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y separately published work icon A Haunted Land single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1956... 1956 A Haunted Land
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A Haunted Land is set in an isolated region of Western Australia in 1902 and follows "the disintegration of the Maguire family under the tyrannical rule of the patriarch Andrew" (Source). The breakdown of Andrew's relationship with his children leads eventually to murder. 

Notes

  • Dedication: For my father and mother

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      MacDonald ,
      1956 .
      Extent: vii, 254p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Author's note R. S.(vii).
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Macmillan ,
      1957 .
      Extent: vii, 254p.p.
Alternative title: Wir sind erst achtzehn, doch alt wie Berge
Language: German

Works about this Work

Farm Novel or Station Romance? The Geraldton Novels of Randolph Stow Tony Hughes-d'Aeth , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 1 no. 18 2018;

'Critical interpretations of Randolph Stow's works have been inclined to see them as studies of alienation.  This essay addresses the material basis for the novels that Stow set in the Geraldton hinterland, namely A Haunted Land (1956), The Bystander (1957), and Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (1965).  Against the metaphysical and postcolonial readings of Stow's work, this essay posits an alienation that stems from a change in agricultural mode from pastoral to farming.'  (Publication abstract)

Sound and Music in the Works of Randolph Stow Fiona Richards , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 27 no. 2 2013; (p. 177-183)
'Music resonates through the works of Randolph Stow (1935-2010), with landscape, sounds, and words entwined across his elegant and lyrical output. Just as the author describes Shakespeare as having words for every emotion, so has Stow a song for every situation, with specific pieces of music used to locate fiction in time and place. Here, Richards talks about the sound and music in the works of Randolph Stow. Music in performance has a strong presence in his writings, from domestic gatherings to country music, Christian worship and indigenous rituals.' (Publication abstract)
The Islands of Randolph Stow Fiona Richards , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 72 no. 3 2012; (p. 103-118)

'Randolph Stow (1935-2010) prefaced his novel To the Islands with this quotation [see epigraph below] drawn from the writings of his great great uncle. Coming from an island that is also a continent, where 'arguably, 'island-ness' was and still is at the core of the Australian worldview' (Davies and Neuenfeldt, 2004: 137), the notion of 'island', sometimes imaginary, sometimes having a geographical precision, is manifest in Stow's writings in many different ways. An aura of mystery pervades all of his novels, the sea is often present, and there are recurring themes of isolation and boundedness.' (Author's introduction)

Toxic Flowers : Randolph Stow's Unfused Horizons Kerry Leves , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 10 2010;
'In the Preface to his 1982 revision of To The Islands (first published 1958), Randolph Stow describes himself as a 'fanatical realist'. Re-reading Stow's texts suggests that if Stow's realism is 'fanatical', it is so because his writing continually, if unobtrusively, foregrounds language as that which mediates reality. We read the reflexiveness of Stow's texts more readily when we are paying attention to their intertextuality, along with their use of devices such as mise en abyme and cinematic or theatrical tableau, and sign making. One prominent sign in the Stow oeuvre is that of flowers as offerings. Whether presented to God, self or another person, flowers are at best ambiguous gifts, nuanced with various kinds of toxicity. This article discusses two examples. In the first, verbal 'flowers', part of an ancient children's dancing game, are embraced as if they were real by the protagonist of Stow's first novel, A Haunted Land (1956). In the second, from Tourmaline (1963), flowers on the altar of a ruined church correlate with the mysticism of a saint-like Aboriginal woman, Gloria Day; but also with the estranging dominance of the white settler-invader culture. The remainder of the article discusses the 'toxic flowers' of Charles Baudelaire's poem-cycle Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil) as the informing intertext of Stow's To The Islands. The article reads intertexts as Gadamerian 'horizons', that are continually revised.' (Author's abstract)
y separately published work icon The Novels of Randolph Stow : A Critical Study Nidhi Bhagat , Jaipur : Pointer Publishers , 1993 Z149809 1993 single work criticism
[Review] A Voyage in Love [and] A Haunted Land Kylie Tennant , 1956 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 December 1956; (p. 20)

— Review of A Voyage in Love : A Novel Mungo MacCallum , 1956 single work novel ; A Haunted Land Randolph Stow , 1956 single work novel
A Bird in the Hand P. K. Elkin , 1957 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 18 no. 1 1957; (p. 48-50)

— Review of A Voyage in Love : A Novel Mungo MacCallum , 1956 single work novel ; A Haunted Land Randolph Stow , 1956 single work novel
[Review] A Haunted Land A. Nicholls , 1956 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 15 December 1956; (p. 18)

— Review of A Haunted Land Randolph Stow , 1956 single work novel
[Review] A Haunted Land I. Quigley , 1956 single work review
— Appears in: The Spectator , 21 September 1956; (p. 396)

— Review of A Haunted Land Randolph Stow , 1956 single work novel
[Review] A Haunted Land 1956 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 12 October 1956; (p. 606)

— Review of A Haunted Land Randolph Stow , 1956 single work novel
Toxic Flowers : Randolph Stow's Unfused Horizons Kerry Leves , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 10 2010;
'In the Preface to his 1982 revision of To The Islands (first published 1958), Randolph Stow describes himself as a 'fanatical realist'. Re-reading Stow's texts suggests that if Stow's realism is 'fanatical', it is so because his writing continually, if unobtrusively, foregrounds language as that which mediates reality. We read the reflexiveness of Stow's texts more readily when we are paying attention to their intertextuality, along with their use of devices such as mise en abyme and cinematic or theatrical tableau, and sign making. One prominent sign in the Stow oeuvre is that of flowers as offerings. Whether presented to God, self or another person, flowers are at best ambiguous gifts, nuanced with various kinds of toxicity. This article discusses two examples. In the first, verbal 'flowers', part of an ancient children's dancing game, are embraced as if they were real by the protagonist of Stow's first novel, A Haunted Land (1956). In the second, from Tourmaline (1963), flowers on the altar of a ruined church correlate with the mysticism of a saint-like Aboriginal woman, Gloria Day; but also with the estranging dominance of the white settler-invader culture. The remainder of the article discusses the 'toxic flowers' of Charles Baudelaire's poem-cycle Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil) as the informing intertext of Stow's To The Islands. The article reads intertexts as Gadamerian 'horizons', that are continually revised.' (Author's abstract)
University Produces Young Novelist Randolph Stow , 1955 single work column
— Appears in: Pelican , 7 October 1955; (p. 4)
y separately published work icon The Novels of Randolph Stow : A Critical Study Nidhi Bhagat , Jaipur : Pointer Publishers , 1993 Z149809 1993 single work criticism
From Metastasis to Metamorphosis : The House of Self in the Novels of Randolph Stow Marc Delrez , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 12 no. 1 1990; (p. 32-47)
Honour the Single Soul : Randolph Stow and His Novels Paul D. Higginbotham , 1979 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 39 no. 4 1979; (p. 378-392)
Last amended 5 Sep 2022 12:20:25
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