When the British colonists (un)settled Australia, it was considered Terra Nullius, belonging to no one. The language is so rich and poetic, that I just wanted to read and enjoy every phrase. It is certainly historical fiction-mid-nineteenth century setting-but it’s more a study than a story. UPDATE: I just read an article about David Malouf and the poetry of his prose, and it reminded me how much I loved this book. If he did not find the word soon that would let him enter here, there would be nothing left of him but a ghost of heat, a whiff as he passed of fallen ash.īut “Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy,” – William Blake: The Four Zoas.

He walked swiftly now over the charred earth and was himself crumbling.

And even the best intentions are so often misunderstood… What obstacles stand in the way of mutual understanding? Even the closest relatives often fail to understand each other. Remembering Babylon is a very idiosyncratic novel about communicating and cognizance. Therefore is the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:8-9īy confounding language and destroying the tower God had sown enmity among peoples. “So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Somewhere, deep down inside, in everybody is hidden a memory of Babel, when all the nations were one.

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf