For Australian novelist David Malouf, it was the way in which an ancient myth of battle and fallen heroes connected with his own personal experience of growing up during wartime – this inspired him to respond to and retrace the legendary story of Troy with his own visions and revisions. Stories always beget stories, changing over time to reach out to new audiences. Malouf’s novel Ransom takes up and shakes up an old epic tale of the clashing battles we fight both in the world and inside our own heads. It reminds us why story-telling (and retelling) is so important in preserving our histories, explaining and enriching our own lives and experiences, foretelling our futures.
From an article by Dr Kim Edwards, Ransom by David Malouf, Insight Publications 2010.
Jenny Niven from the Wheeler Centre's Texts in the City talks with Australian Book Review editor Peter Rose about David Malouf’s 2009 novel Ransom.