"Conversations At Curlow Creek"
Submitted by freefortermpapers on 06/24/2008 03:00 PM
- Category: Psychology
- Words: 652
- Pages: 3
- Views: 8
- Popularity Rank: 689
"Conversations At Curlow Creek"
When asked to do a summary over my favorite book, I feel a little overwhelmed. There are so many books out there that I have read and enjoyed, and would love to give my thoughts on. However, one of the more recent ones I have read stood out to me, because it isn't a well-known book. It is such a good one, though, that I figure I can try my hardest to get it out in the open so people can enjoy it as much as I did and still do. This book is called "The Conversations at Curlow Creek" by David Malouf.
The entire book is based over one night. Two men sit in a cabin by a lake and talk: one, a criminal who is to be executed in the morning; and the other, the man in charge of the execution. It doesn't have a plot where an inciting incident or climax could be pointed out. It is intense throughout the entire experience from the first page to the last. These men, who are entirely different people, compare pasts and presents and regrets and hopes, while still maintaining their characters as authority and captive.
This novel is unusual in that it deals with the past, but with more than a hint of a post-colonial perspective. The structure of the novel repeats the "Tales of Arabian Nights" where the story teller is forced to tell stories each night in order to ward off death. In effect, this story telling works for David Carney, because in an apparent moment of confusion after a ritual bathing in a stream, he escapes, thereby warding off death. Michael Adair, the officer responsible for his execution, and Carney's listener during the long night vigil, is also reborn sufficiently to finally bring himself to return to Ireland and face his childhood demons.
The novel clearly uses the tensions between two countries and two cultures to highlight the complexities of both, and draws on the spiritual dimension to make a point or two. David Malouf, although a fairly new author to me, manages to weave a complex tale of love and betrayal against a backdrop of...
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