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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Clive Broderick, guitar-teacher and occultist - the Doubleman of the title of this acclaimed novel - is speaking of power, and of a realm beyond reality. This is a fable of the sixties, when shared belief-systems crumbled, and the spiritual bazaars of today opened up. Christopher Koch's theme is illusion; and all his characters are bound by it. The Rymers are an electric folk group enjoying mounting success in Sydney. Their producer, Richard Miller, came under Broderick's spell during his youth in Tasmania; so did the guitarists Brady and Burr. Now, years after his death, Broderick's presence remains with all three. Through his disciple, Burr, it will lead to nightmare.'
Source: Publisher's blurb (HarperCollins, 2013 ed.)
Notes
-
Koch won the Order of the Cross of the Terra Mariana, 2002: 5th Class, an Estonian literary award, for this novel.
Affiliation Notes
-
Writing Disability in Australia:
Type of disability Poliomyelitis. Type of character Primary. Point of view First person. See C.A. Cranston's dissertation 'Deformity as Device in the Twentieth-century Australian Novel'.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille, sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Fairy Tale Transformation : The Pied Piper Theme in Australian Fiction
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: M/C Journal , August vol. 19 no. 4 2016; 'The traditional German tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin inhabits an ambiguous narrative borderland, a liminal space between fact and fiction, fantasy and horror, concrete details and elusive mystery. In his study of the Pied Piper in Tradition and Innovation in Folk Literature, Wolfgang Mieder describes how manuscripts and other evidence appear to confirm the historical base of the story. Precise details from a fifteenth-century manuscript, based on earlier sources, specify that in 1284 on the 26th of June, the feast-day of Saints John and Paul, 130 children from Hamelin were led away by a piper clothed in many colours to the Koppen Hill, and there vanished (Mieder 48). Later manuscripts add details familiar today, such as a plague of rats and a broken bargain with burghers as a motive for the Piper’s actions, while in the seventeenth century the first English-language version advances what might also be the first attempt at a “rational” explanation for the children’s disappearance, claiming that they were taken to Transylvania. ' (Introduction) -
'Gothic Splendours'? : Recent Tasmanian Historical Fiction
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Island , no. 142 2015; (p. 20-26) Peter Pierce investigates recent 'Gothic' historical fiction set in Tasmania. -
What I’m Reading
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2014; -
Going Off
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: Island , Spring no. 130 2012; (p. 12-13) -
y
Water from the Moon : Illusion and Reality in the Works of Australian Novelist Christopher Koch
Youngstown
:
Cambria Press
,
2007
Z1337091
2007
multi chapter work
criticism
'Author of six novels, Christopher John Koch (born in 1932) is one of Australia’s leading novelists who enjoys worldwide recognition. Koch’s writing has its finger on the pulse of today’s changing society. Not only does his work fall within a universal stream but it also stands out as a production of its own, built like a puzzle with distinct pieces. Through fiction, Koch explores other genres – the fairy tale, drama, poetry – to the point of producing multi-faceted works which challenge classification. In spite of the constant renewal of his settings for action, one notices the presence of a main thread which runs through Koch’s fiction: the antipodean and ambiguous relationship between illusion and reality.
'This theoretically informed monograph provides a book-by-book analysis of the novelist’s œuvre and gives a full picture of his Weltanschauung. It is valuable reference for scholars in Australian Studies, as well as those researching postcolonial, psychoanalytic and literary theories.
'This book is winner of the Excellence Award 2009 by the THESE-PAC jury (le prix THESE-PAC, Prix Jean-Pierre Piérard) in the South Pacific-Australasia category.'
(Publication summary)
-
[Review] Palomino [et al]
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: London Magazine , vol. 25 no. 1-2 1985; (p. 148-152)
— Review of Palomino 1980 single work novel ; The Doubleman 1985 single work novel ; Illywhacker 1985 single work novel -
[Review] The Doubleman
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 6 no. 3 1984; (p. 101-103)
— Review of The Doubleman 1985 single work novel -
[Review] The Doubleman
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , September vol. 30 no. 3 1985; (p. 89-94)
— Review of The Doubleman 1985 single work novel -
By Dreams to Disaster
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 71 1985; (p. 5-6)
— Review of The Doubleman 1985 single work novel -
Dark Corners of the Mind Explored in a New Australian Novel
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 4 May 1985; (p. 7)
— Review of The Doubleman 1985 single work novel -
Les 'Bildungsromane' de Christopher Koch : de la formation a la transformation
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Correspondances Oceaniennes , October vol. 1 no. 2 2002; (p. 26-29) Investigates some of Koch's novels and characters in terms of the genre 'Bildungsroman'. -
y
Water from the Moon : Illusion and Reality in the Works of Australian Novelist Christopher Koch
Youngstown
:
Cambria Press
,
2007
Z1337091
2007
multi chapter work
criticism
'Author of six novels, Christopher John Koch (born in 1932) is one of Australia’s leading novelists who enjoys worldwide recognition. Koch’s writing has its finger on the pulse of today’s changing society. Not only does his work fall within a universal stream but it also stands out as a production of its own, built like a puzzle with distinct pieces. Through fiction, Koch explores other genres – the fairy tale, drama, poetry – to the point of producing multi-faceted works which challenge classification. In spite of the constant renewal of his settings for action, one notices the presence of a main thread which runs through Koch’s fiction: the antipodean and ambiguous relationship between illusion and reality.
'This theoretically informed monograph provides a book-by-book analysis of the novelist’s œuvre and gives a full picture of his Weltanschauung. It is valuable reference for scholars in Australian Studies, as well as those researching postcolonial, psychoanalytic and literary theories.
'This book is winner of the Excellence Award 2009 by the THESE-PAC jury (le prix THESE-PAC, Prix Jean-Pierre Piérard) in the South Pacific-Australasia category.'
(Publication summary)
-
Re-Mapping the Australian Psyche : The Asian Novels of C.J. Koch
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 47 no. 4 1987; (p. 451-461) -
The Architectonics of Doubleness in C. J. Koch's Novels, With Particular Emphasis on The Year of Living Dangerously (1978) and The Doubleman (1985)
1986
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Saggi e ricerche sulle culture extraeuropee 1986; (p. 83-97) -
Manning Clark
1989
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Australia in Mind : Thirteen Influential Australian Thinkers 1989; (p. 28-44)
Awards
- 1985 winner Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Tasmania,
- Kings Cross, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
