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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'What if you saved a man's life and he went on to play a leading role in one of the bloodiest revolutions of modern times?
Ted Whittlemore, a radical Australian journalist, does just that. In the late '60s, he saves Nhem Kiry, soon to become known as "Pol Pot's mouthpiece". The consequences haunt him for the rest of his days. When the Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia, Whittlemore watches, fascinated and horrified, as the ideals he holds dear are translated into unfathomable violence. In the intervening decades, as he tries to make sense of what went wrong, it is as if Kiry's life has become intertwined with his own.
In this gripping novel, Patrick Allington takes readers deep into the world of power politics and agents of influence. He enters the worlds of Nhem Kiry and Ted Whittlemore, and with humour, intelligence and an unfailing moral sense, brings them to life.
Figurehead is about guilt and memory, and the awful distance that separates dreams from reality. It is about those people who, as George Orwell said, are "always somewhere else when the trigger is pulled"'. (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Dedication: To Zoe. And to Douglas Allington, Jan Carpenter, Lisa Allington & Matt Allington.
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Epigraph: Trapped in the side-wheel of a ferryboat, saving himself from drowning only by walking, then desperately running, inside the accelerating wheel like a squirrel in a cage, his only real concern was, obviously, to keep his hat on. -James Agee on Buster Keaton
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Includes author's note.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Large print.
- Braille.
Works about this Work
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Writing about Asia from Australia : Notes Towards Avoiding a Firm View
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 47 2017;'This discursive essay – part exegesis, part literary analysis – analyses the act of writing about Asia from Australia (and from the west). I use the circumstances of my early childhood to frame my interest in ‘Asia’, suggesting that Australia is a genuinely diverse nation that is engaged with the region but that it also retains and values a monocultural outlook. In turn, I analyse several novels by westerners about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge (including my own novel, Figurehead) to reflect on, first, cultural appropriation, and, second, the limits of empathy in fiction.'
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The Athens of the South
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 147-161) -
A World Without Books – Or Kindle? Words Simply Fail Me
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 November vol. 17 November no. 2013; (p. 86) -
The Interview : Patrick Allington
Susan Errington
(interviewer),
2010
single work
interview
— Appears in: Wet Ink , June no. 19 2010; (p. 28-32) -
A Healthy Diversity
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 198 2010; (p. 34-38)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel ; Spiel : A Novel 2003 single work novel ; Swimming : A Novel 2004 single work novel ; The Danger Game 2008 single work novel
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Blood on the Tracks
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 11-12 July 2009; (p. 14)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel -
Well Read
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 11 July 2009; (p. 24)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel -
Idealism Dies in an Unreal World
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 July 2009; (p. 33)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel -
Cover Notes
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 26 July 2009; (p. 18)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel -
[Review] Figurehead
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , August no. 354 2009; (p. 40)
— Review of Figurehead 2009 single work novel -
Novice in the Company of Literary Stars
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 March 2010; (p. 15) -
The Interview : Patrick Allington
Susan Errington
(interviewer),
2010
single work
interview
— Appears in: Wet Ink , June no. 19 2010; (p. 28-32) -
A World Without Books – Or Kindle? Words Simply Fail Me
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 November vol. 17 November no. 2013; (p. 86) -
The Athens of the South
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 147-161) -
Writing about Asia from Australia : Notes Towards Avoiding a Firm View
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 47 2017;'This discursive essay – part exegesis, part literary analysis – analyses the act of writing about Asia from Australia (and from the west). I use the circumstances of my early childhood to frame my interest in ‘Asia’, suggesting that Australia is a genuinely diverse nation that is engaged with the region but that it also retains and values a monocultural outlook. In turn, I analyse several novels by westerners about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge (including my own novel, Figurehead) to reflect on, first, cultural appropriation, and, second, the limits of empathy in fiction.'
Awards
- 2010 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
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cCambodia,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1990s