Customer Reviews

Doctor Wooreddy's Prescription for Enduring the Ending of the World

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a truly amazing book, a view into a world that has been lost, an examination of a historical tragedy that is unfortunately not unique: the death of an entire people at the hands of another. It is a compassionate work of great spiritual power, and ultimately affirms the human imagination and the strength of the human soul. It is written in extraordinarily restrained language by a justly acclaimed poet.

The author, Mudrooroo, may not be well known to American readers, but is a leading (and somewhat controversial) literary figure in Australia. The novel was previously published several times in the United States as by Colin Johnson, the author's birth name. I completely agree with the assessment of Stephen Cobb that it is an extraordinary accomplishment.

In my opinion this is the most under-rated novel of the twentieth century. Certainly I can think of no other that tells a tale of such utter tragedy and suffering with such a coherent equanimity of feeling and purity of wit.

Now, I have to confess that this book touched me more than any other I have ever read. I have read it more times than any other novel (except perhaps Jane Austen's Emma, which I was required to study both in high school and at college). Yet I have taken pains to keep my passion for Doctor Wooreddy's Prescription from clouding my review. I can offer some facts to bolster my objectivty. For example, my opinion of this work is not due to a lack of exposure to good books. I got my degree in English and Comparative Religion in 1974, at Leeds University, England. I've been reading voraciously ever since.

Indeed, something unqiue about the School of English at Leeds University back then was its Chair in Commonwealth Literature. That meant I studied those often overlooked novels written in English by people who were neither English nor American, including Nobel Prize winners Gordiner, Naipul, and White.

Yet in my humble opinion, Mudrooroo has eclipsed them all with his narration of the death of a civilisation, the most successful that this planet has yet seen. As we see, through the eyes of a last survivor, the destruction of 60,000 unbroken years of complex human culture, we can but marvel at the humor in his heart, the compassion in his eyes, and the boundless pity he has for those who are destroying his world.

A novel that provides a much needed Aboriginal perspective on Australian history - and does so with great originality, compassion and humour. I recommend it as a truly important and fascinating read. It provides a unique perspective on colonialism and indigenous resistance that is too often ignored by mainstream press and politics.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. Not only does it show the other side of the history of colonial Australia, it's also really funny. Calling the Chief Protector of the Aborigines an "upwardly mobile bricklayer" (as Mudrooroo does) says it all. :)