The Boys in the Island

by Christopher J. Koch

Francis Cullen, growing up in the island of Tasmania, is outwardly a very ordinary boy. But his inner life is dominated by dreams of a place he calls the Otherland; a transfigured world beyond the real one. In childhood, he glimpses it in the landscapes of his native island; and when he falls in love with a country girl, the dream is central to his feelings for her.
After Heather is lost to him, Francis comes more and more under the influence of Lewie Matthews — a youth whose ambition is ot become a criminal. Now the Otherland's location is seen as the mainland of Australia, where a mythical life of wildness and crime beckons. Francis, Lewie and their friends pursue this life in Melbourne — until a climax of destruction shatters the dream.
Christopher Koch's first novel moves always on the level of poetry, resembling in its themes Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality. It records those visions seen in childhood which in adulthood are lost forever.

Genres: Tasmania

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Christopher Koch was born and educated in Tasmania. For a good deal of his life he was a broadcasting producer, working for the ABC in Sydney. He has lived and worked in London and elsewhere overseas. He has been a fulltime writer since 1972, winning international praise and a number of awards for his novels, many of which are translated in a number of European countries. One of his novels, The YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, was made into a film by Peter Weir and was nominated for an Academy Award. He has twice won the Miles Franklin award for fiction: for THE DOUBLEMAN and HIGHWAYS TO A WAR. In 1995 Koch was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Australian literature.

Reviews

[Jillian]

Dreamy, sad and ultimately a little pointless. But perhaps that is the point?

[Randomerde · Rating 4 out of 5]

the centre is where nowhere happens the trim journey hovers just out of reach a bridge in a fog the promised likely becomes more than unlikely the hero's barge stays near the shore beaching regularly the vague earth fills the hand

[Gavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that grew on me. I found it difficult to get into early on, but as the characters developed I liked it more & more - so much so I was disappointed that it finished so quickly (it is only a shortish novella). Arguably a bit predictable in terms of the outcome for Francis?

[Don Alcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hold The Boys in the Island in high regard, but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s set in the 1950s, the decade it was published in. Also set in Tasmania. It’s very much a reflection of its time. Some people may be thrown by this if and when they read the novel. The world in the ‘50s was obviously different to the one today. Various attitudes and accepted moral standards have changed dramatically, and the Australian slang of that era has faded away. It was Christopher Koch's debut novel. His other novels are better. But's he's my favourite Australian author.