The Pages [Paperback]

Murray Bail (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2010

On a family sheep farm in the interior of Australia, a brother and sister work the land while their reclusive brother, Wesley Antill, spends years toiling away in one of the sheds, writing his philosophy. Having forsaken the family business to travel through European cities in search of a foundation,Wesley returned home to spend his days holed up to write his magnum opus, trying to invent a new philosophy, a “theory of the emotions.” But after his untimely death, his papers are left untouched in his study, to be handled posthumously by his siblings.  They call on Erica Hazlehurst, a philosopher, to travel from Sydney to appraise Wesley’s work to see if it is publishable. Accompanying her is her sexy and passionate friend, Sophie, a psychoanalyst who needs a distraction from a string of failed relationships. These two women, each with different views of the world and counter approaches to life, face a situation they have never experienced before, with surprising results. What begins as a spontaneous, brief sojourn will end up changing their lives.
   The Pages is a beguiling meditation on friendship and love, on men and women, on landscape and the difficulties of thought itself, by one of Australia’s greatest novelists, the author of the much-loved Eucalyptus.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Australian novelist of ideas Bail (Eucalyptus, 1998), known for critiquing his native land, here posits that the development of modern Australia was too problem-free to provide a welcome environment for philosophy; on the contrary, psychology “and its vine-like offshoot, psychoanalysis” came to thrive there. So he intertwines the two contrasting disciplines in this tale, in which Erica Hazelhurst is sent from her Sydney university philosophy department to evaluate the work of the late Wesley Anthill and takes along her friend, psychoanalyst Sophie Perloff. Interspersed with the changing relationship between the two women is Anthill’s story and his years of solitary work on a “theory of the emotions,” during which he was supported by his sister and brother, who shared the family homestead. Bail’s prose is elegant, precise, and eminently quotable, but this short novel—which concludes with the distillation of pages of Anthill’s lifework—seems more a discursive finger exercise by a master of the language. --Michele Leber

Review

“A surfeit of imagination, skill and style...composed of stories within stories, of enigmatic characters and sly questions with many possible answers . . . It might also be said of Murray Bail’s novels [that] there are not enough of them.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Urban versus rural. The active versus the contemplative life. The Old World versus the antipodean New. Numerous such dichotomies are examined in this handsomely written novel by the Australian author Murray Bail…The Pages presents a mature exploration of matters of the heart as well as the mind.”—The Boston Globe
 
“Subtle, playful, cerebral, and strange. . . [an] offbeat blend of human comedy, maverick prose, and quirky observation . . . There's a marked visionary streak to his work. ”—The Seattle Times

“…Bail crafts a strange and impressionistic philosophical fable. Throughout, he strikes a brilliant thematic balance between theory and experience with sharp prose and dazzling imagery.”—Library Journal

“Bail plunges headlong into an intense examination of the relationships between language, experience, identity, and reality.” —The Times UK
 
“An intriguing novel of contraries…The tone of Bail’s oblique, demanding, intelligent, sardonic work reminds me of J. M. Coetzee’s cryptic narratives.” —The Guardian   
 
“Murray Bail makes philosophy, the love of wisdom, seem worth cultivating…[A] wonderfully entertaining novel.” —Daily Telegraph
 
“Brilliantly distilled, and witty.” —Times Literary Supplement
 
“Quietly fascinating” —The Independent
 
“This is a staggeringly rich book, full of warmth and sadness and the absolute tang of the real… It’s a wonderful book.” —The Age

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Other Press (August 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590513533
• ISBN-13: 978-1590513538
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Life is the intruder on thought...", September 27, 2009

By 

Friederike Knabe (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pages (Paperback)

At the time of his death, Wesley Antill, son of a wealthy sheep farmer and self-declared philosopher, had left his rambling thoughts in big heaps of scattered, handwritten notes all over his shed-study. His siblings, Lindsey and Roger, having looked after the farm while intellectual Wesley pondered life and philosophy, are tasked with publishing his work. To assess the value and validity of Wesley's notes as having the makings of a "philosophy" Erica Hazlehurst, herself an established philosopher from Sydney, arrives with her psychoanalyst friend Sophie in the remote Australian Outback. Two city women in the wilds - the challenges start there. Ten years after the award winning Eucalyptus: A Novel, Bail's new novel has been greatly anticipated. The least one can say that this slim volume provided much encouragement for reflection on the meaning of "thought", "self", "philosophy", and some lighter, humorous fare as "life intrudes".

Bail tells the story from two related perspectives alternating throughout the narrative. First, Erica's exposure to Wesley's writing, but more poignantly, to the Antills and their enormously different life from one that she is familiar with and, even more important, and to the power of the bare and empty countryside. These aspects are beautifully evoked by the author. Interleaved are Wesley's unstructured accounts and musings of his version of a modern Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship: first in Sydney, then in England and Europe. Some pages of writing contain only a few sentences or words, pinned on a line across the room... are these to be interpreted as element of his philosophy? Erica - and the reader - struggles to piece anything coherent together. "It will take months" to work through the wealth of material. Without doubt, the author enjoys toying with the reader's creative imagination. Intriguing thought elements hint at deeper analysis, if Erica could only find those bits of paper, leaving more questions than providing answers. For example, why the Australian landscape and climate are not conducive to philosophical thought...

The beauty of Australian landscapes, in particular the dry and sparse surroundings of the sheep farm, are exquisitely conveyed. Bail is well known for his talent in this regard and for his ability to create atmospheres that reflect the intense impact the landscape can have on people living in it or suddenly exposed to it. The relationships between the four protagonists, on the other hand, while well set up initially, drawing the reader into a range of complexities, are not fully realized and leave the reader hoping for more exploration. Erica with her own reflections on philosophy and changing perspectives make her the more interesting character. While Bail has been counted among the post-modernist authors, the novel could have benefited for more detail and depth. All in all not a fully satisfying reading experience. [Friederike Knabe]