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The architect
Jules Van Erp has presence. After a devastating road accident, he can still effortlessly create such architectural masterpieces as the Pavilion of Flight, but he cannot face the emotional legacy of his own history. In an effort to understand his fears and limitations, he returns to the dangerous and exotic world of his past. Only when Jules concedes the possibility of love and imperfection is he able to begin rebuilding his extraordinary life.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 9, 2011
I found this book amazing, a lot of characters all with very complex stories around them. The book links them all and some how makes the reader question our own thoughts and reactions to many of the issues raised. Inspiring and great work by a local aussie author!
January 9, 2021
My first Australian novel for 2021 has been long out of print, but it was an excellent choice to start my reading year.
The Architect was the debut novel of Jillian Watkinson, and (under the title 'Shoelaces') it won the 1999 inaugural Best Manuscript in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, and was also shortlisted for the 2001 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Watkinson published a further novel called The Hanging Tree in 2004, but I haven't been able to find much else about her except that she submitted a MPhil Thesis called 'Beachcomber's Bed' in 2007.
The Architect is harrowing reading, but full of insights such as this one...
Clint and Jules are visiting a cattle-station owned by Jock who doesn't realise that one-armed Jules (the architect) can only use his remaining arm with the aid of a hidden splint and can't do something as everyday as opening the gates for the cattle to go through.
I have always associated Drysdale's elongated figures with Modigliani, so I like this alternative conception of the 'searching soul'. I also like the clever way Jules's origins outside Australia are signalled not just by his unfamiliarity with rural Australian but also by the grammatical correctness and slightly stilted formality of his narration. It's not exaggerated; it's just right.
BEWARE: SPOILERS
Jules has been badly burned in a motorcycle accident, 60% of his body according to Donna whose narration begins the novel. (There are multiple narrators). She is a burnt-out nurse, anguished that she has become inured to the pain she witnesses in the burns unit where she works. She expected Jules to die, and her narration of his suffering spares the reader very little. Improbably, he survives, and she defers her resignation until he leaves hospital. She then becomes his carer, not just helping him with everyday life, but also tending to his ruined body while for years he endures skin grafts, infections and pain not fully ameliorated by morphine. Watkinson has been a registered nurse and though no one else can feel another's pain, this account breathes authenticity and it lays bare what must be real life for burns victims who we hear about in the media.
At the same time, Jules has to adapt: he can no longer express his creativity. He is a world-renowned architect, an internationally famous photo-journalist, and he painted and played the guitar. But it is not only his physical disability depicted in this novel: he has retreated into himself. He was always a private person anyway, hiding his inability to love behind an aloof public persona of elegant clothes and style. A succession of failed relationships including estrangement from his children emerges as Donna's duties include dealing with his international financial transactions and messages via answer-machine and email. Jules is a very flawed character, never going to be the 'inspirational' role model for disability, buttressed by a supportive family.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/01/09/t...
The Architect was the debut novel of Jillian Watkinson, and (under the title 'Shoelaces') it won the 1999 inaugural Best Manuscript in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, and was also shortlisted for the 2001 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Watkinson published a further novel called The Hanging Tree in 2004, but I haven't been able to find much else about her except that she submitted a MPhil Thesis called 'Beachcomber's Bed' in 2007.
The Architect is harrowing reading, but full of insights such as this one...
Clint and Jules are visiting a cattle-station owned by Jock who doesn't realise that one-armed Jules (the architect) can only use his remaining arm with the aid of a hidden splint and can't do something as everyday as opening the gates for the cattle to go through.
At the yards Clint rescues me from the improbable task. He is laughing as he uncovers his face from a blue bandanna. I think that I have never heard Clint laugh. He steps from a saddle, a Drysdale caricature come to animation, and until now I have had no reference point from which to understand that painter's interpretation of the Australian land's impact on a person. Clint drinks from a canteen, gargles and spits; sinew and bone, the body desiccated by the idea of dust and ashes, stretched between earth and sky, the elongation necessary to accommodate a searching soul. (p.248)
I have always associated Drysdale's elongated figures with Modigliani, so I like this alternative conception of the 'searching soul'. I also like the clever way Jules's origins outside Australia are signalled not just by his unfamiliarity with rural Australian but also by the grammatical correctness and slightly stilted formality of his narration. It's not exaggerated; it's just right.
BEWARE: SPOILERS
Jules has been badly burned in a motorcycle accident, 60% of his body according to Donna whose narration begins the novel. (There are multiple narrators). She is a burnt-out nurse, anguished that she has become inured to the pain she witnesses in the burns unit where she works. She expected Jules to die, and her narration of his suffering spares the reader very little. Improbably, he survives, and she defers her resignation until he leaves hospital. She then becomes his carer, not just helping him with everyday life, but also tending to his ruined body while for years he endures skin grafts, infections and pain not fully ameliorated by morphine. Watkinson has been a registered nurse and though no one else can feel another's pain, this account breathes authenticity and it lays bare what must be real life for burns victims who we hear about in the media.
At the same time, Jules has to adapt: he can no longer express his creativity. He is a world-renowned architect, an internationally famous photo-journalist, and he painted and played the guitar. But it is not only his physical disability depicted in this novel: he has retreated into himself. He was always a private person anyway, hiding his inability to love behind an aloof public persona of elegant clothes and style. A succession of failed relationships including estrangement from his children emerges as Donna's duties include dealing with his international financial transactions and messages via answer-machine and email. Jules is a very flawed character, never going to be the 'inspirational' role model for disability, buttressed by a supportive family.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/01/09/t...
May 29, 2012
This one was truly a shocker - a turgid, macabre excuse for a novel, one of the most unsatisfying reads I have ever had, and it looked to have so much promise...
December 9, 2012
Vocab and phraseology excellent. Should read again. A1.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews