Moonlite

David Foster

ISBN 10: 0140063358 / ISBN 13: 9780140063356

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, 1982

About this Item

David Foster, Penguin Books Ltd. FROM THE MOST REMOTE AND ONLY PAGAN BRITISH ISLE COMES MOONLITE MCDUFFIE, A PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL ODDITY, WHOSE MATHEMATICAL AND LAY PREACHING TALENTS COMBINE TO GAIN HIM ADMISSION TO JESUS CHRIST COLLEGE, NEWBRIDGE. ALAS, COLLEGE IS NOT ALL ITS NAME MIGHT IMPLY, AND AFTER A SHORT, BUT DISASTROUS STAY THERE MOONLITE FINDS HIMSELF ON BOARD AN EMIGRANT SHIP BOUND FOR THE NEW WEST HIGHLANDS. ONCE ON THE GOLDFIELDS, HE QUICKLY LOSES HIS MEMORY AND ACQUIRES A TAST FOR DRINK. WHEN WE LEAVE HIM, MOONLITE IS ENDORSED AS THE LOCAL MAMBER AND DESTINED FOR THE PREMIERSHIP. MOONLITE IS A MULTIFARIOUS, DOWNBEAT TRAGI-COMEDY, WITHOUT THE MUFFLED CREPE OF PHILOSOPHICAL DESPAIR. IT DELIBERATELY BREAKS THE ILLUSIONS IT CREATES, BUT PRESERVES ITS IMAGES WITHIN A STYLISTICALLY COMPLEX LAYERING OF SCIENTIFIC, RELIGIOUS AND OCCULT SPECULATIONS. IT IS A FARCE IN FOUR ACTS, A STORY OF EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINALITY AND POWER, A LAMENTATION FOR LOST INNOCENCE, AND IN THE LIMIT, A LARRIKIN ALLEGORY OF COLONIAL CONSCIOUSNESS.

Seller Inventory # 9780140063356-SECONDHAND

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Moonlite
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication Date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140063358
• ISBN 13: 9780140063356
• Binding: Paperback
• Book Type: Paperback

About this title

Synopsis

The hero makes his way to the Southern Hemisphere and en route he rejects Calvinism and loses his soul

Reviews

Flora MacDuffie and her primitive clan eke out a marginal existence on the outermost, least hospitable British isle. When the Reverend Stewart Campbell arrives and upgrades the living conditions of the island's inhabitants, Flora is overjoyed. She allows Campbell to educate her son, Finbar, who later leaves home to study at an offshore religious college. Finbar eventually rejects the bible ("a load of old rubbish") in favor of science, discovers alcohol and is ousted from college, and journeys to the New West Highlands. There, he is caught up in the gold rush, forfeits his soul to an aboriginal witchdoctor and strikes it rich in an unexpected way. The Australian author cleverly satirizes that country's customs and values ("There is a purpose to college life," Finbar quips, "the production of the sort of man who can shine at a dinner party") and describes Australia's varied peoples and landscapes with precision, although his attention to minor details appears obsessive at times. Foster's characters obnoxiously perpetuate traditional prejudices: Campbell fulminates about the "wicked" and "depraved" Jews, blacks are called "nignogs" and a character "sweats like a dago at a dinner-dance." If one can overlook such comments, Moonlite is worth reading for its successful blend of realism, folklore and wit.
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