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Book reviews for "White,_Patrick" sorted by average review score:

Patrick White: A Life
Published in Hardcover by Jonathan Cape, Ltd. (1991)
Author: David Marr
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Fabulous biography about a not very likeable person
I found the biog hard to put down, unlike White's fiction which I find easy to put down! Marr has written a scholarly yet entertaining biography, and you really feel you come to know something about an Australian icon - our only Nobel laureate in literature.

In everything i have read (including White's own portrait of himself, Flaws In The Glass) he comes across as a horrible man - a misogynist, but with some political principles with which I might agree.

Nevertheless, that is not the point of literature, or art, to be loved by one and all. White's voice certainly added immensely to the cultural life of this country, and it is worth getting to know something about his life and works. Marr's book is an excellent place to start.


Rattling, Calling and Decoying Whitetails: How to Consistently Coax Big Bucks into Range
Published in Paperback by Krause Publications (2000)
Authors: Gary Clancy and Patrick Durkin
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Buy This Book if You Want to Learn More About Deer Decoying
Gary Clancy is probaly the world's best authority on decoying deer. If you have been wondering how decoying deer might work for you, or if you want to try it and are not really sure of the what type of scenario to set up or when to to try it, this book is for you.


The Solid Mandala
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1994)
Author: Patrick White
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Classic
Patrick White is of course Australia's most famous novelist. He lived for some time in exile but returned to Australia and lived there for some years before dying some years ago. He was a somewhat prickly character but his winning of the Nobel Prize for literature helped solidify his reputation.

This book is unusual in is clarity and sheer joy. A number of White's books are heavy going, densely written and pretentious. This book however was simply sheer delight. It concerns two old men who live together and are brothers. One is reasonably intelligent and has worked in a library. The other is what might be described as intellectually simple. The book consists of both of these characters speaking and talking about their lives and their past.

White was a gay man who lived most of his life with a companion who he was deeply attached to. One suspects that the book is loosely based on their later life, but of course this is only speculation. The character who is most hardly done by is the librarian who clearly is White.

It is hard really to describe the delight and joy of the book, however once I picked it up I could not stop reading it.


White Ebony
Published in Paperback by Interlude Enterprises ()
Author: Patrick M. Canfield
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Great story of corruption in college basketball
I really enjoyed this story of the lives of two youths, one black and one white, born in poverty in Mississippi. Their basketball prowess brought them instant fame. They were the most sought after high school basketball players in the nation which led to corruption. Love affairs, blackmail, racism, murder, Wall Street and the actions of the Mob make the story of the basketball duo a soul searching and exciting adventure. If you're a sport or basketball fan, it's a must.


White Trash in a Trailer Park
Published in Paperback by Eggman Publishing (1996)
Authors: Randal Patrick and Craig Owensby
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A Very Entertaining Tale with Very Real Characters
I could not put this book down. I feel like I know the characters, and want to know what happens next in their lives. Some of their interactions made me laugh out loud.

Your friends and family live in this entertaining book
From the moment you read the first chapters, you will be able to feel, hear, smell and see this story unfolding in your mind's eye. The characters are either family members or someone you know. It's as if Randal Patrick was raised in your neighborhood and he knows everyone you do and how they talk. You will recognize everyone in this book. As you are reading you will catch yourself smiling and wondering how Randal Patrick heard that conversation from your past. The book is most entertaining. Enjoy!!!!

CLOSE TO HOME
This book is so much like the people that I know and have grown up with during my entire life. It was as if Patrick was writing about people that live up the street or around the corner that I have know since childhood. It was an excellent true to life accomplishment for him. He should definantly write us something new and as entertaining as this book. Sincerely, Sabra


The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty : A United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh,Vietnam ,1968 (My Name Is America)
Published in Hardcover by Scholastic (2002)
Author: Ellen Emerson White
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One of the Best Dear Americas Yet!
I love the Dear America series and read all of them as soon as they come out, but I had never been a big fan of the My Name Is America companion series. However, I read this book because I enjoyed Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, which is the companion to this book, very much. Once I started reading, I couldn't put this down! Any fans of historical fiction or anyone who is interested in the Vietnam War should definately read Patrick's journal.

The golden days.
The golden days, where the days when he was playing football. Before he went to war. This book is the best book of this kind. It will make you wounder whats going to happen next. It iis a sad but thrilling book. Dont forget to read the epilogue.

One word: Intense!
"The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty : A United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh,Vietnam ,1968" is my new favorite "My Name Is America" book! I couldn't put it down! This book shows how boys entered the Vietnam war, but either died, or went home as men. If you're learning about this war, or just want an excellent read, then you must get this book! I recommend.


A Fringe of Leaves
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1993)
Author: Patrick White
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Timeless Portrait of Humanity and Cross-Culturalism
Read any review of Patrick White's A Fringe of Leaves and you will expect it to be an exciting tale. One that includes adventures on the sea, a frightening shipwreck, and deaths of important characters; a tale of enslavement by the wild and savage Australian aborigines, sex, and cannibalism; a tale of the heroic rescue of a damsel in distress by an escaped convict. But if you are expecting this adventurous and daring plot, you may turn away disappointed. You may read halfway through the book and not encounter more than one or two of the events mentioned in the reviews.
What is it, then, that makes A Fringe a five-star read? Why do many readers across the globe claim it to be one of Patrick White's most brilliant works?
This is not, in fact, merely a story of adventure and excitement. It's a mission of humanity. Ellen Roxburgh is the image of any individual with conflicting views of life within herself. This is not a story of rescue, but one of survival. It reminds us all of our own personal inner struggles and how much we have been able to overcome. It is a reminder that the loss of innocence in every child is the first step in that child's becoming an adult.
A Fringe is also an anthem of cross-culturalism that sings true today in America, though it was set in 19th century Australia. Living here, we have all acquired or developed a certain social standard unfamiliar to our infant natures. From living among many legions of immigrants, or even from traveling abroad, we know what it is to subscribe to other social standards. A Fringe explores the effects of such an initiation in Ellen Roxburgh's character. This initiation is exhibited as the cause of her internal conflict of social behaviors. She began as a Cornish farmer's daughter, and then developed a façade of proper civilized mannerisms when she married her aristocratic husband. She initiated another set of social standards when she was forced to live among the aborigines. White's moving depiction of this struggle will inspire and comfort the patient reader.
Patrick White's A Fringe of Leaves may not satisfy an impatient adventurer. But it surpasses its acclaim of literary merit in its brilliant demonstration of timeless humanity and cross-cultural issues.

Upon unknown shores cast
Patrick White writes like a castaway from the Victorian era. His novels are long and full of real characters and the society and civilization of which they are a part and from which they come is equally real. Each character possesses a fully developed history, and the story as a whole progress from one point to another. And in the process people are changed by the experience. If that sounds old fashioned to you, well, it is old fashioned but those are values that some readers miss and for those readers these novels. I don't want to make White sound too antiquated though for his themes are very contemporary ,or timeless, as his themes are those that don't go out of style. This is my favorite of his novels. In A Fringe of Leaves(c.1973) White tells a shipwreck story upon the shores of an as yet uncolonised Australia. The characters who survive the shipwreck are then captured by Aborigines and must adapt to a lifestyle quite unlike the one left behind in fair old England. White uses this tale to examine civilization first by showing his characters in it and then by showing his characters as they appear stripped of it.....in only a fringe of leaves. The examination is quite a thorough and engaging one. The novel feels Victorian partly because it is set in that time (or before) but it only retains the best of that periods use of the form. White himself is Australian(and one who has won many awards, Nobel included, and to many he is the best they have so far produced) and so his study of England is tinged with an insight reserved for the ousider or in his case the postcolonial. The shipwreck portion of the book is only about 150 pages or so near the end of a 500 page plus novel. It takes patience to get to the exciting part of the story but once you are there you will want to read that section more than once. In those blindingly intense pages the characters cling to but a few delicate and sacred strands of belief to keep the savage world from totally adopting them. The aftermath portion of the book is equally interesting.


The vivisector
Published in Unknown Binding by Viking Press ()
Author: Patrick White
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It rains on you.
I find it difficult to assign an exact number of stars to my assessment of this book. My "enjoyment" of the book is at about a three star level, but White's ability to achieve what he set out to do is worthy of five stars... so I am rounding off to four. What did he set out to do? To show the lifelong inner workings, to lay bare the soul of this particular artist, the painter Hurtle Duffield. White achieved his goal, we're left with a brilliant portrait, his depiction of the artist is itself a work of art, the work of a genius.
But the book is difficult, slow-moving and dark. It will not appeal to those who want a quick-paced storyline... and forget the word "action" all ye that dare to enter herein. These pages will rain on you. And, like all walking in the rain, you will have to remain fairly determined to reach your destination.
But the book is not without its merits. Artists are not normal. They are eccentric. Hurtle Duffield is a born artist, and as such, from childhood onwards he is not normal. He is consistently, and increasingly, eccentric. As a child, he is keenly observant... in a sense, vivisecting everything he sees and experiences. His adoption into a wealthy family allows for the opportunity to expand his horizons, to experience the world... yet even this good fortune is no panacea, it is clouded with difficulties, with dysfunction. The fertile ground for the artistic mind to germinate.
Hurtle (as perhaps all great artists) becomes the sort of person who influences those who come in contact with him, but is unable to influence himself. His relationships are tragic and self-destructive for everyone involved. He becomes a recluse, spending the latter portion of his life living with his equally eccentric sister, the kind of guy that neighborhood kids invent legends about!
In his mansion he continues to paint his masterpieces, which are internationally recognized.
The only way that Hurtle can REALLY communicate with the outside world is through his art, and White does a superb job of showing us how detrimental this type of obsession can be for the personal life of the artist himself. It's a world few of us ever see. And it's gloomy.
At one point the narrator says that Hurtle's "repeated downfall was his longing to share truth with somebody specific who didn't want to receive it." This is a significant theme of the novel, Hurtle searching for the Ideal. And Hurtle himself cries out at one point, "I'm an artist. I can't afford exorcism."
Brilliant stuff.
Of course, White's choice of title for his book is significant. So, as I read the book, I kept asking myself... "Who IS the vivisector?" Is it "God" as Hurtle concludes in chapter 8? Or is it Hurtle himself?
How easy it is to blame God for our temperament, or for the choices we have made in life... famous artist or not!
The title is significant. White is asking something here, not giving us the answer. If Hurtle dies alone, and unfulfilled, is this God's fault? Hurtle's?
Who is the Vivisector in this novel? God? If so... who does he vivisect? Everyone? (If so, I can think of many people I know who do not seem very vivisected at all)! Does God arbitrarily pick and choose then?
Does God even exist?
If it's Hurtle, who does Hurtle vivisect? Himself? His original parents? His sister? Every woman in his life? Page 458 says "there were days when he himself was operated on." And the inference is that he (Hurtle) was the vivisector!
White leaves these questions unanswered, and to me, it was an eerie feeling, like one of those paintings with the eyes that follow you no matter where you walk in the room.
The book is worth reading, but keep an eye to the title of my review...

The vivisector is a rare whole-life journey of a fine artist
Although it is out of print and difficult to find, the Vivisector is a rare opportunity to journey through the life of a fine artist, from birth to death. It is redolent with the imagery that drives the main character's development as a painter, from the moment he is sold into a wealthy family, through the recognition of his talent as a very young boy, and the efforts made by his adoptive parents to fully develop his obvious gifts, until world recognition enables an ongoing career marked by greatness. Peter White's gentle, sculpting prose builds not only the image of the artist, but of what he sees and what he paints, and therein is the author's brilliance. With an economy of language that is at once enviable and surprising, White provides a life-portrait that invades the mind of the reader with images of what it means to give one's life to art, and to be a great artist, and live that artist's life. Parallel themes of the book follow his original and adoptive families, and particularly a sister, who, mad and confused, roams the streets with her pets, as lost in her mind as the artist is able to explore his own. The panoply of emotions is so powerful at times that the reader must take a moment to pull images and feelings together before moving on. I highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of building a life in art.


The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier
Published in Paperback by DIANE Publishing Co (1991)
Author: Patrick J. White
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Mission: Impossible Review
This book is a perfect companion for any MI fan. Includes plot details and breakdowns and actor bio's and series reviews. Everything is here. Definetly worth buying and now all i want is for Paramount to release series on DVD. Life would be perfect then.

Excellent reference book for the popular TV series
The book delivers as promised. Filled with interesting facts about the actors, plots, creators and devices of the series. Comments critically on each show. I wish there was a multimedia CD ROM available

A very thorough, detailed, entertaining book!
This book is outstanding! I own 4 copies myself. If you like entertainment, or research, this is the book for you. It's full of pictures, details, information, and synopsises. I love it! A classy, intelligent book, for a classy, intelligent show!


The Vivesector
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1992)
Author: Patrick White
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Very long winded but detailed account of a life in Sydney
Typically dreary Patrick White gives a realistic treatment to the quasi-genius painter Hurtle Duffield, who could be a mixture of any high profile male painters in the Australian art world in the the mid 20th century. Hurtle is incapable of loving anything but himself and his art. He lives with his crippled sister and has a hateful relationship with her. Gay men have crushes on him and he rejects them. It sounds like his paintings are really pretty awful, but Hurtle in his small way is filling a cultural vacuum. White does not have much of a story to tell here but reading this book will reveal much about pre multicultural Australian culture, especially the conservative, stifling and lonely social environment.

articulate, original and awesome
The Vivisector is a novel which commands some effort on the part of the reader because it is not fast paced. White portrays the essence of the artist with brilliance. It is compelling and revealing if you have the concentration to continue past the opening few chapters. While not giving us the fairytale ending, White provides such insight into the workings of a complex individual through his relationships with others and art that a resolution is secondary to the resonance that this novel evokes.

genius
Patrick White is a genius. The Vivesector is, garunteed, one of the most original pieces of fiction ever written, not to mention one of the most subtley disturbing. It is beautiful, brutal, and above all, very very sad. We should all be so lucky as to have the imagination and sheer power of invention that Peter White possessed.


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