Patrick White

by Patrick White (Editor)

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

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

Reviews

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacularly important. The period from 1988 to 1994 - during which Australia's bicentenary saw increased level of interest in the arts and in which, sadly, the Nobel Laureate himself died - saw a brief explosion of interest in the works of Patrick White. Supplementary to his novels, his (now collected) short stories, and the two volumes of plays, there are David Marr's two fine tomes, the first a biography, the second a collection of White's letters, and Patrick White Speaks, which collects all of White's public speeches and (occasionally) writings that could be tracked down at the time.

Lawson's well-edited volume collects almost everything else important for the maturing White-head, uncollected short stories and miscellaneous pieces of prose. White was a precocious, deliberately incendiary, often grumpy old coot. And you'll get no objections here.

1
Introduction, Alan Lawson , criticism (p. ix-xxii)
2
The Twitching Colonel, Patrick White , short story (p. 3-10)
3
Clay, Patrick White , short story (p. 11-29)
4
A Woman's Hand, Patrick White , short story (p. 30-97)
5
Five-Twenty, Patrick White , short story (p. 97-119)
6
On the Balcony, Patrick White , short story humour (p. 123-133)
7
Willy-Wagtails by Moonlight, Patrick White , short story (p. 134-144)
8
Miss Slattery and Her Demon Lover, Patrick White , short story humour satire (p. 144-160)
9
Fete Galante, Patrick White , short story (p. 161-182)
10
Dancing with Both Feet on the Ground, Patrick White , short story (p. 183-188)
11
The House Behind the Barricadesi"Desert now the hall where we ate peaches in their season,", Patrick White , poetry (p. 191)
12
Lines from Egypti"The Goths have sat on Acropolis,", Patrick White , poetry (p. 192)
13
Nine Thoughts from Sydneyi"To sublimate an incestuous passion for an aunt,", Patrick White , poetry satire (p. 192-194)
14
Defending the Right to Offendi"I offended a certain poet for life", Patrick White , poetry (p. 194)
15
Peter Plover's Party, Patrick White , drama satire (p. 199-200)
16
La Grande Amoreusei"Je suis une grande amoreuse", Patrick White , poetry satire (p. 201-202)
17
Trust and the 'Funeral', Patrick White , correspondence (p. 203)
18
Why Knock Mavis and Bazza?, Patrick White , correspondence (p. 204)
19
The Perils of Art in Sydney Town, Patrick White , column (p. 205-206)
20
Nowra's Vision of Australia, Patrick White , correspondence (p. 207)
21
Selected Private Letters [1938-1958], Patrick White , correspondence (p. 214-223)
22
Flaws in the Glass, Patrick White , extract autobiography (p. 224-267)
23
The Prodigal Son, Patrick White , prose (p. 268-271)
24
In the Making Patrick White, Patrick White , extract autobiography (p. 271-275)
Note: With title: In the Making
25
Poor Henry Lawson, Patrick White , biography (p. 276-277)
26
Factual Writing and Criticism Patrick White Speaks on Factual Writing and Fiction, Patrick White , prose (p. 277-281)
27
Citizens for Democracy, Patrick White , prose (p. 287-290)
28
The Henry Lawson Fracas, Patrick White , correspondence (p. 291)
29
Patrick White's Choice, Patrick White , prose (p. 291-293)
30
Patriotism, Patrick White , prose (p. 294-297)

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good variety of writing that depicts White as a writer, artist, lover, and crank pariah. The early short stories are so very, very experimental: I liked them as much as I was disturbed by them, especially The Twitching Colonel. Among many other works, writers, and artists, White names Joyce as an influence, and I can see why in how White could narrate the attitudes and conventions of a street instead of any one person. The short stories are very disorientating, like in Clay, when I could not keep track of what was going on but got the weird sense at times that I was reading the decomposition of someone mutating with the soil and what might be green life of some kind.

In his letters and autobiography there’s quite a frank, very Australian, get-to-the-point attitude which was refreshing for a writer that is so often technically precise or extravagant. He also has a brilliant understanding of how his multi-dimensional social and financial position combined with his own very sympathetic, caring, artistic nature. It was great to read about his own day to day hardships or certain periods in his life and how they tied into his writing of novels. His personal letters reveal a different side to him again in how he is sometimes curt with his opinions about public problems and often anecdotal with friends.