The Hanging Garden by Patrick White

…‘It’s salmon pie’, Raj told us, with no similarity to Mrs Bulpit at all. Mark was more than ever disbelieving, his chin tilted in that way of his. Kevin, more interested for something foreign, was glad that it was at least salmon – nice segue into Alaskan tales to be had there. Andrew and Leanne rounding out the gathering were seriously impressed with the meal placed at table.

It was about time the BBC collective consciousness read a Patrick White.  But considering I’m probably the only White initiate from the group, perhaps I should say it was about time I got around to reading one of White’s books.

In Mark’s words it wasn’t a brilliantly enjoyable read. But it was an adventure back into his and Australia’s past that he appreciated. White’s descriptive phrasing and fascination with bodily functions, putrid and otherwise, were as sharp as ever for Mark. Which, given the fact that White never finished the book, are a mark of his true ability.

Raj likened reading Patrick White to playing Brahms (using ten fingers all the time) – too much heavy going to be able to be enjoyed constantly. He was pleasantly surprised by this book and enjoyed the simple yet elaborate descriptions that White gave of people and places.

Spurred on by the Greek connections in the book our chatter wandered around current events in Greece and a conversation that Kevin had with an elderly Greek woman in Chippendale. And wandering around these digressions Andrew quipped ‘Morris dancing and incest, two things in life you should never try.’

For Andrew the gaze of the book was too intense and narrow, he needed something broader. He did get a sense of how distant Australia was from the rest of the world at that time. It felt ‘old fashioned’, ‘stuffy’. (I’ve seen nicer versions of those words used to describe the author).

Telling this story through the eyes of children was an unusual choice. The several comments around the table were that ‘their psychological insights were too knowing for their age’ (Andrew), ‘White could not write the point of view of a young girl’ (Leanne), ‘the girl was too (read unbelievable) critical of her mother for someone so young’ (Raj).

You can’t really denigrate the writing of someone who has won a Nobel Prize for Literature (more fool you if you do). But in Kevin’s words there ended up being ‘too much texture and not enough plot.’ Maybe that was the sense of it he got over our salmon pie and cake… because I’m sure he said he was too distracted by Alaskan vistas to actually read The Hanging Garden.

Alena – 6

Mark - 7.5

Kevin – 6

Raj - 6.5

Andrew – 4

Leanne - 5

Average 6

The next book is "The Strangers Child" by Alan Hollinghurst