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A review by felinity
Walkabout by James Vance Marshall
4.0
I think it's unlikely such a book would be written today.
It's obvious the author knew Australia very well, and amazing how much description he managed to cram into such a short book, without it feeling intrusive. Instead, it's almost as if the children themselves are turning their heads, taking everything in, from the strange dances of water birds to the differences between the forest and the desert. The Aboriginal boy's thoughts are well blended, without being a stark contrast or feeling like there's more of a divide between the children, and the author sensitive to cultural differences.
My edition also contained pictures and some captions from the movie. I haven't seen it, but as you might expect it seems much more dramatized, more extreme, than the book. I enjoyed the gentle, unobtrusive writing and and matter-of-fact way in which these 2 American children just decide to walk south to Adelaide. I probably won't watch it.
Spoiler
It's a snippet of their story - there's no official "beginning", with the airplane crash, nor "end" when they get home - with very short chapters, and yet it had a strange power.It's obvious the author knew Australia very well, and amazing how much description he managed to cram into such a short book, without it feeling intrusive. Instead, it's almost as if the children themselves are turning their heads, taking everything in, from the strange dances of water birds to the differences between the forest and the desert. The Aboriginal boy's thoughts are well blended, without being a stark contrast or feeling like there's more of a divide between the children, and the author sensitive to cultural differences.
My edition also contained pictures and some captions from the movie. I haven't seen it, but as you might expect it seems much more dramatized, more extreme, than the book. I enjoyed the gentle, unobtrusive writing and and matter-of-fact way in which these 2 American children just decide to walk south to Adelaide.