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Extinctions by Josephine Wilson

by
January–February 2017, no. 388

Extinctions by Josephine Wilson

UWA Publishing $29.99 pb, 286 pp, 9781742588988

Extinctions by Josephine Wilson

by
January–February 2017, no. 388

Extinctions takes its time giving up its secrets, and there are some we will never know. One of its most persistent enigmas is what kind of book it is. I wondered, during the first half, whether it was a powerful and perceptive example of the Bildungsroman for seniors: an elderly person (usually male) meets someone new who teaches him to be a better person, to pay attention to the important things in life, to treat those he loves properly, to reconcile himself to his past – in short, to grow up.

Gillian Dooley reviews 'Extinctions' by Josephine Wilson

Extinctions

by Josephine Wilson

UWA Publishing $29.99 pb, 286 pp, 9781742588988

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Comment (1)

  • Extinctions x Josephine Wilson
    I loved this very-unusual book
    -stream of consciousness writing
    -fallibility of characters
    -dry character building
    -unpredictible, sometimes farcical turns of events
    -magnificent descriptions eg p184 par c4…the walls…
    p192 par c3 …Beche de mer…
    p194-5 …Fred flushed…
    p197 par 2…his voice was…
    I loved it because it is about adoption (personal)
    “ perceptive (some similarities to the Housewife and the Professor?)
    “ because it is humane
    “ so many characters are weak people
    I got nothing from and could or would not engage with the photographs and thought them an expensive distraction (OCD author?)
    I would recommend the book and will hope to read it again. I have posted this on fb
    Posted by Sandra Beck
    02 February 2018