This year, I am going to read as many ‘Aussie’ novels as my eyes can devour and try to figure out how some books make it onto every classic list and why others persistently miss out. By the end of 2012, I hope to have read a whole bunch of books that I can confidently call ‘Australian Classics’ and explain the reasons why they are.
I began my quest by conducting a Google search on Australian classic novels. Disappointingly, I found an alarmingly similar list on a number of websites. Harp in the South by Ruth Park, for example, is now forever destined to come to the forefront of my mind whenever I think about Aussie classics (such was its presence on the fifty or so websites I checked). So, rather than rely on what are mostly musty old lists copied and pasted dozens of times over, I am going to create my own.
To do this, I need to determine what makes a novel a classic, or Australian, or both? After speaking to friends and family I gained a new respect for how complicated a question this is. Some believe that all it takes for a novel to be Australian is if it is written by an author who lives here. It doesn’t matter if the novel is about post-apocalyptic France – it’s all about where the author was born. But what about immigrants or Australians who have migrated overseas? Would a novel they wrote in the UK be classified as Australian if they no longer lived in our country?
Others believe that it doesn’t matter where the author was born so long as the book is set in Australia. If it includes a kangaroo, a BBQ and a verandah out the back then it quite literally has Australia written all over it and must be one of ours. Or so they say. Perhaps what they are really looking for is a reflection of the Australian culture, or a reference to our history. Either way – there has to be a hunk of Australia in-between the pages.
The next question is to determine what makes a novel a classic. An important prerequisite seems to be that it has some kind of literary merit, although as there doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut definition of this, I turned back to my friends and family. Most people I asked commented that classic novels change them as a reader. They begin the book as one person and emerge at the end as someone else. Classic novels change the way they think about something and leave a lasting impression.
In looking at lists of classics online, it seems that, like art, the older a book is, the more likely it is to be labeled a classic. The only exception I’ve found to this rule so far is Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet. This novel appeared on so many of my ‘Aussie Classics’ Google search results that I’ve had to include it in my Aussie reading list.
Also on my list are:
Eucalyptus by Murray Ball
Praise by Andrew McGahan
The Shiralee by D’Arcy Niland
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
What books come to mind when you think of Australian Classics? Are there any modern Australian books that you think should be on my list? All suggestions welcome.
