Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Find: Death of a River Guide: A Novel by Richard Flanagan

Death of a River Guide: A Novel by Richard Flanagan

Synopsis (from google books)

Aljaz Cosini is leading a group of tourist on a raft tour down Tasmania's wild Franklin River when his greatest fear is realized -- a tourist falls over-board. An ordinary man with many regrets, Aljaz rises to an uncharacteristic heroism, and offers his own life in trade. Trapped under a rapid and drowning, Aljaz is beset with visions both horrible and fabulous. He sees Couta Ho, the beautiful, spirited woman he loved, and witnesses his uncle Reg having his teeth pulled and sold to pay for a ripple-iron house. He sees cities grow from the wild rain forest and a tree burst into flower in midwinter over his grandfather's forest grave.

As the entirety of Tasmanian life -- flora and fauna -- sings him home, Aljaz arrives at a world where dreaming reasserts its power over thinking, where his family tree branches into stories of all human families, stories that ground him in the land and reveal the soul history of his country.

10 comments:

bermudaonion said...

That looks great!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

This one has been on my wish list for a little while now--great pick!

Pam said...

Wow, this looks wild and trippy and intense. Sounds like fun!

Cackleberry Homestead said...

Great find - this looks like a good book.

Grain de Beaute said...

It's the first time I've heard of this author but the book looks great. Let me know what you think of it!

Here are my Friday Finds for this week: Friday Finds (2)

Margot said...

Sounds like a very fanciful story. Hope you enjoy it.

Marie Cloutier said...

Looks fun and fascinating :-)

serendipity_viv said...

This looks like a fantastic book.

Stephanie said...

This sounds like a lovely book. :-)

Bryan R. Terry said...

That looks interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

My Finds are HERE