Tourmaline
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Jacket showing signs of usual aging but still intact and vibrant with cover art. Light foxing on block, pages otherwise crisp and fine
Step into the shimmering heat of the Western Australian outback in this haunting, allegorical masterpiece. The town of Tourmaline is a dying place, a "dust-stricken" landscape where the inhabitants live in a state of spiritual and physical drought. The fragile equilibrium of this isolated community is shattered when a water-diviner named Michael Random is found half-dead in the desert and brought back to health. As Random begins to preach a message of salvation and claims the power to find water, he ignites a messianic fervor among the desperate townspeople. The tension builds as the "Law" of the town—the elderly, observant narrator—watches the citizens trade their reason for the intoxicating hope of a miracle. Random’s presence forces a psychological confrontation between faith and reality, leading to a climax that questions the very nature of human belief. Randolph Stow’s Tourmaline is a poetic and unsettling parable of the Australian soul, exploring how easily the promise of a savior can turn into a destructive obsession.
Author: Randolph Stow
Format: Hardback
Published: 1963, Macdonald, London
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Jacket showing signs of usual aging but still intact and vibrant with cover art. Light foxing on block, pages otherwise crisp and fine
Step into the shimmering heat of the Western Australian outback in this haunting, allegorical masterpiece. The town of Tourmaline is a dying place, a "dust-stricken" landscape where the inhabitants live in a state of spiritual and physical drought. The fragile equilibrium of this isolated community is shattered when a water-diviner named Michael Random is found half-dead in the desert and brought back to health. As Random begins to preach a message of salvation and claims the power to find water, he ignites a messianic fervor among the desperate townspeople. The tension builds as the "Law" of the town—the elderly, observant narrator—watches the citizens trade their reason for the intoxicating hope of a miracle. Random’s presence forces a psychological confrontation between faith and reality, leading to a climax that questions the very nature of human belief. Randolph Stow’s Tourmaline is a poetic and unsettling parable of the Australian soul, exploring how easily the promise of a savior can turn into a destructive obsession.