Voss

Blurb: Set in nineteenth-century Australia, Voss is the story of the secret passion between an explorer and a naïve young woman. Although they have met only a few times, Voss and Laura are joined by overwhelming, obsessive feelings for each other. Voss sets out to cross the continent. As hardships, mutiny and betrayal whittle away his power to endure and to lead, his attachment to Laura gradually increases. Laura, waiting in Sydney, moves through the months of separation as if they were a dream and Voss the only reality.

From the careful delineation of Victorian society to the sensitive rendering of hidden love to the stark narrative of adventure in the Australian desert, Patrick White's novel is a work of extraordinary power and virtuosity.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patrick White and so I thought it fitting that I review one of his books. I read Voss as part of my university course in Australian and New Zealand fiction. It wasn't a book I expected to like and I wouldn't say it's going to go down as one of my favourite books of all time but I was pleasantly surprised by it.

It's beautifully written and is, essentially, a romance. You can't help but be impressed by a writer that manages to keep you rooting for a couple that barely meet! The two meet shortly before Voss heads out across the middle of Australia to discover what goes on in the middle of the vast country, hoping that a large water source might make itself apparent. The book is based on explorer, Ludwig Leichhardt, and as you might expect does not descripe an easy expedition.
For what I assumed would be extremely dull (I mean how can a writer spin out over 400 pages on Australian desert?) Voss is certainly scary and leaves you feeling slightly unnerved. The book is dotted with awkward archaisms, particularly in reference to Australia's indigenous people, that leave you feeling slightly embarrassed but White is, of course, not alone in that. It was written in 1957 about the 19th century, so it would be odd not to see some outdated views and phrases in there.

All in all, it's a good book. A little long, in my view, but scary and completely different to anything I've ever read before.
6.5/10