Hi all!
For Literature, I am required to read the novel Carpentaria, by Alexis Wright. I have never read a book anything like this, and I truly just don't understand what the book is saying. I just can't really perceive the actual plot or the literary significance it carries. Many reviews have been published, and they all agree that critics don't know what to make of the novel. I also can't quite make sense of the reviews.
Has any of you read this book before? If so, can you please give me some insight on the plot and the significance of the novel?
If not, what can I do to understand this book?
By the way, I am loving this new format of the website!
Thanks for the help everyone!
Hey alphabeta!
Congrats on getting one of the hardest Lit texts on the QCAA list
Couple of different tips:
1. Acknowledge the complexityTypically you're not expected to have all the answers in Literature, and good essays will justify a thesis while discussing potential alternate readings, or commenting on the text being open to other possible interpretations. So don't feel like you have to wrestle with a text until you've found the "right" answers - so long as you can conduct an interesting and effective discussion about the meaning within the book, you'll be fine!
2. Observe how Wright blurs lines between what is real/surreal/unrealThis is a text comprised of different stories woven together, both in terms of plot and historical myths and allegories. One thing that I'd imagine critics get frustrated by is that it's sometimes difficult to tell what's actually happening in the text, and what is 'real' or verifiable. I think the safest argument is that
WRIGHT DOES THIS INTENTIONALLY (spoiler: we kind of assume that's always the case with authors in Literature) and so our job is to assume that this blended cultural narrative is deliberately written this way to make a broader point about people and the world.
3. Research Indigenous oral historyThis site has a pretty good overview to get you started, but try to get a handle on what oral histories are, and how/why they are passed on. This is arguably the most important part of the book; it's kind of like Wright takes inspiration from oral history and then creates an oral history in the form of a novel... that contradiction is probably why the book is somewhat confusing and divisive!
4. Accept the non-linear time and roll with it!A good tip for reading books like this, if you haven't gotten through it already, is to just
read it like a stream of consciousness ramble, without pausing to think about what the heck is going on. Without wanting to sound too artsy, just focus on how the flow of the language makes you ~feel~ ... it might seem silly, but you probably won't gain much by doing the opposite and trying to study every sentence. The text is a torrent of words, so just let yourself get swept up in it, and then you can
analyse this sense you get of language and meaning later.5. Go back to basicsConsider the form/genre, language, audience, and purpose of this text.
-
Form: yes it's a novel, but as aforementioned, it has a lot in common with oral history and defies some of the typical constraints of a novel. You may also want to look into some of the genres that this text (sort of) belongs to (e.g. magical realism, the antinovel, literary non-fiction, etc.)
-
Language: look into the Indigenoush words used in the text and the traditions these connect to. Also, think about how you would characterise Wright's writing style. Is it dream-like? Reverent? Disjointed? Ponderous? Abstruse?
-
Audience: who do you think Wright is writing for? How might she want them to reconsider their beliefs, or what might she want them to feel for the characters and cultures she depicts?
-
Purpose: similarly,
why do you think Wright wrote this book? I'm not sure if she's given any interviews, but that's definitely worth researching!
Hopefully that helps a bit - please let me know if any of this didn't make sense. And it sounds like you've done a lot of good groundwork already by reading up on critical reviews! Keep doing that, and perhaps even note down the recurring themes or points in their arguments, as they can help shape your perspective.
Good luck!
edit: just from a quick google,
this review is pretty apt! The
Guardian review gets a little more caught up in flattery, but also might help make sense of some of the plot.