 First edition | |
| Author | Peter Mathers |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Cassell, Australia |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Preceded by | – |
| Followed by | The Wort Papers |
Trap (1966) is the first novel by Australian author Peter Mathers. [1] It won the Miles Franklin Award for 1966. [2]
The novel follows the life of Jack Trap, a man living on the outskirts of Melbourne in the 1960s. Trap is of mixed Irish, English and Aboriginal background, in his forties and fat. He joins with a small group of outsiders and travels to a mining lease on Cape York to form a co-operative community.
In The Canberra Times Maurice Dunlevy found that the attempted satire fell well short of its target: "Trap is a first novel and reads like one. It attempts to be satirical, shocking and avant garde — succeeds only in being naive...His irony is too heavy, his targets are too obvious and he never cuts deeper than satirical revue." [3]
Roger Milliss in the Tribune (Sydney), found "The style is often reminiscent of that of Patrick White's admittedly not-very-edifying satires of suburbia. And, dealing as it does with the aboriginal question (if Mr. Mathers' complex theme can be summed up so inadequately), it possesses some generic connections with a whole stream of our writing, from Coonardoo on." [4]
Following the novel's initial publication by Cassell in 1966, [5] the book was published as follows:
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