The Great World

Last updated

The Great World
GreatWorld.jpg
First edition
Author David Malouf
Country Australia
Language English
Publisher Chatto & Windus (UK)
Publication date
1990
Media type Paperback
Pages332 pp
ISBN 0-7011-3415-1
OCLC 22953897
823 20
LC Class PR9619.3.M265 G74 1990
Preceded by Harland's Half Acre  
Followed by Remembering Babylon  

The Great World is a 1990 Miles Franklin literary award-winning novel by the Australian author David Malouf. [1]

Contents

Synopsis

It is an epic novel telling the story of two Australians during the turmoil of World War I; and their imprisonment by the Japanese during World War II.

Critical reception

Marion Halligan in The Canberra Times noted that a "paradox that runs through the novel is the idea of weight, and of lightness. The weight of gravity that keeps you in place and makes you belong, the weight of responsibility, of experience as a load of ballast taken on, the mysterious lightness of an unborn baby that seems to offer his mother her true weight in the world, or the premonition of death that combines bird-like flight with the plummeting of a stone." [2]

Awards

Related Research Articles

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued at A$60,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Malouf</span> Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist

David George Joseph Malouf is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. He also delivered the 1998 Boyer Lectures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Scott</span> Indigenous Australian novelist

Kim Scott is an Australian novelist of Aboriginal Australian ancestry. He is a descendant of the Noongar people of Western Australia.

Gail Jones is an Australian novelist and academic.

The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, when the two organisations were merged.

<i>Longleg</i> (novel) 1990 novel by Glenda Adams

Longleg is a 1990 novel by Australian author Glenda Adams.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2007.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2008.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2009.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2013.

<i>Reaching Tin River</i> Book by Thea Astley

Reaching Tin River (1990) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1974.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1981.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1983.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1984.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1987.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1990.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1991.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1993.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1996.

References

  1. "Austlit - The Great World by David Malouf". Austlit. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  2. ""Transcendent smallness"". The Canberra Times, 24 February 1990, p23. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. "Previous award winners by category". Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature . Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  4. "David Malouf Overview". Archived from the original on 21 December 2007.
  5. ""Malouf's sixth novel wins Miles Franklin award"". The Canberra Times, 26 June 1991, p5. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  6. "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987–2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2007.