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Murray Bail

The Pages: A Novel Paperback – August 17, 2010

by Murray Bail (Author)

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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.

Print length

196 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Other Press
Publication date

August 17, 2010
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.63 x 8.1 inches
ISBN-10

1590513533
ISBN-13

978-1590513538
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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

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Other Press (August 17, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590513533
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590513538
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.63 x 8.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,043,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,257 in Absurdist Fiction (Books)
- #4,087 in Australia & Oceania Literature
- #7,936 in Comedic Dramas & Plays

Customer Reviews:
10 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Esme

Great writer and book

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very intelligent writer, paints a picture, a character and personality. He may seem complicated but really a simple window to a person's feelings and reactions to what is around them and a part of them.

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

Nice. Read it. Enjoy the story and theme. In the end, which rules? You already know but the story makes it worth reading.

Helpful

celia dixon

challenging and funny. I loved it

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Intriguing, challenging and funny. I loved it.

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

I read half this book (a choice of my book club) and never figured out what it was about. None of the characters was interesting. I finally quit, thinking, "Life is too short." P.S. No one In the book club liked it, including the person who suggested it.

Helpful

Friederike Knabe

"Life is the intruder on thought..."

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2009

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]

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Peter R. Wigley

The road to Gundagai

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013

The scene is a sheep station in far western NSW. The actors are (1) The owner of the station,a widow (2) Her son (3) Two women who come to the station,one an academic who has been given the task to decide whether another son,since passed away,has really formulated a philosophy worth publishing,and a psychiatrist who is along for company and who likes to sleep with her patients,especially if they are ex priests. The three women get along pretty well.The book spends a lot of time decribing the wanderings of the philospher,to London,Amsterdam and other places before he decides to come back to the Australian station and write up his notes. His one love,Rosie,who joins him in Europe, is killed in a car accident they have whilst driving in snow. His following sequestration in an old shearer's quarters on the station to write up his philosphical notes is looked on with toleration by his mother and brother.
The academic is upset when she accidentally spills a cup of coffee on the philosopher's notes.but the brother says she shouldn't worry they will dry out. Sophie,the psychiatrist, decides to return to Sydney to revive a relationship she is having with the academic's father and takes the car the women came in. So the academic is left with the son,she gets lost in the paddocks but is found by the son before it gets too cold She says it will take many months to collate the dead philospher's notes,and we are left with the impression that an affair will blossom between her and the remaining son.
It is an interesting book which needs to be read several time before one can comment on it
By the way,my title "The road to Gundagai" comes from the theme song of a serial "Dad and Dave" which was aired on radio 3DB at 6.45 pm when I was a child in Melbourne. I have never been to far western NSW
Peter R Wigley

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Friederike Knabe

"Life is the intruder on thought..."

Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2009

Verified Purchase

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]

See all reviews