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Grounded Visionary : The Mystic Fictions of Gerald Murnane
Oxford
:
Peter Lang
,
2019
22038132
2019
multi chapter work
criticism
'Grounded Visionary: The Mystic Fictions of Gerald Murnane is a reading of Australian writer Gerald Murnane’s fiction in the light of what is known as the Perennial Philosophy, a philosophical tradition that positions itself as the mystical foundation of all the world’s religions and spiritual systems. The essential tenet of that philosophy is that at a fundamental level all of life is a unity―consciousness and world are the same thing―and that it is possible, if extremely difficult, for the discriminating individual mind to experience this wholeness. Murnane’s work can be seen not to take its lead from writings in this philosophical tradition but rather to resonate with many of them through Murnane’s unique artistic expression of his experience of the world. The crux of the argument is that beneath their yearnings for landscapes and love, Murnane’s narrators and chief characters are all in search of the essential unity that the Perennial Philosophy postulates.
'Taking its cue from Murnane’s self-description as a "technical writer," this book examines each of the author’s works in detail to reveal how structures and themes are seamlessly woven together to create artworks that shimmer with mystery while at the same time remaining thoroughly grounded in the actual.
'Grounded Visionary is the first full-length study of Gerald Murnane’s work to tackle head-on his underlying mystical sensibility and is also the first to deal comprehensively with the author’s complete fictional output from Tamarisk Row to Border Districts. This book will be of interest to all lovers of modern literature and will be of special interest to students of Australian literature and those concerned with the interface between art and spirituality.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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I Had No Imagination
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: London Review of Books , 4 April vol. 41 no. 7 2019; (p. 31-32)
— Review of Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel ; Border Districts 2017 single work novel'Gerald Murnane was named after a racehorse. His father, Reginald, was a front man for Teddy Estershank, a professional punter who was banned from being a licensed trainer or registered owner of horses by racecourses around Melbourne. Estershank, an ‘evil genius’ according to Murnane, used friends like Reginald as dummy owners for the horses he bought, trained and bet on. The ‘equine Gerald’ and later a horse called Geraldo were nominally owned by Reginald and sold when, after a win or two, they proved disappointments. (They became reliable winners for their new owners.) Reginald’s death, when his disappointing son was 21, was liberating for Murnane, though liberation took a while. Tamarisk Row, a novel about the nine-year-old son of a front man for a professional punter, took ten years to write. It appeared in Australia in 1974, when Murnane was 35.' (Introduction)
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Words and Silk : Gerald Murnane at the Cinema
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 293-320) 'Adrian Martin, one of Australia’s eminent voices in film criticism, once asserted that Philip Tyndall’s Words and Silk was "one of my all-time favourite Australian films." However, this hybrid documentary, focusing on the writer Gerald Murnane, has seen very little attention since its release in 1989, and that in spite of a recent spate of interest in Murnane’s work. As a writer of "true fiction," Murnane has been motivated from the start of his career by a "succession of images," and indeed, many of his novels owe a certain debt to motion pictures. In this essay, I discuss the relation of cinema to Murnane’s writing, considering how Tyndall’s film might serve as a useful means for interpreting Murnane’s oeuvre, and how it might be evaluated as a work of cinematic art in its own right.. (Source: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/antipodes/vol29/iss2/10/ ) -
How I Went from Hating to Loving and Collecting the Books of Gerald Murnane
2010
single work
essay
— Appears in: Biblionews and Australian Notes and Queries , March-June no. 365/366 2010; (p. 10-15) 'I have bought two Gerald Murnane first edition books: Tamarisk Row, his first novel, published in Melbourne in 1974 by Heinemann, and Velvet Waters, his sixth book, a collection of short stories published by McPhee Gribble in 1990. The following will tell how I got into Murnane.' (p. 10) -
Magical Numbers
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Resourceful Reading : The New Empiricism, eResearch and Australian Literary Culture 2009; (p. 142-155) The essay looks at the profitability of literary books for publishers, taking as examples data from the University of Queensland Press and some other publishers. The empirical research finds as the baseline reality of literary publishing 'its unprofitability, its fundamentally uncommercial nature' (147). Three case studies reveal that factors other than literary criteria tend to contribute to a book's commercial success.
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Murnane Gets Back to the Starting Stalls
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 15 March 2008; (p. 22)
— Review of Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel -
Gem of a Novel Dusted Off
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 April 2008; (p. 40)
— Review of Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel -
On the Occasion of Reading Seven Australian Book Length Pieces of Fiction (at least)
1975
single work
review
— Appears in: Makar , December vol. 11 no. 3 1975; (p. 42-51)
— Review of Johnno : A Novel 1975 single work novel ; A Place Among People 1975 single work novel ; The Short Story Embassy : A Novel 1975 single work novel ; The West Midland Underground : Stories 1975 selected work short story ; Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel ; A Collapsible Man 1975 single work novel ; Contemporary Portraits and Other Stories 1975 selected work short story -
Cowan, Porter, Vondra, Murnane
1975
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 60 1975; (p. 87-88)
— Review of Fredo Fuss Love Life : short stories 1974 selected work short story ; Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel ; Paul Zwilling : A Novel 1974 single work novel ; The Tins and Other Stories 1973 selected work short story -
Mirrors and Backward Glances : Some Recent Autobiographical Novels
1976
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Spring vol. 35 no. 3 1976; (p. 330-333)
— Review of Johnno : A Novel 1975 single work novel ; A Collapsible Man 1975 single work novel ; Tamarisk Row 1974 single work novel ; Early Promise 1975 single work novel -
Gerald Murnane : Exploring the Real Country
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Subverting the Empire : Explorers and Exploration in Australian Fiction 2004; (p. 145-194) -
Gerald Murnane's Travels into Regions Assumed to Be Known : The Child Constructs the World
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Murnane 1987; (p. 25-27) -
Gerald Murnane's Travels into Regions Assumed to Be Known : Lifetime in Real Australia
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Murnane 1987; (p. 28-29) -
Gerald Murnane's Travels into Regions Assumed to Be Known : The Inland Sea
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Murnane 1987; (p. 32-36) -
Gerald Murnane's Travels into Regions Assumed to Be Known : The City of Dreams and the Sexuality of Illusion
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Murnane 1987; (p. 36-38)
- 1940s
- 1950s