Anna

Self-indulgent, dull and sexist. I have only finished this book because I wanted to be sure that it is truly as bad as it seemed from the first 50 pages or so, and to feel justified in writing a review so I can save as many people as possible from wasting their time. It is so poorly written... At every step of the way Murray Bail assaults you with random similes that add nothing to the story. He often makes artless judgements about the book itself and the "fun-facts" about the eucalypts are seemingly just a gimmick so he can say he has written an Australiana classic. The amount of random short stories within the story, add nothing to the narrative . You could skip them completely and you'd miss nothing. The book is a series of ramblings of a man who thinks himself interesting. The story itself is not only boring but has a lot of sexist undertones and and the amount of inappropriate sexual situations that are portrayed as "romantic" make this book an affront to every love story ever written. The author is truly an old man salivating at the prospect of a passive young woman he can take control over. The characters are insipid and dull. Ellen is beautiful but described as a "speckled prize" obsessed with touching her breasts and admiring herself in the mirror. The dad seems to be in love with his own daughter as he is looking to sell off his daughter to someone who is as similar to him as possible. There's no interesting interactions between characters. There's no real sexual tension even. Just the man taking, touching, biting her at random moments because he can and she accepts because she's not truly a person... " She went limp like women are said to go before getting raped" . I reckon Mr Murray would have benefited from some therapy. I am amazed this book received any positive critique. It truly comes across as the first draft of an amateur writer that has no knowledge or respect of women. I've read an article calling Murray Bail one of the best Australian writers. I reckon Australians should be insulted by that.