To the Islands

Very good and at times remarkable. The final few chapters are a superb read. In this very worthy winner of the 1958 Miles Franklin award we follow Stephen Heriot in his quest to die. Heriot has a head full of fear, guilt and after a life of working on a mission, has reached the end of his ability to have faith in life itself. After an incident at the mission he leaves with Justin, an aboriginal guide and with that fuels his fears and guilt's to a bitter end.

What adds to the beautiful prose from the author is his excellent portrayal of Heriot as a man of urbane cultural needs questioning his own compassion. On this journey the reader is given pause to think as we are led into a world of race relations that is still an issue in Australia to this very day.

“No don't kill anything. Not this morning. Just for one morning let us not prey on anything”
“People got to eat, brother”
“Why” asked Heriot, glancing up at him dejectedly. “God, what malice must have gone into creating a world where people have to eat. I renounce it”


This book also covers a wealth of reference that had me scurrying to research. A few as follows:-

The poem Spleen by Charles Baudelaire

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35871 with reference to a racist poem.

http://knkx.org/post/another-man-done-gone-powerful-tale-woe-chain-gang in reference to the lyric of this old folk song.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias

The poem Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins

http://www.australian-cultural-atlas.info/CAA/listing.php?id=235 for the Onmalmeri massacre.

The poem The garden by Andrew Marvell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiresias

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Valley_(song)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es

http://alldownunder.com/australian-music-songs/banks-of-the-condamine.htm

Edit: 25/6/17. https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-randolph-stows-to-the-islands-28193