AustLit

'Australian author Murray Bail is best known for his experimental short stories from the 1970s; however, throughout his writing career he has published many other stories that have not always received the same degree of critical attention. This article focuses on three short stories by Bail published in 1969, 1979 and 1995 respectively and explores the links between them. All set in post-war Australia, the stories focus on the lives of young male protagonists struggling with the transition between childhood and adulthood. Bail often focuses on seemingly minor events in the characters’ lives that change in meaning throughout the course of the story, so that each protagonist takes a journey from innocence to experience. New adult understandings of everyday activities inevitably begin to invade the protagonists’ consciousnesses, leading to feelings of loss and nostalgia for a past that can never be recovered.' (Publication abstract)