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Notes
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Although not published as a series in Boyd's lifetime, the series of novels is now referred to as the Langton tetralogy (Oxford Companion to Australian Literature).
Includes
-
y
A Difficult Young Man
London
:
Cresset Press
,
1955
Z500015
1955
single work
novel
(taught in 2 units)
' Handsome, proud, reprehensible, misunderstood. Dominic Langton is the dark heart of A Difficult Young Man. His brother Guy can scarcely understand where he fits into the pattern of things or what he might do next. Martin Boyd’s much loved novel is an elegant, witty and compelling family tale about the contradictions of growing up.' (Publication summary)
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y
When Blackbirds Sing
London
:
Abelard-Schuman
,
1962
Z501058
1962
single work
novel
war literature
'At the outbreak of World War I, Dominic Langton leaves his wife on a remote sheep farm in New South Wales to enlist in the British Army. What he experiences in the trenches changes him forever; his return home sees him cast off his past and find his own integrity. He has seen the true nature of war–the senseless waste of life, the millions of young men condemned to pointless slaughter–and has emerged a wiser, but troubled, man.
'When Blackbirds Sing is a masterful recreation of the vanished world of 1914, and a moving and powerful testament to the devastation of war. In this final instalment of Martin Boyd's celebrated Langton Quartet, Boyd confirms his reputation as one of the most outstanding novelists Australia has ever produced. ' (Publication summary)
-
y
Outbreak of Love
London
:
John Murray
,
1957
Z501269
1957
single work
novel
'Our minds are like those maps at the entrance to the Metro stations in Paris. They are full of unilluminated directions. But when we know where we want to go and press the right button, the route is illuminated before us in electric clarity.
Diana von Flugel warned her husband: a piece of toast that hard could break a tooth. When Diana goes to Melbourne to have the tooth fixed, Wolfie is far too concerned with finding inspiration for his musical compositions to realise the chain of events he has just set in motion. On Collins Street, Russell Lockwood catches a glimpse of his childhood friend and knows at once that she is a rare woman…
Now Diana and Wolfie’s marriage is under threat, the Great War is approaching, and no one quite knows where their hearts belong. First published in 1957, the third novel in Martin Boyd’s celebrated Langton Quartet is a beguiling comedy of manners about the outbreak of love in inconvenient places. ' (Publisher's blurb)
- y The Cardboard Crown London : Cresset Press , 1952 Z501486 1952 single work novel (taught in 1 units) Dominic Langton dies, leaving the family home to his brother, Guy Langton. There, Guy's discovery of letters written by his grandmother, Alice, provokes him to tell his family's history, with Alice as the central figure, in a novel. As a writer, he sets himself the task of discovering, narrating, and creating from the remnants of the past. (Source: Sydney University Press)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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It's Absurd that Our Best Books Are Not Made into Films
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 21 January 2013; (p. 11) -
Museum Mentality
Who Killed Australian Literature?
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 October 2012; (p. 8-9) -
Gentlefolk Errant : The Family Writings of Martin Boyd
1972
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 5 no. 4 1972; (p. 339-351) Discusses the importance of family in Boyd's life and work, arguing that for Boyd family is more important than place or nationality: 'it is family which gives significance to particular places, and one of the recurring themes of [Boyd's] writing is the loss of identity which follows the destruction of long family associations. His family novels, and his autobiography, chronicle the quest of his characters for an identity which they instinctively place in the imagined harmony of the past' (339).
-
Museum Mentality
Who Killed Australian Literature?
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 October 2012; (p. 8-9) -
It's Absurd that Our Best Books Are Not Made into Films
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 21 January 2013; (p. 11) -
Gentlefolk Errant : The Family Writings of Martin Boyd
1972
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 5 no. 4 1972; (p. 339-351) Discusses the importance of family in Boyd's life and work, arguing that for Boyd family is more important than place or nationality: 'it is family which gives significance to particular places, and one of the recurring themes of [Boyd's] writing is the loss of identity which follows the destruction of long family associations. His family novels, and his autobiography, chronicle the quest of his characters for an identity which they instinctively place in the imagined harmony of the past' (339).