your hand, see? And much of it is straightforwardly interesting. By a complete coincidence just before I started reading this, I had put about 200 volumes of autobiography/biography on the shelves. I didn't know why, given that it is not something I ever read. But his discussions of memory and understanding have given me some perspective on that now. Perhaps I will learn something about the process of writing this sort of thing from reading the books I've gathered together.

The musings on the nature of memory continue on in a different form. He discusses at length, partly because he has been asked to by his readers, the making of the movie. Very few people will have seen this movie outside Australia, it was a typical Australian triumph, small movie, small budget, big effect if one cared to watch. Some of you will even have heard of the actor who played Romulus because it was The Hulk. The making of the movie was an incredibly painful process for Gaita. Much as he highly praises it, (and certainly I thought it was wonderful, having watched some years before reading the book) it could never be the same as what was in his mind. Worse, though, it changed things. There were many discussions about this, much angst. The film still stays true to the soul of the book and the changes are minor in general, but how each one must have ripped a little of Gaita's innards apart.

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[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't quite finish it. The first book of a new book club and I found it a challenge to read. Possibly hindered by the fact I hadn't read the first book nor seen the movie. Overall, the author has great admiration for his father and some strange thoughts on his mother.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five essays, reflections on life

In this book, published in 2010, Raimond Gaita revisits the world he writes of in ‘Romulus, My Father’ of the events after the book (and film) were released. There are five essays in this book:

‘A Summer-Coloured Humanism’ about Hora;
‘Character and Its Limits’ and ‘Truth and Truthfulness in Narrative’
Both touch on the philosophical debt he owes his father and Hora;
‘From Book to Film’ is about the making of the film ‘Romulus, My Father’; and
‘An Unassuageable Longing’ is about his mother.

As indicated in his introduction, Mr Gaita wrote these essays at different times, and they have different styles. The five essays are united by Mr Gaita’s search to understand the people he is writing about and to represent them (and their influences) as accurately as he can. While his father Romulus is central to his life, others (especially Hora) were important.

‘It is bitterness rather than pain that corrodes the soul, deforms personality and character and tempts us to misanthropy.’

But these are not simply autobiographical musings about individuals and influences. Mr Gaita invites the reader to think, to reflect on what constitutes truth, on the complexities of existence (especially for those with mental illness). And in the background always is Romulus himself, with his principles of integrity, truthfulness, and ethical behaviour.

I read these essays slowly, from a biographical perspective as well as trying to appreciate some of the philosophical issues raised. When reading ‘An Unassuageable Longing’ I felt for the small child who had such limited opportunity to know his mother. These are essays to read and reflect on, to revisit.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

"After Romulus" follows on from Gaita's moving memoir "Romulus, My Father". In the earlier book he wrote of his immigrant family and their friends in rural Victoria in the 1950s and the despair, madness, love and simple goodness that filled their lives. Gaita is a Professor of Philosophy and "After Romulus" is unashamedly a philosophical work, in which Gaita uses his experience of the important people in his life (father Romulus, mother Christine and father figure Hora) to explore and illustrate philosophical ideas about love, longing, truth, humanism and character. In the introduction he writes "They are, in parts, difficult essays. I ask the reader to read them slowly, but, if having done that they are still hard to fathom, to move on and return to them later". I did find them hard to fathom, not being versed in philosophical thought or writing. I found myself skipping on to the descriptions of people and place which, as before, are profound and beautiful. I think it is a failing in me rather than Gaita that I did not get more from this book. Not expecting a work of philosophy and deep seriousness, I probably read it at the wrong time - but when is the right time for such a book? It requires effort from the reader, effort which I wasn't prepared to give now. But I have been made to think (never a bad thing!)and may, as Gaita says, return to this book when I am older and more ready to take the time to see the wisdom!

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaita has written five essays (he calls them that, rather than chapters) teasing out some of the themes that lay within Romulus My Father, reflecting on what writing that book has meant for him, and the process of turning the book into a film.
The essays expand on the character of Hora, his 'second father'; the friendship between his father and Hora; and Christina, his mother, whose death when he was a chid has left him with an 'unassuageable longing - the title for the essay on her, the last of this book.
Throughout, Gaita integrates threads of story with philosophical interrogation of issues such as morality, integrity, ethical behavior and truthfulness - principles by which his father lived and which drive Gaita himself.
This is a more personal book than Romulus My Father, as Gaita has gone deeper into his own emotional territory as well as the territory of others.
It left me gasping in places. It's an extraordinary and wonderful book.

This review from The Australian newspaper gives a feel for the colour and texture of the book.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/...

[Sorayya Khan]

I read this book as an accompanying text to Romulus, My Father, and found it important and illuminating. I was struck by the treatment of "truth" in some of the essays -- what truth means in memoir -- and, again, by the incredible family story that defines the author's life. And I will never tire of the landscape of Raimond Gaita's story, whether it is a character in his memoir or in this book of essays.

[Bella Zefira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gaita reflects on his life and how he survived with his mother who suicided when he was 12 and his dad later. He reflects on the psychologically tortured life of his mother and justifies her promiscuity in terms of her mental health. Never judging either parents in fact holds them both, but especially his father in great moral esteem. In fact the book bears witness to his fathers goodness and sense of morality

[John Kidman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous read which added further to my enjoyment of ‘Romulus, My Father’.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed Romulus My Father it was interesting to read Gaita's feelings about that book and the film, and to read how the book/film affected the relatives of the people in that book. Apparently it changed peoples lives, and brought people together.

[Gisela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and tragic story in many respects but the style is a bit flat for my liking. Amazing detail in the recollections.