 First edition | |
| Author | Thea Astley |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Angus and Robertson |
Publication date | 1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 158pp |
| ISBN | 0207124221 |
| Preceded by | A Boat Load of Home Folk |
| Followed by | A Kindness Cup |
The Acolyte is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Thea Astley first published in 1972. [1]
The novel is told in the first person by “the acolyte,” Paul Vesper. The novel traces the career of a fictional Australian musician and composer named Jack Holberg. Beginning in obscurity as a piano player in Grogbusters, a dreary little Queensland town, the blind Holberg eventually gains international recognition as a composer. Vesper, who had met Holberg during his less renowned period, gives up an engineering career to serve the great man—in a sense, to become his eyes.
In an interview noted in The Canberra Times, Astley stated that she wrote the book partly in answer to Patrick White's The Vivisector . ""Why write only about the great, changing Christ figures?" she asked a Sydney journalist. "Why not write about the other people who share their lives?"" [2]
After the novel had been republished in the US in 1988 Kirkus Reviews wasn't overly impressed: "In The Acolyte (1972), a failed engineer and two German sisters devote themselves, body and soul, to the whims of an egotistical blind composer. The author uses great care in dissecting the minutest variations in their orgies of self-sacrifice, but she neglects to show what it is that draws them to destruction. All three are willing doormats from the start. As a result, there is a good deal of truth in Astley's observations but very little interest. Nor are matters helped any by an ostentatiously prickly style." [3]
Writing in an overview of Astley's work in 2010 Megha Trivedi stated: "The novel carries human element of love, the frustration of Paul Vesper and his brutal reaction against the selfishness of Holberg. The Acolyte highlights the never ending personal, spiritual and artistic desires of human beings." [4]
After its original publication by Angus and Robertson in 1972, [5] the novel was published as follows:
Helen Garner is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's first novel, Monkey Grip, published in 1977, immediately established her as an original voice on the Australian literary scene—it is now widely considered a classic. She has a reputation for incorporating and adapting her personal experiences in her fiction, something that has brought her widespread attention, particularly with her novels, Monkey Grip and The Spare Room (2008).
Thea Beatrice May Astley was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She was a prolific writer who was published for over 40 years from 1958. At the time of her death, she had won more Miles Franklin Awards, Australia's major literary award, than any other writer. As well as being a writer, she taught at all levels of education – primary, secondary and tertiary.
Dorothy Auchterlonie was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet.
Zora Bernice May Cross was an Australian poet, best-selling novelist and journalist.
Rosemary de Brissac Dobson, AO was an Australian poet, who was also an illustrator, editor and anthologist. She published fourteen volumes of poetry, was published in almost every annual volume of Australian Poetry and has been translated into French and other languages.
The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke is a verse novel by Australian poet and journalist C. J. Dennis. Portions of the work appeared in The Bulletin between 1909 and 1915, the year the verse novel was completed and published by Angus & Robertson. Written in the rough and comical Australian slang that was Dennis' signature style, the work became immensely popular in Australia, selling over 60,000 copies in nine editions within the first year of publication.
The Well Dressed Explorer (1962) is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Thea Astley. This novel shared the award with The Cupboard Under the Stairs by George Turner.
The Slow Natives (1965) is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow (1996) is Thea Astley's second to last novel. It won The Age Book of the Year in 1996, and was shortlisted for the 1997 Miles Franklin Award.
Reaching Tin River (1990) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
Coda is a 1994 novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
Beachmasters (1985) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley. It won the 1986 ALS Gold Medal.
An Item from the Late News (1982) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
A Kindness Cup (1974) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley. It won the 1975 The Age Book of the Year Award.
A Boat Load of Home Folk (1968) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
Girl with a Monkey (1958) is a novel by Australian author Thea Astley.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1972.
Barbara Blackman is an Australian writer, poet, librettist, broadcaster, model and patron of the arts. In 2004, she donated $1 million to a number of Australian music organisations, including Pro Musica, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australian National University's School of Music and the Stopera Chamber Opera Company. In 2006, she was awarded the Australian Contemporary Music Award for Patronage. Barbara Blackman was married for 27 years to renowned Australian artist Charles Blackman.
Hunting the Wild Pineapple (1979) is a collection of short stories by Australian writer Thea Astley. It was published in paperback by Nelson Publishers in Sydney in 1979.
The Cure (1983) is a novel by Australian writer Peter Kocan. It was originally published by Angus and Robertson in Australia in 1983.
 | This article about a 1970s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |