Patrick white patrick white, winner of the nobel prize and author of more than a dozen novels and plays including voss, the vivisector and the twyborn affair lived an extraordinary life. Patrick white 19121990 was born in england in 1912, when his parents were in europe for two years. Buy the vivisector by white, patrick from amazons fiction books store. Birds rose and fell in the air, like the notes of music out of the piano shops in surrey hills. Whites fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative vantage points and stream of consciousness techniques. Hurtle duffield, a painter, coldly dissects the weaknesses of any an. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers.
He was educated in england at cheltenham college and kings college, cambridge. Chronicling the life of egotistic painter, hurtle duffield, it explores the link between. Patrick whites the vivisector does so at length, in a chaste slit of a room overlooking the luminous sea. The vivisector by patrick white, first edition abebooks. First published in 1970, the vivisector by patrick white details the life of hurtle duffield, an australian artist, from a fouryearold up until his death as an elderly man living as a recluse in sydney with rhoda, his hunchbacked stepsister. Coetzee and thomas keneally in rediscovering nobel laureate patrick white hurtle duffield, a painter, coldly dissects the weaknesses of any. The vivisector hardcover july 8, 1970 by patrick white author. Patrick white was born in england in 1912 and taken to australia, where his father owned a sheep farm, when he was six months old. Symbolic abstractions lurk beneath a highly recalcitrant reality, or in the word of one of his commoner creatures, hidjus with a sour, purulent, flyblown ugliness. When he was thirteen, he went to school in england, to cheltenham, where it was understood, the climate would be temperate and a colonial acceptable. Named for its sometimes cruel analysis of duffield and the major figures in his life, the book explores universal themes like the suffering of the artist, the need for. Buy the vivisector first edition by white, patrick isbn. Buy the vivisector by patrick white online at alibris. In a reappraisal of patrick white for the times literary supplement, the novelist david malouf said the vivisector was full of largerthanlife theatrical characters and grotesques, lurid situations, and an oddly oldfashioned view of the artist as sacred monster.
The vivisector quotes showing 15 of 5 theres nothing so inhuman as a human being. Some residual tape marks from protective cover a quite handsome first edition of patrick whites the vivisector. Black cloth over boards, with spine lettered in red. White s books evolved from the very traditional to, ultimately, the very experimental. Vivisector penguin classics white, patrick, coetzee, j. The 14th century reflects two contradictory images. Finally, and most decisively, the author is the most ambitious writer in the world. Patrick white, in full patrick victor martindale white, born may 28, 1912, london, englanddied september 30, 1990, sydney, new south wales, australia, australian novelist and playwright who won the nobel prize for literature in 1973 white was born in london while his parents were there on a visit, and he returned to england after 12 years in australia for schooling. Patrick white s the vivisector by mark edward kikot, b. The tree of man by patrick white, a fringe of leaves by patrick white, voss by patrick white, the vivisector by patrick white. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
This book should be called the monster of all time. Patrick victor martindale white was an australian writer who published 12 novels, three shortstory collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. His sisters deformity, a grocers moonlight indiscretion, the passionate illusions of the women who love himall are used as fodder for his art. When i was six months old my parents returned to australia and settled in sydney, principally because my mother could not face the prospect of too many sistersinlaw on the property, in which my father had an. White portrays the essence of the artist with brilliance.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A novel by the nobel laureate of 1973 hurtle, bright as he was, had no idea what the mad eye meant the vivisector. David marrs brilliant biography draws not only on a wide range of original research but also on the single most difficult and. A novel by the nobel laureate of 1973 hurtle, bright as he was, had no idea what the mad eye meant. Buy the vivisector by patrick white 9781742755755 from boomerang books, australias online independent bookstore. The vivisector by patrick white, 9780099324614, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. He settled in london, where he wrote several unpublished novels, then served in the raf during the war. It is no surprise, in this regard, that white s most popular, his most famous works, are voss and the vivisector. Discover the latest buzzworthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor. On name alone, one anticipates that the vivisector is either going to be great or fantastically ridiculous, or at least entertainingly bad. Victor white was then fortytwo, his wife, ruth withycombe, ten years younger.
I had imagined that if i could acquire the technique i might give visual expression to what i have inside me, and that the physical act of painting would exhilarate me far more than grinding away at grey, bronchial prose. Fine in a near fine dust jacket that shows light wear to the extremities. It is compelling and revealing if you have the concentration to continue past the opening few chapters. A hundred years after his birth, patrick white 19121990 remains australias only nobel laureate for literature in 1973, but hes as unknown to most readers as his name is. The vivisector by patrick white the vivisector is about a painter, the one i was destined not to become another of my frustrations. Patrick whites new novel the vivisector unfortunately does miss, though in the biggest possible way. Patrick white author patrick white was born in england in 1912 and taken to australia, where his father owned a sheep farm, when he was six months old. Patrick white, humphrey bower, bolinda publishing pty ltd. Sign me up to get more news about literary fiction books. A clever, allknowing kind of boy, hurtle shows early signs of creativity, drawing on walls and being. The horses mouth by joyce cary and the vivisector by patrick white and i cant tell which one is grander they are so different. The vivisector by patrick white abebooks passion for books.
Coetzee and thomas keneally in rediscovering nobel laureate patrick white hurtle duffield, a painter, coldly dissects the weaknesses of any and all who enter his circle. In 1973 he was awarded the nobel prize in literature, for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent. Named for its sometimes cruel analysis of duffield and the major figures in his life, the book explores universal themes like the suffering of the artist, the need for truth and the meaning of existence. The vivisector penguin classics paperback january 27, 2009 by patrick white author visit amazons patrick white page. Patrick white is one of the major englishlanguage writers of the second half of the twentieth century, and still the grand old master of australian literature.
His strong narrative voice and his wrenching tales make him an always fascinating read. It is a good general rule that any novel which discusses urgent matters of the spirit should be treated with caution. The vivisector by patrick white penguin books australia. Patrick white s the vivisector does so at length, in a chaste slit of a. But i am a monster he was notoriously unreserved in his exploration of humanitys inner demons, most notably in his epic and uncompromising novel, the vivisector. The eye of the storm by white, patrick and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. But his writing changed my world in an excerpt from the writers on writers book series, christos tsiolkas weighs up the nobel prize winners.
Hurtle duffield, a painter, is incapable of loving anything except what he paints. In response to his biography, australian novelist patrick white said, i think this book should be called the monster of all time. The vivisector is the eighth published novel by patrick white. First published in 1970, it details the lifelong creative journey of fictional artistpainter hurtle duffield.
A thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree master of arts mcmaster university june 1986. Winner of the 1973 nobel prize, the vivisector chronicles the life of egotistic painter hurtle duffield, exploring the relationship between art and the artist. Vivisector by white, patrick and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The vivisector is a novel which commands some effort on the part of the reader because it is not fast paced.