Death of a River Guide
{{Short description|Novel by Richard Flanagan}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Death of a River Guide
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = McPhee Gribble, 1994, Richard Flanagan, Death of a River Guide front cover.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Cover of 1994 McPhee Gribble paperback edition
| author = Richard Flanagan
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = Design: Beth McKinlay; Illustration: Patrick Hall
| country = Australia
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Novel
| publisher = McPhee Gribble, Australia
| release_date = 1994
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print Paperback
| pages = 326 pp
| isbn = 0-86914-344-1
| dewey = 823 20
| congress = PR9619.3.F525 D43 1994
| oclc = 32780236
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997)
}}
Death of a River Guide is a 1994 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan. Death of a River Guide was Flanagan's first novel.{{cite web|title= Austlit - Death of a River Guide |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C44412|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
Synopsis
As Aljaz Cosini lies dying at the bottom of a river in Tasmania he starts to experience a series of flashbacks, forcing him to re-examine his own life.
Critical reception
The reviewer on The Novel Approach website stated: "It's startling (and, quite frankly, a little depressing) to realise that Death of a River Guide is Flanagan's first novel. Not only is he in complete command of the language—in his descriptions of Aljaz's interiority as well as his bountiful descriptions of the Franklin River and its surroundings—but structurally, too, the novel is almost perfect."{{Cite web|url=http://matttodd.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/death-of-a-river-guide-1994-richard-flanagan/|title = Death of a River Guide (1994) – Richard FLANAGAN|date = 16 September 2013}}
In The Canberra Times Marian Eldridge noted the connection between character and landscape: "Land use, convicts, brutality, migration, and racial prejudice all are strands in Aljaz's heritage. When, I wondered, are we going to consider
the original inhabitants of this beautiful island? I was not disappointed. What the author has created is a picture of an individual that is also a mosaic of the history of Tasmania."{{cite web|title= "The unfolding visions of a river guide's last moments" |publisher= The Canberra Times, 31 December 1994, p23|url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127263386|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
Awards
- Festival Awards for Literature (SA), National Fiction Award, 1996: winner{{cite web|title= Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature - Previous Winners |publisher= State Library of SA|url= https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/previous-award-winners-by-category|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
- Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Shaeffer Pen Prize for First Fiction, 1995: winner{{cite web|title= Austlit - Sheaffer Pen Prize for First Fiction (1993-1995) |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/23867081|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
- NBC Banjo Awards, NBC Banjo Award for Fiction, 1995: shortlisted{{cite web|title= Austlit - Death of a River Guide - Awards |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C44412?mainTabTemplate=workAwards|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
- Miles Franklin Literary Award 1995: shortlisted{{cite web|title= "Four novels compete for literary award" |publisher= The Canberra Times, 6 May 1995, p5|url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130548466|accessdate= 5 July 2023}}
Notes
This novel has been translated into French (2000), Slovenian (2003), Dutch (2003), Spanish (2003), German (2004), Italian (2005), Polish (2017) and Bulgarian (2018).
It has been reported that this novel was inspired by the death in 1985 of Julien Weber, a tour guide who died on the Franklin river at “the cauldron”. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-10/fate-looks-grim-for-missing-rafter-expert-says/261858?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
Flanagan wrote in his 2023 book, Question 7, that Death of a River Guide was based on his own experience.
Interviews
- "The Write Stuff" - interview by Giles Hugo [http://www.the-write-stuff.com.au/archives/vol-1/interviews/flanagan.html]
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Death of a River Guide}}
Category:1994 Australian novels
Category:Novels by Richard Flanagan