Literary Eucalyptus by Murray Bail

[sun surfer]

This is the MR Literary Club selection for February 2016. Whether you've already read it or would like to, feel free to start or join in the conversation at any time, and guests are always welcome!


Goodreads • Amazon Australia Canada India UK US • Kobo • Audible Australia UK US


So, what are your thoughts on it?

[HomeInMyShoes]

I see a couple of members have read this book already. I'm hopefully getting to it soon, but I've got a bunch of ILLs lined up that if they appear I'll have to deal with first.

[Bookpossum]

I hope you enjoy it when you get to it, HomeInMyShoes. I loved it, and am looking forward to rereading it.

[caleb72]

Oooh great! An Aussie read - love it!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Hawks, nature poems and now trees! I read that Murray Bail is known for both fiction and non-fiction which contributes to an interesting tone for this book. Looking forward to it! Thanks for volunteering nominations, Bookpossum!

[Bookpossum]

Thanks caleb72 and Bookworm_Girl! I hope it lives up to expectations. There's such a feeling of responsibility, isn't there.

[Dr. Drib]

Your U.S.A. Kindle link is not active. Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Thanks caleb72 and Bookworm_Girl! I hope it lives up to expectations. There's such a feeling of responsibility, isn't there.

I was mesmerized by it and I never would have find out on my own, so you're responsible for that.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by issybird

I was mesmerized by it and I never would have find out on my own, so you're responsible for that.

I was so glad you enjoyed it and rated it so highly!

[Bookpossum]

I have just started reading and thought you might like to see a couple of the trees to which Bail refers. On page 2-3 he writes of the River Red Gum:

Too masculine, too overbearingly masculine; covered in grandfatherly warts and carbuncles, as well.

Here's an example, which I photographed (appropriately beside the river) in a town called Menindee in New South Wales.

Then he goes on to talk about the Ghost Gum, which is found in the centre of Australia and looks particularly striking in contrast with the red soil there. The second photograph shows one in King's Canyon.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I've just started to read this book. Here is an excellent article on Eucalypts on the Australian Government website. At the bottom of the article is a section on Literature and Poetry which mentions this book.

http://www.australia.gov.au/about-au...tory/eucalypts

[bfisher]

I started to read Eucalyptus coincident with a polar vortex in this area bringing -30C temperatures. In that context, it is interesting to imagine a climate where the dominant tree species are adapted to a water-scarce, frost-free environment.

In some ways, the structure of this book reminds me of Moby Dick. Besides the ongoing references to the natural history of eucalyptus, there is a very rich stream of narratives which are not obviously related to the plot. There are some marvelous stories here, like that of Holland breaking in his step-father's shoes (I think there is a deeper meaning there).

[Bookpossum]

That's a very good article - thanks for finding it Bookworm_Girl. I did laugh at the final quote, which is from a spoof of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales. It is quoted so seriously that I wondered if the person who put it in realised it was a spoof.

Good luck with the weather, bfisher! Indeed, it couldn't be much more different from ours, especially at this time of year!

I finished my reread of Eucalyptus last night, and enjoyed it all over again. I had forgotten how funny it was in the sly references Bail makes. For example, the beginning of Chapter 3, describing the landscape:

... fitted out with blue sky and the obligatory tremendous gum tree, perhaps some merinos chewing on the bleached-out grass in the foreground, the kind of landscape seen during homesickness and in full colour on suburban butchers' calendars handed out with the sausages at Christmas ('Pleased to meet, meat to please' etc.)

Again, in Chapter 5, with its description of the little country town with "only one of everything" - there are so many of them, though many of them are now near the end of their existence because the rural industries they supported are either mechanised or gone. Once these little towns lose the bank and the school, they have no future.

I won't say anything more at this stage about the story itself, a wonderful Australian version of a fairy tale, except to say I love the way the central problem is resolved.

[Bookpossum]

The article Bookworm_Girl shared with us reminded me about a couple of photographs I took several years ago in Western Australia, showing the cap coming off a blossom. The second photograph was taken about four minutes after the first one.

[bfisher]

Thanks for the blossom post, Bookpossum. When it comes to flowers, a picture really is worth more than a thousand words.

I'm always amazed at flowers, and how they transform their plants, and our feelings. It's hard to imagine the blooms that will be coming out of this in a few months: