Holden's Performance
Holden's Performance by award-winning author Murray Bail is the story of Holden Shadbolt, a guileless and matter-of-fact innocent as he passes through the cities and landscape of Australia. His reassuring silent presence and photographic memory make him useful to men of power and women who appear to need his protection. He is surrounded by larger than life figures whose exploits and adventures Holden follows--ex-Corporal Frank 'Bloodnut' McBee, the scrap dealer who woos his mother; his uncle Vern, a shortsighted proofreader who likes facts and eating newspaper with is breakfast cereal; and the crippled artist Harriet, whose twists and curves appeal to Holden as he holds to his own unswervingly straight lines.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0312420803
ISBN13:9780312420802
Release Date:May 2002
Publisher:Picador USA
Length:384 Pages
Weight:1.05 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Very interesting, but too long.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 27 years ago
Rampant postmodernism, yet highly unusual, inspiring and deeply intelligent. Murray Bail is weird! He must be! He has taken Australian cultural theory and run away with it. His irreverence towards the whole herd of Australian sacred cows is hilarious and yet written from a well informed historical standpoint. Through humour, he deconstructs the Menzies era and indeed the whole Americanisation of the country from the second World War into the sixtees. Bail also sees the effect that town planning has on its citizens. His description of Canberra is highly informative, downright cynical and yet a real scream. He sees through the sterility of the concentric circles and dead ends of Canberra and associates this strongly with the political mentality of our leaders, who of course, lead us around in circles and up blind alleys! I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in cultural theory, or indeed, anyone interested in an unusually honest and very funny deconstruction of the Menzies era. My only reservation is that the novel is perhaps a little lengthy, given the subject material. Nevertheless, it is well worth a read. John Magee
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