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The Solid Mandala
The story of two people living one life from the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Arthur and Waldo Brown were born twins and destined never to to grow away from each other. They spent their childhood together. Their youth together. Middle-age together. Retirement together. They even shared the same girl. They shared everything - except their view of things. Waldo, with his intelligence, saw everything and understood little. Arthur was the fool who didn't bother to look. He understood. As they compete with and care for each other through half a century, their lives are inextricably intertwined - the two sides of a man’s nature forming a totality.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Patrick White
89 books383 followers There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads. For the Canadian Poet Laureate see "Patrick^^^^^White".
Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian author widely regarded as one of the major English-language novelists of the 20th century, and winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Born in England while his Australian parents were visiting family, White grew up in Sydney before studying at Cambridge. Publishing his first two novels to critical acclaim in the UK, White then enlisted to serve in World War II, where he met his lifelong partner, the Greek Manoly Lascaris. The pair returned to Australia after the war.
Home again, White published a total of twelve novels, two short story collections, eight plays, as well as a miscellany of non-fiction. His fiction freely employs shifting narrative vantages and the stream of consciousness technique. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Prize "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature."
From 1947 to 1964, White and Lascaris lived a retired life on the outer fringes of Sydney. However after their subsequent move to the inner suburb of Centennial Park, White experienced an increased passion for activism. He became known as an outspoken champion for the disadvantaged, for Indigenous rights, and for the teaching and promotion of art, in a culture he deemed often backward and conservative. In their personal life, White and Lascaris' home became a regular haunt for noted figures from all levels of society.
Although he achieved a great deal of critical applause, and was hailed as a national hero after his Nobel win, White retained a challenged relationship with the Australian public and ordinary readers. In his final decades the books sold well in paperback, but he retained a reputation as difficult, dense, and sometimes inscrutable.
Following White's death in 1990, his reputation was briefly buoyed by David Marr's well-received biography, although he disappeared off most university and school syllabuses, with his novels mostly out of print, by the end of the century. Interest in White's books was revived around 2012, the year of his centenary, with all now available again.
Sources: Wikipedia, David Marr's biography, The Patrick White Catalogue
Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian author widely regarded as one of the major English-language novelists of the 20th century, and winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Born in England while his Australian parents were visiting family, White grew up in Sydney before studying at Cambridge. Publishing his first two novels to critical acclaim in the UK, White then enlisted to serve in World War II, where he met his lifelong partner, the Greek Manoly Lascaris. The pair returned to Australia after the war.
Home again, White published a total of twelve novels, two short story collections, eight plays, as well as a miscellany of non-fiction. His fiction freely employs shifting narrative vantages and the stream of consciousness technique. In 1973, he was awarded the Nobel Prize "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature."
From 1947 to 1964, White and Lascaris lived a retired life on the outer fringes of Sydney. However after their subsequent move to the inner suburb of Centennial Park, White experienced an increased passion for activism. He became known as an outspoken champion for the disadvantaged, for Indigenous rights, and for the teaching and promotion of art, in a culture he deemed often backward and conservative. In their personal life, White and Lascaris' home became a regular haunt for noted figures from all levels of society.
Although he achieved a great deal of critical applause, and was hailed as a national hero after his Nobel win, White retained a challenged relationship with the Australian public and ordinary readers. In his final decades the books sold well in paperback, but he retained a reputation as difficult, dense, and sometimes inscrutable.
Following White's death in 1990, his reputation was briefly buoyed by David Marr's well-received biography, although he disappeared off most university and school syllabuses, with his novels mostly out of print, by the end of the century. Interest in White's books was revived around 2012, the year of his centenary, with all now available again.
Sources: Wikipedia, David Marr's biography, The Patrick White Catalogue
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
November 22, 2023
Una historia incómoda sobre la vida de dos hermanos mellizos de estructura psicológica y nivel intelectual muy diferente, creciendo en una familia de inmigrantes en la Australia del siglo pasado.
Patrick White, considerado por algunos, el heredero australiano de Faulkner y Joyce, supo instilar en esta novela un simbolismo claro. Los mellizos, antagónicos y complementarios, fluctúan entre el conflicto constante y la mutua necesidad. Waldo es envidioso, soberbio y despectivo, convencido de que es un genial escritor. Durante su infancia, Waldo es considerado (con excepción del terreno de las matemáticas) como un niño brillante, pero su aparente intelectualidad es estéril: no es capaz de producir la gran obra que conmueva al mundo. Sin embargo, sobre él recaerá la responsabilidad de cuidar a su mellizo, Arthur, un ser ingenuo, sensible, artístico y con un ligero retraso intelectual. Waldo cumple su deber con resentimiento, cargando penosamente con su hermano y su "estupidez" en todas las etapas de sus vidas.
Uno de esas historias donde nada ocurre y donde todo ocurre porque es la vida de dos individuos la que veremos transcurrir. Creo que no es un libro demasiado llevadero y está plagado de simbolismos sobre la naturaleza humana, la sexualidad y la maternidad. Para leerlo con paciencia.
Patrick White, considerado por algunos, el heredero australiano de Faulkner y Joyce, supo instilar en esta novela un simbolismo claro. Los mellizos, antagónicos y complementarios, fluctúan entre el conflicto constante y la mutua necesidad. Waldo es envidioso, soberbio y despectivo, convencido de que es un genial escritor. Durante su infancia, Waldo es considerado (con excepción del terreno de las matemáticas) como un niño brillante, pero su aparente intelectualidad es estéril: no es capaz de producir la gran obra que conmueva al mundo. Sin embargo, sobre él recaerá la responsabilidad de cuidar a su mellizo, Arthur, un ser ingenuo, sensible, artístico y con un ligero retraso intelectual. Waldo cumple su deber con resentimiento, cargando penosamente con su hermano y su "estupidez" en todas las etapas de sus vidas.
Uno de esas historias donde nada ocurre y donde todo ocurre porque es la vida de dos individuos la que veremos transcurrir. Creo que no es un libro demasiado llevadero y está plagado de simbolismos sobre la naturaleza humana, la sexualidad y la maternidad. Para leerlo con paciencia.
June 9, 2020
June 2020 update: Recently saw an interview with Patrick White, and he said this was his favourite book. So I just read it again. We start and end with the community view of the twins, and the ideas of society are one manifestation of a “solid mandala” encountered in this challenging novel. Part 2 is the longest, and is from Waldo’s point of view; later, in Arthur’s section, we are forced to re-evaluate all our assumptions. Here is another big theme—the debate between the intellect and the physical. The twins represent both, and on one level the novel can be seen to portray the struggle to integrate a complete personality. Throw in the fact the twins, even as adults, continue to sleep together, and one can see that White tossed as much into the pot as he dared at the time. This book also foreshadows themes explored more fully in The Twyborn Affair.
White has a confident masterful approach, and gets away with a lot. I still intend to reread all the rest, and then start all over again.
//
Previous review:
White is writing here about two brothers who together form some kind of unit. I can't help but wonder if the two brothers are a kind of stand in for another kind of male pair bond. In any event, I'm going to re-read every book Patrick White wrote and figure out the answer to every question.
Yes, that is what I shall do.
White has a confident masterful approach, and gets away with a lot. I still intend to reread all the rest, and then start all over again.
//
Previous review:
White is writing here about two brothers who together form some kind of unit. I can't help but wonder if the two brothers are a kind of stand in for another kind of male pair bond. In any event, I'm going to re-read every book Patrick White wrote and figure out the answer to every question.
Yes, that is what I shall do.
February 15, 2026
This solid mandala he held in his hand as he sat, whenever possible, in the reading room at the Library. For the Books became his second obsession. To storm his way, however late, however dark the obscurer corners of his mind. So he sat twirling the solid mandala, and by shuffling the words together, he made many if not all of the permutations of sense. Admittedly, in flashes of desperation, crushed grass and his own palpitating lump of flesh convinced him more.
The Solid Mandala (Bila vrăjită) a fost poarta mea de intrare în universul lui Patrick White. De mai bine de un an am tot vrut să iau taurul de coarne și să-l citesc, dar alegerea primei cărți... nu a fost așa de simplă.
O carte stranie, densă, încărcată de simboluri, pe alocuri greu de urmărit, dar fascinantă tocmai prin asta. Ne spune povestea a doi frați gemeni, Arthur și Waldo (unul considerat „normal”, celălalt privit ca debil) dar, pe măsură ce înaintezi în poveste, granițele dintre luciditate și nebunie devin neclare. White surprinde esența lumii lor în momente aparent banale, dar care ascund o greutate copleșitoare.
Bilele din carte nu sunt doar jucării, ci fragile nuclee de sens, de conexiune, de identitate. Când unul dintre ei își pierde bila, pare că se destramă și echilibrul lui, iar odată cu asta... ceva ireversibil se întâmplă.
Iar finalul? Trist. Devastator în simplitatea lui.
The Solid Mandala (Bila vrăjită) a fost poarta mea de intrare în universul lui Patrick White. De mai bine de un an am tot vrut să iau taurul de coarne și să-l citesc, dar alegerea primei cărți... nu a fost așa de simplă.
O carte stranie, densă, încărcată de simboluri, pe alocuri greu de urmărit, dar fascinantă tocmai prin asta. Ne spune povestea a doi frați gemeni, Arthur și Waldo (unul considerat „normal”, celălalt privit ca debil) dar, pe măsură ce înaintezi în poveste, granițele dintre luciditate și nebunie devin neclare. White surprinde esența lumii lor în momente aparent banale, dar care ascund o greutate copleșitoare.
Bilele din carte nu sunt doar jucării, ci fragile nuclee de sens, de conexiune, de identitate. Când unul dintre ei își pierde bila, pare că se destramă și echilibrul lui, iar odată cu asta... ceva ireversibil se întâmplă.
Iar finalul? Trist. Devastator în simplitatea lui.
April 7, 2012
Loved this book! It tells the story, of two non-identical twins and their lives together. Waldo, the intellectual one, dreams of writing the great novel. Arthur, the 'dill', is a bit simple but capable of great love. The culminating event in this novel is Waldo's discovery that Arthur not only reads fiction but also that he has written poetry, and the shock of this leads him to take drastic action.
Could be viewed as two sides of the same personality: the ego (Waldo, an unattractive character unable to be warm and loving) and the 'other' – the oneness or 'totality' of loving Arthur. The solid mandalas are the marbles that Arthur keeps in his pocket and gives to the chosen few, and that symbolize this oneness. These are Mrs Poulter, Dulcie Feinstein and her husband Saporta, and Arthur would like to give one to Waldo but he refuses, just as he refuses Arthur's love.
This is a moving and brilliant story of great sensibility.
Could be viewed as two sides of the same personality: the ego (Waldo, an unattractive character unable to be warm and loving) and the 'other' – the oneness or 'totality' of loving Arthur. The solid mandalas are the marbles that Arthur keeps in his pocket and gives to the chosen few, and that symbolize this oneness. These are Mrs Poulter, Dulcie Feinstein and her husband Saporta, and Arthur would like to give one to Waldo but he refuses, just as he refuses Arthur's love.
This is a moving and brilliant story of great sensibility.
Read
March 5, 2024true artistry in sentence construction. Sad, funny, clever and brutally honest. Master literature
February 26, 2013
This was apparently White's own favourite amongst his books. I love it. There isn't the sense of straining after huge themes that sometimes weighs down his better known novels. It's a simple story, presenting all White's strengths - his feeling for the darker corners of human nature, his marvellous evocation of old Australia - pretty much unadorned.
Once you've given a minute's thought to the title you've done all of the 'thinking' that this book requires. The rest is pleasure.
The presentation of the twins' dual nature is almost schematic: it's like a suburban Australian version of Hesse's 'Narziss & Goldmund'. Perhaps this is a flaw. I suspect that White felt too strongly about the Waldo in himself to allow the character to come fully to life...
Once you've given a minute's thought to the title you've done all of the 'thinking' that this book requires. The rest is pleasure.
The presentation of the twins' dual nature is almost schematic: it's like a suburban Australian version of Hesse's 'Narziss & Goldmund'. Perhaps this is a flaw. I suspect that White felt too strongly about the Waldo in himself to allow the character to come fully to life...
September 8, 2015
This is an uncomfortable story to read, but which of Patrick White's stories isn't? If this novel was White's personal favourite, it must have been because he derived a grim satisfaction from exposing the dark and ineffectual aspects of the writer self, as exemplified by Waldo, as much as he enjoyed gradually revealing that the idiot savant, as represented by the "simple" twin Arthur, has hidden depths. I hate the ending, but acknowledge that it was inevitable.
July 25, 2023
A well written, character based novel about two brothers, Waldo and Arthur Brown. They live in the outer suburb of Sarsaprilla, east of Sydney. There is little ‘action’. The novel focuses on the inner turmoils of the very different brothers. They have a dependent and antagonist relationship. Waldo is cold. The more intellectual and more rational in his behaviour. He works for many years as a librarian.
I found the very well developed characters to be quite sad individuals, with Arthur, the slightly mentally handicapped one, to be the more interesting. He has a better understanding of life than Waldo.
I prefer the author’s other novels. The Tree of Man, The Vivisector and Riders in the Chariot.
This book was first published in 1966.
I found the very well developed characters to be quite sad individuals, with Arthur, the slightly mentally handicapped one, to be the more interesting. He has a better understanding of life than Waldo.
I prefer the author’s other novels. The Tree of Man, The Vivisector and Riders in the Chariot.
This book was first published in 1966.
June 15, 2022
Qué gran descubrimiento, Patrick White. Me ha gustado mucho esta novela sobre dos hermanos mellizos, sobre el dolor, sobre Australia. Una lectura muy interesante, posiblemente la mejor de este año, por el momento. Volveré a Patrick White, sin duda. Ha conseguido impresionarme.
June 20, 2008
There are few characters so representative of what sad and hopeless creatures we are. The Waldo in all of us...
July 18, 2022
This is one of the finest books of literature I have ever read. Two twin brothers, Waldo and Arthur, are light-and-day contrasts. Waldo is cerebral, an aspiring novelist, a cold and distant misanthrope with unexamined racist prejudices, and a repressed homosexual who never forms a romantic attachment. He is a voyeur who watches his neighbors have sex in the window. His closest sexual experience occurs when he unexpectedly climaxes in a library upon finding a homoerotic poem of Tennyson. When his Jewish friend, a woman he wants to court, plays piano before him, he obsesses over her nose and thinks, "it reminded him of the uncircumcised penis of an Anglican bishop he once noticed in a public lavatory". The moment epitomizes both his sexual repression and his unconscious antisemitism. In contrast, Arthur is the favorite, the more athletic, handsome and kind son. He is slow-witted, an innocent fool but, as the novel slowly reveals, a prophetic and uncomprehending intermediary between the human and the numinous. Arthur is not just the comic-relief sidekick to Waldo but a divine figure, a deliverer more than a murderer. He carries mandalas in his pocket, giving them to worthy friends in need of spiritual comfort, and he "dances the mandala" in a choral ritual of transcendence and harmony. Where his brother struggles to make friends, Arthur becomes a kind of simpleton chaplain in the outskirts of suburban Sydney. For their whole life, the two brothers share a bed, care for their mother and father, and live a queer-coded quasi-incestuous life. Together they form an intertwined and internecine pair.
Patrick White's style is elliptical and poignantly restrained. The novel roams between different times in the brothers' life, sifting through and cross-examining their memories, seeing them in different perspectives (the neighbors', Waldo's, Arthur's). So much of the story is understated and unresolved. One day, when Waldo and Arthur are young boys, their father comes home and asks Waldo where his brother is. Waldo, understanding in that moment that he is the less favored son, pretends not to know while the father, realizing he has betrayed this secret to Waldo, awkwardly kisses Waldo; Waldo returns the kiss and they stand silently in front of one another as strangers. The moment is cryptically ambivalent, tragic, slightly erotic, and it's unclear what either one thinks or desires. In fact, as Waldo surmises, his father was teaching himself Norwegian simply so that he could think in a language that no one else could read. As with the whole novel, the inner lives and desires of each character is a secret, even to themselves.
As a young boy, Waldo wanted to write a Greek tragedy about a man on a rock (a reference to Prometheus Bound); as an adult, he dedicates his life to writing a novel called Tiresias, the mythical prophet of Thebes who had been transformed into a woman and back into a man, a symbolic figure of shamanistic gender-transitioning. Like Prometheus, Waldo is alienated and ostracized, a lonely pariah on a street ominously called Terminal Road. Like Tiresias, both he and Arthur are queer figures, strange shamans in a suburban shanty. But the novel ultimately does not end with the two brothers; it ends with Mrs Poulter, preparing steak for her suspicious husband who refuses to love her. The novel is a sad tragedy about domesticity and unfulfilled desire.
Patrick White's style is elliptical and poignantly restrained. The novel roams between different times in the brothers' life, sifting through and cross-examining their memories, seeing them in different perspectives (the neighbors', Waldo's, Arthur's). So much of the story is understated and unresolved. One day, when Waldo and Arthur are young boys, their father comes home and asks Waldo where his brother is. Waldo, understanding in that moment that he is the less favored son, pretends not to know while the father, realizing he has betrayed this secret to Waldo, awkwardly kisses Waldo; Waldo returns the kiss and they stand silently in front of one another as strangers. The moment is cryptically ambivalent, tragic, slightly erotic, and it's unclear what either one thinks or desires. In fact, as Waldo surmises, his father was teaching himself Norwegian simply so that he could think in a language that no one else could read. As with the whole novel, the inner lives and desires of each character is a secret, even to themselves.
As a young boy, Waldo wanted to write a Greek tragedy about a man on a rock (a reference to Prometheus Bound); as an adult, he dedicates his life to writing a novel called Tiresias, the mythical prophet of Thebes who had been transformed into a woman and back into a man, a symbolic figure of shamanistic gender-transitioning. Like Prometheus, Waldo is alienated and ostracized, a lonely pariah on a street ominously called Terminal Road. Like Tiresias, both he and Arthur are queer figures, strange shamans in a suburban shanty. But the novel ultimately does not end with the two brothers; it ends with Mrs Poulter, preparing steak for her suspicious husband who refuses to love her. The novel is a sad tragedy about domesticity and unfulfilled desire.
January 10, 2026
I've said it before and will say it again: what a fabulous writer Patrick White was.
January 16, 2013
This book tells the story of twins growing up and living their lives in a small town in Australia. One boy is clever but bitter. The other is slow but kind. The book is not about anything, nothing much happens, but it gives illumination to the workings of the minds - even the souls - of these 2 men. It does this in a claustrophobic style with few characters and little variety. Most of the book is spent telling the story through the eyes of the bright boy. The insight comes when many of the same scenes are retold through the eyes of the slow boy.
My problem with the book was that not enough was going on, externally or internally, to hold my interest. It was a portrait of 2 men trying to carve our their own lives when they were so intertwined. Unfortunately, neither of them captivated me enough to make me keen to learn more. This book became difficult for me to read and I felt like I was dragging it along behind me to reach the ending. So much so that what began as skipping a few words became sentences missed and finally whole paragraphs bypassed as I skimmed, looking for some event to catch my attention.
Patrick White is a Nobel Laureate and I am sure his writing is excellent, this book just didn't grab or hold me.
My problem with the book was that not enough was going on, externally or internally, to hold my interest. It was a portrait of 2 men trying to carve our their own lives when they were so intertwined. Unfortunately, neither of them captivated me enough to make me keen to learn more. This book became difficult for me to read and I felt like I was dragging it along behind me to reach the ending. So much so that what began as skipping a few words became sentences missed and finally whole paragraphs bypassed as I skimmed, looking for some event to catch my attention.
Patrick White is a Nobel Laureate and I am sure his writing is excellent, this book just didn't grab or hold me.
December 28, 2018
"Waldo was leading his brother Arthur, as how many times, out of the brown gloom of the kitchen. The cold light, the kitchen smells, had set almost solid in it. Yet, here they were, the two human creatures, depending on habit for substance, as they drifted through. If habit lent them substance, it was more than habit, Waldo conceded bitterly, which made them one."
If I am having difficulties with completing my Goodreads challenge to read 100 books in 2018 it may be Patrick White's fault. After the phenomenal The Aunt's Story comes another great book by the Australian author, The Solid Mandala (1966). No five stars this time as I am very stingy with that rating but it is another novel that shows a master of the English language at work. Another novel in which I savored so many sentences and fragments on so many pages. It took me the entire week to read the 300-page novel. Sometimes I spent almost five minutes to read one page - so delightful the prose is. What amazing writing! Maybe only Nabokov could write such an utterly magnificent passage as:
The pace of the novel is extremely slow: an impatient reader will be right to say that not much is going on. One does not read a book like this for the story; the depth of the psychological study, the richness of psychological detail, the amazing insights of the nature of Waldo and Arthur's "twinness" far outweigh the scarcity of plot events.
I love the structure of the novel: the longer first part that focuses on Waldo is followed by much shorter second part where Arthur is the primary focus. The two "halves" are bracketed by short chapters ostensibly written about other participants of the story; they serve as prologue and epilogue for the plot. I love the passages describing the brothers walking along the Barranugli Road, while the events from their past move by like on an old newsreel. One of the climaxes of the novel is the unforgettable, stunning scene of Arthur "dancing the mandala":
Four-and-a-half stars
If I am having difficulties with completing my Goodreads challenge to read 100 books in 2018 it may be Patrick White's fault. After the phenomenal The Aunt's Story comes another great book by the Australian author, The Solid Mandala (1966). No five stars this time as I am very stingy with that rating but it is another novel that shows a master of the English language at work. Another novel in which I savored so many sentences and fragments on so many pages. It took me the entire week to read the 300-page novel. Sometimes I spent almost five minutes to read one page - so delightful the prose is. What amazing writing! Maybe only Nabokov could write such an utterly magnificent passage as:
"As they lay in the vast bed time was swooping in waves of waves of yellow fluctuating light, or grass. The yellow friction finally revived their flesh. They seemed to flow together as they had, once or twice, in memory or sleep. They were promised a sticky morning, of yellow down, of old yellowed wormy quinces."Waldo and Arthur are twin brothers who spend their entire life together. Waldo is the "clever twin," and "the one who takes the lead;" Arthur is "the backward one," simple and slow. But while Waldo is interested in words, Arthur is the twin more interested in people. They are so different yet they are one.
The pace of the novel is extremely slow: an impatient reader will be right to say that not much is going on. One does not read a book like this for the story; the depth of the psychological study, the richness of psychological detail, the amazing insights of the nature of Waldo and Arthur's "twinness" far outweigh the scarcity of plot events.
I love the structure of the novel: the longer first part that focuses on Waldo is followed by much shorter second part where Arthur is the primary focus. The two "halves" are bracketed by short chapters ostensibly written about other participants of the story; they serve as prologue and epilogue for the plot. I love the passages describing the brothers walking along the Barranugli Road, while the events from their past move by like on an old newsreel. One of the climaxes of the novel is the unforgettable, stunning scene of Arthur "dancing the mandala":
"He danced the sleep of people in a wooden house, groaning under the pressure of sleep, their secrets locked prudently up, safe, until their spoken thoughts, or farts, gave them away. He danced the moon, anaesthetized by bottled cestrum. He danced the disc of the orange sun above icebergs, which was in a sense his beginning, and should perhaps be his end."Magnificent! There is one thing I do not like in the novel: the author seems to be explaining the meaning of the title, writing (in italics! rather a lame affectation)
"The Mandala is a symbol of totality. It is believed to be the 'dwelling of the god'. [...]"A beautiful, desperately sad, and difficult book that reveals many truths about what it is to be human.
Four-and-a-half stars
April 2, 2010
Just visited Australia, and had to stop by Sydney's Writers Walk, where a plaque for White is present near the harbor. Patrick White (Nobel Prize winner, only Australian to win it) is one of my favorite writers, and this is one of my best loved books from years ago. It's in the bed table to be read again ... will see if I like it as much.
January 29, 2021
This book has somehow kept with me years after reading. It pops up at random times and I am again overwhelmed by what it has done. Patrick White’s words and language in this book are magic. I felt like a kid watching sleight of hand tricks that even adults couldn’t explain.
July 13, 2016
OH Arthur
May 9, 2017
A story about twins Waldo and Arthur in Australia who go on a walk and are seen by some neighbours on a bus but we learn about their lives before as they are now old men and Waldo doesn't get on with his brother who is a bit simple but understands more than people think and has marbles which he calls mandalas while Waldo is seen as the clever one and works in a library for most of his life and they both meet Dulcie Feinstein and both love her in their own way although neither are destined to be with her only each other and some dogs after their parents die and they carry on living in the same house they grew up in at the end of Terminus Road.
Patrick White is an amazing writer. His books are unusual and individual, passages occasionally drift into stream of conciousness, which I love, and it is easy to identify with even the strangest of his characters. The Solid Mandala is now one of my favourite of his books.
Patrick White is an amazing writer. His books are unusual and individual, passages occasionally drift into stream of conciousness, which I love, and it is easy to identify with even the strangest of his characters. The Solid Mandala is now one of my favourite of his books.
August 12, 2026
White’s prose is so remarkably elevated, though this starts to feel not impenetrably dense much earlier than Riders in the Chariot or Eye of the Storm. An unflinching 200 page portrait of the most pathetic, hateful, fragile brother you’ve ever seen, and then his twins experience, a boy able to see another world, a perfect realm and somewhat able to give that completeness to others. Such a perfect portrait of a fragile family, how if a world so fragile was even offered completeness, the organ would be rejected. This life isn’t for everyone.
Also, amazing some of the things he manages to pull off, like employing single word sentences of “But.” Quite often, and not having it read like the worst poetry you’ve ever read.
Also, amazing some of the things he manages to pull off, like employing single word sentences of “But.” Quite often, and not having it read like the worst poetry you’ve ever read.
October 23, 2025
i fear i do not care enough....i was super bored through most of this book and the parts that i did like were not strong enough to save it
September 25, 2022
Patrick White is a writer’s writer, he knows how to write a good sentence, great at writing about nature, and knows to keep a reader’s interest and invests in his character a particular mystery in regards to their true motives and views. You see I admire White’s writing far more than I actually enjoy it(this is the third book of his I have read), it’s quite impressive writing, no doubt. However, maybe his narrative contains too much truth, too much reality for me, not many spoons of sugar to sweeten the tea, narrative full of hurt.
Anyway, the story is about two brothers called Waldo and Arthur Brown, they have quite different personalities, Waldo being cold, rational and insecure while Arthur is open minded, warm-hearted and comfortable in his own skin, they are meant to represent the duality of human in quite the symbolic fashion(White’s writings seem quite interested in exploring spiritual matters more than most writers care to do). I’m not sure if I am a bad reader but I came to quite dislike Waldo(also what a stupid name), he really represented the ugly side of humanity but not in the simplistic moral evil sense. What I mean is that Waldo may be smart and have ambition but in every other way he is quite hateable. He is almost never nice to his brother Arthur Brown simply because he is more carefree and childish in demeanor, Waldo refuses to see Arthur point of view, in fact he has little empathy for any of the other characters(like his parents, Mrs Poutler or Duclie). He is constantly annoyed, insecure about he appears to other, afraid to show his true self and has a constant hatred of everyone around him. This isn’t an inherently negative to the book’s credit, you don’t have to like the character, however, I found his character to be a bit too one-sided, I think in order to contract with Arthur’s opposite traits. In a way this is contrived writing, I know they are real people like Waldo, of course, but that doesn’t mean this is a compelling character. I think it would have been more interesting if Waldo had more positive traits or that he tired to be a better person but is held back by his inherent hatred of the world. Arthur is a more balanced character, yes he can make a fool out of himself and not notice social cues but these are small vices compared to his open-mindedness to learn about other people, learn about new ideas and just being himself. He has fun making a greek tragedy about a cow, learning about his neighbour Mrs Poutler and making friends with Friesteins. Too bad the chapter focusing on his POV takes up less space than Waldo’s chapter.
The novel’s title being “The Solid Mandala”, a mandala being a geometric configuration of symbols and is meant to represent the spiritual journey, starting from outside to the inner core, through layers(in western philosophy Carl Jung made commentary about how creating mandalas represented “Moments of intense personal growth. He further hypothesized their appearance indicated a "profound re-balancing process" is underway in the psyche; the result of the process would be a more complex and better-integrated personality.”). When Arthur learns about Mandala, he seeks to integrate the concept in life and in the lives of those he cares about, he gives mandalas to people he thinks will understand and appreciate them(expect for Waldo he who cares about but knows won’t understand the gesture). Since Mandala represents spiritual stages in a person’s life, the people he gives the mandala to, are in a way connected to Arthur’s spiritual journey of understand other people and caring about his brother. Waldo despite being more intelligent can not understand Arthur’s insight, of trying to understand everyone’s place in the universe, Waldo is too self-centred and full of hatred.
Overall I enjoyed the book, I got some sense of life and the spiritual, it’s not something many writers can achieve. White had a lot of talent and it made sense for him to get the Nobel prize in literature, however, I cannot feel the same love I have for Joyce and Mann. The writing can be too weighted with a poetic burden,always a sombre and sometimes dark tone which can be a chore to read sometimes. I see the genius in his characters(most of the time I hope) and prose, however there is something in me that rejects and rebels against this writing, that it’s not true to life despite how literary it is. White is always probing the character’s motivation like Henry James, always trying to capture everything meaningful in a moment but I don’t think that always works. I am quite conflicted about Patrick White’s works, it’s a battle to read his books but I never feel as If I got nothing from his books, there is a lot of substance in his writing, maybe too much so.
Anyway, the story is about two brothers called Waldo and Arthur Brown, they have quite different personalities, Waldo being cold, rational and insecure while Arthur is open minded, warm-hearted and comfortable in his own skin, they are meant to represent the duality of human in quite the symbolic fashion(White’s writings seem quite interested in exploring spiritual matters more than most writers care to do). I’m not sure if I am a bad reader but I came to quite dislike Waldo(also what a stupid name), he really represented the ugly side of humanity but not in the simplistic moral evil sense. What I mean is that Waldo may be smart and have ambition but in every other way he is quite hateable. He is almost never nice to his brother Arthur Brown simply because he is more carefree and childish in demeanor, Waldo refuses to see Arthur point of view, in fact he has little empathy for any of the other characters(like his parents, Mrs Poutler or Duclie). He is constantly annoyed, insecure about he appears to other, afraid to show his true self and has a constant hatred of everyone around him. This isn’t an inherently negative to the book’s credit, you don’t have to like the character, however, I found his character to be a bit too one-sided, I think in order to contract with Arthur’s opposite traits. In a way this is contrived writing, I know they are real people like Waldo, of course, but that doesn’t mean this is a compelling character. I think it would have been more interesting if Waldo had more positive traits or that he tired to be a better person but is held back by his inherent hatred of the world. Arthur is a more balanced character, yes he can make a fool out of himself and not notice social cues but these are small vices compared to his open-mindedness to learn about other people, learn about new ideas and just being himself. He has fun making a greek tragedy about a cow, learning about his neighbour Mrs Poutler and making friends with Friesteins. Too bad the chapter focusing on his POV takes up less space than Waldo’s chapter.
The novel’s title being “The Solid Mandala”, a mandala being a geometric configuration of symbols and is meant to represent the spiritual journey, starting from outside to the inner core, through layers(in western philosophy Carl Jung made commentary about how creating mandalas represented “Moments of intense personal growth. He further hypothesized their appearance indicated a "profound re-balancing process" is underway in the psyche; the result of the process would be a more complex and better-integrated personality.”). When Arthur learns about Mandala, he seeks to integrate the concept in life and in the lives of those he cares about, he gives mandalas to people he thinks will understand and appreciate them(expect for Waldo he who cares about but knows won’t understand the gesture). Since Mandala represents spiritual stages in a person’s life, the people he gives the mandala to, are in a way connected to Arthur’s spiritual journey of understand other people and caring about his brother. Waldo despite being more intelligent can not understand Arthur’s insight, of trying to understand everyone’s place in the universe, Waldo is too self-centred and full of hatred.
Overall I enjoyed the book, I got some sense of life and the spiritual, it’s not something many writers can achieve. White had a lot of talent and it made sense for him to get the Nobel prize in literature, however, I cannot feel the same love I have for Joyce and Mann. The writing can be too weighted with a poetic burden,always a sombre and sometimes dark tone which can be a chore to read sometimes. I see the genius in his characters(most of the time I hope) and prose, however there is something in me that rejects and rebels against this writing, that it’s not true to life despite how literary it is. White is always probing the character’s motivation like Henry James, always trying to capture everything meaningful in a moment but I don’t think that always works. I am quite conflicted about Patrick White’s works, it’s a battle to read his books but I never feel as If I got nothing from his books, there is a lot of substance in his writing, maybe too much so.
February 9, 2024
This is a tough read, an uncomfortable one, made more so by the brilliance in the writing of it. It tracks the life of two twins, one, you might regard as a narcissist, the other you might consider 'backward'.
The book is set out in four chapters, two of which bookend the two inner chapters, the first inner one focused on the viewpoint of Waldo, the sickly, weak brother who considers himself a literary intellectual, with a cynical eye to everything; the second, the point of view from Arthur, a slow, heavy, warmhearted man who works at a store employing his natural talent of mathematics and order.
The writing is presented in an omniscient viewpoint, which serves to cast each brothers' outlook across their worlds into your own perception of it. Very uncomfortable.
Waldo's chapter had me cringing at his self importance while he struggles to complete or even begin any of his literary plans of writing a book or poetry, instead leaving a box of half written pieces of paper by the end of his life. His eye always seeking out ugliness in peoples physical attributes, and his mind continually scorning those 'inferiors' around him, while discounting his menial job as a clerk in a library, excusing it as means for his future masterpieces yet written. This viewpoint is expressed in the omniscient narrators descriptions of the world.
When this chapter ends, we have Arthur. And while Arthur brings light, joy, wisdom, and the admiration of people his brother always fails to gain, it too has its great share of pain as a heart that is too raw, too uncomplicated to survive in this world. It is however in this chapter and from Arthurs point of view that the readers suspicion of Waldo's own social issues are confirmed, and that Arthur is indeed caring for his 'well adjusted' brother.
The two chapters at the start and end of the book are from the viewpoint of neighbors, particularly Mrs. Poulter, an attractive but unrefined woman who loves Arthur despite her being 'happily married'. They apparently represent the same day, before, and after an incident which culminates towards the end of the book.
The start of the book is written colloquially, and at times becomes jarring at his initial style of very short sentences, which luckily does not persist throughout the entire book. Whether he was just warming up, or it was a deliberate device I can't tell, but don't give up on this one early, as by the first third you are definitely into the realms of Patrick White. His use of other styles such as stream of consciousness mixed in amongst dialog is natural and necessary for the story.
I've always had the mind to revisit all of Whites books. There is just so much in each line, but this is so simply written, there is not much need, and so painful to read, I'm not sure I will be able to. But I think it must be read, once, if only to cleanse the spirit and bruise your soul so that one might be reawakened to the damage that ones thoughts and actions can cause oneself and the world, that we so readily forget in the dreams of our own daily ego, and to be shown the value of simplicity.
I give it five stars as it is so powerful, so beautifully written without a shadow of pretense, and has left me understanding why White regarded this his favorite book. There is no doubt, he was a sadist. :)
The book is set out in four chapters, two of which bookend the two inner chapters, the first inner one focused on the viewpoint of Waldo, the sickly, weak brother who considers himself a literary intellectual, with a cynical eye to everything; the second, the point of view from Arthur, a slow, heavy, warmhearted man who works at a store employing his natural talent of mathematics and order.
The writing is presented in an omniscient viewpoint, which serves to cast each brothers' outlook across their worlds into your own perception of it. Very uncomfortable.
Waldo's chapter had me cringing at his self importance while he struggles to complete or even begin any of his literary plans of writing a book or poetry, instead leaving a box of half written pieces of paper by the end of his life. His eye always seeking out ugliness in peoples physical attributes, and his mind continually scorning those 'inferiors' around him, while discounting his menial job as a clerk in a library, excusing it as means for his future masterpieces yet written. This viewpoint is expressed in the omniscient narrators descriptions of the world.
When this chapter ends, we have Arthur. And while Arthur brings light, joy, wisdom, and the admiration of people his brother always fails to gain, it too has its great share of pain as a heart that is too raw, too uncomplicated to survive in this world. It is however in this chapter and from Arthurs point of view that the readers suspicion of Waldo's own social issues are confirmed, and that Arthur is indeed caring for his 'well adjusted' brother.
The two chapters at the start and end of the book are from the viewpoint of neighbors, particularly Mrs. Poulter, an attractive but unrefined woman who loves Arthur despite her being 'happily married'. They apparently represent the same day, before, and after an incident which culminates towards the end of the book.
The start of the book is written colloquially, and at times becomes jarring at his initial style of very short sentences, which luckily does not persist throughout the entire book. Whether he was just warming up, or it was a deliberate device I can't tell, but don't give up on this one early, as by the first third you are definitely into the realms of Patrick White. His use of other styles such as stream of consciousness mixed in amongst dialog is natural and necessary for the story.
I've always had the mind to revisit all of Whites books. There is just so much in each line, but this is so simply written, there is not much need, and so painful to read, I'm not sure I will be able to. But I think it must be read, once, if only to cleanse the spirit and bruise your soul so that one might be reawakened to the damage that ones thoughts and actions can cause oneself and the world, that we so readily forget in the dreams of our own daily ego, and to be shown the value of simplicity.
I give it five stars as it is so powerful, so beautifully written without a shadow of pretense, and has left me understanding why White regarded this his favorite book. There is no doubt, he was a sadist. :)
June 8, 2017
I 'read' this at Uni, and it's fair to say it was a bit over my head. All I remember is generally not liking Waldo, and thinking for many, many years that this novel was in fact the movie Rain Man, or vice versa. As my wife pointed out, if it was, every Patrick White book ever would have had 'From the mind behind Rain Man!' stickers on it, so even fifteen years ago, and having never read any Patrick White, she could have told me that there was no connection. Touche.
I was rather disappointed by it to begin with, and now, a day after finishing it, I'm disappointed again, but as I read the last chapter, I was lifted into a higher reality. So there's that.
I was disappointed, first of all, because we're pushed so strongly to love Arthur and to hate Waldo; well, it worked when I was younger, but not this time, since I over-identify with Waldo (self-conceived intellectual, artistic pretensions, always blaming something other than himself for his failures), and think that holy innocents are more likely to destroy the world than give out feeling-infused marbles. I was disappointed, part two, because Arthur, despite being a holy innocent, is also prone to some pretty witty and intellectual statements. In fact, I can't help thinking that Arthur is 'dull,' not because of anything natural in him, but simply because everyone treated him as such. That would make this a very different book, and I'm pretty sure that's not what White intended; instead, it's a failure of art. Intelligent people like to think they can write unintelligent people, without being condescending. By and large, I don't think they can. As soon as you like the character, the intelligence slips into his or her mouth.
There was also a lot of dialogue, which limited the amount of fantastically dense, weird White writing, and really I come to his work for the prose, and the satire, and not the ideas. The satire here, by the way, is great.
I was rather disappointed by it to begin with, and now, a day after finishing it, I'm disappointed again, but as I read the last chapter, I was lifted into a higher reality. So there's that.
I was disappointed, first of all, because we're pushed so strongly to love Arthur and to hate Waldo; well, it worked when I was younger, but not this time, since I over-identify with Waldo (self-conceived intellectual, artistic pretensions, always blaming something other than himself for his failures), and think that holy innocents are more likely to destroy the world than give out feeling-infused marbles. I was disappointed, part two, because Arthur, despite being a holy innocent, is also prone to some pretty witty and intellectual statements. In fact, I can't help thinking that Arthur is 'dull,' not because of anything natural in him, but simply because everyone treated him as such. That would make this a very different book, and I'm pretty sure that's not what White intended; instead, it's a failure of art. Intelligent people like to think they can write unintelligent people, without being condescending. By and large, I don't think they can. As soon as you like the character, the intelligence slips into his or her mouth.
There was also a lot of dialogue, which limited the amount of fantastically dense, weird White writing, and really I come to his work for the prose, and the satire, and not the ideas. The satire here, by the way, is great.
September 15, 2019
This was one of my favorite novels read during 2015, so I should have prepared a much more elaborate evaluation of the work…
After Voss, which I respected even more than I enjoyed, I was not sure what I might find in The Solid Mandala. There’s much of the gravity that is found in Voss, but the subject of that gravity is treated more informally, even humorous at times. While there is some of the stateliness of Voss in the language and the set pieces (especially the walk the twins take together early on), there is a looser feel to the story and better access to White’s conception of people’s perverse, isolating behavior. The mandala—a marble that the “simple minded” brother cherishes—represents the connectedness, the wholeness of his being with his failed, but ambitious, brighter brother.
The narrative flits back and forth to shine perspective on different characters, giving the largest parts to the two brothers, scions of a lower middle-class English family that’s settled in an Australia suburb.
Underlying everything is the setting itself, a suburbia of conformity and small ideas and small emotions. Implied in the smarter brother’s scrabbling after accomplishment and fame is an indictment of the pettiness of middle-class values that will not allow for the natural expression and display of sympathy and compassion.
After Voss, which I respected even more than I enjoyed, I was not sure what I might find in The Solid Mandala. There’s much of the gravity that is found in Voss, but the subject of that gravity is treated more informally, even humorous at times. While there is some of the stateliness of Voss in the language and the set pieces (especially the walk the twins take together early on), there is a looser feel to the story and better access to White’s conception of people’s perverse, isolating behavior. The mandala—a marble that the “simple minded” brother cherishes—represents the connectedness, the wholeness of his being with his failed, but ambitious, brighter brother.
The narrative flits back and forth to shine perspective on different characters, giving the largest parts to the two brothers, scions of a lower middle-class English family that’s settled in an Australia suburb.
Underlying everything is the setting itself, a suburbia of conformity and small ideas and small emotions. Implied in the smarter brother’s scrabbling after accomplishment and fame is an indictment of the pettiness of middle-class values that will not allow for the natural expression and display of sympathy and compassion.
March 9, 2025
An undeniably worthy book, but one I found difficult, punishing even, to read. Being inside Waldo’s head for 200 pages is incredibly unpleasant, though it’s a testament to the craft that I felt empathy for him alongside my frustration and disgust.
It’s obvious that Waldo is in some sort of closet - desire and love are completely unavailable to him because he will not allow them to be. The scenes with the dress; Waldo and Arthur’s bond; his thoughts about Dulcie.
It’s obvious that Waldo is in some sort of closet - desire and love are completely unavailable to him because he will not allow them to be. The scenes with the dress; Waldo and Arthur’s bond; his thoughts about Dulcie.
July 14, 2021
cried on a bus because of how White can write about a bunch of flowers - he makes mundanity glistening, abject, sweet.
July 23, 2025
"The Solid Mandala" is a very daring book by a great writer that almost succeeds. It tells the story of two twin boys. Arthur the younger has an unidentified cognitive disorder that prevents him from completing secondary school and which leads to people calling him a fool. Waldo, the older, completes his education, pursues a career as librarian and has pretentions to being a writer.
The novel opens with a brief introductory chapter in which a judgemental neighbour makes nasty comments about the two boys. Both boys are retired and have returned to live in the home of their parents. The neighbour sees the two holding hands as they walk down the street. She disapproves and concludes that they are a weird pair. The reader feels that the two boys have arrived at a satisfactory modus vivendi. In fact, the relationship between the two is in a dreadful state and a disaster is imminent.
The second chapter taking up about 55% of the book tells the life story of the two boys from the perspective of Waldo. Waldo views the simple Arthur as a burden who has held him back. Waldo is poor at human relations, never marries, has no friends and gross over rates his own intelligence.
The third chapter occupying about 35% of the novel tells the boys story a second time from the perspective of Arthur the fool. Despite his impairment understands people and makes friends. At the end of this chapter, the two brothers come to blows and one dies.
The fourth chapter is a short epilogue in which the reader discovers that Arthur but not Waldo is greatly missed by those who knew him.
White demonstrates great talent but "The Solid Mandala" is a rather joyless read. The second chapter on Waldo could well be cut in half. The murder at the end is an unnecessary element of gore. On the positive side, White's portrait of an individual with a cognitive disorder is very good. Today there is a much discussion of neurodevelopmental disorders and White's description stands up very well by current standards.
The novel opens with a brief introductory chapter in which a judgemental neighbour makes nasty comments about the two boys. Both boys are retired and have returned to live in the home of their parents. The neighbour sees the two holding hands as they walk down the street. She disapproves and concludes that they are a weird pair. The reader feels that the two boys have arrived at a satisfactory modus vivendi. In fact, the relationship between the two is in a dreadful state and a disaster is imminent.
The second chapter taking up about 55% of the book tells the life story of the two boys from the perspective of Waldo. Waldo views the simple Arthur as a burden who has held him back. Waldo is poor at human relations, never marries, has no friends and gross over rates his own intelligence.
The third chapter occupying about 35% of the novel tells the boys story a second time from the perspective of Arthur the fool. Despite his impairment understands people and makes friends. At the end of this chapter, the two brothers come to blows and one dies.
The fourth chapter is a short epilogue in which the reader discovers that Arthur but not Waldo is greatly missed by those who knew him.
White demonstrates great talent but "The Solid Mandala" is a rather joyless read. The second chapter on Waldo could well be cut in half. The murder at the end is an unnecessary element of gore. On the positive side, White's portrait of an individual with a cognitive disorder is very good. Today there is a much discussion of neurodevelopmental disorders and White's description stands up very well by current standards.
January 27, 2026
Jury is still very much out on whether I like Patrick White or not. I’ve just read middlemarch, and he seems like a real casaubon character. In that I’m sure ‘Key to all Mythologies’ has its fascinating parts, but it’s also probably narcissistic, pretentious and a reflection of an unpleasant author. Which is the same with this book. The weird sexual inferences between the two brothers was the first red flag. I’ve had this with a previous book of his - he (with some messed up exceptions) never says anything perverted but just says enough to plant the idea and make you think it’s you creating the image. It’s not, he’s just a weird and creepy guy.
And my word, is White pretentious. You can FEEL it on the pages. Ugh. Reminds me of the joke about Billy Corgan. That being: unfortunately, he thinks he is as good as he actually is.
Because he is an incredible writer for a lot of this book. It is so intricately woven, delicate, yet resonates so deeply, and is very thought-provoking. White’s brilliance lies in his ability to dive into the most mundane of lives and feelings, merging the individual with the collective voice. He plays with perspective in a really interesting way, and he uses grammar (or lack thereof) subtly to really attach the visceral feelings from the character into the page, then back into those feelings in the reader. Changes in pace, tone, structure and fundamental style are so important to create White’s heart-wrenching characters.
I just really dislike the guy. Sorry, and I’ll probably read more of his books because they are pretty good, I just need him to shut up and not put his own bs in his stories.
And my word, is White pretentious. You can FEEL it on the pages. Ugh. Reminds me of the joke about Billy Corgan. That being: unfortunately, he thinks he is as good as he actually is.
Because he is an incredible writer for a lot of this book. It is so intricately woven, delicate, yet resonates so deeply, and is very thought-provoking. White’s brilliance lies in his ability to dive into the most mundane of lives and feelings, merging the individual with the collective voice. He plays with perspective in a really interesting way, and he uses grammar (or lack thereof) subtly to really attach the visceral feelings from the character into the page, then back into those feelings in the reader. Changes in pace, tone, structure and fundamental style are so important to create White’s heart-wrenching characters.
I just really dislike the guy. Sorry, and I’ll probably read more of his books because they are pretty good, I just need him to shut up and not put his own bs in his stories.
July 18, 2022
Voss was my first book this year and probably the best book I've read this year so far. This, my second White novel gave me mixed feelings to start with, I wasn't sure I was enjoying it or where it was going, it also highlights White's strange writing style and voice which was in Voss as well but Voss is a much grander novel and is easier to get swept away with. But it did win me over in the end, it clicked, I did enjoy it, but it still is a strange novel.
December 21, 2025
Seems to the most streched book out of White's novels with the main theme being of Duality through the characters of two brothers.
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