Book Review: Landscape of Farewell
Alex Miller’s Novel Shortlisted for Miles Franklin Literary Award
Miller's 2007 Australian novel asks questions about man's connection with history and country.
Shortlisted for the 2008 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Alex Miller’s Landscape of Farewell (Allen & Unwin, 2007) is a study of the best and worst of human nature – and how two men from seemingly disparate cultures enable each other to unlock the secrets of their family histories.
Plot of Landscape of Farewell
German history professor Max Otto, despondent after the death of his wife, promises his daughter that he will complete his final paper and present it at his university in Hamburg, but afterwards he plans to kill himself. After the presentation he is distracted by young aboriginal academic Vita McClelland, who takes him to task for his complete disregard for her people in his work.
Sensing Max’s loneliness, Vita invites him to stay with her uncle Dougald Gnapun, a tribal elder and cultural adviser, on his property in country Queensland. Despite his reserved demeanor, Dougald is hospitable to Max, who in turn makes every attempt to make himself useful with the day to day running of the farm. Indeed the solitude and the slow pace of life give him time to reflect upon his own family history. In particular an uneasy childhood sojourn with his embittered uncle during World War II and his reluctance to delve too deeply into the actions of his own father during that time.
As events draw the two men closer, Max discovers that Dougald has a family history of his own to share. He entrusts the story of his great grandfather to Max, as he finds himself incapable of writing it. In writing the story and accompanying Dougald on a journey to the country of his great-grandfather, Max is forced to confront the fears that have possessed him since childhood.
Themes and Preoccupations in Landscape of Farewell
The acknowledgement of history lies at the heart of Landscape of Farewell. Max tells us early on that he “loathes books that are made up” and yet he refuses to examine his own history, for fear of discovering a terrible truth about his father. By contrast, Dougald is well aware of the bloody history of his great-grandfather and is anxious that the story not die with him. Both men have troubled memories of childhood – Dougald suffered at the hands of a violent father, Max was isolated with a disturbed uncle.
The link of man to the land is also a recurring theme. Max’s uncle is resentful at being burdened with the care of his family farm, but he still tries to instill in the young Max that the soil is a part of who they are. As Max travels with Dougald to the Old Country, he sees another side of this sense of belonging to the land.
About the Author
Alex Miller was born in London in 1936 and emigrated to Australia from London at the age of sixteen. He is one of Australia’s most prestigious writers, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Ancestor Game in 1993 and Journey to the Stone Country in 2003.
