Wanting (novel)

Wanting
First edition
AuthorRichard Flanagan
LanguageEnglish
PublisherKnopf, Australia
Publication date
2008
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint Hardback & Paperback
Pages256 pp
ISBN978-1-74166-655-7
OCLC270765982
A823.3 22
LC ClassPR9619.3.F525 W36 2008
Preceded byThe Unknown Terrorist (2006) 

Wanting is a 2008 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan.

Plot summary

Wanting cuts between two stories based on real historical figures under the central theme of 'wanting' and is set in both nineteenth century Tasmania and Britain. One tells the tale of an Aboriginal child, Mathinna, adopted by then governor of Van Diemen’s Land, Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane; the other of Charles Dickens’ love affair with Ellen Ternan after one of his daughters dies.[1]

Reception

Many critics regarded Wanting as one of the best novels of the year.[2][3][4]

Notes

  • Dedication: "For Kevin Perkins".
  • Epigraph: "You see, reason, gentlemen, is a fine thing, that is unquestionable, but reason is only reason and satisfies only man's reasoning capacity, while wanting is a manifestation of the whole of life." Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Epigraph: "That which is wanting cannot be numbered." Ecclesiastes

Awards

  • 2008 Western Australia Premier's Prize[5]
  • 2009 Queensland Premier's Prize[5]
  • 2009 New Yorker Notable Book of the Year
  • 2009 Washington Post Book of the Year
  • 2009 London Observer Book of the Year

Interviews

References

  1. ^ Flanagan, Richard (2009). Wanting. Random House Australia. pp. Cover blurb. ISBN 978-1-74166-668-7.
  2. ^ Holmes, Rachel (12 September 2009). "Wanting by Richard Flanagan". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011.
  3. ^ "A subtle weaving of passion and despair". The Irish Times. 10 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Sydney Morning Herald | Reviews". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Wanting". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 13 March 2022.


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