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'A blackly funny novel about an unlikely hero, and his misadventures on the flood he has created.
'In the drought-stricken Riverland town of Bartel in South Australia, after the suicide of his wife, Merv Rossiter steals a boat. He trucks north with his eight-year-old-daughter Em into Queensland. There he blows up the dam at Waroo Station, releasing a flood through outback New South Wales into South Australia.
'As the authorities search for them, Merv and Em ride the flood south in their stolen boat, rescuing a Queensland Minister from the water, and then a young blackfella who fancies he sang the river to life all by himself.
'Meanwhile, in Canberra, the political flotsam carried by Merv's renegade ocean brings the Federal Government to its knees.
'The Last Pulse is the story of the last flood that will ever flow down the inland artery that was the Darling River. The stream is broken now and the agriculture and lives of South Australians have been appropriated with the water by a people a thousand kilometres to the north.
'Throughout their misadventures on his flood, Merv promises his daughter they will be heroes in South Australia, and that they are sailing towards victory parades and happiness. The other crewmembers, however, know he is heading towards a violent reckoning with Australia itself.
'Blackly humorous, poignant, timely, The Last Pulse is Anson Cameron's finest work to date.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Braille.
Works about this Work
-
“Feelings Are Strong Here” : A Proximate Reading of Solastalgia in The Last Pulse
2024
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 48 no. 1 2024; (p. 121-134)'In Anson Cameron’s The Last Pulse, the monkeywrenching protagonist blasts a dam in Queensland, rides on the resulting flood southwards and spreads his solastalgia around, an affect Glenn Albrecht defines as homesickness at home induced by local ecological loss. From water disputes overseas to those between the eastern Australian states, from the character’s drought-stricken home town in South Australia to the Murray–Darling Basin, the novel allows readers to experience solastalgia as a multiscalar affect capable of mobilising environmental activism, as well as mooring in and playing with the “arts of flow” informed by Indigenous water ethics. The scale and distance-conscious method of “proximate reading” can be applied to read the dynamic of the affect in such an expanded and sentient water ecology; in this way, it can provide crucial insights into how readers’ environmental feelings and thinking are constantly reconfigured alongside shifting borders within and beyond the watershed in the novel.' (Publication abstract)
-
A Zestful Romp through the Suspenseful and Serious
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 489-491)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
Best Reads – End of Story
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 20 December 2015; (p. 24) -
Review : The Last Pulse
2015
single work
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 371 2015; (p. 31-32)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
Well Read
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 January 2015; (p. 24)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel ; Merciless Gods 2014 selected work short story
-
Tall Tales and Clear Water as the Dammed Set Sail
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29-30 November 2014; (p. 30)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
A Domestic Terrorist with a Lovable Larrikin Streak
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3-4 January 2015; (p. 14-15)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
Anson Cameron - The Last Pulse
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 29 November- 5 December 2014; (p. 22)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
Well Read
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 January 2015; (p. 24)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel ; Merciless Gods 2014 selected work short story -
Review : The Last Pulse
2015
single work
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 371 2015; (p. 31-32)
— Review of The Last Pulse 2014 single work novel -
Best Reads – End of Story
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 20 December 2015; (p. 24) -
“Feelings Are Strong Here” : A Proximate Reading of Solastalgia in The Last Pulse
2024
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 48 no. 1 2024; (p. 121-134)'In Anson Cameron’s The Last Pulse, the monkeywrenching protagonist blasts a dam in Queensland, rides on the resulting flood southwards and spreads his solastalgia around, an affect Glenn Albrecht defines as homesickness at home induced by local ecological loss. From water disputes overseas to those between the eastern Australian states, from the character’s drought-stricken home town in South Australia to the Murray–Darling Basin, the novel allows readers to experience solastalgia as a multiscalar affect capable of mobilising environmental activism, as well as mooring in and playing with the “arts of flow” informed by Indigenous water ethics. The scale and distance-conscious method of “proximate reading” can be applied to read the dynamic of the affect in such an expanded and sentient water ecology; in this way, it can provide crucial insights into how readers’ environmental feelings and thinking are constantly reconfigured alongside shifting borders within and beyond the watershed in the novel.' (Publication abstract)
- South Australia,
- Murray River,
- Darling River, Far West NSW, New South Wales,