Harman Patil (Editor)

Wanting (novel)

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Country
  
Australia

Publisher
  
Knopf, Australia

ISBN
  
978-1-74166-655-7

Author
  
Richard Flanagan

OCLC
  
270765982

3.5/5
Goodreads

Language
  
English

Publication date
  
2008

Originally published
  
2008

Genre
  
Novel

Pages
  
256 pp

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Media type
  
Print Hardback & Paperback

Preceded by
  
The Unknown Terrorist (2006)

Similar
  
The Unknown Terrorist, Gould's Book of Fish, Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand Cla, The Narrow Road to t

Wanting is a 2008 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan.

Contents

Plot summary

Wanting cuts between two stories based on real historical figures under the central theme of 'wanting', and is set in both nineteenth century Tasmania and Britain. One tells the tale of an Aboriginal child, Mathinna, adopted by then governor of Van Diemens Land, Sir John Franklin, and his wife Lady Jane; the other of Charles Dickens love affair with Ellen Ternan after one of his daughters dies.

Reception

Many critics regarded Wanting as one of the best novels of the year.

Awards

  • 2008 Western Australia Premiers Prize
  • 2009 Queensland Premiers Prize
  • 2009 New Yorker Notable Book of the Year
  • 2009 Washington Post Book of the Year
  • 2009 London Observer Book of the Year

    • Reviews

  • "The Australian"
  • "Publisher's Weekly"
  • "New York Times"
  • "... the savagery of the colonizing powers and further still the savagery of civilised society is laid bare for the reader to reflect upon. Flanagan’s writing style is masterful, grabbing the reader by the shoulders and forcing them to delve into their own ideologies and beliefs on good and evil, discipline and desire, right and wrong. "Booklover Book Reviews"
  • http://www.lemonde.fr/livres/article/2010/11/04/desirer-de-richard-flanagan_1435275_3260.html
  • http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-richard-flanagan10-2009may10,0,5098051.story

    • Interviews

  • Jason Steger in "The Age"
  • Ramona Kaval on "The Book Show"
  • Simon Bevilacqua in "The Mercury"
  • Sally Warhaft on "Slow TV"

    • References

    Wanting (novel) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA