HOME | DD

Description

Many children’s books transport their protagonists to magical alternative worlds. C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series is almost universally known; Maurice Gee’s The Halfmen of O is standard reading in New Zealand but gets less attention elsewhere; and Anne Spencer Parry’s The Land Behind the World is an even more obscure example from Australia. It has been out of print for years and I would have never heard of it if fate had not provided a free copy in 2013. A mixture of boredom and genuine interest prompted me to read it between more serious adult works; as I didn’t have high expectations I can’t say I was disappointed. The story’s pretty formulaic: a perceptive but socially marginalised girl finds a gateway to another world where she plays an important part in the struggle against a malevolent force. Instead of C.S. Lewis’ witches and monsters, or Gee’s sadistic, black-robed Halfmen, Parry personifies evil in a Morlock-like race of soulless industrialists. The heroine makes friends among others who lead humbler agrarian lives but have retained their humanity. It’s unsubtle, heavy-handed stuff with disturbing implications – I’d hesitate to recommend any book that casts science and technology in such a consistently negative light – but at its very best Parry’s prose evokes the sense of loss and yearning we get from half-remembered dreams. The advertising catchphrase “Little Popsies Love Pipsie Twinkles” – one of many blared from loudspeakers in the industrialists’ capital – added some darkly comic relief to a somewhat underwhelming climax and inspired this homage of sorts. The background’s a photomontage of a glowering Mt Colah sky and a South Melbourne refinery, but the central character owes more to well-known horror archetypes.

Description

Many children’s books transport their protagonists to magical alternative worlds. C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series is almost universally known; Maurice Gee’s The Halfmen of O is standard reading in New Zealand but gets less attention elsewhere; and Anne Spencer Parry’s The Land Behind the World is an even more obscure example from Australia. It has been out of print for years and I would have never heard of it if fate had not provided a free copy in 2013. A mixture of boredom and genuine interest prompted me to read it between more serious adult works; as I didn’t have high expectations I can’t say I was disappointed. The story’s pretty formulaic: a perceptive but socially marginalised girl finds a gateway to another world where she plays an important part in the struggle against a malevolent force. Instead of C.S. Lewis’ witches and monsters, or Gee’s sadistic, black-robed Halfmen, Parry personifies evil in a Morlock-like race of soulless industrialists. The heroine makes friends among others who lead humbler agrarian lives but have retained their humanity. It’s unsubtle, heavy-handed stuff with disturbing implications – I’d hesitate to recommend any book that casts science and technology in such a consistently negative light – but at its very best Parry’s prose evokes the sense of loss and yearning we get from half-remembered dreams. The advertising catchphrase “Little Popsies Love Pipsie Twinkles” – one of many blared from loudspeakers in the industrialists’ capital – added some darkly comic relief to a somewhat underwhelming climax and inspired this homage of sorts. The background’s a photomontage of a glowering Mt Colah sky and a South Melbourne refinery, but the central character owes more to well-known horror archetypes.