Author:David Malouf
A young man going off to war tries to make sense of his place in the world he is leaving; a composer's life plays itself out as a complex domestic cantata; an accident on a hunting trip speaks volumes, which its inarticulate victim never could; and a down-to-earth woman stubbornly tries to keep her feet on the ground at Ayers Rock.
Malouf's men and women are together but curiously alone, looking for something they seem to have missed, or missed out on, in life. Powerfully rooted in the heat and the dust of the vast Australian continent, this is a heartbreakingly beautiful and richly satisfying collection by a master storyteller, one of the great writers of our time.
Rare and luminous talent...an outstanding collection
—— Jem Poster , GuardianContemporary Australia lives and breathes, shudders, groans and even scratches without a trace of inhibition throughout these seven vivid narratives from one of the finest of contemporary writers
—— Irish TimesGraceful and unsettling... Malouf's prose is invariably elegant
—— David Flusfeder , Financial TimesA master of the incisive, seamless, turns-on-a-sixpence short story...this collection is a jewel
—— Kate Saunders , The TimesTender and luminous tales...It is his rich landscapes for which Malouf is most often praised and this collection contains some of the most evocative descriptions of the Australian continent
—— Chitra Ramaswamy , Scotland on SundayContemplative, ethereal, sharply perceptive, this collection is a fascinating exploration of the inner worlds that separate and connect us all
—— Mary Fitzgerald , New StatesmanMalouf, always so precise in his characterisation, so poetic in his evocations of nature and so haunting in his insight into loneliness and frustrated love, is a writer to treasure
—— Francis Quinn , Literary ReviewAt times unsettling in the intensity of their vision, Malouf's stories provide a deeply intelligent meditation on the unknowability of the self
—— Anna Scott , ObserverColours and landscapes are evoked in language that, at once lush and direct, is in itself a pleasure and a reminder that Malouf is also a poet of considerable talent
—— Aamer Hussein , IndependentHis writing here has a fine descriptive delicacy and sensory exactness that act as guarantees of the stories' truth and the authenticity of the experiences they embody
—— Tom Deveson , Sunday TimesMalouf deals with both the vast and the seemingly unimportant... He does it with biting wit, elegance and a rare, uncluttered honesty
—— Chris Dolan , Saturday HeraldPoignant and wonderful story...concentrates, without effort, all Malouf's themes...it needs to be read
—— ProspectJulian Barnes reminds us what an exhilarating experience it can be to read a really good critic.
—— Jane Shilling , Sunday TelegraphA compulsive page-turner.
—— Tim Adams , ObserverBarnes’s passion for his writers is infectious.
—— Ion Trewin , Sunday ExpressBlissfully intelligent.
—— Roger Lewis , Financial TimesThe temptation to turn away is powerful, but the rewards for resisting it are considerable. These essays combine a scholarly breadth of knowledge with a powerful sense of the absurdities of the creative life.
—— Jane Shilling , Sunday TelegraphThrough the Window is a wonderful and very interesting collection of essays that rewards close, and also measured, reading.
—— Brendan Wright , Nudge