THE COLONY, by Audrey Magee (Faber, $32.99)
The atmospheric second novel from Irish writer Audrey Magee makes clear its preoccupations in the title. Set over one summer on a small island off the coast of Ireland - only three miles long, half a mile wide, with fewer than 100 inhabitants - this novel breaks down ideas about savage dominion over land and culture and unwanted intercessions by outsiders, all in the most luminous and rhythmic prose.
Arriving on the island this summer is Englishman Lloyd, a wannabe Gauguin. Lugging his easel, his Mars black and his Prussian blue, he plans to paint the cliffs and birds, to create them/as they already are”. The islanders judge him as obnoxious and demanding, although Séamus, or James, the teenage great-grandson of matriarch Bean Uí Floinn, is drawn to the artist. Determined not to be a fisherman - understandable after the deaths of his father, uncle and grandfather at sea - James is lured by the possibilities Lloyd represents.
Suddenly the tensions of the mainland imbue everything on the island with a deeper and more sinister threat.
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Denne historien er fra April 16 - 22, 2022-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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First-world problem
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Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
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Staying ahead of the game
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Grasping the nettle
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Hangry? Eat breakfast
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Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
