Fleeing war in sarajevo, leaving the small bodies of their children behind, jovan and suzana inhabit. The winner of the miles franklin award for 2016 is black rock white city. Winner miles franklin literary award 2016 black rock white city is a novel about the damages of war, the limits of choice, and the hope of love. Now living in melbourne jovan works as a cleaner in a hospital where some mysterious and troubling graffiti starts cropping up. Black rock white city is a difficult book to sum up, as there are so many themes and ideas at play.
Intensely human, yet majestic in its moral vision, black rock white city is an essential story of australias suburbs now, of displacement and immediate threat, and the unexpected responses of two refugees as they try to reclaim their dreams. Patric is an award winning writer and author of black rock white city, listed as one of the best novels of 2015 by the australia. For jovan, the mysterious words that must be cleaned away dislodge memories. During a hot melbourne summer jovans cleaning work at a bayside hospital is disrupted by acts of graffiti and violence becoming increasingly ma. Black rock white city is a novel about the damages of war, the limits of choice, and the hope of love one of my dozen top aussie reads of 2016. They survive in a displaced reality, in an emotionless afterlife punctuated by a war that claimed the lives of their two children. Jul 29, 2019 black rock white city is a difficult book to sum up, as there are so many themes and ideas at play. Despite its overriding bleakness, theres a lyrical beauty to as patrics miles franklin awardwinning black rock white city. Black rock white city synopsis during a hot melbourne summer jovans cleaning work at a bayside hospital is disrupted by acts of graffiti and violence becoming increasingly malevolent. Devastated by the countrys civil war, a serbian couple is haunted by evil. Patrics protagonist, jovan brakochevich, works as a janitor in a melbourne hospital. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. During a hot melbourne summer jovans cleaning work at a bayside hospital is disrupted by acts of graffiti and violence becoming increasingly malevolent.
Set in melbournes suburbs, black rock white city follows a couple, jovan and suzana, who have fled war in sarajevo. In his debut novel, patric las vegas for vegans, 2012, etc. Part intimate portrait of a flailing marriage, part literary. It is a powerful, relentless journey through a long dark tunnel, with few glimpses of light, and very little to warm the soul. As patric, who won the literary award last year, says its been the most joyous year of his life. Patric and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Forced out of their homes, fired from their jobs as university professors, tormented and. For jovan the mysterious words that must be cleaned away dislodge the poetry of the past. Black rock white city is an essential story of displacement and immediate threatthe new reality of suburban lifeand the deeply personal. Part intimate portrait of a flailing marriage, part literary thriller, it is a richly textured exploration of the profound effect. During a hot melbourne summer, jovans cleaning work at a bayside hospital is disrupted by acts of graffiti and violence becoming increasingly malevolent.
The title links black rock, an area of melbourne, to white city, which is apparently the literal translation of belgrade. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading black rock white city. Black rock white city hardcover changing hands bookstore. Black rock white city, as patric s debut novel, asks how people who cant go on do go on. The first draft was quick, about 60,000 words, written in six months as though black rock white city was another short story. Black rock white city, by as patric the irish times. I also liked the way the graffiti issue escalated to more serious outcomes including murder. Ive wondered how to tell you about black rock white city, the extraordinarily powerful debut novel by melbourne writer as patric, since the moment i finished it. The book is written in present tense, which usually i bridle against. His debut novel, black rock white city, won the miles franklin literary award, australias pre. That they would drip from his elbows in black foam when he washed the graffiti from the walls.
His debut novel, black rock white city, won the miles franklin literary award, australias premier literary prize. He was born in zemun, serbia, and emigrated to australia as a child. It is a breathtaking roar of energy that explores the immigrant experience with ferocity, beauty and humour. For jovan the mysterious words that must be cleaned away. His short story collection las vegas for vegans was shortlisted for the queensland literary awards. Mar 10, 2017 as patric, who won the literary award last year, says its been the most joyous year of his life. In this case those migrants are yugoslavian refugees who fled the bosnian war in the mid1990s. This article was amended on 1 september to refer to black rock white city as as patrics first published novel, not his. But what is most moving is the humanity of his story, the vividness and truth of his characters emotional worlds. Well, ive had the pleasure to read the debut novel of the serbianaustralian author a. Mar 23, 2015 that they would drip from his elbows in black foam when he washed the graffiti from the walls. Patrics black rock white city is set in melbournes eastern suburbs in 1999 and tells a story not particularly common in australian fiction that of european migrants setting up a new life for themselves in a foreign land. Black rock white city by as patric readability australia. Australian author as patric s debut novel tells the story of two migrants from the former yugoslavia trying to rebuild their lives in late 1990s australia.
Patric, on the other hand, gets a great deal of mileage out of. It is a novel that refuses to conform to expectations. Black rock white city is a novel about the complexity of city life and although its firmly grounded in the suburbs of melbourne, it is universal in its fully realised ambitions. His novel black rock white city focuses on the lives of a married refugee couple who fled the.
Black rock white city is a novel about the damages of war, the limits. Black rock white city was a short story which after only a couple of pages insisted it was a novel, almost against my will i was genuinely traumatised after my first novel. I enjoyed black rock white city and would recommend it to my friends. A poignant portrayal of two refugees from the former yugoslavia. Black rock white city follows poet jovan and his wife suzana, exiles of sarajevo, as they struggle to find purpose in their life in suburban melbourne. Patric formally rigorous and emotionally powerful, his new novel can only add to his stature as one of the most fascinating writers in this part of the world. Black rock white city is a bold, mature and compassionate novel, and i couldnt put it down. Interview a s patric, author of black rock white city. Black rock white city, winner of the 2016 miles franklin. It has been highly commended by the judges of the victorian premiers literary awards 2016. Black rock is a suburb of melbourne with a large immigrant population, and white city the literal english translation of belgrade connotes renewal and regeneration, the blank slate of a.
S download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. But ill do my best to do justice to this unique read. Fleeing war in sarajevo, leaving the small bodies of. Black rock white city, as patrics debut novel, asks how people who cant go on do go on. Many of the sentences are short, and the text is disrupted by bursts of poetry. Graffiti begins to appear around the hospital, and jovan is ordered to. A novel telling the story of jovan and suzana, two refugees from sarajevo escaping their horrific past. Brutal and often confronting, black rock white city bursts with an intensity that will shock and surprise readers. Black rock white city author as patric on what its like. Patrics novel is the assuredness of the writing, his accomplished and confident language. Formally rigorous and emotionally powerful, his new novel can only add to his stature as one of the most fascinating writers in this part of the world. Booktopia has black rock white city, winner of the 2016 miles franklin literary award by a. Black rock white city author as patric on what its like to.
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