Book dossier

Grounded Visionary

by Brendan McNamee

"Grounded Visionary is a reading of Gerald Murnane's fiction in the light of what is known as the Perennial Philosophy, the mystical foundation of all the world's religions and spiritual systems. The essential tenet of that philosophy is that at a fundamental level all of life is a unity, consciousness and world are the same thing, and that it is possible, if extremely difficult, for the discriminating individual mind to experience this wholeness. This book examines the resonances between Murnane's work and the writings of this philosophical tradition. The crux of its argument is that beneath their yearnings for landscapes and love, Murnane's narrators and chief characters are all in search of this essential unity. Taking its cue from Murnane's self-description as a 'technical writer, ' the book examines each work in detail to reveal how structures and themes are seamlessly woven together to create artworks that shimmer with mystery while at the same time remaining thoroughly grounded in the actual. Grounded Visionary is the first full-length study of Gerald Murnane's work to tackle head-on his underlying mystical sensibility, and is also the first to deal comprehensively with the complete fictional output from Tamarisk Row to Border Districts. The book will be of interest to all lovers of modern literature and will be of special interest to students of Australian literature and those concerned with the interface between art and spirituality"--