AustLit logo

AustLit

John Beston John Beston i(A3379 works by) (a.k.a. J. Beston; J. B. Beston; John B. Beston)
Born: Established: 1930 Gundagai, Gundagai area, Southeastern NSW, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 Mick : A Life of Randolph Stow by Suzanne Falkiner John Beston , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 30 no. 2 2016; (p. 424-427)
— Review of Mick : A Life of Randolph Stow Suzanne Falkiner , 2016 single work biography
1 From Bereavement to Immanence and Beyond : The Poetry of Michael Thorley John Beston , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 30 no. 2 2016; (p. 394-404)

'Michael Thorley is a Canberra poet who published an impressive book of poems,Sleeping Alone, in 2008 and who expects to publish a second shortly. His plans to publish another book of poems last year were set aside  by the illness and death of his younger brother, for whom he was caregiver. He was born in Tamworth NSW in 1945 and was educated there through high school, going on to study piano and musical education at Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. He was conscripted for two years in 1966 during then Vietnam War but was not sent overseas. In 1968 he commenced an arts degree at Sydney University, graduating in 1972 with honours in psychology. He worked first as a school counselor, then as a district guidance officer in Queanbeyan, which borders Canberra. He and his partner, Pam SIoan lived there for twenty years until her death in 2000.' (Introduction)
1 Going into Dreamland : From Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland to Patrick White’s The Aunt’s Story John Beston , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 343-352) 'My chief purpose in this essay is to discuss influences that helped shape Patrick White's thought as he wrote the most individual of his novels, The Aunt's Story (1948). I also seek to place The Aunt's Story in historical context in its theme of the exploration of the psyche through the analysis of dreaming. That important theme was propelled into late nineteenth- early twentieth-century literature by Lewis Carrol's two stories, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking -Glass (1871)...(343)
1 "Poetry Is a High-Energy Sport" : An Interview with Suzanne Edgar John Beston , 2014 single work interview
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 28 no. 2 2014; (p. 351-356) 'Beston interviews poet Suzanne Edgar. Among other things, Edgar considers creativity as quite central in her life. She watch very little television, not out of snobbery but because it is a passive activity. She stays active, either writing or learning more about her craft and its practitioners. She spend about twenty hours a week writing.' (Publication summary)
1 Complexity of Thought and Clarity of Expression : The Poetry of Suzanne Edgar John Beston , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 28 no. 2 2014; (p. 341-350) 'Although she has written two impressive volumes of poetry, The Painted Lady in 2006 and The Love Procession in 2012, the Canberra poet Suzanne Edgar has not yet received the critical attention she clearly merits. Here, Beston examines the works of Edgar who began her literary career with a book of short stories, Counting Back and Other Stories published in 1991. Born and educated in Adelaide, Edgar came to Canberra as a young woman with her husband Peter. She taught Women's Studies at the Australian National University and was a contributing editor with the Dictionary of Australian Biography for over twenty years. Edgar's total output of poems is close to two hundred and fifty, often complex in thought, always clear in expression. The lack of critical attention to Edgar's poetry needs to be redressed, for her books belong alongside those of the outstanding women poets of her lifetime in Australia.' (Publication summary)
1 Review : The Love Procession John Beston , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 27 no. 1 2013; (p. 116-117)
— Review of The Love Procession Suzanne Edgar , 2012 selected work poetry
1 3 y separately published work icon Patrick White Within the Western Literary Tradition John Beston , Sydney : Sydney University Press , 2010 Z1762254 2010 single work criticism 'Patrick White within the Western Literary Tradition is a collection of essays demonstrating the strong influence of European, British, and American cultures on White's work. Representing the author's interest spanning over thirty-five years, the essays expose White's evocation of dimensions other than material reality, his preoccupation with epiphanies and mythmaking, and his constant forging of a poetic style. The book also contains a series of analytical studies of the themes and characters in White's major novels (The Aunt's Story, The Tree of Man and Voss).' Source: http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au (Sighted 25/02/2011).
1 John Watson's Poetry John Beston , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 70 no. 1 2010; (p. 179-193)
1 2 Patrick White John Beston , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: A Companion to Australian Literature Since 1900 2007; (p. 247-256)
1 Willa Cather and Patrick White John Beston , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 20 no. 2 2006; (p. 164-168) John Beston discusses Patrick White's 'borrowings' from the novels of American writer Willa Cather, highlighting links between several White novels and Cather's O Pioneers!, Death Comes for the Archbishop and A Lost Lady. Beston contends that White's novels show 'almost no influence of other Australian authors', but do indicate the influence of American writers.
1 Why Are Epiphanies So Prominent in Patrick White's Novels? John Beston , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Aumla , May no. 105 2006; (p. 109-121) The article examines the function of epiphanies used in the novels of novelist Patrick White. The author explained that White used epiphany as a partial opening into a world beyond, offering the reassurance of a higher state of awareness in an existence that continues after death. White normally places epiphany near the end of a character's life or effective life. In addition, the author asserts that White's epiphanies are solipsistic, revealing the same hollowness that they attempt to cover.
1 Patrick White and Rimbaud John Beston , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Spring vol. 27 no. 2 2005; (p. 99-110) 'Patrick White acknowledged that he was "soaked in Rimbaud". Five poems in his novels are linked to Rimbaud. Their main themes are ones important also in Rimbaud's poems: the need to escape a constrictive mother by fleeing into the freedom of the imagination, followed by a fear of that very freedom. ... Ultimately both writers yielded in defeat to the stronger figure of their mother. After a final tribute to his mother, White turned to other subjects; Rimbaud abandoned poetry altogether' (99).
1 Films and Patrick White John Beston , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 64 no. 3 2004; (p. 176-179) Beston discusses some of the films that have influenced White's fiction.
1 Patrick White and Theodora Goodman in New Mexico John Beston , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 18 no. 2 2004; (p. 171-173)
1 Stan's Grandson, the Lost Boy and Patrick White's Ars Poetica in The Tree of Man John Beston , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Spring vol. 26 no. 2 2004; (p. 71-76) Author's abstract : Both Stan's grandson and the lost boy in The Tree of Man are projections of the young Patrick White, future artist. The Poem germinating in the mind of Stan's grandson at the end of the novel is an early and fuller account of White's literary ambitions than even 'The Prodigal Son' three years later.
1 The Tree of Man as a Pioneer Novel John Beston , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 17 no. 2 2003; (p. 149-154) Discusses the concept of the pioneer novel by examining Patrick White's The Tree of Man and making comparisons to Willa Cather's My Antonia
1 Will Voss Endure? : Fifty Years Later John Beston , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 17 no. 1 2003; (p. 50-54) Nearly 50 years after the publication of Voss, Beston comments on 'the greatness of the novel and the qualities that alienate the reader from it.' He notes that in Voss White is really attempting to put Australia on the 'cultural map'; 'it is the cultural exploration that engages White's heart and mind.' Beston notes that the significant changes in Australian culture that occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century have changed the way in which Voss is received and understood by a new generation of readers.
1 Untitled John Beston , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Choice , May 1992; (p. 1392)
— Review of Patrick White : A Life David Marr , 1991 single work biography
1 Untitled John Beston , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Choice , January 1992; (p. 739)
— Review of An Australian Compass : Essays on Place and Direction in Australian Literature Bruce Bennett , 1991 selected work prose criticism biography
1 Untitled John Beston , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Choice , September 1992; (p. 114)
— Review of Dark Side of the Dream : Australian Literature and the Postcolonial Mind 1991 selected work criticism
X