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The entire book is split into two narratives - there is one about Erica's experience in the country (sheep! rain!) and the other is the philosopher's life story (learn philosophy. think. travel).
I found this book profoundly disappointing, especially because the first 50 pages were really deep and promising. Murray Bail is incredible in creating short meaningful descriptions of the characters' state of mind, chain of thoughts, perceptions. It was a pure pleasure to read the first passages about why psychoanalysis has rooted into the young Australian nation, while philosophy hasn't - refreshing and well-written.
However later it all goes downhill. The women arrive, meet family, walk, talk, think, walk, talk, eat, think, talk. Doors close, trucks drive, but by the middle , it is all just stagnation. There are a few plot turns, of course, but if I gave them away now, there would be no point in reading the book whatsoever.
The hard truth is, this is one of those books that attempts to cover a lot of topics and ends up barely covering one or two. It has some really great ideas but lacks definition. The book parts add up (most of the time), but it does not read true or believable.
Thanks a lot to Harvill Secker for sending this book to The Bookbag nevertheless!
If the premise of this book appeals to you then we think that you might also enjoy [[Breath by Tim Winton]] or [[The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher]]. You might enjoy [[Contact by Jonathan Buckley]] but we had our reservations]].
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