Customer Reviews

The Memoirs of Many in One: By Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray

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When I started reading this book, I got lost quickly. I just couldn't follow the story line. I had the choice of putting it away, going back to the beginning, or keep reading. I did the latter. There have been times I've done that with books that lost me early on. Some came back to life rather quickly. However, "Memoirs of Many in One" never did come around. There were moments when it seemed like I was coming out of a coma and actually followed the narative for several pages. Soon enough the book lapsed back into a confusing chaotic mish mash of I don't know what. The story intends to be the memoirs of an eccentric woman. It reads like an erotic aristocratic acid trip. I suspect that someone else may come away with the opinion that this is a briliant attempt to recreate the thought process of a deranged individual. If so, they will have probably invested a lot more time in this book than I felt it was worth to me.

Patrick White is a Nobel Prize-winning author which is why I tried to read this book in the first place. I read up on the purpose of the award and I came away thinking that the Academy wanted to award someone from Australia. (No offense to the many talented artists in Australia but does this mean Antarctica's next?). I have read a novel of his; "A Fringe of Leaves", a collection of short stories; "The Cockatoos" and now a novella; "Memoirs of Many in One". I have two other works of his yet to read; "Voss" and "Riders in the Chariot". Both are more highly rated than the aforementioned works. Both are lengthy novels. Based on my introduction, it will be a monsoon if I ever get around to reading either of them.